Wastewater problems in Paradise are a long way from over, but the foothill town just gained another possible option.
Chico’s City Council Tuesday night said it would not oppose a feasibility study looking into connecting Paradise’s commercial districts to Chico’s sewer system. The option would be one of four.
Paradise, population 26,000, is entirely on septic systems. That may have been fine once upon a time, but small lots, stricter codes and failing leach fields are causing problems, especially in the commercial core.
Paradise Vice-Mayor Jody Jones said that building septic systems in compliance with today’s building codes is impossible on many smaller, older parcels. Jones sought assurances that the concept wasn’t dead on arrival.
“We don’t want to assume interest on Chico’s part, and we don’t want to waste money and everyone’s time studying this alternative if there is no interest,” Jones said.
In an earlier meeting, Jones said a high-tech engineered system cost a local McDonald’s outlet a quarter-million dollars to install. That’s a figure out of reach for most mom-and-pop businesses.
Connection to Chico would be among four paths to study. Paradise would also look at building its own wastewater treatment facility, considering a cluster system and doing nothing as possible alternatives.