Still snowed in...

Well, the second blizzard within a week has passed. The roads are still a mess and piles of snow everywhere. This is very unusual as is the weather everywhere recently. Denver usually gets the most snow in March and April - just in time for the spring break skiers. December and January usually have an average precipitation of about .5".

My internet access has been very sporadic so I haven't been able to post topics or respond as much as I would like to. I'm trying to get your comments published but if I haven't it's because I don't have a connection.

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Also, I was asked to post this notice...

Ventura County's Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee to hold Fundraising Dinner on February 15, 7:00 PM at the Hyatt Westlake

Honorary Chair: UCLA coaching legend John Wooden Keynote speaker: Educator, civil rights activist and contemporary of Dr King, the Rev. Clinton A. Benton.

For tickets, or more information on how to contribute to the MLK Memorial fund, contact George Corbin at (805) 496-2982 or Everette Garmon at (805) 485- 7303.

If you would like an event or information posted just send me an email to:
gaylewashburn@sbcglobal.net

New Rules

I owe some of you an apology. During the campaign the rhetoric got a little hostile and ugly. I didn't monitor enough and some bad things slipped through. I thought things would calm down after the election but it seems that some people are still on their mission of destruction.

So, now I have turned on the moderator function so I can review posts before they go on. If your post is slanderous or derogatory of a named person without substantiation it will not be posted. That doesn't mean that you can't be critical of someone, including me, but be reasonable, thoughtful and factual. Ask questions of why someone did something. Maybe they have a good reason. We're all human and doing the best we can per our beliefs. Let's respect others opinions. Remember, we're all in this together. We're a small community with a lot of opportunities and we can do better.

That doesn't mean that we can't discuss the issues without disagreement on any point. There will always be something that we disagree on but that doesn't mean that we have to be rude or hostile to others. Even if they appear stubborn or thickheaded(like I've been accused of LOL).

So let's talk about it...any subject. Let's disagree and debate, learn something new, argue whatever AND have some fun.

Follow up comments to anons...

Sorry anon that responded in support of anon 8:22. I have turned on the comment moderation and rejected your post.

I will try to address a couple of your points though.

You said...

"Second, the MBR process was deemed the best choice by several world class expert engineering firms in the business, even the one who builds most of the veretreat facilities!"

I have stated before that MBR is a good process and I am not particularly against it. I just fear that it is too expensive for our community and other options should be evaluated. Noram Engineering, the manufacturer of Vertreat happens to think theirs is the best choice. They are all obviously going to say the same thing.

Here's a quote from San Francisco PUC in evaluating different WW technologies...(June, 2003)
"The MBR technology is a relatively new technology and limited long term life cycle data are not available at this time."

Also, how do you know that Santa Paula is not going to use Vertreat? I think they are in the re-evaluation stage right now.

Also, the report released for the Micromedia(Clean Stream) evaluation states:

"1.The CleanStream Filtration System was effective for treating screened raw wastewater to tertiary filtered effluent quality for turbidity based on the conditions tested and characterized in this report.
2. At the given testing conditions, average effluent turbidity was consistently less than the Title 22 standard of 2 NTU. The unit also consistently met the 95th percentile turbidity requirement of 5 NTU and never exceeded 10 NTU at any time.
3. The CleanStream Filtration System consistently met Title 22 requirements for turbidity between filter loading rates of 3.0 and 4 .5 gpm/ftz. Effluent turbidity was not affected by variations in loading rate below this value."

Here's another interesting note on Santa Paula. I haven't seen the entire ordinance for their Prop 218 protest hearing but it looks like they will have a "mail ballot election" for theirs. Whatever that means.

"ORDINANCE NO. 1168AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTING UTILITY FEES AND AUTHORIZING THE USE OF MAIL BALLOT ELECTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION AND ELECTIONS CODE"

I did ask the Vertreat people why they did not respond to the RFQ/RFP and the response was that they were focusing all of their attention on the municipalities affected by Hurrican Katrina. They have been certified by Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.

I also found out that Santa Paula has already been fined $8 million for their violations from 2002-2003(I think our fines are $300,000??) however they were able to negotiate an agreement with LARWQCB to apply the $8 million to their new plant costs. They have a shorter time frame than we do but they seem to be willing to do whatever it takes not to watch the millions of dollars being drained out of their community to New Jersey and AW parent RWE in Germany - for the next 20 years or more.

I hope you had an opportunity to read some of the articles on wastewater privatization. Also read this report on American Water describing the ongoing battles with cities in California and other states and the financial difficulties facing AW and parent company RWE.

The Blizzard of 2006

Well, we're starting to dig out today. We had two feet of snow at my mother in law's house. We've been shut in and stranded for a few days. Jeff was able to make it out today and go skiing at Winter Park to take advantage of all the fresh powder.

The airport is still closed but I think they will be opening a couple of runways shortly. If you have family flying in or out of Denver for the holidays they may not get out for a few more days.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Protest hearing on Thursday

Protest hearing on Thursday

Have you decided if you are going to protest the sewer rates or not? If so, you must get a letter to the city in by Thursday night or else show up at the public hearing Thursday night and protest.

Several citizens(including me) who have been researching the sewer plant contract still believe that we can save money by reviewing proven alternative technologies. At least one other company, Micromedia, has offered to install a test facility. If it can save us possibly millions of dollars, we should be looking at this.

These alternatives are reliable and much more affordable to operate and maintain. If you still believe that the $82 million dollar plant is a good deal, remember that we will also pay an additional $61 million in operating costs in the next 8 years. The MBR process is a big energy hog.

Santa Paula city council last night voted 5 to 0 to view a Verteat presentation in the next couple of weeks. They have decided to back off on the expensive treatment process. At least until they have exhausted ALL of the options.

Virtual road trip

I'm dragging you along on this trip whether you want to or not. Here's a couple of pictures for you. My camera has a dead battery so I had to take these with my phone. You can click on the picture to enlarge. I can't get the layout fixed...


This is Copper Mountain ski area











This is Loveland ski area on the east side of the Continental Divide.












This is the entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel at the Continental Divide.

And another...

I thought you would enjoy the art on these posters and if you have time be sure to catch the shows. This Friday's is in Santa Paula and next Friday at the Gathering Grounds in Fillmore.




































You can download and listen to their songs here.

More Notices

Here is an email I received yesterday...

"Here is information for the first phase of Newhall Ranch - The Landmark Village project. You should be able to pull up the draft EIR and review it at:

http://planning.co.la.ca.us/spLandmark.htm

Written comments are due by January 22, 2007. The public hearing is scheduled for 9:00 January 31st.

Please forward this information far and wide and encourage participation in the public process -- please ask folks to write comments before January 22, 2007. Please encourage others to attend the public hearing on January 31st.

Agriculture
According to the American Farmland Trust, the California coast is the third most threatened agricultural region in the nation. The long-term protection of these rich farmlands is of great importance to society. Newhall Ranch would wipe out nearly 1500 acres of agricultural land.

Air Quality
Air pollution is already a major problem in the Santa Clarita area, which has some of the worst air quality for ozone in the Los Angeles area. The valley is a natural air pollutant trap. Ozone derives primarily from emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx). Newhall Ranch NOx emissions of about 3,000 pounds per day would be additive to existing pollution plus that of 40,000 other units under development. Claims that federal and state air quality standards will one day be met while large-scale development proceeds in the valley defy common sense.

Water
Water is generally not available for the projected growth in the Santa Clarita region. Newhall Ranch will get its water from the alluvial aquifer under the Santa Clara River, which is already in an overpumped condition. Supplies of state water, which are not reliable in drought years, continue to be relied on for most development near Santa Clarita. Since state water supplies will fall far short of entitlements in drought years, severe overpumping of both the alluvial aquifer and the Saugus deep-water aquifer under the river are likely to occur.

Loss of Santa Clara River Floodplain
The Specific Plan as approved will result in a loss of over 140 acres of floodplain. An acre is about one football field in size, the loss of floodplain thus amounts to 140 football fields, a very large loss. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has recommended that the Newhall Ranch applicant avoid development in the floodplain. Friends of the Santa Clara River also recommends that floodplain development be avoided. Why? The purpose of floodplains is to store floodwaters - that would seem to be a basic principle of river function, but one often ignored. Usurping the floodplain of a river has serious immediate and long-term repercussions on the hydrology of the river and on channel morphology, both upstream and downstream. Immediate impacts are shown by the need to cover 80% of the northbank and 30% of the southbank with bank stabilization to protect large areas of fill for placement of housing units. Long-term impacts include structural flood control measures of unknown magnitude which could be required in the future due to the cumulative effects of artificial reduction of the existing floodplain. "

On the road...

I'm on the road for a few days so my internet access is sporadic. Here's a few items to discuss.

A few of you made some comments on the last topic about the gala event of seating the new council members, the mayoral pick and the ensuing council meeting.

It was interesting that several members of the public made reasonable recommendations for mayor and mayor protem selection. They were promptly ignored in favor of an apparent "fix" according to some commenters.

Let's keep an open mind and give them all a chance to get settled in before we rush to judgement.

Were you happy with the Delafield, Hawkins and Wood contract? It is disappointing to see them repeatedly come to the City Council to ask for another $30k because they're out of "allocation". Shall we take odds on how much over the $60k allocation they have for this year. Last year it was 3 times more. I don't know what the original contract was for. I remember hearing $300,000 at one point but I don't know if that was original or after a couple of amendments.

Did you read the Massachusetts Inspector General report I linked to in a previous topic? They conducted an investigation after a similar wastewater treatment contract was instituted in Lynn, Massachusetts. In their report, one of the findings, Finding 17c states that “The Commission’s(Council's) open-ended agreement with Hawkins, Delafield & Wood cost ratepayers more than $1.5 million over the first three years.”

Oh by the way, you may not have heard my comments about why we had to pay so much for writing a contract when DHW writes more WW contracts than anyone. I was only speculating when I mentioned that they should have a "boilerplate" contract by now that could be modified. These boilerplate DBO contracts actually DO exist and you can buy them online from the AGC(Association of General Contractors) for $15. Now don't get all excited and think I'm advocating paying $15.00 for a contract but I think we're overpaying if it's over $50k - $100k. And we're not done as Patti pointed out.

Notices...

Next Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is meeting and Bert and I encourage as many as possible to attend and speak up at the open forum and let them know how much our sewer bills are going to be and ask them to help us out with $1,000,000 that they have in a "Zone 2" flood fund. They gave El Rio $2,500,000 a few years ago under similar circumstances.

Have you seen the pretty Christmas lights on Central Avenue? It looks wonderful.

Here's an interesting article from the Daily News on the dangers of diesel particulate matter. I wonder how many tons of it we're inhaling from all the trucks on 126 and 23?

Migration out of state

Did you read this in the Star this morning?

It's true. So many people are cashing out and leaving. How many do you know that have sold their homes and relocated to other states?

I lost two great friends and their families to Arkansas within the last year. One here in town and one in Bardsdale.

I don't know what this will do to the housing market which is already sliding down. There's no telling what the economic future will look like. It's important to focus on sustainability to keep us going rather than growth. I've stated before that our growth will come to a screeching halt without open borders.

Maybe it will open up some better jobs since the article indicated that there might not be enough workers.

Do you have any ideas for sustainability? Here's one...save and live within your means.(if only that were easy)

Bad Bloggers

Thanks to some readers giving me a heads up on some of the "cussin" going on around here. I have deleted the most egregious comments. I'm not here to babysit so just stick with the issues please. If you mention a person's name with an accusation make sure you have facts to back it up. Stop with the innuendos or false accusations.

Now, while some of you have been distracted by the spats, I've been continuing to research the sewer plant issue. I do want your feedback and input on the sewer rates. Our future could be literally going down the toilet. We'll be in debt to the eyeballs for 30 years and our credit rating is shot.

There has been a raging debate behind the scenes on the merits(or demerits) of alternative technologies than MBR. My goal is to have an objective technical review. Of course the City wants to make sure we have reliable wastewater treatment. But all of the technologies out there represent a level of reliability. What we're paying for is a Hummer when what we can afford is a Toyota. Is a Toyota less reliable? NO. Does a Toyota get you there cheaper? YES.

Until I get back, here's some reading for you. Don't be intimidated by this stuff. It doesn't take multiple degrees to understand.


•http://www.noram-eng.com/products/vertad.html
•http://www.waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/privatization-5.htm