Livingston sewage plan draws fire

By SCOTT JASON
MERCED SUN-STAR

last updated: August 21, 2007 04:01:37 AM

LIVINGSTON — Walnut farmer Jerry Martin feels as if sewage is being dumped on him. That just may happen. Literally.

Martin, 58, is one of the dozen or so residents who farm land in a 500-acre area targeted by the city for its sewer plant expansion.

Somewhere amid the fields of walnuts, grapes, almonds and sweet potatoes west of Livingston, the city plans to dump treated sewer water so it seeps back into the soil.

But no one — not even the city — knows where the dump site will be.

Still, the vague plan has galvanized a group of residents who prefer their plows and orchards to the walls of City Hall. They've formed a citizens group, and one neighbor has hired a lawyer after he learned earlier this month of the long-term expansion plan.

Some farmers bristle at thought of the city eyeing their land. "I'd sell to the devil before I'd sell to the city," snapped Martin, standing on the 60 acres he owns.

Between 80 and 100 acres will be needed in the area west of Washington Boulevard and along Vinewood Avenue to allow for the city to grow to 96,000; that population is projected for 2050.

The expansion won't be needed until the city of 15,000 nears 43,000, City Manager Richard Warne said.

Livingston's growth plan for the next four decades has led Martin's wife, Gerri, along with farmer Colette Alvernaz, to start a group called Livingston Citizens for Intelligent Growth. It held a forum Monday night for citizens to discuss the city's long-term expansion in addition to the sewer plant.

Gerri Martin said she's convinced most residents don't know how the city will grow in the next few decades and want more discussion about it.

Since learning of the plan earlier this month, she's been requesting studies and reports by the city and says she is barely sleeping. "It eats me up," she said. "No one wants to see the government take the land. It's scary."

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