South San Joaquin Irrigation District could start construction on a new headquarters complex within three years.
The district purchased 31 acres on the northeast corner of Louise Avenue and Austin Road about a mile from its existing location on busy East Highway 120 just east of Austin Road.
The existing headquarters is too small for current operations. District officials are also concerned about SSJID trucks and heavy equipment having to run across heavily traveled Highway 120.
Should the SSJID get the go ahead to enter the retail power business later this year, it would mean work on the new headquarters most likely would not get started in earnest for at least three years or so. If the district is unsuccessful in its bid to enter the retail power biasness to reduce rates 15 percent across the board in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon the work on a new office and maintenance facility would start sooner.
A combined retail and water corporation yard and support staff would require a more expansive complex as opposed to one just serving irrigation needs.
Whatever is developed, the district plans to provide an earthen berm with extensive landscaping to block view of the structures and the maintenance year from the view of nearby homes.
General Manager Jeff Shields said part of the site could be used for demonstration projects for the efficient application of water for various crops and orchards.
The actual yard where trucks and other equipment and parked would be tucked away in the far northeast corner of the parcel where it borders orchards. The main access to the yard would be along the northern and eastern edge of the parcel. On the east the road would go atop a buried pipeline that replaced an open canal to the east of a fenced off pump station for the surface water system that delivers water to Manteca, Tracy, and Lathrop.
The proposed site has a four-way stop at the corner. The yard driveway would not have to deal with heavy commute traffic nor traffic moving at 55 mph or faster such as in front of the existing SSJID headquarters.
If the district does locate on the 31-acre site, they would add the proper turning lanes as part of the project.
The actual headquarters would be closer to the corner with a public parking lot. Currently the district doesn’t get that many people who come by the SSJID office. If the district does enter the retail power business, they plan to place customer service centers in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon where the bulk of the population they would serve is located
Based on current and short-term needs, the district needs 17 acres. The site is almost twice that size. That means there is room for growth.
The SSJID originally made an offer to buy the land due to large amounts of dirt they had left on it after working on converting the nearby water canal to a buried pipeline.
The site is central to the SSJID service area.
You can reach it from the Ripon area via Austin Road or Manteca and Escalon via Louise Avenue. It works well for water customers who are primarily farmers as well as future retail power customers.
The future office site has had diseased trees as well as a cluster of trees by the intersection that was being used for illegal trash dumping. District crews also remove an old house foundation and septic tank. The farmer leasing the land is planting a crop on the acre that once had trees on it.
