Hollister
– The city’s sewage woes – and its related development
moratorium – may be approaching their end. At its meeting on
Monday, the City Council approved the final Environmental Impact
Report for its wastewater system improvement project, executed a
construction contract for the project’s first ph
ase and gave the thumbs up to the project itself.
Hollister – The city’s sewage woes – and its related development moratorium – may be approaching their end. At its meeting on Monday, the City Council approved the final Environmental Impact Report for its wastewater system improvement project, executed a construction contract for the project’s first phase and gave the thumbs up to the project itself.
“The sooner you build it, the happier I’ll be,” Mayor Robert Scattini told a construction company representative.
Not everyone was happy with the decision. Ruth Erickson of the Hollister Airmen’s Association and Jerry Gabe, a former member of the Hollister Airport Advisory Commission, both spoke critically about the Environmental Impact Report and the project’s potential effect on the airport. Erickson said the report failed to identify the location of the sprayfields that are planned to dispose of treated wastewater during the project’s early stages. She also said a number of agencies affected by the project, including the Federal Aviation Administration, had not been contacted about the report.
According to Josh Ferris of Analytical Environmental Services, the company that prepared the report, 30 local agencies were notified through the state clearinghouse.
City Manager Clint Quilter added that the council has not selected a site for the sprayfields.
“You’re not approving that part of the project,” he told the council. “You’re only approving the treatment plant and the storage facility.”
In addition to repeating some of Erickson’s complaints, Gabe said he is still worried that water from the sprayfields would get on to the airport’s runway.
“I don’t believe the consultants have ever been out to the airport after it’s rained,” Gabe said. “After all is said and done and water is on the runway, the people who wrote this report are going to be long gone.”
Quilter responded to Gabe by pointing out that the city will not be using the sprayfields during the rainy season.
“That’s why you’re building the storage facility,” Quilter said.
The council also approved a $57 million contract with C. Overaa & Co., the firm that offered the lowest bid for the project’s first phase. This phase will include the construction of a membrane bioreactor treatment facility, which will use biological processes to treat wastewater. City Engineering Manager Steve Wittry said C. Overaa’s bid was $14 million less than the city’s estimate of $71 million.
He added that a competing masonry firm had complained that the company chosen by C. Overaa to build the stone columns for soil stabilization was not qualified. Wittry said that as far as the city could determine, the subcontractor is fully qualified. If it eventually becomes clear that subcontractor cannot meet the project’s requirements, he said, C. Overaa will find a new subcontractor at no cost to the city.
The city must now allow a 30-day appeals period to pass before construction can begin. Wittry said that construction is scheduled to begin in early December.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
