I am a Morro Bay City Council candidate that “Cheaper in the long run?” (Oct. 22) criticized. My stance is: Staying at the current plant site is a superior, affordable option for the very reasons the writer identified. It will comply with the discharge order and reduce the high rates the incumbents have forced upon the community. 1. There will be no new building. There will be replacements of those parts not already replaced. Many parts have already been upgraded to keep the city processing sewage. Any cost will be in the $10 millions, not the $100 millions this new plant requires. 2. The plant remains in city limits, so there’s no county involvement. 3. It’s the new location that raised the cost of the sewer project from $37 million to $130.5 million in 11 years. Without four new pipelines, two new lift stations, and the energy required to pump sewage 3.5 miles uphill 24/7/365 for 30 years, the rates have no reason to escalate. 4. Most of the contractors have at-will contracts, so there will be nothing to pay back. There will be a settlement with Black and Veatch. 5. Yes, it really will be “cheaper in the long run.”
Betty Winholtz
Morro Bay
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 8, 2020.
At first, I didn’t really understand the facts of the Morro Bay sewer project. I kept hearing from our City Council that we couldn’t stay at the current location because the Coastal Commission wouldn’t allow it. But then I learned that this wasn’t really the whole truth. We cannot build a new plant to modern specifications at the current site, but we can repair what we already have without triggering a Coastal Commission review. We can repair what we already have and meet the Water Quality Control Board’s requirements. The old plant doesn’t make drinking water. It was designed to clean effluent to the standard that allows discharge into the sea safely. It worked well for several decades and it will still work well once it is repaired. Yes, I think Ms. Winholtz is right – we can do that easily and affordably.
Given the economic crisis that is looming just ahead, many cities will have a challenging time staying afloat, including Morro Bay. Let’s stop and think. Do we need to continue building a high-tech plant with mounting cost overruns and eminent domain litigation just because there is a loan available that might dry up? I suspect there will be more low-cost loans available in the coming years. We are not in a position to waste money. Fixing what we already have makes sense. Not only will it save money and get the job done, it will also buy time to consider better alternatives than the current site, find better loans, and build a plant that is more in line with our needs. This new plant is too big, too expensive and too wrong for so many reasons.
Let’s see what new City Council members and a new mayor will do. They seem to know a lot more about this subject while the incumbents remain selectively truthful. I’m smarter than that.