Los Osos chooses former SLO engineer as the next chief of services district

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• Familiar face back leading Osos CSD

  Familiar face back leading Osos CSD

  The Los Osos Community Services District Board of Directors has appointed Mitch Cooney as the agency’s interim general manager.

  Cooney replaces Dan Gil-more, who recently resigned from the agency’s top administrative post. A search is under way to find someone to permanently fill the position.

  “Mr. Cooney will oversee the day-to-day operations of the district and assist the district in its search for a permanent general manager,” according to a news release from the district.

• San Luis Obispo County supervisors approve Los Osos sewer oversight contract

  San Luis Obispo County supervisors approve Los Osos sewer oversight contract

  The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a $7.6 million contract to oversee construction of the Los Osos sewer.

  The vote came a week after California water officials reduced the interest rate on a loan for the project of nearly $70 million from 2.6 to 2 percent.

  The reduction is expected to save some $6 million in interest payments over the 30-year life of the project, said John Waddell, project manager.

• Los osos sewer project may get a little cheaper

  Los osos sewer project may get a little cheaper

  State water officials will meet in Sacramento on Monday to consider lowering the interest rate on a loan for the Los Osos sewer project, a move that could shave millions of dollars off the price of the project, reducing the cost to residents.

  The State Water Resources Control Board will consider a staff recommendation to lower the rate on a $69.7 million loan from 2.6 percent to 2 percent. The county and Los Osos Community Services District are sending letters to the water board urging that the interest rate be reduced to zero in an effort to make the massive infrastructure project as affordable as possible.

  “The district board is wholly supportive of a reduction in the current interest rate of 2.6 percent to 0 percent, and we believe we speak for the overwhelming majority of the 12,500 residents affected by the project,” community services district board President Marshall Ochylski stated in a letter to the board.

• Bill aims to ease Los Osos sewer costs

  Bill aims to ease Los Osos sewer costs

  The county and Los Osos Community Services District will develop a plan in upcoming months to implement a state law that would lift financial pressure from low-income homeowners when they receive bills for the new Los Osos sewer.

  John Waddell of the county Public Works Department told the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that officials will map out a program, including public outreach, to implement AB 1125, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law last week.

  Waddell did not give a specific timetable, but the law takes effect Jan. 1, 2012.

• County poised to hire sewer overseer

  County poised to hire sewer overseer

  San Luis Obispo County supervisors today are expected to approve a request to spend up to $7.6 million to hire an engineering firm to oversee the construction of the Los Osos sewer.

  The county’s Public Works Department has selected the Walnut Creek office of HDR Engineering for the job of construction management services of the $173 million project.

  Although construction is not expected to begin until early summer, filling the contract is necessary because several preconstruction tasks must be completed, project manager John Waddell said in a staff report.