Editing Ferndale, California (section)

==Infrastructure==
===Affordable housing===
[[File:Ferndale California NavyHousingTransfer23Oct2011.jpg|thumb|Lt. Jeremy M. Schwartz hands the keys of surplus U.S. Navy Housing to Mayor Jeff Farley at the Navy Housing Picnic Shelter in Ferndale, California, on October 23, 2011.|upright=1.2]]
U.S. Navy Housing was built for staff of the 37-acre [[Naval Facility Centerville Beach|Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Centerville Beach]], [[Centerville, Humboldt County, California|Centerville]], California which was commissioned on March 25, 1958. Originally the base was staffed by 95 people, but grew to over 280 people. The 52-unit Ferndale Navy Housing was built as part of this project. The NAVFAC was decommissioned on September 30, 1993.<ref name=CUS>{{cite web |last=Commander Undersea Surveillance |title=Naval Facility Centerville Beach March 1958 – September 1993 |publisher=U.S. Navy |url=https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Centerville_Beach.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017044933/http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Centerville_Beach.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |access-date=April 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Morris">{{cite web  | last =Morris  | first =Michael R  | title =Centerville Beach NAVFAC| work =Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Station History | publisher =Navy CT History Group  | url =http://www.navycthistory.com/NAVFACStationsHistory.txt  | access-date = December 10, 2011 }}</ref>

The U.S. Coast Guard subsequently occupied the Navy Housing but vacated the housing units in October 2008. The property was returned to the Navy which declared the units surplus.<ref name="Ad Hoc">{{cite web  | last =Ad Hoc Committee on Navy Housing  | title =Ferndale's Navy Housing Information about Measure S  | publisher =City of Ferndale  | date =September 2010  | url =http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/pdf/Ferndale-Navy-Housing.pdf | access-date = December 10, 2011 }}</ref> In order to acquire the housing, a ballot initiative was required. The city placed Measure S on the ballot for the November 2, 2010, election. Measure S passed 516 (74.57%) to 176 (25.43%) approving the city's plan to acquire low- and moderate-income housing from the Navy.<ref name="League of Women Voters">{{cite web| title =City of Ferndale Majority Approval Required  | work =Smart Voter Humboldt County, CA  | publisher = League of Women Voters of California | date =November 2, 2010 | url =http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/11/02/ca/hm/meas/S/  | access-date = December 10, 2011 }}</ref>

The Ferndale City Council voted to purchase the housing from the Navy for $1.00 on September 1, 2011.<ref name="TS1">{{cite web  | last =Tam  | first =Donna  | title =Ferndale approves purchase of Navy housing complex  | publisher =Eureka Times-Standard  | date =September 2, 2011 | url =http://www.times-standard.com/ci_18811790  | access-date =December 10, 2011 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120407041245/http://www.times-standard.com/ci_18811790  | archive-date =April 7, 2012  | url-status =dead}}</ref> The city began negotiations with the nonprofit O'Rourke Foundation, part of the Bertha Russ Lytel Foundation, to take over and run the 52-unit project as an affordable housing project. The Navy housing is ten percent of the available housing in the city.<ref name="TS2">{{cite web  | last =Tam  | first =Donna  | title =Ferndale chooses Lytel Foundation to take Navy housing  | publisher =Eureka Times-Standard  | date =September 9, 2011 | url =http://www.times-standard.com/ci_18859095  | access-date =December 10, 2011 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120407041254/http://www.times-standard.com/ci_18859095  | archive-date =April 7, 2012  | url-status =dead}}</ref> The 24 single-family homes, 14 duplex townhouses, three playgrounds and two community buildings of the former Navy Housing were transferred from the Navy to the city in a public ceremony with Congressman [[Mike Thompson (California politician)|Mike Thompson]] on October 23, 2011.

===Drinking water===
The Ferndale water system was installed by Mr. Francis Francis in 1872.<ref name="FE-SE" /> In 1906, the Francis Land and Water Company was incorporated and in 1910 they bought the Cold Springs Water Company which supplied eastern Ferndale.<ref name="FE-SE" /> In 1954, the Citizens Utilities Company bought the system from the Francis Estate and sold it to Del Oro Water Company in 1996.<ref name="FE-SE" />

Ferndale's spring water comes from 28 individual springs which produce {{convert|113|USgal}} per minute.<ref name="FE-SE" /> Historic tunnels under a hillside and a million gallon underwater reservoir collect and store water before distribution.<ref name="FE-SE" /> As a secondary source of supply, water may also come from the Van Ness Treatment Plant which can supply an average of nearly 30 gallons per minute.<ref name="FE-SE" /> The Del Oro Water Company finished the Ferndale Mainline Replacement Project in 2011 which included larger pipes and new valves to reduce the number of customers affected during line repairs.<ref name="Del Oro">{{cite web | title =Ferndale District  | publisher =Del Oro Water Company  | year =2011 | url =http://www.delorowater.com/view/ferndale-district  | access-date =  December 10, 2011}}</ref>

===Wastewater treatment===
Ferndale's first [[sewage treatment]] facility and [[combined sewer]] system was built in 1953 and upgraded in 1973, 1994 and 2001.<ref name="Spencer 2004">{{cite book  | last =Spencer Engineering and Construction Management  | title =City of Ferndale, USDA Rural Utilities Service Wastewater System Improvements Financial Assistance Grant Preliminary Engineering Report  | publisher =City of Ferndale  | date =September 14, 2004 | location =Ferndale, California  | pages =1–115  | url =http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/pdf/Preliminary-Engineering-Report.pdf  | access-date =November 17, 2011  | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120404001207/http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/pdf/Preliminary-Engineering-Report.pdf  | archive-date =April 4, 2012  | url-status =dead}}</ref> Improvements were made to the sewers in 1989 under a $400,000 project funded by the [[California State Water Resources Control Board]] to improve the collection system and reduce inflow and infiltration.<ref name="Spencer 2004" />

[[El Niño-Southern Oscillation|El Niño]] storms in April 1998 caused Williams Creek to change course due to debris blockage.<ref name="Spencer 2003">{{cite book  | last =Spencer Engineering and Construction Management  | title =Wastewater Treatment Corrective Action Report City of Ferndale  | publisher =City of Ferndale, California  | date =December 10, 2003| pages =1–100  | url =http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/pdf/Corrective-Action-Report.pdf }}</ref> Williams Creek had been the major tributary of the Salt River near the treatment plant, so diversion lowered the volume of water available and caused the [[Ratio#Dilution ratio|dilution ratios]] at the plant to exceed permitted levels.<ref name="Spencer 2003" /> Record storm water flows also damaged the plant and the city applied for financial assistance<ref name="Spencer 2003" /> under the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]]-1203-DR-CA El Niño storm Presidential disaster declaration.<ref name="FEMA">{{cite web  | last =FEMA  | title =California Severe Winter Storms and Flooding Major Disaster Declared February 9, 1998 (DR-1203)  | work =1998 Federal Disaster Declarations  | publisher =Federal Emergency Management Agency  | date =February 9, 1998 | url =http://www.fema.gov/news/eventcounties.fema?id=525  | access-date =November 13, 2011 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20111119061201/http://www.fema.gov/news/eventcounties.fema?id=525  | archive-date =November 19, 2011  | url-status =dead}}</ref> On May 15, 2003, the Regional Water Board (RWB) placed a [[Cease and Desist]] order on Ferndale due to discharges of treated [[wastewater]] which exceeded one percent of the flow of Francis Creek / Salt River stream system.<ref name="CRWQ 2009">{{cite book  | last =California Regional Water Quality Control Board North Coast Region  | title =Waste Discharge Requirements for The City of Ferndale, Wastewater Treatment Facility ORDER NO. R1-2009-0034  | publisher =State of California  | date =July 23, 2009 | page =124  |url=http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/board_info/board_meetings/07_2009/pdf/ferndale/09_0034_FerndaleNPDES.pdf}}</ref> The city paid a $48,000 penalty to the RWB and agreed to complete an environmental project instead of paying $78,000 more in penalties to the RWB<ref name="CRWQ 2009" /> and began replacing the old plant in 2009.<ref name="CRWQ 2009" />

The new wastewater plant was completed in 2011 and provides tertiary treatment for nearly 1,500 commercial and residential users.<ref name="CRWQ 2009" /> The only other wastewater facility like Ferndale's in California is in [[Colfax, California|Colfax]].<ref name="Bullwinkel 2011">{{cite news   | last =Bullwinkel  | first =Mary   | title =Construction continues at the Wastewater Treatment facility  | publisher =Humboldt Beacon  | date =April 29, 2011 | url =http://www.humboldtbeacon.com/ci_17952233  | access-date =  November 12, 2011 }}</ref>