Hot Topic

I just want to make a brief statement about Chief Egedi's issue and then I don't think that anyone should be making statements until all of the facts are known.

First, I'm hearing a lot of wild comments in town but unless you are one of the participants how would you know what has transpired?

If allegations prove to be false, look at the harm that is being done to families for no good reason.

Now, I hear that there is a long history of disillusionment and disappointment with Fillmore politics. Up until the last couple of years, I was contentedly ignorant with my head in the sand.

Without that long history of disillusionment, I try to take everything I hear with a grain of salt and work really hard to determine the facts before I make any judgements. Although I am outspoken on many City issues, I withhold a lot of comments just to make sure I give the benefit of doubt. It is my belief that all of us are doing the best we can to do the right thing. I've been proven wrong on that count a few times but it remains my default position.

So, let's give these families some space to sort things out without adding extra "fuel to the fire" so to speak.

Apples to Applesauce

Santa Paula has just three more days until their final decision on their sewer plant contract.

There were a lot of reports to read and analyze and I have finally waded through them. I do not know if there are others but these are available to the public. Some I had to read more than once to understand and some I could read ten times and still not understand.

The documents that I read were the following;

1. Technical Review by Carollo Engineering


2. Financial Review by FCS Group


3. PERC Best and Final Offer


4. Veolia Best and Final Offer


5. Santa Paula City Council Staff Report 4/7/2008


6. Veolia Corporate Profile by Polaris Institute


7. Veolia Corporate Profile by Food and Water Watch

I look forward to the day that I can sit down and watch some I Love Lucy reruns.

Okay, so what about the numbers and how do they compare to Fillmore's...

These are just rough draft numbers at this point and the chart needs more work but this will give you an idea of where we are in comparison to Santa Paula and the difference between PERC and Veolia. Check back because these numbers will change. The assumptions are very scattered and I used our debt interest for the bonds since the Veolia offer requires Santa Paula to get their own financing.

Also, the size may look different because I didn't use the construction size to calculate the $ per gallon treated. Instead I used the actual GPD that the operating contracts are based on. Our operating contract is based on flow rates. The assumption is that on startup American Water will be processing 1.3 MGD and PERC/Veolia would be processing 2.2MGD in Santa Paula. Even though the actual plants are being built to 1.8 MGD and 3.4 MGD respectively.

In the course of putting all of this together here are some findings;

1. As far as I can tell, the Repair and Replacement accounts for Santa Paula are paid for by the vendors - $17M for PERC and $10M for Veolia - while ours are paid for by the City. There's a$10M - $17M extra cost for us right there. The fact that PERC is spending so much on R & R provides for Santa Paula to have a nearly brand new plant at the end of the contract, while the Veolia plant will not be in as new a condition.



2. PERC's design takes up substantially less room, leaving 18.2 acres for percolation vs. Veolia 13.1 acres for percolation. Consider that we are paying $26M for effluent disposal/percolation.



3. PERC complied with the RFP by providing Title 22 unrestricted reuse effluent and Class B biosolids. Veolia did not comply with the RFP.



4. The financing component is a real eye opener. PERC complied with the RFP which was a DBOF rather than a DBO. The F in DBOF requires the vendor to provide the financing element. Veolia is expecting the City to provide finanancing and consists of swaps and other "creative financing" schemes that could expose the City to financial risks.
   

Now, remember this is my interpretation of the DBO contract, so please direct me to the language or section of the contract if any corrections are required.

More later...