Los Osos sewer on the horizon
David Sneed
The Tribune
07/22/2010
Construction of the Los Osos sewer system could begin as soon as September 2011.
Under the current timeline, work on the project would begin in March 2012. However, county supervisors have the option of speeding up the process and beginning work six months earlier.
Sewer project managers will update the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday about the status and ask whether they want to pursue the accelerated schedule. At that meeting, they also hope to know whether the county will get $80 million in federal stimulus funding, which would reduce the financial burden on Los Osos property owners.
The state Coastal Commission unanimously gave its final approval Friday to the Los Osos sewer project, allowing it to move closer to construction and possibly secure millions of dollars in federal stimulus funding.
Friday’s decision could help the county receive more than $80 million in a federal stimulus funding package. County Supervisor Bruce Gibson, whose Second District includes Los Osos, said that a decision on how the stimulus money will be allocated is expected in July.
“It’s a tremendous result,” Gibson said. “While we’ll celebrate this accomplishment, we’re also going to start working on the 65 other things we have to do.”
The Los Osos sewer project faces a crucial and possibly final hearing Friday when it goes before the state Coastal Commission in Marina del Rey.
County officials are cautiously optimistic that the commission will give its final approval, allowing the project to move into its construction phase. The panel will review seven aspects of the project that were identified as problematic during a hearing Jan. 14.
The outcome of Friday’s meeting could dictate whether the county will receive $86 million in federal stimulus funding. A decision on how the stimulus money will be allocated is expected in July, said county Supervisor Bruce Gibson, whose district includes Los Osos.
An engineering and consulting firm that has drawn frequent fire from critics of the Los Osos sewer project has been ripped in a scathing draft report from the city of New Orleans Inspector General’s Office.
However, the vice president of communications for Montgomery, Watson, Harza said the New Orleans report was leaked to the media prematurely and contains inaccuracies. She said the company would have a detailed response by mid-April.
Its spokeswoman, Meg VanderLaan, added that the New Orleans project has nothing to do with the Los Osos project.
In a recent viewpoint (“Los Osos sewer update,” Jan. 25), Supervisor Bruce Gibson suggested the Coastal Commission’s decision to review the Los Osos Wastewater Project is not needed because the problems the Coastal Commission identified are minor.
But in fact, the Coastal Commission had no choice but to step in to improve the project because the issues are so significant they could mean the difference between protecting coastal resources (the water supply and sensitive habitat) and harming resources.
The wastewater project’s environmental impact report states that about 500 acre feet per year of groundwater will stop flowing to Willow Creek drainage, causing much of the mile-long stretch of dense riparian habitat and wetlands in the eastern part of Los Osos to dry up. Mitigations for the impacts are not specific and most likely inadequate to protect the resources. Willow Creek drainage supports Willow Creek, Eto Lake and Los Osos Valley Creek all protected under the Environmentally Sensitive Habitat.
The 2nd District includes far more than Los Osos, and whoever occupies the supervisor’s seat next January will have considerably more to deal with than the Los Osos sewer.
Yet the sewer and all its history and ramifications hang over the North Coast contest like a miasma over Morro Rock.
Attorney Marshall Ochylski, who is challenging incumbent Bruce Gibson, entered the race largely because he is critical of the way Gibson and his fellow supervisors have handled the long-stewing sewer problem.
“They will be finalizing it up right about then,” said John Waddell, project engineer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the funds. “They have to get their end of it done by the end of the month.”
The state Coastal Commission gave the project its final regulatory approval a little over a month ago. Now, county public works officials are mapping out their activities in the coming months leading up to actually breaking ground on the $166 million infrastructure project.
Starting the project next year instead of in 2012 could have some cost savings, Waddell wrote in his report to supervisors.
“Obtaining bids sooner, as opposed to later, is generally desirable because the current bidding environment on construction contracts is very competitive, and cost savings are being realized locally and throughout the state,” he wrote.
The Los Osos sewer item is scheduled to be discussed soon after the supervisors’ lunch break. The public will have the opportunity to comment.
