Cambria CSD names Buhl water supervisor

Cambria’s services district has a new water supervisor, but the face and name are familiar.

Jason Buhl had filled that Cambria Community Services District post on an interim basis for the past three months before district General Manager Jerry Gruber tapped him for the permanent assignment Dec. 5.

In the announcement email, Gruber wrote that Buhl “has done a great job” since former water supervisor Justin Smith resigned in September. “Jason will be responsible for both the San Simeon and Santa Rosa production facilities in addition to the distribution system for the community.”

Buhl’s new salary will be $6,670 per month, which is a C-step wage for that job.

While he’ll get nearly $13,000 more per year in salary and benefits, the district will save money two ways: Buhl’s wages are lower than his predecessor’s were, and when the district hires a replacement for Buhl, that new employee likely will make less than he did, because Buhl’s been with the district for nearly a dozen years.

Buhl is a 30-year resident of Cambria who attended Santa Lucia Middle School and Coast Union High School. Before joining CCSD, he was a water operator at Hearst Castle and co-owned a landscape company. Buhl hired on at the CSD as a water-treatment operator in training Feb. 18, 2005. Among his family members are wife Carrie, three children and his mother, Susan Oyler.

Gruber said the district will recruit a water operator to backfill Buhl’s position. Once that’s accomplished, he said the water department will have five full-time staff members.

Gruber thanked the water department staff “for working shorthanded these last few months.”

Rounding out the utility staff, wastewater department supervisor “John Allchin will continue to serve as the chief plant operator for the Sustainable Water Facility,” Gruber said.

Honors

The announcement about Buhl’s promotion came a little more than two weeks after he and the district’s utility staffers were lauded by the CSD board and administration.

When a Cambrian turns on the tap and water comes out, or pulls the plug in the sink or bathtub and the used water drains out properly, thanks for those successes and more are due to the crew of the district’s water and wastewater departments.

Thanking those employees is exactly what the district’s Board of Directors and other staffers did during a Nov. 17 meeting.

Wood-framed certificates of appreciation were provided for eight workers, with district engineer Bob Gresens handing out the honors as Gruber talked about each crew member.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 8:24 AM with the headline "Cambria CSD names Buhl water supervisor."