Members of the three-agency board charged with finding a
solution to Hollister’s wastewater dilemma authorized the hiring of
a consulting firm this week that will draft a long-term water and
wastewater plan, including a new sewage treatment plant.
Hollister – Members of the three-agency board charged with finding a solution to Hollister’s wastewater dilemma authorized the hiring of a consulting firm this week that will draft a long-term water and wastewater plan, including a new sewage treatment plant.
The Governance Committee for the Hollister Urban Area Water and Wastewater Master Plan made up of representatives from Hollister, San Benito County and the San Benito County Water District gave staff the go-ahead to hire HDR, an Omaha, Neb.-based architectural, engineering and consulting firm with offices in Oakland and Mountain View.
San Benito County Supervisor Don Marcus said hiring HDR, which will spend about 14 months drafting the long-term plan, is a positive step toward getting a new sewage treatment plant built.
“It is a good thing,” said Marcus, who sits on the Governance Committee. “It’s the direction we’ve been looking for.”
A new plant is necessary for the lifting of Hollister’s building moratorium that was imposed by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board following a 15-million gallon sewage spill in 2002.
Construction on the plant is slated to begin between June and September next year, before the long-term plan is finished.
According to Hollister City Manager Clint Quilter, plans for a new sewage treatment plant are 90 percent complete. The problem is figuring out what to do with the water once it’s treated. Currently wastewater is percolated into the ground, but once the new treatment plant is completed there will be too much water to continue doing that. The plan HDR is drafting will include disposal alternatives.
In addition to an implementation schedule for a new sewage treatment plant and wastewater disposal options, HDR’s plan will include a financial plan for building a new plant and state-mandated environmental studies for the project.
The plan will cost $645,490, with the water district paying $290,470; Hollister paying $271,105; and San Benito County putting in $83,913.
At the time that it imposed the building moratorium, the RWQCB gave Hollister an Oct. 15, 2005 deadline to build a new sewage treatment facility – a date that many city officials found to be unrealistic.
Later this month Quilter will request that the RWQCB extend that deadline to the end of 2007 – the date which he has said that, barring any hang-ups during an environmental review of the project, the new plant will be built.
RWQCB staff have released a report recommending that the board approve the extension request. City officials have said they are confident that the extension will be granted. If, however, Hollister is not given an extension, the city faces $200,000 in fines.
Luke Roney covers local politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
