New Morro Bay Council Adopts Vital New Goal

City Council members Jamie Irons, Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler believe they have righted the ship by making the planning and construction of a new water reclamation facility (also known as a wastewater treatment plant) the city's top priority in the 2013 goals the Council has adopted to guide the city's mission into 2014. The wasted time and money spent by the previous Council on developing a new facility seems to have ended.

The new Morro Bay City Council, which took office in December and began to do more serious business in January, has adopted new city goals. Topping the list is development of a new "water reclamation facility." Surprised?

It shouldn't be a surprise, given what has gone on over the past four or five years (some call it chaos in City Hall) and all the city money that has been spent on just "planning" (or so it was characterized) to build a new plant, the cost of which probably runs into the millions. (No one has tabulated the total cost, at least a total that has been made public). Many are saying it's about time to get moving on a new wastewater treatment plant. Actually, some say, long overdue.

It is a significant new development because the old Council majority that was replaced in the city election primary last June 5 didn't rank it as a top goal, only third, despite pressure from state agencies to get it started and the community's need for a new, more reliable and cheaper source of potable water.

Even then, it apparently didn't merit being ranked as an actual goal but only the first of nine "objectives" under the goal "Improve and Maintain Infrastructure."

It seems that the contrast between the previous Council and the current Council couldn't be clearer. The old Council (mayor Bill Yates, Carla Borchard, Nancy Johnson, George Leage, Noah Smukler) didn't think a new wastewater treatment plant (as it was known then) — capable of producing millions of gallons of recycled water for the benefit of the community — should be a top priority. But the new Council (mayor Jamie Irons, Christine Johnson, Nancy Johnson, Leage and Smukler) made no qualms — the plant SHOULD be THE top priority (City of Morro Bay / Essential City Goal - Outline Goal 1).

Some think the old Council's failure to give the plant higher ranking in its 2012 goals is ironic since the plant did not get planned nor construction started during that Council's tenure, despite the claim of Council members that they eagerly wanted it undertaken.

Could that be why two of its members — Yates and Borchard — were defeated in their reach for reelection, defeated by Irons and Christine Johnson (the terms of Nancy Johnson and George Leage do not expire until next year, 2014, so they were not running for reelection last year)? Some would say residents don't pay that close attention to developments with the water reclamation facility, but who knows?

Perhaps the majority of voters who elected Irons and Johnson were tired of all the hassling over building a new plant (as the state has ordered) and were disturbed with the costs that will come out of taxpayers' pockets but had produced absolutely no results. Therefore, Yates and Borchard were out, and Irons and Johnson were in.

And during all this, the City — among other things — had hired a development contractor (MWH, Montgomery Watson Harza) who got kicked out of New Orleans where it was conducting repairs from Hurricane Katrina while it was developing preliminary plans for a new Morro Bay-Cayucos plant. The City also had hired lobbyist Susan McCabe to convince the California Coastal Commission that it should approve, as Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District (Joint Powers Agreement partners) had proposed, the upgrading of the old plant on the shores of Estero Bay. Had they checked, they would have found that McCabe is one of the most disliked individuals among people at the Coastal Commission. (Her hiring must have "gone over well" with the Coastal Commission staff, which had emphasized that the Coastal Act would never allow that old plant to remain and be upgraded. ( See: Slo Coast Journal - July 2012.)

Despite the uncontested need for a new facility, the ousted Council majority seemed to say (in its 2012 goals), "So what." That Council's priorities did not reflect that need. Here they are:

Goal 1: Operate Efficiently & Effectively

Objective 1: Improve and Streamline the Planning and Permitting Process

Goal 2: Sustainability

Objective 1: Keep Morro Bay Safe and Vital
Objective2: Create an Economic Development Program
Objective3: Update Sign Ordinance
Objective 4: Ensure that Morro Strand State Park Campground Remains Open.

Goal 3: Improve and Maintain Infrastructure

Objective 1: Complete Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Complete the project plan
· Keep cost to a minimum short and long term operations and maintenance
· Re-writing JPA agreement with Cayucos
· Be open to shifting the “Plan” if appropriate
· Re-evaluate bio- solids component

Other goals and objectives along with these are at Goals and Priorities 2012 - 2013.

Residents in general benefit from keeping Morro Bay safe and vital and city government operating efficiently and effectively, of course. But who benefits primarily from such objectives as streamlining the planning and permitting process, creating an economic development program, and updating the sign ordinance, all of which were ranked higher than the plant in Goal 3? Clearly, it is the business community, not the average resident. As a result, that is the focus of those goals.

Irons, Christine Johnson, and Smukler have made clear they are especially proud of their 2013 goals, particularly in making the water reclamation facility their top priority. As candidates and elected Council members, they believed and still believe they are fulfilling their commitments to serving residents overall, not a segment of them — like special interests, such as businesses and developers. Ironically, even they will benefit from a new water reclamation facility.

Christine Johnson, George Leage, Jamie Irons, Nancy Johnson, and Noah Smukler (City Photo)

Belted Kingfisher Image on Banner by Cleve Nash