Advised, But No Consent

Today at the Board of Supes there was an item on the Consent Agenda regarding the Los Osos Wastewater Project.  It was to approve two contract amendments for more money out of the wastewater budget to extend work on the project. Naturally, the usual Los Osos' public speakers were challenging the entire project once again. The item was postponed to some late date in January for a couple of frustrating reasons:

• Supervisor Mecham hadn't had time to look at the staff report until Sunday as he was busy with the Paso water issues, leaving no time to consult with county staff with his questions. So he was unprepared to vote on anything he hadn't studied. 

• Supervisor Arnold wanted a presentation to hear more. She didn't like that this was placed on the Consent Agenda.

Mecham responded to an angry Supervisor Hill saying that he wasn't pandering to the L.O. people who blurt out from the back of the room (who had been among those pushing for a postponement). Chairperson Gibson then had to tell the back of the room to be quiet and stop interrupting or they would be asked to leave the chambers; they'd had their time to speak uninterrupted. (I wonder how sick and tired he is of having to keep doing this? I'm fed up with those speakers' displays of rudeness and entitlement in their boorish behavior.)

Hill was angry because of the 30 years of sewer obstruction, people had found ways to sabotage projects. Clearly this delay was feeding the angry speakers red meat. That is my opinion anyway, and I was temporarily really mad at them "winning." But then, this is merely a battle, not the war. This WILL pass in January.

(Oh, what will they have to complain and bash the County over once we are wastewater compliant?  Fast food? Bus routes? I know, solid waste rates!  What kind of lives do these people have that all they can come before the Board with is anger and complaints? I'd hate to be any one of them. Really, is it a good psychological strategy to just swing with a sledgehammer every week? How well does that work in their own lives when they are on the other end? But then, this all really is just punishment to the County for voting to take a project they didn't like or want—and certainly did not want to pay for. Watchdogging is only a guise. What logic do you operate with when your own obstructionism caused massive price increases in the project? In 2001 the estimated cost for a wastewater treatment plant was $84.6 million; in 2005 it was $154 million; now it is $173 million (if you don't count the part of the approximately $20 million bond where the environmental work and permits for the last project were paid from. But I digress.)

Supervisor Ray tried to make peace and suggested that a delay in voting would be OK if time time was not of the essence.

John Waddell, Project Manager said that it was desirable to have approval this year for budgeting and planing but that there was money still left to pay contractors until the end of January so this could work.

Another frustrating part for delaying this item; upping the money HAD been discussed twice before, on June 18 and October 8. The Corollo contract had been approved and more money was just being disbursed today with a vote. Their overall design and job performance was to be evaluated before releasing these additional funds. On the HDR adjustment, its not their fault that the trenching schedule was pushed out six months (and the pump station work comes after that). This requires them to do the additional project management. Any budget adjustments later won't come out of community money, but from unanticipated revenues from grants anyway. The amounts from the 218 vote and the 2007 estimates remain the same. The strategy Paavo Ogren said, was to award tighter amounts of money to contractors and then adjust upward when more money is required, its not good to put all the money out there at the beginning.

Now for the mysterious part of today's BOS meeting! Why was Agenda 21-er Laura Mordaunt taking a video of John Waddell and Paavo Ogren with her phone? She lives in San Luis Obispo, not Los Osos. Her red phone case matched her red sweater perfectly though!

The far odder part was non-Los Osos resident Mike Brown from COLAB bashing the County on this Los Osos item. He fronts a group whose board and members remain anonymous! Kinda creepy!