Tri-W's Dead -- Now, Behold, as I, the Amazing SewerWatchini, Magically Make Governor S.'s "Signing Statement" Disappear

It doesn't get much cooler than this.

Over four years after my New Times cover story, Three Blocks Upwind of Downtown was published, where I was the first (and, still, only) reporter to show how there was no documentable rationale whatsoever for why a sewer plant was being constructed smack-dab in the middle of Los Osos, the agency now responsible for that project, the county of San Luis Obispo, will not be constructing a sewer plant smack-dab in the middle of Los Osos.

Sweee-EEEET!

County officials recently presented to the National Water Resources Institute the location options they've identified for a sewer plant for Los Osos, and, the mid-town Tri-W site -- the site where the 1998 - 2005 Los Osos Community Services District spent upwards of $50 million and over seven years planning their mid-town "sewer-park" project -- doesn't even make the list.

According to the NWRI report, the only treatment site options presented by the county were, "Branin, Cemetery Site, Giacomazzi, Tonini."

All four sites are east of town, and downwind.

"Those are the sites we are pursuing," said, Mark Hutchinson, environmental planner for the county, during a recent phone interview.

"Those are the 'A Level' sites," he said.

When I asked, "Then what category is the Tri-W site in?"

He said, "Well, there really isn't a technical term for it, how about we just say 'B Level' for lack of a better phrase."

Although Hutchinson wouldn't get into specifics on why the county isn't pursuing the 1998 - 2005 LOCSD's project, he did laugh at it.

I know he'd prefer that I not relay this story, but he knew he was speaking with a reporter, and this is great.

I was asking him if his office, the SLO County Public Works Department, had been lobbied by anyone to continue the pursuit of the Tri-W project.

The reason I was asking that question, is because I can see how the elected officials that spent all of that time and money developing that nonsensical, mid-town "sewer-park," could be highly motivated to see that their project be constructed, of course.

He told me that his office had indeed been "lobbied," but it wasn't from the Tri-W developers, it was, apparently, from a "few" folks east of town, which, I can understand.

So, after he said that, I asked, "Well, you can understand why I asked that question, right? I mean, put yourself in the shoes of the people that developed the Tri-W project."

And that's when Hutchinson laughed, out loud.

No doubt about it: The County of San Luis Obispo just spent nearly $6 million, and three years proving Three Blocks Upwind of Downtown right.

Next week, the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Los Osos sewer project is expected to be released, and it is also expected to be brutal on the former Tri-W "sewer-park," much like Three Blocks.

And, speaking of $6 million, and being proven right...

Sometimes I'll do something just to get it time-stamped.

For example, when the State of California was on the verge of cutting a $6 million check to the Los Osos CSD in 2005 so the agency could begin construction on a project that doesn't even make the short list these days, I knew, through my research from reporting on this great story, that the loan that the State was handing to the District was illegal.

I knew that that loan was illegally financing a multi-million dollar public park for Los Osos, and, here's the cool part, I was the ONLY one that knew that.

So, just before the State was set to release the first installment of that loan, $6 mil, I challenged it -- I contacted the office that oversees the State Revolving Fund loan, and formally challenged it, arguing that it was illegally funding things like an amphitheater, and picnic area for Los Osos.

When I originally filed my challenge, I figured there was about a 5-percent chance that the officials that regulate the SRF loan would have a moment of clarity, and actually see my tight, tight arguments, and the gigantic mistake that they were about to make, and do the right thing by saying something like, "Whoa. Hang on a second. We need to get this 'why is the State of California funding an elaborate, multi-million dollar public park for Los Osos?' thing straightened out."

They didn't do that, just like I predicted.

Instead, they wrongly argued that the amphitheater in the Tri-W sewer plant was "mitigation," and therefore, State taxpayers were going to fund it.

They were wrong, of course. I was right, of course.

And my tight, tight arguments are now sitting in some dusty filing cabinet in the State Water Resources Control Board's Division of Financial Assistance office, time-stamped.

As with a lot of posts on SewerWatch, here's where it gets interesting(er).

My challenge, if officially argued today, would save Los Osos a fortune, and make Governor S.'s signature disappear.

In the legislation he signed in 2006 that ripped control over the project away from the LOCSD and gave it to the county of SLO, the Gov added something called a "signing statement" to the legislation.

In his statement, the Governor wrote that Los Osos would not be able to get another low interest loan from the State, until they paid back the $6 million from the first loan.

Apparently, the Gov isn't a SewerWatch reader.

My argument these days is:

That loan should have never been issued in the first place.

After I formally challenged it, the officials that oversee that loan, namely, Darrin Polhemus and Barbara Evoy, should have stopped, and sorted out that whole "multi-million dollar park" thing.

They failed to do that.

So, now, I argue, that Los Osos shouldn't have to pay that $6 million back. Why should the good people of Los Osos have to pay for the SWRCB's Division of Financial Assistance's gigantic, $6 million mistake?

That doesn't sound fair.

Moreover, the Gov's "signing statement" is actually punishing the people of Los Osos for his staff's incompetence.

If county officials were to resurrect my challenge, and argue it, they would 1) win it, 2) get Los Osos off the hook for that $6 million, and 3) immediately pave the way for another low interest, SRF loan for the community, saving residents many more millions.

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