Workshop???

Seems like the only time I have to write any more is when I'm on the road...

I wanted to talk about the "effluent disposal" workshop a few weeks ago. I didn't go but I was able to watch it on tape recently.

Here are a few observations that really struck me.

In the first few minutes Scott Lee asked a direct question. "What is the operations and maintenance cost going to be when the new plant comes online?"

Hmmm...Bert Rapp:..."well, I don't want to guess"..."I don't have the proforma..."

Barbara Smith said "I'll get you copies of the official statement(bond documents). It's in there."

So, do you mean to tell me that Bert and Barbara don't know what the O & M is going to be? Do you mean to tell me that they have spent the last couple of years poring over the proforma to figure out what rates they were going to charge and they can't remember one of the most important line items? I've only looked at it a few times and I know what it is. It's also on the Prop 218 ballot that they held hearings on.

Of course, Glenn Hille, who can usually be so helpful in providing information, remained silent when he knows exactly what the O & M is. And weren't two members of the City Council Finance Committee and Sewer Subcommittee, Steve Conaway and Cecilia Cuevas, sitting there unwilling to give Scott Lee an honest answer?

tsk. tsk.

By the way, the answer is, our total operating costs are;

$ 1,200,000 in 2007
$ 7,000,000 in 2010
$ 10,000,000 in 2014

Can you hear that giant sucking sound?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott Lee asked another direct question in response to Bert Rapp and Glenn Hille saying that new development is paying 43% of the capital costs from sewer developer impact fees.

Scott said; "Do you mean the whole sewer plant - and they're paying 43% and existing residents paid 63%?

They said yes.

How can that be? I hope someone out there will look into this. If we are paying $80 MM...then 43% would be $34.4 MM.

$ 80,000,000 = 100%
$ 34,400,000 = 43%
$ 45,600,000 = 57%

But it doesn't compute because currently sewer DIF's are about $12K per unit/permit. The presumption is that there will be 46 permits per year. That equals about $550k per year and over 20 years that's only $11 MM.

DIF $ 12,000
ERU/YR 46
DIF REV/YR $ 552,000
DIF REV/20 yrs $11,040,000

There was more but these were the most egregious comments.

Bless Scott Lee for trying. I invite anyone out there to tell me how development is paying 43% of the sewer plant costs. The residents of Fillmore are getting fleeced and forced to build a plant so much bigger than we need...but the sizing design flaws are for another day.

A little more info...

Did you catch the last Council meeting on TV or in person? I made a few comments in the open forum and I didn't really have time to go into a lot of detail so here is a recap and links to more information on the items I discussed.

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) has recently adopted two new rules. The first rule - Rule 250 - requires all stationary diesel engines over 50 HP to be registered with the County.

The State has determined that diesel exhaust is now the #1 airborne carcinogen in California so they are trying to reduce those diesel emissions. These stationary engines are a place to start cleaning up the particulates. New standards for diesel trucks will be coming in the next few years. (None too soon either.)

The second rule - Rule 45 - sets the fees for registration at $200 per year per engine.

The other item I discussed was the adoption of the Prop 50 IRWMP grant agreement for our $3 million grant. According to the information submitted by Boyle Engineering, the project will have a 1% cost benefit at a cost of $10 million.

But, the bond statement costs prepared by Boyle Engineering show that the actual costs for effluent disposal is $26 million. So, will this project ever benefit the citizens of Fillmore?

How about some geology?

Well I had intended to show you the last pictures from our trip - but they are not uploading properly.

But, you can view other photos instead of mine. You will enjoy them. I wanted to show you the San Rafael Reef in Utah. It's part of the San Rafael Swell, a geologic formation that has you expecting to see dinosaurs wandering around.

It's on I-70 between Salina and Green River. It's one of our favorite parts of the trip. I-70 is an excellent highway with very little traffic. There are a lot of viewing sites/rest stops but nothing else for 99 miles so be sure to have fuel and water.

Okay, I promise that I'll get back to work now...