The City of Hollister dodged a $200,000 fine Friday when the
state agency that slapped it with a sewer moratorium three years
ago, which prohibits new building, gave the city more time to solve
its sewer problems.
Hollister – The City of Hollister dodged a $200,000 fine Friday when the state agency that slapped it with a sewer moratorium three years ago, which prohibits new building, gave the city more time to solve its sewer problems.
But the pressure is still on to find a speedy solution.
In 2002, after 15 million gallons of treated sewage spilled into the San Benito River, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board gave the city until Oct. 15 of this year to construct a new sewage plant. Since the spill, Hollister has been working toward building a new sewage treatment plant, and last year the city joined with San Benito County and the county water district to come up with a solution. Despite the effort, the city did not meet the deadline and this marks the first extension the state has granted Hollister.
On Friday, City Manager Clint Quilter met with water board members in Santa Barbara to request they extend the deadline. The board granted an extension, and gave the city revised deadlines for getting a new treatment plant up and running.
“I think that’s great,” Councilman Robert Scattini said after he heard the news. “At least that gives us a little breathing room.”
Though the deadline extension is good news for Hollister, the city is still at risk of fines if it does not meet the new deadlines. They include drafting a long-term wastewater plan by the end of the year; awarding a contract for construction of 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, according to Quilter.
Quilter said the city can meet the most immediate deadline – a long-term wastewater plan by Dec. 31. He also said that, barring any delay during state-mandated environmental studies of the project, the other two deadlines will be met. Construction on a new sewage treatment plant is slated to begin between June and September of 2006, Quilter has said.
The effects of the sewer moratorium, which prohibits any new building or remodeling that would require a new sewer hook-up, have been far-reaching. Hollister has become less attractive to businesses looking to relocate and it is nearly impossible for the city to provide adequate affordable housing, according to city officials.
“It’s devastating this town,” Scattini said.
While many in Hollister are impatient to see the moratorium lifted, plans for a new sewage treatment plant are 90 percent complete, according to Quilter. The major hang-up, however, has been devising a way to dispose of treated wastewater.
Currently, wastewater is percolated into the ground, but once the new plant is built there will be too much water to continue doing that. Ideally, the treated wastewater will be used for agriculture. But the city’s mineral-rich water is harmful to plants and will need further treatment to be used for agriculture.
Finding a solution to the disposal dilemma is one of the tasks being undertaken by the Governance Committee for the Hollister Urban Area Water and Wastewater Plan – a board organized last year that consists of members from Hollister, San Benito County and the county water district.
In August, the Governance Committee accepted a work plan that lays out milestones and deadlines to meet them, which will ultimately result in a comprehensive water and wastewater plan for the city and a new sewage treatment plant.
Luke Roney covers local politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
