Protest of Los Osos sewer project falls far short

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• 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.

• Water rate hike disputed by customers

  Water rate hike disputed by customers

  More than 100 people from as far away as Ojai packed the South Bay Community Center in Los Osos on Friday afternoon to protest hefty rate increases proposed by Golden State Water Co.

  The private water company has customers throughout the state and county, including in Los Osos, Edna Valley and Nipomo. It is proposing various rate increases depending on location, with some of the biggest for 3,300 customers in Los Osos and Edna Valley where rates would go up 48.9 percent for a typical home in 2013.

  The state Public Utilities Commission held the meeting to get customer feedback. It must approve any rate increase and expects to make a decision a year from now, said Administrative Law Judge Richard Smith, who is hearing the case.

• 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.

• Grover Beach water rates would rise 10 percent unless 2,400 protest

  Grover Beach water rates would rise 10 percent unless 2,400 protest

  A 10 percent water-rate increase would take effect in April in Grover Beach unless more than half of the city’s property owners or water customers say they oppose it.

  Grover Beach officials say the increase is needed to cover basic operational and maintenance costs, re-establish a reserve fund and close an estimated $196,186 deficit in the water fund budget.

  The budget for the water fund was adopted with a deficit, but city officials had planned to close it by repaying a $900,000 loan the water fund had made to the city’s former Redevelopment Agency several years ago, City Manager Bob Perrault said.

• Letters to the Editor 12/9

  Letters to the Editor 12/9

  Corporations lie

  The Nov. 6 Tribune carried this story: “On environmental regulation, companies give mixed messages.” Interpretation: Corporations lie to suit their purpose. Corporations — and their repugnant lackeys in Congress — bemoan environmental regulation as job killers and growth inhibitors. Those same corporate flip-floppers tell the Securities and Exchange Commission, “… the impact of environmental proposals is unknown or would not cause serious financial harm to a firm’s finances.”

  An article on the Think Progress website, “Contrary To GOP Claims, Research Shows Environmental Regulation Actually Spurs Economic Growth,” states that an Economic Policy Institute report “… concludes that far from deterring economic progress, ‘the dollar value of the benefits of the major rules finalized or proposed by the EPA … exceeds the rules’ costs by an exceptionally wide margin.’ ” Additionally, they “… found that the EPA’s proposed ‘air toxics rule’ would actually lead to modest job creation.