Morro Bay City Council to pursue Rancho Colina site for sewage plant
The Morro Bay City Council on Tuesday unanimously chose Rancho Colina as its preferred site for a new sewage treatment and reclamation plant.
The council had narrowed its final options to California Men’s Colony, where an existing plant could be expanded, and the Rancho Colina property, located about a mile east of city limits off Highway 41 near the Rancho Colina mobile home community.
A project at Rancho Colina is expected to cost about half as much as one at CMC.
One of the city’s immediate next steps will be to negotiate the terms of the land purchase with the property owner, who has expressed his willingness to sell.
The council’s vote followed a recommendation by John F. Rickenbach Consulting, hired by the city to evaluate its options.
Rickenbach said capital costs at CMC would be $161 million, compared with about $75 million at Rancho Colina.
“There was never going to be a project (site) that didn’t raise rates for residents,” said Mayor Pro Tem Christine Johnson. “Rates will be increased, like it or not. But there’s a big risk in pursuing a project that costs twice as much and that’s going to be an economic hardship on our community.”
Morro Bay city engineer Rob Livick said the monthly costs to ratepayers will be based on a variety of factors, including ability to win grants, construction and technology decisions, and whether the Cayucos Sanitary District partners in the project.
A joint powers agreement meeting between Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at which Cayucos will discuss whether to partner, or how to proceed, with Morro Bay on the new plant.
The Cayucos district and Morro Bay share ownership of the deteriorating treatment plant near Morro Rock, with the city holding 60 percent of the stake and Cayucos 40 percent.
The 187-acre Rancho Colina property sits next to Morro Creek. The project would cover about 10 acres at the southeast corner of the property.
The city now must begin its facilities master plan and environmental review process and develop a memorandum of understanding on the purchase with property owner, Steve MacElvaine.
All of those steps will begin simultaneously with a goal of working out a memorandum of understanding with MacElvaine expeditiously.
Johnson said the city still has backup options already considered along the Highway 41 corridor, though Rancho Colina now is the city’s primary focus.
Rickenbach said the CMC planning process was more complicated because of the multi-agency partnership. And the state’s Public Works department could reject a proposal after an anticipated two-year planning process. Then Morro Bay would need to start over with a new site search.
The council’s goal to build within five years is realistic at Rancho Colina, Rickenbach said.
Rancho Colina’s location in Morro Valley has several environmental benefits, Richenbach said.
The city would be able to recharge the groundwater basin in a significant agricultural area with numerous avocado ranches. The basin could be recharged by injecting treated wastewater into the aquifer.
Treated wastewater from Rancho Colina could possibly be used to augment stream flow in Morro Creek, although that would require a permit from the Central Coast Regional Quality Water Control Board.
Morro Bay must relocate its sewage treatment plant because the state Coastal Commission rejected city plans last year to replace the aging facility at its current location near the beach on Atascadero Road.
“The way I see this, one of the decisions (Rancho Colina) initiates activity and forward progress while the other (CMC) puts us in a bureaucratic web where we can’t fully understand the outcome,” said Councilman Noah Smukler.
This story was originally published December 10, 2014 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Morro Bay City Council to pursue Rancho Colina site for sewage plant."