Your Lateral Ownership 2021!

Mark your calendars if you have any interest in this -  a full hearing on lateral ownership - you will fully own yours in 2021! Just like people in cities in this county!

4. "After December 31, 2021 each Owner will be responsible for all maintenance, improvements and repairs of the Lateral Sewer(s) that conveys Wastewater from its Building Sewer(s) to a Main Sewer." 

I'll post the actual item when it becomes available for the October 18, 2016 hearing.

Our Sewage Stats!

These words below in blue are part of the Basin Management Committee report for Wednesday, August 21, 2016 (meeting to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the South Bay Community Center). Nice to see how our "products" are being put back into circulation, albeit via a circuitous and time-distant route. Think of all of the water that could have been saved if we were flushing and forgetting back in 2008! Oh well, better now than never, right?

Los Osos Wastewater Project Flow and Connection Update 

Staff plans to provide periodic updates on the status of connections and flows from the LOWWP. The following is an update on the status:

1,900 connections have been made, including neighborhood systems and mobile home parks. There are approximately 2,300 homes and businesses connected. 

Flows are approximately 200,000 gallons per day on the weekends, slightly less on weekdays. 

Effluent has been discharged to the Broderson percolation site since August 10th. It is filtered and disinfected, which meets the WDR requirements of 7mg/L total nitrogen. The County is now going through the process verification procedure with SWB Division of Drinking Water so that the effluent can be deemed Title 22 disinfected tertiary recycled water. In the last two weeks, a maximum flow of 400,000 gpd has been sent to Broderson as water is discharged from accumulated storage. 

Since the water is of sparkly-clean, Title 22 quality, I decided to color the text blue, not yellow!

You may access the full Basin Management Committee report from this link:
http://slocountywater.org/site/Water%20Resources/LosOsos/pdf/2016-09-21%20Los%20Osos%20BMC%20Agenda%20Package.pdf

On this link you will also find a tech memorandum outlining funding and financing programs available to us to do the other half of this water equation—namely, saving our used and abused drinking water supply. Somehow I hear a distant echo of the words emblazoned on signs back in 2005, "We Delay, We Pay!" And that is what we are doing now and about to do more of, the pay part I mean.

Nextdoor Sewer Fatigue

Some people around town that write on the Nextdoor website want to discuss the sewer issue and others do not. I believe it has only come up because of the upcoming election where someone who was a director before and after the Great Sewer Crash is running again to be on the LOCSD board, namely, Ms. Julie Tacker.

There is so much mis-information out there in support of this candidate that it is painful. It is impossible to know where to start to correct the misconceptions, or if anyone with their mind made up wants to learn anything different anyway. One thing is for certain, we are almost done getting our sewer and it is $29 million more than the one started in 2005.

There are some documents that need to see the light of day once again. I will insert some of them in the timeline in 2005 between the sewer work being stopped and the Water Board's reactions:

September 27, 2005 the recall election and Measure B took place and THAT caught the Water Board's attention. October 6, 2005 this letter arrived in the LOCSD offices:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2005/dec/item3/item3_attachment3.pdf

Within the document in the link above is this excerpt:

(Click image to see larger size.)

How did then-director Julie Tacker say publically that the old project's money could be used for the new project that she and the other four directors of the board wanted to build?

Then Ms. Tacker thought that the District could sell its assets to build a sewer! Really? How do you replace that much money, even if you thought you could build a cheaper sewer? Will you sell the fire truck (new, it was not more than $500,000; better hope no one is careless with a cigarette, with no fire truck), or the water company (Golden State Water Company in San Dimas was given an estimated value of $55 million for 11,000 customers - the CSD has 2750 customers, do the math)? Not enough money to even buy every house a Reclamator!

The State Revolving Fund money, necessary to build a sewer, any sewer, was at last permanently cut off. See pages 4-5:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/board_info/minutes/2005/min111605.pdf

(The press release: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/press_room/press_releases/2005/05_025.pdf)

Then December 9, 2005 the agenda for the State Water Board had this item for their consideration:
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2005/december/1209-01.pdf

Read off the link below page 254, lines 8-14 - Interim General Manager Dan Bleskey's testimony on stopping the project:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/minutes/2005/12_05_los_osos_hearing_transcript_1_of_2.pdf

8 MS. OKUN: Well, that wasn't my 

9 question. My question was did anybody at the  

10 State Board ever say that it wasn't a violation of  

11 the loan agreement to stop the construction  

12 progress for a timeout?  

13 MR. BLESKEY: To say that it was a  

14 violation of the contract?  

15 MS. OKUN: Did they say that it was not  

16 a violation of the State Board --  

17 MR. BLESKEY: No, they said that it was.  

18 But it is a contractual remedy plain as day, in  

19 language written by them. 

We know how well that rationale of Mr. Bleskey's turned out.

That's all I can stand of this stuff. I supect that not everyone reading here has made it to the bottom of this page as noxious as these facts are. And I don't know if I would have written this at all if there wasn't an alarming candidate running for Los Osos CSD in November.

Bad Septic Pumpers Warning

I found a recent comment in my "Awaiting Moderation" inbox this morning that was so important I am making it a post unto itself. It is posted now on the appropriate article, but buried in a spot that people might not see, so I'm pasting in right here:

For all of you Phase II and III people. Please get multiple bids. Please, Please be careful to hire legitimate septic pumpers who will not dump straight into our new sewer system or spread it out in some field. Yes, they are still operating in town. If you get a cheap pumping bill for $200 your sewage is most likely NOT going to a proper to Santa Maria as it should. It was being dumped into our new sewer system during early mornings and messing up the operation. Please get a receipt for your waste disposal. 

This is really important - please be careful! Thank you anonymous poster for your excellent advice!

"Gang" Link Due To Popular Demand

"The Gang That Couldn't Poop Straight" is far and away the most popular post I ever wrote according to Blogger stats! Normally I don't refer back to anything, but since this is again topical due to the upcoming election, I'll give a link right here! Please think before you vote in November!

Sewer Rules And Regs

Save the date to tune in to the BOS on September 20, 2016 for the Los Osos sewer to be on the agenda!

Items: Set for Hearing:

1. Introduction of an Ordinance establishing rules and regulations for use of the Los Osos wastewater collection system in Los Osos. Hearing date set for October 18, 2016. District 2. 

Item 14 on the same aganda is about a request to approve Amendment No. 4 to the Los Ooss Solid Waste Collection Franchise Agreement with Mission Country Disposal, but that is waste of entirely different constituents!

When Item number one's relevant documents are posted, I will add a link to this page.
http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html;jsessionid=279A2A5F0C17BEE3674061C7369CBCAB?select=6403

Joe Tarica's Column On Septic Systems!

Do NOT miss this look at septic systems in today's Tribune! Joe Tarica has written a hilarious column on the topic - here is the link:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/joetopia/article101118407.html

My favorite quote,

"If you’ve never had the pleasure of storing human waste in your yard, let me tell you, you’re missing out."

Read it and laugh, weep, or feel recognized, as these events might have happened to you while living in Los Osos as it did to Joe. Thanks Joe, great column!

Sewer Politics Alive And Well In 2016

It is a sad comment that despite the fact the sewer is up and running, and that we all will be hooked up to in the coming year, sewage is again entering the race for a director's seat on the LOCSD. A candidate leftover from the Recall Board appears to be running on her past failure. (Click on the image for a larger size.) See these examples off of the candidate's own Facebook pages.

"Moved the sewer?" Yes, we all know, the sewer is out of town - but the COUNTY had to build it because the CSD went bankrupt from stopping the old project! The current sewer is $29 MILLION more expensive. PLUS, all the years to wait for a project caused the groundwater situation to worsen exponentially. If that is something to be proud of—you must have no idea of the hardship this has caused to lower income residents, never mind the stress of the CDOs—remember those?—a direct result of the Recall Board stopping the project the way that it did.

Maybe we should ponder the decision-making from said candidate; consider these quotes:

Julie Tacker asserts:

Roger Briggs said that the Water Board could assess fines to the community of up to $44 million, or $10,000 per day per individual home. Here is what he said:

Negotiate prices? Of what exactly? Some negotiation "success" looking at Briggs' comment! 

The State did not think that the LOCSD's "stop work order" could be done without first asking permission. So they cut off the SRF funding. Not surprisingly, stopping the work illegally was considered a delay, but they had a remedy - which was ignored (see Attachment A).

Tacker thought that the District could just "abandon their current arrangement and get back in line for another loan."* HAH! That is the epitome of uninformed and/or delusional thinking. Voters, you be the clear-thinking judge in November.

* Bay News, October 5-11, 2005.

Excremental.....Or Hysterical?

This is not something I'd normally post on here. But as we are running mighty thin on our own local sewer story—hook-ups right on schedule, nothing shocking blowing us out of the water, angry sewer commenters out of steam, I thought I'd post this link to stir up the day a bit. I did find one of the animations offensive, but considering that this was created in Russia, and the ethnic background understandings would not likely be present, I will post this link anyway. Those of you with a low tolerance for scatology might not want to click on this link; you have been warned!

Sewer History Exhibit

• WEFTEC 2016, New Orleans, La. September 24-28, 2016.

If you are in New Orleans, or once, knowing about this you might go there, check out the traveling exhibit at the Water Environment Federation! See it on the link below!

http://www.sewerhistory.org/sewer-history-display/

Snowball Ride To Bankruptcy

I was doing some summer cleaning yesterday afternoon and came upon a copy of a letter I forgot that I had. It was from the State Water Resources Control Board to then Interim General Manager Dan Bleskey of the Los Osos Community Services District. It is dated October 18, 2005. It explains how the State Revolving Fund loan monies were being withheld. Go ahead, have a look - click on the image to see a larger size.

I suspect that unless you at least arrived here in Los Osos during the years 2004-2010, this letter may not mean much to you. But it you live in the water service area served by the LOCSD, have heard of an upcoming election for the LOCSD, and have read the above letter, you might wonder if there is more to this story, like say, a bankruptcy? 

If you live in the Prohibition Zone, you might have noticed that on your tax bill you are paying for two sewer fees. The smaller amount is for the sewer that did not happen in town because that sewer project was stopped, and the larger amount is for the sewer we did get, out of town, behind the cemetery. 

The two old directors and the three new directors to the LOCSD after the recall election, foolishly stopped work on the sewer project that was already under construction without the permission required that was part of the agreement, so **NO SURPRISE** the funds to pay for THAT sewer - were cut off! Financial mayhem ensued. It is very troubling that the two directors that were already on the LOCSD board BEFORE the recall election Julie Tacker and Lisa Schicker, did not understand the facts of the sewer construction contract for the SRF money which was keeping the LOCSD afloat. Every cent possible LOCSD cent was poured into sewer construction because the Regional Water Quality Control Board was after them to build the sewer - pronto. Foot dragging had gone on for too many years, this was the third attempt at remediating the sewage problems of Los Osos. When the SRF money vanished and the multiple lawsuits sprung to life, the LOCSD was doomed.

What happened after 2005 could fill a book, and in fact it did fill part of a book, Small Town, Perfect Storm by Barbara Wolcott.

As I uncover more interesting historical documents, I will post them.