Tracer test results won’t be ready until at least Dec. 7
It will be Dec. 7 or later before results are compiled from a test designed to show how long it takes for treated water to flow from a services district water-reclamation plant to Cambria’s supply wells.
Jerry Gruber, general manager of the Cambria Community Services District, gave that one-sentence update to the agency’s board on Nov. 17.
The test, which began Sept. 30, is to determine whether it takes the treated water at least 60 days to flow from the Sustainable Water Facility to the wells. Based on the facility’s anticipated production maximum, state water regulators require at least that much transit time between the plant and the wells.
District engineer Bob Gresens said that, according to the district’s hydrogeologist, “rainfall to date has not been enough to impact the tracer study.”
Mission Country
After CCSD counsel Tim Carmel and several board members expressed concerns about a proposal to extend the district’s franchise agreement with its waste-hauling contractor, directors told reps for Mission Country Disposal to go back to the negotiating table.
The agreement with the firm goes through 2025. According to Mission Country representatives, the extension is necessary if the contract provider/operator of a Kompogas anaerobic digestion plant — which would process organic waste — is to get financing.
San Luis Obispo County supervisors approved the permit for that plant Nov. 15, and construction is due to start by the end of the year, according to Bill Worrell of the county’s Integrated Waste Management.
He estimated the plant would take 12 to 14 months to build.
Representatives of the county’s cities and most other special districts have approved the extension, Worrell said. But directors said there were too many uncertainties, questions and that the 20-year extension would take the contract out to at least 2040 (although it seemed that date, too, could be open to interpretation).
Carmel also said he had some concerns, so, as Director Jim Bahringer said, “I feel this isn’t an agreement we can approve today.”
Finance manager
Directors approved on a 4-1 vote a new, three-year employment agreement with finance manager Patrick O’Reilly. The contract increases his annual salary to $131,153, from $116,360, which puts his pay on par with that of the district engineer and fire chief.
O’Reilly’s new annual compensation, including a $4,200 auto allowance, and district payments to Social Security, Medicare, workers’ compensation and state retirement fund, would be $155,412.
Director Amanda Rice voted no, indicating that her decision was based on expenses, not O’Reilly’s performance, capabilities and skills.
“I have very high confidence” in the finance manager, she said. “I’m looking at what it costs, not who it’s for. I just can’t support this big increase” even though she doesn’t want to lose the employee who has been providing the reports she’s been requesting for years. “We can’t afford a lot of the salaries we’re paying.”
Bahringer said that, if O’Reilly were to leave, “this is the salary we’d need to bring in someone of even lesser quality.”
While he agreed that pension costs are a problem across the board, “I don’t think we can solve them here. I support the salary for the position.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 7:49 AM with the headline "Tracer test results won’t be ready until at least Dec. 7."