Paso council still trying for rate hike

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• Paso needs urgent upgrade to sewer treatment plant

  Paso needs urgent upgrade to sewer treatment plant

  Paso Robles could face steeper fines and even a state order halting growth if the city does not complete a multimillion upgrade of its sewage treatment plant built in 1954.

  “The plant is already 15 years beyond its useful life and is essentially polluting the Salinas River,” said Matt Thompson, the city’s wastewater manager.

  The discharge of salts, nitrates, disinfection byproducts and other chemicals doesn’t meet state and federal water quality standards — and the city pays monthly fines for it.

• Paso gets started on sewer upgrade procedure

  Paso gets started on sewer upgrade procedure

  The Paso Robles City Council late Tuesday night voted to move forward with a plan to finance a roughly $49.6 million treatment plant upgrade by raising monthly sewer rates.

  Tuesday’s vote starts a state-mandated process of notifying ratepayers that an increase has been proposed, allowing them 45 days to file potential protests.

  A hearing is to follow the end of the protest period, tentatively set for early December, officials said. If the majority of ratepayers don’t protest, then the council can adopt an ordinance to increase the sewer rates beginning July 2012.

• Paso’s sewer upgrade riding on rise in rates

  Paso’s sewer upgrade riding on rise in rates

  If you live in Paso Robles, like I do, and have a swimming pool, like I don’t, you should avoid filling your pool this December, January or February. It could raise your sewer bills. That’s right; your “sewer” bills, not water bills.

  The Paso Robles City Council took the first step Tuesday night toward raising our sewer rates. We now pay $25.86 per month no matter of how much or how little liquid and flotsam we discharge into the sewer. (“Discharge” is sewer-insider talk for flush, drain or pour.)

  But our new sewer rates will be figured differently. They’ll be based on the amount of sewage we produce.

• Nipomo district puts water pipeline process in motion

  Nipomo district puts water pipeline process in motion

  Nipomo Mesa residents could vote as soon as March whether to increase their property taxes to pay for construction of a pipeline to bring water from Santa Maria.

  The Nipomo Community Services District board voted Wednesday to move ahead with the process to create an assessment district to fund the estimated $25.3 million capital cost of the pipeline.

  The board also agreed that the cost of the actual water delivered from Santa Maria would be covered through water rate hikes — a separate process in which local residents affected by the rate increase would have a chance to vote against it.

• Cost of water in Nipomo going up

  Cost of water in Nipomo going up

  Over the past 49 days, 209 letters were mailed or dropped off at the Nipomo Community Services District office in protest of a proposed water increase, the district’s first in nearly three years.

  Another five typed — and in one case, hastily scribbled — letters were submitted Wednesday during the district board’s meeting.

  But when the final vote count was tallied, the 214 protests received were not nearly close enough to stop a water rate increase from going forward. The board unanimously approved the increase, which will take effect Nov. 1.