A Neglected Slice of Fresno Finally Gets City Water

Herndon Town, about 50 very low income homes tucked away between Herndon Avenue, Golden State and Riverside Golf Course, was incorporated into the City of Fresno in the early 1980's...then promptly forgotten. Development took place around Herndon City (a significant misnomer if there ever was one!) while this small slice of Fresno somehow got by with gravel streets, septic tanks and a Tinker Toy privately owned water system. I can remember walking the area when I ran for City Council in 2000, scratching my head wondering how these taxpaying city residents were living in something close to what might be found in a impoverished third-world community. Residents, as you might surmise, were not very impressed with my promises at their door to do something about their community if elected (I was elected and took office in 2001).

I remember dragging newly elected Mayor Alan Autry to Herndon Town. He was shocked with the conditions he saw and, to his credit, supported my efforts to convince the residents that Fresno did care and would improve the area.

The first breakthrough was working with Public Works staff to locate revenue to pave their streets and put in curbs and gutters. It took two challenging years but was finally accomplished. Ditto for street lights three years later.

The big challenge, however, was the failing private water system. The system was very old, dating back to the period when Herndon Town was an unincorporated part of Fresno County. The water system came from a well that was not working well, powered by a weak pumping system that could barely maintain pressure in the small delivery pipes. It was not an uncommon experience for residents to be without potable water for hours (and sometimes a day or so) at a time. No only was this a health issue, but the lack of water pressure and periodic outages meant that suppression of fires would necessitate having a City of Fresno water pumper truck available.

The private water system then ran into serious financial problems as the original owner died, and the surviving relatives were not interested in operating the system. What to do? My council staff contacted the City of Fresno's Public Utilities Department to ask if they would help submit a grant application to the State of California to address the serious health and safety concerns now facing Herndon City residents. A grant application was submitted and...(yay!) the City of Fresno was recently notified that a $850,000 state grant for upgrading and connecting Herndon City's water system to the City was approved.

Local government, while often criticized, works when people work together for the common good. Herndon City is now almost on a service level with with rest of the City of Fresno. Residents of the area no longer feel neglected.

Future candidates for office should not have to experience from Herndon Town residents the legitimate criticism I received campaigning in 2000.

Coming Soon. . .

1) A restaurant in Woodward Park.
2) Fresno's choices on high speed rail and rail consolidation.
3) Chugging along with Fresno's proposed Bus Rapid Transit System.

Comments are welcome. Click on "Comments" below or e-mail me at abriancalhoun@gmail.com.