The Sheet received information from members of the community that June Lake’s aging infrastructure poses a potential threat to the livelihood of the town’s water system. Our newspaper tried to reach out to June Lake Public Utility District (JLPUD) General Manager Todd Kidwell to get more information on the status of the system.  

The Sheet had reached out to Kidwell a few months ago when he was first hired for the position of General Manager at JLPUD, hoping to speak with him about what he wishes to achieve through his new position. He declined to speak with us.  

The Sheet then reached out again to Kidwell this week, hoping to gather information about the status of June Lake’s water system infrastructure. 

JLPUD responded via email that they refuse to give any information or updates at this time. 

The Sheet then responded, “Okay, we are going to do our investigation anyway. You are welcome to participate or not.” JLPUD then responded, “What investigation?”, to which The Sheet responded, “Our newspaper investigation on the status of your water system.”

This did not sit well with JLPUD. 

The public entity then responded via email, “Hello … I just received this email forwarded to me…. Which appears to be a threat from you. Do you care to explain? I received a call from you with a left message that you were wanting to congratulate me on my position here as the new General Manager. It would appear you are perhaps being less than honest. I do not appreciate your sending threatening emails to my staff. We pride ourselves on being transparent and I encourage you to look at our website for information regarding our district and its policies. If you have questions other than what is on our website I invite you to correspond in writing with your request moving forward.”

The Sheet then reached out to Mono County District 3 Supervisor Bob Gardner to gather any information that he might have about June Lake’s water system. 

In regard to the water system aging, Gardner said, “That is the case. It was built in the ‘60s I believe. June Lake was one of the first systems to get done. And in that regard, it was very progressive. Of course, the result is that it’s older now and they’re dealing with a lot of those issues.” 

According to Gardner, JLPUD is always working on updating its system little by little – replacing pipes here and there as they fail. 

If you have insight regarding the JLPUD, please contact Crocetti at emilysheet3@gmail.com.