Project Update!

Read about where the wastewater project went in January 2014!

Here is the link!

Mark Your Calendar!

(Click image to see larger size.)

This party will be lots of fun! And not coming too soon 

as some of the workers are leaving already!

The guys digging up and filling in on my street, (16th) 

were just THE BEST! So polite, so helpful and 

never getting crabby when I had to thread my car down 

the equipment clogged street.

All the workers that I encountered throughout our town

were patient and courteous. I miss them already and 

hope they never have a job as tough as this one ever again!!

See you at the Red Barn on March 25, 4:00-6:00 PM!

CDBG in Our Future; WRDA, Who Knows....

The Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) was on the Supes agenda today (also on this part of the agenda: Home Investment Partnerships [HOME], and the Emergency Solutions Grant [ESG] Programs) and unless you follow this sort of thing, your eyes may tend to glaze over that steaming bowl of alphabet soup. Mine did anyway as I was watching the meeting online. But then Sunny Oaks, the mobile home park here in Los Osos was mentioned for a grant request for a sewer improvement project and I thereby deglazed.

Today's agenda item was to approve the Urban County of San Luis Obispo Program Year 2014 Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for funding possibilities. HUD hasn't released its funding amounts yet, so when it does, the County will need to go back and adjust the final funding levels for Board approval.

There is a lot more to this report than just a sewer related item, so you can read the staff report here:
http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/3054/SXRlbSBEb2N1bWVudCAoUHVibGljKSA=/14/n/24894.doc

But more to the point of Los Osos and the big sewer, not just the need at the Sunny Oaks' tiny sewer, was this pithy statement:

The County received a total of 25 applications under the CDBG program for the Urban County. Each application was reviewed using the Board approved seven rating criteria. For the 2014 program year, the County received an application by the County Public Works Department for assisting low-income families connect to the Los Osos waste water collection system. The project cannot start before the completion of the waste water collection system, which is anticipated to be late 2016. Staff could not recommend this project, because it was not ready to be implemented soon enough to meet the CDBG timeliness standard.

So in case you were wondering where we might get help for our low income residents, this will be the place later along in the sewer project.

There was a mention too regarding Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) monies, (long in the pipeline for relief sewer cash) by Mike Miller of the Ferguson Group, our County's federal legislative guy in Washington D.C., dare I say lobbyist? That request was put forth by our Congresswoman Lois Capps back in 2007 when $35 million was then authorized. But as Mr. Miller said, there is a big jump between an an authorization and an appropriation. Especially since Congress banned earmarks, which is what this was. But this authorization isn't going to go away unless Congress specifically de-authorized it and it can just sit there isn the pipeline for a long time. The way to get this funded now (no more petitions of need to Senators/Representatives and the like) is to convince to the Corps of Engineers (and it is now going to be a Section 219 project, who develops a work plan for funding, which Congress then approves), that OUR PROJECT is a TOP project.

I suspect this info and the potential pot of EPA money that our Supervisor Bruce Gibson mentioned, will be part of the sewer meeting on Wednesday at the middle school.

Don't Forget!

See you there I hope!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

4:00 - 5:50 PM and

7:00 - 8:30 PM

Same info covered in both sessions!

What will you learn about? Info on the wastewater project status, schedule, costs, financial assistance options and what to expect in connecting your lateral to the sewer system!

Knit and Crochet!

For those of you out there that have too much time on your hands and wish to display that energy in the crafting of bathroom related items, I have found just the URLs for you!

Always wanted to crochet a tiny toilet? It would make an appropriate ornament for a Christmas tree in Los Osos. You could get started crocheting right now and have plenty to bestow as gifts for Christmas or throughly decorate your own tree—use yarn in festive colors, why stop at white? Here you go—http://www.thecuckoobee.com/store/toilet/—you can pay for the pattern using PayPal and it is just $4.99!

A free pattern for another style of commode can be found here: http://kimlapsley.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-toilet-no-2.html

How about a knitted roll of toilet paper? This pattern can be extended even longer so that it can double as a winter scarf! Get the free pattern here:
http://mochimochiland.com/2007/10/free-pattern-toilet-paper/

There are many designs for knitting or crocheting covers for that extra roll of paper you stash in plain sight, perhaps on the back of the tank. There are patterns for dolls, turtles, poodles, hats, an octopus, a cupcake. But the one that is the most compelling for me anyway, is a cover that looks like a roll of toilet paper! How clever is that? Find that free pattern here:
http://www.irishlace.net/knitting/toiletpaperroll.html

Really, this is but a small sample of the wonderful bathroom related crafts out there. Google around a bit and see for yourself!

Sewer Celebration Party!

Only in Los Osos would there be a party with such a unique theme, that of thanking our wonderful sewer construction workers for the great job they have done with a truly difficult job. Retrofitting a town with no sanitation infrastructure was NOT easy!

So mark your calendars—March 25, 2014 at the Red Barn, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM, 2180 Palisades Avenue.

See this link. More info to follow.

Supes Get Ferguson Update Tuesday

BOS - Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Board Business:

21. Update on Federal legislative activities by Mike Miller, the Ferguson Group. All Districts.

Link to agenda for this item:

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=3055

Overview of topics in their report:

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/3055/U3RhdHVzIFJlcG9ydCAgMi0xMS0xNC5wZGY=/12/n/25100.doc

So, why is this important you might ask? What they have been up to for the last two quarters? Here is a quote from their report on Los Osos,

TFG coordinated meetings with USDA, EPA, and the Bureau of Reclamation to explore new funding opportunities, including interest rate reduction, loan principal relief, and microloans for on-lot improvement costs.

Watch from your computer, tune into Channel 21 on cable or view in person.

Newest Baseline Groundwater Quality Report Posted

Posted Friday off the County's LOWWP website, this report is the latest in a series of semi-annual groundwater quality water reports required by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. R3-2011-0001).

Perhaps the most relevant sentence in the entire report,

Seventeen of the 26 wells exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of 10 mg/L N, and one well was equal to the MCL.

Those few doubters who still (amazingly) think we don't need a sewer to clean up part of the only source of water we have that we are wasting and are unable to use, thereby seriously depleting the other part due to overuse, please read the report off this link below and educate yourselves:

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/document+library/Baseline+GroundwaterQuality+Report$!c2$!a02014.pdf

Personal note to explain my blogging absence; a death in my family. 

I am relieved to have the peace of mind now to continue here.

Project Update for December 2013

The County has posted this new report today, have a look!

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/document+library/PM+Monthly+Update+Dec+2013.pdf

Gravity pipes in areas A and D by ARB are 83% complete! And the B and C areas by W. A. Rasic are 85% complete!

A quote from the report states,

Multiple approaches are being developed to track and address this issue [trench restoration paving], which include reduces thickness of base and asphalt, negotiated unit cost reductions, utilization of County Roads forces to complete some repairs, and cost sharing from the Roads fund for restoration that provides additional road benefits beyond what is required to restore trenches.

A request to use existing contract contingency funds for road work was approved by the Supes on January 28. When the project is complete, the roads will be re-evaluated and Staff will ask for Board direction on further steps.

Nipomo Has Sewage Too.

I have been neglecting my friends in Nipomo of late. So to make up for this, I am posting some of the photos of my trip to visit Nipomo's wastewater treatment, both the Town System and the Black Lake System, in 2007. Not everyone gets to see this fun stuff (although I have caught an attenuated view of the Town System while flying down the 101 on many occasions)!

What's interesting to note is that both Nipomo and the County of SLO have responsibilities for the maintenance of their respectively owned collection lines.

Here are some shots of the in-town aerated lagoons from 2007. (Click the image for a larger view.)

Below is what the lagoons look like when empty.

Having not been looking into this lately, apparently there was an upgrade planned to the Biolac technology. Sadly, I have no idea what happened!

Now for Black Lake. It is apparent that if this is not THE Black Lake, it is a black lake.

Or maybe Green Lake.....?

Below is the very Spanish motif building on the property with an indestructible roof. (I recall our sewer buildings will look like farm style buildings, but this is right next to a golf course of an unknown architectural style, perhaps that had an influence? No, I just looked at the website, the clubhouse is sort of non-descript. Anyway I like farm-style buildings and hope it will look sort of like the Van Beurden building on the corner of South Bay Boulevard and Los Osos Valley Road, one of my Los Osos faves).

Here is the other, empty pond awaiting its new plastic liner with the golf course behind it.

And here are the rolls of plastic liner. Stronger even than Hefty Bags!

Off topic, I know, but I happen to be a fan of golf course food. (I am not a fan of golf however, despite my dad's best efforts...I wrote a report on golf in the sixth grade anyway.) 

You will often find Lou and I at Sea Pines Golf Course here in Los Osos at the Clubhouse Grill. So naturally I had to check out what Black Lake offered. I was highly impressed! Must go!! (Check it out, if combining wastewater treatment and food photos does not make you queasy!)

I guess the thing that surprised me the most about my tour was that it wasn't really very stinky. I was expecting to be gagging, but I wasn't!

To further research Nipomo's sewage see the links below.

A handy link to the Sewer Reports:
http://ncsd.ca.gov/cm/Resources/Reports%20by%20Subject.html#Sewer

Sanitary Sewer System Management Plan:
http://ncsd.ca.gov/cm/Resources/Reports%20by%20Subject.html#Sanitary%20Sewer%20System%20Management%20Plan