Wastewater Treatment Plant Issue Divides Candidates

by Kari Olsen

Synopsis:  The Morro Bay/Cayucos wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) upgrade is emerging as a key issue in the Morro Bay mayoral race.  Yates has advocated continuing the project currently underway, while Winholtz has urged the City Council and the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) Board to consider an alternative option proposed by PERC Water.

The Morro Bay/Cayucos wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is emerging as a key issue in the Morro Bay mayoral race.  Yates has advocated continuing the project currently underway, while Winholtz has urged the City Council and the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) Board to consider an alternative option proposed by PERC Water.

Yates expressed his support for the current project at the primary election candidates’ forum, at the Business and Community Forum, and at the April 8, 2010 meeting of JPA.  At the JPA meeting, Yates urged  Board members to "stay on the path" that they have been on for the last seven years.  

Winholtz has strongly endorsed investigation of the potential financial benefits of a solution offered by PERC Water, stating that since the project began, newer and better technologies have emerged that could save residents millions. Winholtz has stated her views in JPA meetings, Council meetings, and on her campaign website.

At the April JPA meeting, speaking against allowing PERC Water to make a formal presentation on its wastewater treatment technology, Yates recounted some of the project history, " . . . this joint board started talking about this in 1995. I think Mr. Enns is the only one around at that time.  In 2003, there were three of you up here that were at that meeting in Cayucos  where, I believe it was unanimous but that goes back so many  years now and the dementia is kicking in.  If it wasn't unanimous it was near unanimous that we voted to start down the path of tertiary treatment of our wastewater."

Expressing his concern that changing course could delay the project, Yates stated, "OK, we change the corner, and then there’s going to be something else and it goes on and on and on." And, "To stop this process now, seven years after our initial vote, to start down this path is just starting over," and, "So, I support you, as one of you just told me little awhile ago, staying the course—stay on the path, and get it done, and not keep putting it off."

On her campaign website, Winholtz stated, that, "There have been significant innovations in the field of wastewater treatment technology since the plant upgrade was first proposed in 2005 as a remodel, rather than a replacement.  Now that we are building from the ground up, it's a whole new project.  Yet the majority of the Council has held to the position that the City should continue on its current course, in spite of the fact that a course change could save at least 10 million dollars for the taxpayers of Morro Bay and Cayucos.  We need to obtain the most cost-effective and environmentally sound solution for our wastewater treatment needs."   

Winholtz further commented that, "While a course change might be a nuisance for staff, if it will save us 10 million dollars, I believe there is no other choice than to pursue it.  The proven technology proposed for that course change has been in use for over 10 years.  It uses far less land than the approach we are now pursuing and the firm in question guarantees the contract price, the schedule, and the quality of the water produced by treatment."  She also alluded to the potential for the PERC Water solution to help alleviate Morro Bay’s precarious water situation, stating, "The treated water could be used for irrigation, and that could help replenish our aquifers so that our wells, after some cleanup, could once again be a viable source of water for the City."

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