Why "future requirements" are important

We've frequently heard that "future requirements" are driving the selection of MBR and that we will have "10 times cleaner water than Title 22" with MBR. That we're "looking towards the future"

Well, why wouldn't we want 10 times cleaner water than Title 22 for the "future"?

Here's a possible reason why. We're running out of water. Without water, new development cannot occur.

That recycled water can be counted as supply, at least for irrigation purposes, freeing up more supply for development.

Eventually, according to the Tucson Weekly and North County Times, we'll have to drink it. The "toilet-to-tap" scenario that some(equipment vendors? developers?) are trying to foist on their communities isn't going over very well yet. Who knows what will happen in the future when overdevelopment has occurred in places that don't have sufficient water supply(Fillmore?)?

This is also one reason that our workshop panel included so many from Los Angeles Sanitation District. L.A. County is desperate for water and they have to reuse as much as possible so they have to promote MBR.

Recap of May 8th Council Meeting

Here's a recap and some analysis of the last council meeting.

During open forum Jamey Brooks gave some comparisons of pay scales for our city manager and department heads and how they compare to other cities.

I didn't write down any of the numbers but it apears that for our size city, budget and resources, the salaries are excessive. I believe he said that the Santa Paula City Manager makes $20,000 less.

Brian Sipes discussed the necessity of appraising land that is being paid for by taxpayer's money. The land purchase for the sewer plant property was at least $225,000 per acre, which seems extroardinarily high for undeveloped agricultural land unprotected by a levee.

Ken Creason and Richard Schuck (an engineer experienced in government construction projects) were alarmed at the additional costs for the $750,000 bus stop. Later on the agenda was a contract amendment for more funds to raise the roof of the bus stop, since apparently no one measured the height of the buses before it was designed or built. Even though the cost included paving the parking lot of the Sr. Center, it is still an extravagant amount of money. Public Works Director, Bert Rapp, was mildly chastised for the poor design and cost overruns. Rightly so, but the council members who approved this piece of pork should also accept responsbility. Did anyone check similar designs or do research on what this cost should be?

I was looking for comparable public works projects of this type and one thing I noticed is that most cities provide for an advertising mechanism on the bus stops to generate revenue. I have not spent any time at the bus stop. Have any of you? Does it provide for advertising space?

Between the enormously out of range costs for the sewer plant, the salaries and bus stop costs, there is a pattern of wasteful spending in this city that has to stop.

There were many other issues discussed at the council meeting but this is all I have time for.

We're not alone....

Here is an interesting article from the Ojai Post . The writer sees a lot of political unrest going on in Ojai. Fillmore and Santa Paula are having these same problems. I'll just let you read the article yourself since my thoughts cannot improve on the author's.

Here's an excerpt...

"...In recent months, reactions from City Council to efforts from citizens imploring their government to act have ranged from inaction to ridicule to litigation. Examples include Sue Horgan’s infamous “crackpot” comment to describe the “10 or 12” citizens resisting the destruction of Ojai’s beloved O-Hi Frostie, as well as the SLAPP suit against Jeff Furchtenicht for having the temerity to press Council to act to discourage chain stores and develop affordable housing. Most recently, in response to the effort to recall Councilman Joe DeVito, Mr. DeVito dismissed it as nothing more than “sour grapes” from the three challengers he defeated in the last election."

Read the entire article here...

Package Plant in Santa Paula

I got an email yesterday from a Santa Paula resident saying that an article in the Santa Paula Times stated that Mayor Ray Luna had made a trip to Arizona looking for a reasonable cost sewer plant.

The Mayor has stated that he will not approve any $70-$100 million plant for Santa Paula. He appears to have found a package plant in Arizona for $35 million. That sounds a little too good to be true(although we could have gotten a Vertreat plant for less) so we'll just have to wait and see what they come up with.

"Cost savings on the estimated $80 million replacement treatment plant has been the focus of Luna’s trip to Arizona, where he has been traveling facilities with Steve Owens of Perk, Inc., a treatment plant construction company. “Perk has already said they could build our plant for as little as $35 million, any system that we want"

Here is a link to the article.

Some news updates

I received a call today from Adam Scow of Food and Water Watch. If you attended the sewer rally a few months ago you might remember hearing him speak.

He was on his way to Ojai for a screening of Thirst and speaking to Ojai FLOW(Friends of Local Water). Citizens of Ojai have organized to protest the new water rate increases from the private company that operates their water system, Golden State Water Company.

They(GSWC) want to increase rates 44% so the FLOW group want to look into municipal operation of the water system. They contend that GSWC has to make a substantial profit versus a municipal system that can only charge for the actual service.

They are also intending to recall one of the City Council members. I have not seen any details on why yet.

Protest

I attended my first ever protest on Monday. The event was the "groundbreaking ceremony" for the new sewer plant.

There were about 15-20 of your friends and neighbors holding up signs and peacefully observing the ceremony.

Council members Cuevas and Hernandez participated in the shovel exercise. Former council members Dressler and Smedley were also in attendance. That is the extent of the city residents attending in favor of this plant. The rest of the participants were the consultants for Boyle, American Water and others who will be profiting from the venture.

Ms. Cuevas said that she was there on behalf of the "other 15,000 citizens who support the project." She wants to dismiss the many responsible, hard working and in some cases lifelong voting residents of Fillmore who are giving up so much of their time and energy to help the city come up with a cost effective solution - for FREE. If you are opposed to this expensive endeavor that will drain the economic resources of our community for the next 40 years you don't matter.

That's very sad. It's such an eye opener for me. When I started going to City Council meetings about a year ago, it was with the wide-eyed idea that our City government wanted citizen input and involvement. That they wanted to bring all voices to the table and work on solutions to the problems and issues that we face as a community. I was willing to offer support and organize more volunteers on behalf of the city. Isn't that what every city wants?