Catching up...news items

Did you read the Ventura County Star article on Sunday noting that Santa Paula City Council will host a Vertreat presentation?

It will be interesting to see their proposal and how the costs compare to the MBR technology.

Speaking of costs I wonder why the Santa Paula MBR plant proposal, which is twice the size (and population) as Fillmore is reported to cost $73 million, when ours is $82 million? Perhaps the difference is the Design, Build Operate process which was supposed to save us money. Maybe they don't have to pump their recycled water back uphill which is about $17 million of our contract. However, they did have to spend more on land than we did - $6 million.

If you have read some of the other topics on this subject, you are aware that American Water and the privatization of our water recycling plant has been controversial all over the country.

Here's a quote from Mother Jones magazine.

"Such incidents point to a fundamental problem with allowing private companies to take over public water systems, says the Pacific Institute's Gleick. In attempting to make attractive bids for long-term contracts, companies often underestimate the cost of maintaining a water system, and so are forced to either skimp on staffing or demand more money to keep turning a profit. "At least when you have public utilities, the money they take in stays in the community," Gleick says. "With the private companies, the profits are going to go out of your community, out of your state, and probably out of your country"

This is so true - as American Water's parent, RWE is a German Company.

The limited financial resources our City has are continuously drained away by contractors. At almost every other meeting there is always an "amendment" to a contract for more money that was previously allocated. It never ends. And I would think that most of the the time that one of these contracts are entered into that a "contingency" is built in for this - but it's never enough when there is a public trough available with happy cash cows like us. I appreciate the Council members who do at least question these costs. Has anyone ever said "no"?