Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Consent Decree for Waste Water Treatment Plant Spill

 
As promised, Consent Decree governing the sewage settlement.
 
Now we need the consultant's report, who the consultant is, how much they're getting paid, etc.


Read it here...

Submitted by Lionel Emde

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

all this material--decree and various reports--should be on city website. And all homeowners who are thought to have older possibly leaking lateral systems due for replacement should have been notified by the city by mail. I have a friend who suspects he is subject to expensive ocean rise remodel restrictions plus lateral repair and he has not been notified by council. He can't wait to put flyers out in his neighborhood in next year's election.

for the record said...

Ok check me if I got this wrong.

The City never paid for the proper upkeep of the "state of the art sewage plant" plant over flows and spills 7.5 million gallons of waste. The city is at fault but passes the buck over to the homeowners?

Classic the way they do everything in Pacifica, Jimmy V and "Sneaky" Pete are building trails to no where, the city is headed towards County takeover and or Bankruptcy.

Anonymous said...

"a friend who suspects he is subject to expensive ocean rise remodel restrictions plus lateral repair and he has not been notified by council." Consider the possibility that's he's not subject to any of that. How can he be "notified by council" if there's nothing to notify him about? Why doesn't he contact the city and find out what he's subject to? Maybe his ire is baseless.

Anonymous said...

An entire county in Alabama is filing bankruptcy
because of their sewer fiasco. Largest ever bankruptcy of its type. Guess we have a role model!

Chris Fogel said...

Lionel,

Regarding this line of yours

Now we need the consultant's report, who the consultant is, how much they're getting paid, etc.

Is this RMC Water and Environment (as mentioned at paragraph 26) or am I missing a reference to some other consulting service being provided to the city?

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Council lacks common courtesy. Council knows or should know all or most homes affected by lateral problems. Council therefore should have mailed a full disclosure to all these homeowners. My house is ten years old. I have no dog in this fight. Other than this--if Council set an ordinance that cost me several thousand dollars and I did not get a mailed notice, I would be fairly upset. So my sympathies are with prior posters: if anyone is going to get charged for ocean rise remodel issues or lateral repair and they did hear in detail from city council--good-by city council next election.

Anonymous said...

Didn't the city recently go around hanging green notices on door knobs to alert people to the smoke testing of sewer laterals? I believe it was just a couple weeks ago in Linda Mar. Those tests were to determine which households really had a problem. Perhaps the results aren't in yet and those notices are still in the works? Take your time city workers. I'm in no hurry.

Anonymous said...

Some people would rather stay ignorant and angry than become informed.

Lionel Emde said...

Chris,
The last council meeting agenda packet referred to a consultant who was responsible for the "twenty-year plan." The report was not included in the packet as it should have been.

And in my reading of this decree, this clause really stuck out:
Pg. 12, Sec. 29: "By January 31,2014, the City shall complete an updated Long Range Sanitary Sewer CIP... (Capital Improvement Plan)... (it) shall include any additional repair, rehabilitation or replacement projects identified to address Collection System deficiencies... The City shall implement the (plan)...by Nov. 1, 2014.'

'...in no event shall Pacifica delay any projects ... longer than is necessary to finance implentation of (the plan) over a period of three years unless the City would have to raise sewer rates to a level equal to or greater than three percent (3%) of annual household income for Pacifica residents."

A typical two-income household at $100,000 gross income per year might pay $3,000 for the sewer tax if this scenario plays out. That's triple what many people pay now.

And how the hell do they determine "annual household income?" Is there going to be an annual questionnaire? How could this even be legal?

People better pay attention to this issue. It dwarfs any other I've seen concerning city business and our liabilities as taxpayers.

Chris Fogel said...

Thank you, Lionel, and thanks for keeping us informed about these matters.

Regarding household income, I'd guess the city would use Census or American Communities Survey data.

Not So Much With My Clothes ON said...

Some poor bastard wants to add a second story to his house and needs a variance for who-knows-what. He has to notify all his neighbors within a certain geographical distance radiating from his house so they can come and tell the planning commission why this guy shouldn't be allowed to exercise his property rights. Now we have the city on the verge of passing an ordinance that will infringe on thousands of homewowners and THEY don't have to notify anyone!?
Bullshit!

Anonymous said...

More Lionel Emde and Chris Fogel please. The rest just rant or inflame.

Anonymous said...

"Some people would rather stay ignorant and angry...". Welcome to Pacifica!

Pacifica tax & spend said...

We the city will continue to tax and spend!

Anonymous said...

Not to worry, another tax will be on the ballot real soon.

grim council reaper said...

At least Mary Ann, says she is sorry when she increases taxes or fees!

The other mopes on council just sit around like deer caught in the headlights!

Steve Sinai said...

Mary Ann and Len Stone are stuck with cleaning up the mess made by Jim Vreeland, Sue Digre, and Pete DeJarnatt.

Excessively high garbage fees, the withering away of our police department, thousands of dollars in lateral line repairs upon selling your house, nowhere to shop and nothing of interest to draw tourists - all a result of the mismanagement and contempt for economic development by Vreeland, Digre, DeJarnatt, and their "we are at one with the earth, we're poor so you have to be poor, too", twirly-dancing, medical-marijuana puffing cronies.