Last week a group of homeowners in Pleasanton had their water cut off by the city. They’re locked in a battle over who should pay to replace a crumbling water main and, in the meantime, neighbors have found a creative way of helping each other out.
In the middle of Pleasanton is a small neighborhood known as the Remen Tract that, years ago, refused to be annexed into the city. Rick Hempy lives there and said that’s what’s behind the disagreement over the neighborhood’s water pipes.
“These lines that are in here were put in in 1950–two-inch steel lines–and they are disintegrating,” he said. ”And the city of Pleasanton used to come out here and fix them. But now they’re saying, ‘you’re on your own. Because you’re in the county, even though you get city services–water, sewer, police, fire–we don’t care!'”…