MAY 5, 2025
TO: [email protected]
FROM: Rosella Giuliani and Cheryle Stanley
RE: YOUNTVILLE “OUT OF TOWN” ISSUES WITH CITY WATER
We are writing to recap our concerns and to outline the issues we will bring up at the Yountville Town Council meeting on Tuesday, May 6th, regarding our water.
My (Rosella) parents have lived in their home for over 17 years and I (Cheryle) have lived in my home for 8 years.
Recently there have been an increasing number of issues with our water: water service interruptions and boil water notices.
Just in the past year, we were without use of our tap water for 25 days, almost one month! During that time we had 6 “boil water periods” that lasted 3-5 days each. Water service interruptions lasted anywhere from 8 hours to 2 days each time, and often with little to no prior warning.
In 2 specific periods, we were left without any water at all for multiple days (11/19/24 and 3/22/25). During this time we had no water to flush toilets, no water to boil and no opportunity or advance notice to collect water in buckets.
We are certain you have all the specific information in your records; however, we’d like to highlight a few of our concerns:
• Our water bills have a “water flat” fee of $119.76 + a “water system replcmnt” fee of $19.07, for a total monthly flat fee of $138.83. Those that live “in town” have a flat fee of $70.45 + $11.22= $81.67. We are currently paying almost 70% more than them, for living only 1-2 miles outside of the town proper! Not only is their flat fee significantly lower, but, in addition we paid a significant amount to have septic tanks installed on our properties.
• Six times in one year of “water boil” periods have made us question the quality of our water. This is quite concerning.
• During these times of water boil/service interruption, we have incurred costs and inconveniences that are not being addressed by the town. For example, we have incurred extra gas/electrical costs for boiling water and costs for purchasing bottled water. The inconveniences are no less important- the time it takes to boil the water to do anything (laundry, dishes, showers, cooking…) and the lifting involved with filling/carrying heavy buckets.
We believe it is time to reconsider a better solution for those of us that live “out of town” so that we can feel:
1. Treated with respect and equally with the rest of Yountville residents. We should not be paying so much more with so much less attention and continued problems.
2. Confident that the water we have is safe and will not cause any harm or health issues Thanks very much for your time and attention to this matter.
Rosella Giuliani
Cheryle Stanley