Well now sits at Forest Street Park
By Betsy Avelar Staff writer
Gilroy – The sound of tractors and drilling was heard at the Forest Street park, as workers drilled a well for the city of Gilroy within a three week period over an old bocce ball court.
The city must double its water production capacity by the year 2038 as the population grows. The plan is to add two more wells to the existing eight in Gilroy, according to a report released in 2005 by Gilroy’s Urban Water Management Plan.
The testing was conducted at Las Animas, El Roble and Forest Street parks to determine water quality of underground basins known as aquifers, or rocky formations where water moves between layers of soil and clay. Although other sites were tested, Forest Street park had the best quality aquifer.
“San Ysidro park was a possibility. The nitrate concentration was not too high but it was close to the limit where we would have to treat,” said Kristi Abrams, Development Engineer for the city of Gilroy.
The well measured 350 feet deep and 16 inches wide at a of about $2.6 million.
The city plans to add one more production well this year and two more in 2007 with more to come after these are drilled.
“We’ll do another test site this year, possibly two, and we’re hoping to have two new wells, Forest being one of them, plus one other location will be online next summer,” said Abrams.
Meanwhile, there are no plans to rebuild the old bocce ball court.
“We have not heard any complaints,” said Susan Andrade-Wax, community services director, adding there had been no requests from the neighborhood for a new court nor complaints for removing it.
“The city council has requested that we do a redesign of the park with a couple of different options. To find out what the community really does want, there’s actually going to be a community outreach,” said Andrade-Wax. She clarified that there would be a translator available and that bilingual flyers will go out to the neighborhood to make sure that they are informed about the parks redesign. “You want to make sure that all the local neighborhood is included in the process.”
Pedro Plaza has lived next door to Forest Street park for 16 years, and he explained that the bocce ball court had not been used by the community recently.
“It was a place where retired Italian and Portuguese men came to play, but the majority of them have passed away. The bocce ball court was not being used by anyone,” said Plaza. Although the city had offered to possibly rebuild a court if the neighborhood so pleased, they already “gave the go ahead” so architects may proceed with the redesign of the existing park.
