Building Hollister’s new sewage treatment plant, which will get
the state to lift the building moratorium that has stifled
development in the city for three years, could take more than a
year longer than expected.
Hollister – Building Hollister’s new sewage treatment plant, which will get the state to lift the building moratorium that has stifled development in the city for three years, could take more than a year longer than expected.
Originally slated to be finished by December 2007, the new sewage treatment plant won’t be up and running until mid-2008 or early 2009, according to a revised schedule presented Monday to the Governance Committee for the Hollister Urban Area Water and Wastewater Plan – a group comprised of representatives from Hollister, San Benito County and the county water district.
Though construction on the plant will begin late this year as previously planned, recent research conducted by the city paints a clearer picture of just how long it will take to build a new sewage treatment plant, according to City Manager Clint Quilter. Comparable sewage treatment plants being built in other areas take between 18 and 30 months to build, according to Quilter. The average construction time is 22 months, he said.
“All the things we’ve been working on, we’re still meeting the time lines,” he said. “Nothing has slipped, but we’re gathering additional information as we go.”
In 2002, after 15 million gallons of treated sewage spilled into the San Benito River, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board slapped a moratorium on new sewer hook-ups and gave Hollister until Oct. 15 of 2005 to build a new sewage treatment plant.
In October, the city dodged $200,000 in fines when, at the request of Quilter, the RWQCB gave the city more time to construct a new sewage treatment plant. At the same time that it granted the extension, the RWQCB gave the city a series of revised deadlines.
The city met the first deadline last month when it submitted a long-term wastewater plan. The other revised deadlines include awarding a construction contract for a new treatment plant by late 2006 and drafting a disposal plan for treated wastewater by March, 2007. Each deadline missed will result in more than $66,000 in fines being levied against the city.
Supervisor Pat Loe, who sits on the Governance Committee, said she thought that the original projected completion timeline for the treatment plant – about 15 months – was unrealistic. She said she thinks that the city will be able to work within the new construction schedule.
“I really believe now we’re talking about realistic numbers and realistic goals,” she said.
Hollister Mayor Robert Scattinni, also a member of the Governance Committee, said that the committee will still be working hard to shave months off of the construction timeline for the treatment plant.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to get it back to 2007,” he said. “We’ll do everything to hurry-up construction.”
Local officials agree that the moratorium has been disastrous for Hollister, precluding the city from building new housing and attracting new businesses.
“I can tell you that we got to do it and we’re working the best we can on it,” Scattinni said. “It’s really bad and businesses are not going to come.”
The moratorium also hurts residents on an individual basis by restricting their ability to remodel their homes with new bathrooms, Loe said.
“There are so many things that hinge on it,” she said. “It touches every level of citizens in this community.”
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
