Morro Bay showcases progress on sewer project, as some candidates push alternatives
After about six months of construction, Morro Bay’s new water reclamation facility is well underway — and it remains politically divisive this election season, with three candidates talking about halting or undoing the project, which is the largest-ever infrastructure project in city history.
On Monday, city officials invited members of the media, as well as the full City Council, to tour the site of the new wastewater treatment plant at the end of South Bay Boulevard.
The plant eventually will be capable of supplying Morro Bay with 80% of its future water needs.
Using modern wastewater treatment technology, the new system will treat wastewater to a higher standard to meet state requirements for ocean discharges. Morro Bay’s current plant, which was built in the 1950s, exceeds California standards on days of high sewer capacity.
Work at the construction zone is now proceeding with concrete forms for holding tanks, ditches for piping and massive piles of moved dirt to make way for the new system. The 15-acre site is located between two hills, across Highway 1 from Bay Pines Travel Trailer Park and Rock Harbor Christian fellowship.
Thus far, more than 75,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to prepare the area for a basin and tank that will treat sewage and replace the facility by the ocean.
So far, the city has spent about $30 million of the estimated $130 million project cost, city officials said. Of that funding, $14 million has been paid to the contractor responsible for designing and building the facility, said city engineer Rob Livick.
Livick said the city has completed about 29% of the site work.
“Our Water Reclamation Facility program, including our water and wastewater facilities, will provide Morro Bay a sustainable future,” City Manager Scott Collins said before leading the tour. “It will provide a safe water supply. When completed, it will bring a much-needed drought buffer, and replace aging infrastructure.”
Morro Bay candidates debate sewer project
Despite work on the facility moving ahead, three of the candidates running for City Council this year — John Weiss, Betty Winholz and Richard Sadowski — have been critical of the expense and general management of the project and would revisit the plans to complete it.
They echo sentiments of some community members who have called for the project to be halted so as to re-evaluate options and potential alternatives.
In 2013, the Coastal Commission rejected a controversial city proposal to upgrade the facility at its current spot near the ocean, but some say that site is still a possibility and would result in much lower costs.
“If elected mayor, I would be a strong advocate to keep the city in compliance with the orders of the Regional Water Quality Control Board with an emphasis on living within our means,” Weiss said in an email Monday to The Tribune. “Based on what I know now, I would reconvene the (Water Reclamation Facility) Citizens Advisory Committee to examine the project moving forward, our commitments, options, and recommendations to find ways to protect our environment and citizens’ costs and water-sewer rates.”
Weiss told The Tribune in late September, “The project is not on time and not on budget. We were assured by the City Council that it wouldn’t exceed $126 million. That was before 40-plus change orders (new project costs), and now we’re at $131.5 million with additional costs coming.”
Winholtz said she is opposed to the site of the new plant due to its cost and proximity to the estuary and other environmentally sensitive areas.
City officials say the potential for contamination has been thoroughly vetted and is not a concern, however.
Running for reelection, Mayor Bay Mayor John Headding and Councilman Robert “Red” Davis each have supported the direction of the current project, along with candidate Laurel Barton.
“The Coastal Commission will not allow us to rebuild on the current site,” Headding said. “We’ll have a source of reclaimed water to reutilize for future generations, and low-interest loans will help keep costs for residents down.”
Headding added that “We’ll have an immediate cost of $40 million if the project is removed now, due to planning and building funds already spent and breaking of contracts.”
Barton said, “We need to continue forward with the water reclamation facility. …. (The current facility) is an old treatment plant built in 1953. It doesn’t make sense to restart or keep the old plant going.”
While city officials acknowledge they serve at the direction of the council, including whoever wins in this election, they said starting over would mean breaking the construction contract, forfeiting low-interest funding and then having to clean up the site already under construction, all of it costing the city millions of dollars if a new project is pursued.
Currently, single-family home owners in Morro Bay pay $191 per month in average monthly rates for water and sewer costs, and to date $88.5 million worth of low-interest state and federal loans and grants are in place.
The monthly rates are comparable to bills in Cayucos and Los Osos, Collins said.
“Alone, this loan will make available up to 49% of the project cost in low-interest funding, which is ultimately expected to save Morro Bay ratepayers $29 million over the life of the project ($900,000 per year savings in debt payments),” the city said in a news release.
The first phase of project, which began construction in March, will collectively include the installation of 600 tons of concrete and 28 tons of rebar, and 23-foot walls for its basin and tank.
“We committed to the ratepayers of Morro Bay that we would complete their project on time and within budget,” Collins said. “We remain on track to complete the project in November 2022 and are pleased to report that current utility rates will not increase despite challenges with project permitting, contracting and land acquisition.”
Project details
Morro Bay’s wastewater facility will use a “scientifically proven, advanced purification process” to inject treated water into the groundwater basin, said city officials in a news release.
The city is currently working through an eminent domain process with Vistra Corp., the owner of the former power plant site, to add injection wells on that property.
Treated wastewater will filter naturally into the soil for months before reaching the aquifer. It then can be extracted for reuse by Morro Bay.
The water recycling system, which will supplement the wastewater treatment facility is scheduled to be completed by 2023, after the wastewater treatment plant is completed, city engineer Rob Livick said.
Livick said the city would still have access to the state’s water system in the future, but the replenished aquifer will supply a secure source of water in drought years as well as any periods where Morro Bay isn’t allocated its full amount of water from its state aqueduct supply, a possible scenario.
“State law currently doesn’t allow treated wastewater to be used directly for a potable supply, even though it’s treated to a standard that would allow it,” Collins said. “That day could come, but we need this facility now.”
The project will include two new lift stations and 3.5 miles of pipeline.
The new system is also on track to meet orders of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, city officials say.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 1:06 PM.
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