Board of Supes and Our Sewer

UPDATE! Here is a link to the page with details on the three items below:
https://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/meeting/Details/1256

The April 21st agenda of the SLO County Board of Supervisors holds a bounty of sewer items! Naturally, while the County is practically closed, the meeting will be online. Public comment will go on unimpeded - see below.*

1. Remote Viewing/Listening - Members of the public who wish to watch or listen to the meeting can find links for livestreaming the meeting at: https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Board-of-Supervisors/Board-Meetings,-Agendas-and-Minutes.aspx

So here are the three sewer items on the agenda!

Items Set for Hearing:

2.  Request to set a public hearing to consider collecting delinquent charges on the FY 2020-21 County property tax bills for County Service Area Nos. 1 (Nipomo), 7-A (Oak Shores), 10 (Cayucos) and the San Luis Obispo County Wastewater Assessment District Nos. 1 (Los Osos). Hearing date set for July 7, 2020. Districts 1, 2, and 4.

Consent Agenda - Public Works Items:

29.  Submittal of a resolution confirming the FY 2020-21 annual installments of the Monarch Grove Sewer Capacity Charges and authorizing collection of the charges on property tax bills, Los Osos. District 2.

Hearings:

36.  Hearing to consider protests to a proposed sewer service charges increase for the Los Osos Sewer Service Area and if there is not majority protest, adopt the attached ordinance, which establishes the sewer service charges and requirements for the Los Osos Sewer Service Area; and find that the project is exempt from Section 21000 et seq. of the California Public Resources Code (CEQA). District 2.

Item 36 is the biggie. I lost count on the number of posts on this topic of the sewer rate increase on our local Nextdoor— I got tired of counting at 48, there were more, plus one poll!

The staff reports have not been posted, so I'll have to add that link later.

I plan to tune in.


* 2. Public Comment - The Board of Supervisors will still be accepting general public comment for items not on the agenda, as well as public comment on specific agenda items. Public comment can be submitted in the following ways: 

Persons who require accommodations for any audio, visual or other disability in order to review an agenda, or to participate in a meeting of the Board of Supervisors per the American Disabilities Act (ADA), may obtain assistance by requesting such accommodation 72 hour in advance of the meeting to the Clerk of the Board at (805) 781-5011. County of San Luis Obispo Government Center 1055 Monterey St.| San Luis Obispo, CA 93408 | (P) 805 -781-5000 | 7-1-1 TTY/TDD Relay slocounty.ca.gov 

Live Verbal Public Comment – At the start of the meeting or when the item you would like to speak about is called, please call (805) 321-0555. While you wait for your call to be screened, you will be hearing the meeting live on the other end of the phone. Staff will get on the line with you to screen your call, please be prepared with the agenda item number you would like to speak about and your name. Staff will then place you in a queue for the Clerk of the Board. When it is your turn to speak, the Clerk of the Board will announce your name and then you can speak for 3 minutes. If you are getting a busy signal, that means our queue is full, please continue to call until you get through. 

Voice Mail -Pre Recorded Verbal Public Comment - Call (805) 788-6638; 
state and spell your name, mention the agenda item number you are calling about and leave your comment. Verbal comments are limited to 3 minutes including stating your name. Please limit your comment to one (1) agenda item per message. If you would like to comment on multiple agenda items, you are requested to leave a separate message for each item. Verbal comments (voicemails) must be received by the Clerk of the Board no later than 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the noticed meeting and will be limited to 3 minutes per item. Every effort will be made to play your comment aloud at the meeting. However, some comments may not be included due to the time limitations. All comments will be entered into the administrative record and provided each board member. 

Email or Mail Public Comment - Public Comment can be submitted any time via email or U.S. Mail. Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday prior to the Board meeting. Please submit your comment to the Clerk of the Board at ad_Board_clerk@co.slo.ca.us or send comment. Your comment will be placed into the administrative record of the meeting and forwarded to each board member. Comments will not be read aloud or presented visually at the meeting. Mailing Address: 

Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 

1055 Monterey St. D430 

San Luis Obispo, CA 93408.

BOS Agenda 1-5-2016 - The Los Osos Items

The two items below have the links to their relevant support documents. The road repairs were a result of the sewer project; and the groundwater basin item relates to sewers due to the recycled water going back into the basin. 

Consent Agenda - Public Works Items: 

13. Submittal of a resolution authorizing execution of notice of completion and acceptance for the construction of the FY 2014 Asphalt Overlay, Various Roads in Los Osos.District 2. (The money for this came out of the County's road fund,"This is a multi-year project budgeted in the Road Fund at $4,044,988 WBS 300519." 

14. Submittal of an Initial Notification of Intent to the California Department of WaterResources (DWR) to explore a boundary modification for the Los Osos GroundwaterBasin. District 2. 

On #14, the statement from the staff report most relevant to Los Osian pocketbooks is:

Costs associated with submittal of this initial notification to DWR and engagement with Basin users are within the Flood Control District’s FY 2015-16 budget. We will return to your Board at a future date if any further action is necessary. HOWEVER, we will be paying our share back once the respective boards making up the Basin Plan Committee finds out the cost and gets each board's approval to pay it. 

The last time the basin boundaries were looked at was 2003. New information delineates the basin differently. When you look at the map of this, there looks to be a confusion of the meaning of the word "basin." The DWR lines seem to outline a watershed. But when you drive down the valley, farmers are watering crops. Where does that water come from? Has any of those non-Los Osos water supplies been studied and are the farmers having water issues too? 

I hope this all goes smoothly and we don't get another awful delay as we did by stopping the 2005 sewer. The water supply has gone downhill since then due to no water traveling back to the lower aquifer (which is a hit down the road actually - it takes 20-30 years to get the water down to the lower aquifer, our main water supply, from the giant Broderson leach field). The CSD's bankruptcy due to stopping the sewer meant that there was no money for water conservation measures that would have helped. Also, with no sewer project, one wonders what the CSD could have done as they do not serve water to Golden State customers anyway. They could not make those people conserve. Without the sewer nexus, only half measures could have been done. Really, the $29 million we are paying to have this thing out of town is the least of the problems. The elephant-sized problem is the cost of doing nothing to save our basin for so many, many years. The delay caused not just the sewer costs to go up, but our water supply "fixes" as well.

Los Osos Items - BOS Tuesday, November 25

These items were posted today, Tuesday, November 18:

AGENDA                                BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Consent Agenda - Public Works Items:

1. 23. Submittal of a resolution authorizing execution of notice of completion and acceptance of construction for the 2013–14 Asphalt Overlay, South Bay Boulevard from Los Osos Valley Road to Santa Ysabel Avenue in Los Osos. District 2. 

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=4023

• Hearings: 
• 42. Hearing to consider an amendment to the Building and Construction Ordinance, Title 19 of the County Code, changing the requirements for retrofitting of plumbing fixtures in connection with additions, remodels, and new development of residential, commercial and other structures within the Los Osos Groundwater Basin. District 2. 

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=4024

• 43. Hearing for an amendment to the Health and Sanitation Ordinance, Title 8 of the County Code, changing the requirements for sellers of real property within the Los Osos Groundwater Basin to retrofit plumbing fixtures with water-efficient fixtures at time of sale. District 2.

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=4021

When the links to the support documents become available, I will post them.
Note: see links above, posted November 19, 2014.

Execution—But In A Good Way!

Off the Board of Supes Agenda, Tuesday, October 28, 2014, the collection pipes are officially DONE! I will post links to the support documents as they become available.

0. Consent Agenda - Public Works Items:
2. 14. Submittal of a resolution authorizing execution of notice of completion and acceptance for the Collection System Areas A & D Contract (ARB, Inc.) for the Los Osos Wastewater Project, Los Osos. District 2.
   

Link to Item 14 Documents.

0. 15. Submittal of a resolution authorizing execution of notice of completion and acceptance for the Collection System Areas B & C Contract (W.A. Rasic Construction Company, Inc.) for the Los Osos Wastewater Project, Los Osos. District 2. 
   

Link to Item 15 Documents.

Mystery Solved, Disruption Displayed

Yesterday's mystery of the video capture was revealed today on YouTube. It was to be a hit piece against Supervisor Adam Hill. Instead it actually revealed what the official Board of Supervisor's videos don't capture: the obnoxious and disruptive behavior of the weekly sewer complainers from Los Osos. Really, If anyone had any doubt, please play the video below and hear this for yourself. Thanks to Ms. Mordaunt and/or "Slohealth nut" who posted this video, they may be one in the same, I don't know.

The excellent point Mr. Hill makes is that if the accusations against the project were as bad as they were described every week, scores of people would be there to complain, not just the angry, repetitive, boring five. The italics are my words but my feelings are shared by many. That anger does Los Osos no good on any front or in any venue.

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!

Board Of Supes - Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Off the Tuesday, July 24, 2012 BOS agenda:

12. Submittal of two resolutions for the Los Osos Wastewater Project to: 1) reduce specified assessments; and 2) ordering change of proceedings to increase assessments on two parcels. District 2.

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/78/QWdlbmRh/6/n/7214.doc

The relevant documents can be found here:

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html;jsessionid=C805326E3A7EBE98CCFD5A552B83A336?select=1268

Tuesday, June 05, 2012 Board of Supervisors Meeting

Consent Agenda - Planning & Building Items

7. Request to approve a contract with Jodi McGraw Consultants in the amount of $189,814 to prepare a Habitat Conservation Plan for the Community of Los Osos. District 2.


From the staff report:
"The Los Osos HCP is a component of the overall protection strategy for the sensitive habitats of Los Osos. The absence of this plan will result in a patchwork of permitting that will not be able to achieve the coordinated goals of the Los Osos HCP. This plan also provides one of the components to allow future growth in Los Osos. Preparation and implementation of this plan is consistent with the Countywide goals of providing a well-governed and livable community."