Cayucos Sanitary District to join Morro Bay in building sewage treatment plant
In keeping with their current arrangement of sharing ownership of a sewage treatment system, the city of Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District will move forward together to plan for a new facility.
Under a joint powers agreement, the Morro Bay City Council and Cayucos Sanitary District’s board of directors voted Thursday in favor of developing a master plan to build a sewage treatment and water recycling plant at the Rancho Colina site.
The 187-acre Rancho Colina property is located a mile east of the city limits along Highway 41, of which about 10 acres would be used for the treatment plant.
The Morro Bay City Council chose the property as its preferred site at a meeting Tuesday.
The two agencies already share ownership of the deteriorating Morro Bay sewage treatment plant with a 60-40 stakeholder split favoring the city.
No cost-sharing model has yet been formulated between the two agencies for the proposed facility.
The plant would be located on an eastern corner of the Rancho Colina property owned by Steve MacElvaine, who has expressed interest in selling a portion of the parcel for the project.
Morro Bay City Manager David Buckingham said an environmental review must be done before the land is purchased.
“But it’s accurate to say that we have begun initial discussions with the property owner about the acquisition of the site,” he said.
The environmental review process is expected to take 18 to 24 months, and it will be done simultaneously with the master planning, Buckingham said.
The council chose to pursue the Rancho Colina site rather than partnering with the state to expand and share the existing sewage treatment plant at the California Men’s Colony. That decision will save money for Morro Bay and Cayucos ratepayers.
Expanding the CMC plant was estimated to cost about $161 million while building a treatment plant at Rancho Colina is expected to cost about $75 million.
The Morro Bay City Council has set a goal of building the new plant within five years.
The treated sewage water produced from the new system could help support nearby agricultural fields in the Morro Valley, which have suffered from the drought, and help the city become less reliant on state water.
This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Cayucos Sanitary District to join Morro Bay in building sewage treatment plant."