S.S. TAC, Taking on Water! Time to Abandoned Ship?

All of a sudden, I've got another bad feeling about the "Technical Advisory Committee" that SLO County officials pieced together to help them figure out the Los Osos sewer situation.

Apparently, some "Advisors" from that "Committee" are not so familiar with their own documents.

For example, in a recent post on Ann Calhoun's excellent blog, TAC member, Maria Kelly, wrote:

"Whatever the county will be able to offer us, in my opinion, isn't comparable to the old mid town site project."

The "the old mid town site project" Kelly refers to, is the failed, "bait and switchy" Tri-W project -- a project that also included a multi-million dollar public park that dictated the sewer plant's central location, and, due to that central location, added over $35 million to the project.

In her post, Kelly adds, "If the old mid town project went to bid now - it would be significantly lower."

Here's where my confidence in the TAC gets rocked.

As I also, of course, first reported, Kelly's own committee released a report last year that officially outlined how the "bait and switchy" Tri-W project was a complete embarrassment.

The report did not have ONE positive thing to say about the project, and a WHOLE LOT of bad things.

The following is a copy-and-paste from my original story. I went into the TAC's Pro/Con Analysis, and boiled down all of the quotes involving Kelly's "incomparable" project -- the "bait and switchy" Tri-W project... a project that the pre-recall LOCSD Board spent over $20 million developing from late 2000 to late 2005, when they were finally recalled... for spending over $20 million... developing the "bait and switchy" Tri-W project.

Here's the Pro/Con Analysis' take on the Tri-W project. This is great:

- - -

- "(Tri-W's) downtown location (near library, church, community center) and the high density residential area require that the most expensive treatment technology, site improvements and odor controls be employed."

and;

- "It has high construction costs..." ($55 million. The next highest treatment facility option is estimated at $19 million.)

and;

- "Very high land value and mitigation requirements"

and;

- Tri-W energy requirements: "Highest"

and;

- "Small acreage and location in downtown center of towns (sic) require most expensive treatment"

and;

- "higher costs overall"

and;

- "Limited flexibility for future expansion, upgrades, or alternative energy"

and;

- "Source of community divisiveness"

and;

- "All sites are tributary to the Morro Bay National Estuary and pose a potential risk in the event of failure. Tri-W poses a higher risk..."

and;

- "NOTE: It was the unanimous opinion of the (National Water Research Institute) that an out of town site is better due to problematic issues with the downtown site."

and;

- "ESHA – sensitive dune habitat"

- - -

All of that is found in the TAC's OWN report, and TAC member, Maria Kelly, just recently wrote, "Whatever the county will be able to offer us, in my opinion, isn't comparable to the old mid town site project..."

The TAC's own document states, "NOTE: It was the unanimous opinion of the (National Water Research Institute) that an out of town site is better due to problematic issues with the downtown site," and Kelly writes, "Whatever the county will be able to offer us, in my opinion, isn't comparable to the old mid town site project..."

Think about that.

Is she saying that she's right, and everyone from the National Water Research Institute, a board that was chaired by George Tchobanoglous, Ph.D., P.E, and one of the most respected waste water experts in the world -- is wrong?

Is Kelly saying that if she had been a part of the National Water Research Institute, they wouldn't have come to an "unanimous opinion?" That, "whatever" the county comes up with, it will never "compare" to the "old mid town site project" -- the same project that her own document shreds to pieces?

Furthermore...

Kelly wrote, "If the old mid town project went to bid now - it would be significantly lower (in cost when compared to other potential projects) "

The TAC report states that the Tri-W project -- the "ol' mid town project" -- has "higher costs overall," and, "It has high construction costs..." ($55 million. The next highest treatment facility option in the report is estimated at $19 million. [NOTE: That $36 million difference is the EXACT figure I discuss, when I first reported, of course, that whatever the cost difference was between an in-town facility, and an out-of-town facility, was the price for the park in the project. And now we have an official answer to my question: $36 million bucks, at least! By the way, Julie Tacker, as a LOCSD Director, read my letter, verbatim, out-loud, video-taped, at a public meeting. All nice and time-stamped-like.)

In conclusion...

How can the people of Los Osos be expected to have any confidence in the judgement of the county's Los Osos Waste Water Technical Advisory Committee, when one of its most visible members publicly writes "opinions" that are the exact opposite of what their own reports show?

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I Guess the Trib, like Supervisor Patterson, Just Doesn't Care that Santa Margarita Will Soon Be a Los Osos

In my last post, I wrote that a recent county staff report addressing the the Regional Water Quality Board's Basin Plan Update, states:

"In areas like Santa Margarita (with clay soils, high groundwater and frequent flooding), this [Mandatory Septic Management Programs] could create a defacto septic moratorium."

I also wrote that I would report back if Barry Tolle, onsite waste water specialist for the county, ever returned my phone call.

Well, he returned my phone call yesterday morning, just before he spoke on this very subject at the Board of Supervisor's meeting yesterday afternoon.

I asked him, point blank, "Does 'defacto septic moratorium' mean that Santa Margarita will become a Los Osos after the county completes its soon-to-be-required Septic Management Program -- with no new building until a sewer system is on line?

His answer? "Yes. It's very possible."

I also asked him about the existing homes in Santa Margarita with septic tanks. Would they be required to hook up to the sewer system once it's on line? He did not commit to an answer.

Now, here's the part that I find interesting: Santa Margarita is on the verge of becoming a Los Osos, and no one seems to care!

When addressing the BOS yesterday, Tolle read this quote, "In areas like Santa Margarita (with clay soils, high groundwater and frequent flooding), this [Mandatory Septic Management Programs] could create a defacto septic moratorium," out loud, for all to hear, including Supervisor Jim Patterson, whose district includes Santa Margarita. And, Patterson didn't ask one question regarding Tolle's amazing quote.

Gets worse. One day after Tolle told me that it is "very possible" that Santa Margarita will be a Los Osos in about a year -- after the county develops its mandated, complex septic system management plan -- like Patterson, the Tribune doesn't seem to care, either. They didn't write a word about Tolle's astonishing quote on their web site today.

So, just to recap:

- On March 27, I published a story on SewerWatch where I hypothesized how the local Water Board's proposed policy changes could instantly turn Santa Margarita into a Los Osos.

- Then, on April 18, I published a story that quotes county staff, "In areas like Santa Margarita (with clay soils, high groundwater and frequent flooding), this [Mandatory Septic Management Programs] could create a defacto septic moratorium."

- THEN, yesterday, I asked Tolle if "defacto septic moratorium" in Santa Margarita meant that the town would be a Los Osos when the county completes their soon-to-be-required Septic Management Plan, and he tells me, "Yes. (Due to its clay soils, and proximity to groundwater), it's very possible."

- THEN, later that same day, Tolle appeared before county supervisors, and said, out loud, in to a hot microphone, for ALL to hear, "In areas like Santa Margarita (with clay soils, high groundwater and frequent flooding), this [Mandatory Septic Management Programs] could create a defacto septic moratorium," and no one says a word. Not Patterson. Not ONE person from Santa Margarita. And, of course, not the Trib.

No one but SewerWatch!

Sometimes I think government's favorite thing is the fact that nearly every adult in this country has to work 40 - 80 hours a week, just to make ends meet, and therefore, they have zero time to contemplate extremely important things, like the Regional Water Quality Board's complex Basin Plan Update, or the rationale for going to war.

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Santa Margarita: If All Goes as Planned, in "Three to Six Months," You Will Be a Los Osos

I just wanted to post a quick update to my last blog piece, where I wrote:

"Let's take Garden Farms, for example, the idyllic, little, septic-system-based community outside the idyllic, little, septic-system-based community of Santa Margarita.

Garden Farms is tucked right up to the Salinas River, which means there's probably not a whole lot of separation between their septic tanks and the groundwater, and when the residents of Garden Farms see how fast the staff of the CCWQCB can interpret their septic tank/groundwater separation as "very poor" "site conditions," and, therefore, deem the entire community "undeveloped properties" BECAUSE it's not hooked up to "a community sewer connection," and then be "required" to build an expensive sewer system, well, those Garden Farms residents are going to be in for a crash course in Los Ososology.

That's just a hypothetical, but if you've never witnessed the CCWQCB, and its staff, in operation, that's exactly how they operate. Exactly.

Santa Margarita? It's not looking so good for ya."

Apparently, that scenario is not as "hypothetical" as I first thought.

On Tuesday, April 22, the county Board of Supervisors will receive a staff report informing them about the sweeping changes the Central Coast Water Quality Control Board has in store for anyone with a septic tank in SLO County (along with several other counties within the CCWQCB's jurisdiction), and in that report, it discusses how one of the proposed changes would make "Septic Management Programs" by local governments "mandatory," and that's where county staff writes this:

"In areas like Santa Margarita (with clay soils, high groundwater and frequent flooding), this [Mandatory Septic Management Programs] could create a defacto septic moratorium."

Today, I called Barry Tolle, onsite wastewater treatment specialist for the county, to ask him if a "defacto septic moratorium" in Santa Margarita meant that there could be no more building in that town until a sewer system is constructed, and if so, would the property owners with old septic systems be required to hook up to that sewer once it is on line? (Sound familiar, Los Osos?)

Tolle has yet to return my call. When he does, I'll report on it.

According to the staff report, the Basin Plan changes would also require that every, single septic system in the county be in a county-run database, and then the owner of each system would be contacted every five years, and be required to pump out their septic tank, or face "enforcement action" by the CCWQCB.

The amount of clerical and inspection work to handle the huge workload associated with the "Mandatory Septic Management Programs" is estimated to be so large, that it will require hiring "three additional employees" to handle it all.

Furthermore, and this is just great from a journalism perspective, according to the staff report, the Basin Plan changes would also require the county to build an "expensive" facility to handle all of the "septage" from all of those septic systems that are all of a sudden being pumped-out every five years. (SewerWatch investment tip: Put your money in local septic tank pumping businesses.)

Currently, all of the "septage" pumped out of a tank in SLO County is trucked to Santa Maria. The proposed Basin Plan changes will make that illegal, and the county will be "forced to deal with septage disposal locally," according to the staff report.

I "smell" a story: When SLO County is "forced" to build an "expensive" sewer-waste processing facility, where will it be located?

I recommend the Tri-W location in Los Osos, but only if the public works department incorporates a public park, with "a picnic area, amphitheater, and tot lot" in their sewer-waste processing facility.

The CCWQCB meeting to discuss the Basin Plan changes is set for May, 9. According to the county's report, the changes are anticipated to be law "three to six months" later, when the State Water Board officially "ratifies" the document.

After that, "the county will be required to comply with all of the requirements and mandates of the Basin Plan."

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(NOTE: The original headline for this piece was, "Santa Margarita: You Have No Idea How Close You Are to Becoming a Los Osos," but I liked the one up top better, so I changed it.)