Hollister
– As Hollister’s plans to improve its wastewater treatment plant
move forward, members of San Benito County’s Board of Supervisors
have raised questions about the project’s schedule and impact.
Hollister – As Hollister’s plans to improve its wastewater treatment plant move forward, members of San Benito County’s Board of Supervisors have raised questions about the project’s schedule and impact.
These concerns are described in the supervisors’ formal response to the draft environmental impact report prepared by the Sacramento firm Analytical Environmental Services and released in July. The letter is signed by Board Chair Pat Loe and addressed to City Manager Clint Quilter and Dave Jones of CH2M Hill, the sewer project manager; in it, Loe argues that Hollister needs to make more definite and expedient plans for the project’s second phase, which is scheduled to begin in 2014.
“Phase two is the point at which they’re going to do deal with demineralization and ionization of the water,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho. “That’s just moving the problem forward into the future.”
He also said he’s concerned about phase two’s funding, especially since the current sewer rate rates only cover the expenses for phase one.
“Who’s going to pay for it?” Botelho asked.
Quilter said he’s received the supervisors’ letter. According to him, phase two will be a joint project between the county, the city and the water district, with a timeline that the three bodies have agreed on.
When asked why the supervisors might still have concerns about the second phase, Quilter said, “Well, they’re like everybody else. It’s a big issue, and they’d like it to be done as quickly as possible.”
He added, “I wasn’t at the meeting, so I can’t say for sure. But that would be my assumption.”
The supervisors’ letter also requests that the city look more closely at the spray fields that are supposed to disperse treated wastewater after the completion of phase one.
“The spray fields are a temporary solution,” Loe said. “But what does ‘temporary’ mean? And if it doesn’t work out, what’s Plan B?”
Another issue raised by the letter is the project’s potential to further degrade the county’s water; Botelho said he’s particularly worried about the groundwater.
“Right now, given the choice, most farmers would not pump groundwater from the San Juan Basin,” he said.
The city plans to release a final EIR and award a construction contract on Oct. 30. Quilter said the EIR will include responses to comments the city has received. Loe said she’s confident that the supervisors’ concerns can be easily addressed.
“The EIR is such an extremely technical document, but if you ask a question in English, then you can get a response in English,” she said.
Botelho was less optimistic.
“I have zero confidence that this will be addressed,” he said. “Hollister will do what is best for Hollister, and the impacts to the rest of the county are just unfortunate.”
He added, “The citizens of Hollister … deserve a plant that will take care of their needs in the future, but this project isn’t the way to do that.”
The supervisors’ letter was approved unanimously at their meeting Tuesday. Before the vote, community member Marvin Jones criticized the board for taking so long to respond – the official response period ended Sept. 12, Quilter said.
“I think you folks are a day late and a dollar short on this one,” Jones said.
Both Botelho and Loe acknowledged that they had missed the normal deadline.
“In all honestly, we should have responded to this a lot sooner than we did,” Botelho said.
Loe explained the delay by saying that the supervisors didn’t have a response ready earlier.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566, ext. 330 or [email protected].
