Hollister
– Future development southeast of Hollister may hinge on a
choice the Sunnyslope Water District will make in coming weeks.
Hollister – Future development southeast of Hollister may hinge on a choice the Sunnyslope Water District will make in coming weeks.
The state has ordered Sunnyslope to increase its wastewater treatment capacity, and the water district’s board of directors is currently looking at two options: hooking up to Hollister’s sewage treatment system or adding another wastewater treatment plant of its own.
Water district vice president Stephen Hailstone said the board will make a decision at its March 8 meeting or shortly afterward.
An early “ballpark figure” seems to indicate that building a new plant would be cheaper, Hailstone said. However, he said, “The cost either way is outrageous.”
The Sunnyslope Water District provides wastewater service to about 1,200 customers southeast of Hollister, including residents of Ridgemark Estates, Quail Hollow and Oak Creek, as well as the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
As the water board makes its choice, the Ridgemark Corporation, which operates the 36-hole golf resort, is preparing plans of its own. Ridgemark general manager Eric Dietz said the company is working on a new golf club master plan for improvements that would include 80 new lodging units.
Dietz acknowledged that the club won’t be able to move forward with its plans until Sunnyslope resolves its water issues.
“We would obviously be bound by Sunnyslope’s timeline,” he said. “There are constraints with either direction they go.”
Dietz said he has been communicating with Sunnyslope general manager Bryan Yamaoka to make sure Ridgemark’s and Sunnyslope’s plans are compatible. Ridgemark will cooperate with the district regardless of the direction it chooses, he said.
However, Dietz added that if a new plant is built, he hopes to use some of the treated wastewater on the Ridgemark golf courses.
“Selfishly, we would like to see the district stay autonomous,” he said.
Yamaoka said it’s too early to know how soon improvements could be completed, but he said they are at least “a couple years off.” He noted that Ridgemark’s expansion is also several years down the line – at the earliest.
Whatever the board’s decision, water district customers are likely to see a hefty increase in sewer rates. Hailstone said a new plant would likely require the sale of between $12 million and $14 million in bonds. The water district, he said, will have to incrementally increase wastewater rates from $30 per month to more than $100 over the next few years to pay off those bonds.
Sunnyslope isn’t alone in its wastewater woes. The state brought a halt to sewer hookups in Hollister until the city’s new wastewater plant goes on-line at the end of 2008.
City Manager Clint Quilter has previously said the city’s plans include capacity for Sunnyslope’s wastewater.
Although the water district hasn’t faced a sewer hookup moratorium like Hollister’s, Hailstone said the combination of the state’s orders and the county’s 1 percent growth cap has dramatically decreased development in the area served by Sunnyslope.
County Planning Director Art Henriques said Sunnyslope’s wastewater problems are a factor in whether a proposed development gets approved.
“It would be no different than if PG&E can’t provide electric service,” he said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
