Bill Callahan, district manager of the Cayucos Sanitary District for the past seven years, resigned on March 15 for what he said were differences with some members of the District board, which is headed by Robert Enns, president, who is widely considered the most influential of the members. Callahan's dispute was primarily with Enns, a well-informed source said.
"It has become apparent that my values and vision for the management of the District are inconsistent with the values and vision of some board members," Callahan said in the surprise letter of resignation dated March 15. "I feel this philosophical difference will hinder the District's ability to move forward and my ability to perform my job as Manager of the District." The letter says the resignation will take effect on April 29.
The board and District have been involved in major controversy over the planning for a new wastewater treatment plant, which it owns and operates with the city of Morro Bay. It is located on Atascadero Road just south of Morro Bay High School, but it is likely to be moved to a new location, based on California Coastal Commission requirements.
The effort to replace the plant, whose construction began in 1951, city records show, stemmed from findings by the state that the plant was not meeting state water quality standards. The state then ordered in 1999 that a new plant be built.
During years of meetings between Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District, which own and operate the plant under a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), Enns has publicly stated that Cayucos does not need the recycled water that the Coastal Commission and its staff have said must be produced in significant quantities by a new plant to comply with local and state statutes. In fact, most of the Cayucos board members have appeared to be in opposition to the requirements for recycled water for a new plant. The Commission now has ultimate control over the design and capacity of a new treatment plant.
The Commission made clear in its March 11, 2011, decision rejecting plans by the JPA partners to "upgrade" the existing old plant, along with the Commission staff in letters to Morro Bay in 2008 and 2010 that the plant must be designed to produce significant amounts of recycled water, which can serve to replace the supply of state water that the city depends on. Abundant evidence shows that the state water is becoming more and more unreliable as the prime source of water for the city. It also is very costly and if recycled water were provided to the community, it could result in significant savings for residents.
But Cayucos has four water companies that provide water to that community, and the question of whether Cayucos could or should use recycled water from a new sewage plant it would co-own and operate is still up in the air and could be the basis for opposition by Enns and other board members to the district being part of an effort to build a new plant with the capacity to produce significant amounts of recycled water. There have been reports that the District might decide to withdrawn from its partnership with Morro Bay over such differences.
Two years ago, the partners had started negotiations over revising their Joint Powers Agreement, but once the planning for the plant became more involved and the Coastal Commission staff made clear what would be expected of the project, those negotiations were postponed without any reason being given.
Whether Callahan supports these policy positions of the District board on recycled water is not clear. He could not be reached for comment after the resignation letter was obtained on March 29.
Below is Callahan's letter of resignation:
