Just a few days ago, Hollister’s new wastewater treatment plant
had its official grand opening. I support this critical and
expensive project and I’m glad to see it finally go on line.
Naturally, the grand opening was well attended by the politicians
who are basking in the glow of their shiny new penny
– actually 10 billion of the public’s shiny new pennies.
Just a few days ago, Hollister’s new wastewater treatment plant had its official grand opening. I support this critical and expensive project and I’m glad to see it finally go on line. Naturally, the grand opening was well attended by the politicians who are basking in the glow of their shiny new penny – actually 10 billion of the public’s shiny new pennies.
I will give the Hollister City Council credit – they made a very good decision in selecting a professional project manager. They also ensured that the best people in the city departments, especially engineering, worked closely with him.
There is also a former politician who deserves credit for this success, and that’s Robert Scattini. His ongoing support was essential to getting citywide approval even though his stand on the issue may have cost him his council seat, but he did the right thing and that counts for a lot.
I wish the local politicians would spend more time saying thanks to the residents who are picking up the enormous bill. I’m not going to discuss the payment schedule. It will just make you cry.
One good way to say thanks to the ratepayers is to reduce those payments to a minimum. The council is scheduled to get the first report on possible rate reductions at its Monday meeting.
The city has said that the project came in significantly under budget; how significantly they have not announced yet. This could happen by a combination of three factors.
The first is decisions by the city that resulted in direct savings. In those cases, we should identify and recognize those who saved us money.
The second factor is a change in the overall cost environment.
And the third is that the original cost estimates were much too high. In that case, we should analyze the reasons for the over estimates and not make the same mistakes again.
Now that the city has approval for high rates, they are going to be reluctant to lower them or return any excess funds. Let me boldly suggest that they should not only lower rates, they should sweeten the pot. The city had a good plan for keeping the sewer rates in the painful, but bearable, category.
They were going to reduce the rates with impact fees from the 1,300 housing starts pent up during the moratorium and the annual allocation of 244 permits allowed by the growth ordinance. But they must recognize that their plan has been OBE (Overcome by Events). Those same events have squeezed the ratepayers and demand reevaluation of our short-term redevelopment strategy.
The best way to provide economic stimulus is to ensure people have some money to spend, and a large percentage of the local population spends 100 percent of their income. When you focus on the fact that a homeowner’s sewer bill is paid with after-tax dollars, you start to get the idea of how big a dent that is in some budgets.
Some RDA (Redevelopment Agency) funds are set aside for housing, but after that, the RDA has much discretion on when and how it spends the funds.
It doesn’t make sense to keep pouring money into a downtown that already has high vacancy and high non-retail occupancy rates during this historic economic downturn. If the economy turned around tomorrow, it would still take a significant period for the vacancies to disappear and the new businesses to establish themselves. Why put additional funding into projects that can obviously have no immediate benefit under these conditions? The best way to use those funds would be to sweeten the pot.
Start making ongoing contributions to reduce wastewater rates until the economy turns around. Several million dollars per year, applied year after year, will reduce the strain on the taxpayers and put some spending money on the street.
That would be a suitable thank you to the residents and an adjustment to fit the new facts of life.
