Cambrian letters to the editor, July 20, 2017

Chumash site may pose pool conflict

Are the proponents of constructing the swimming pool on property owned by the Coast Union High School District aware that the proposed site for the pool is the historic location of a major native Chumash village whose location is specifically cited in the diary of Father Juan Crespi, O.F.M., who chronicled Don Gaspar de Portola and his men’s visits to this village on Sunday, Sept. 10, 1769, and Sunday, Dec. 24, 1769?

Also, are they aware that in 1999 the contractor digging the ditch for the underground utilities for the football field unearthed a massive Chumash burial site?

Moral and spiritual considerations, and common sense dictate that the proposed swimming pool be moved to another site.

Once another proposed site is chosen, I suggest that the proponents of the swimming pool conduct an initial historical survey of the site before advancing any further with their plans.

Reply to Sanders, Rochefort on SWF

The comments made by Mark Rochefort and Greg Sanders to my June 16 Viewpoint article require responses.

Mr. Rochefort: My Viewpoint article clearly states, as most Cambrians know, the SWF will be used as a supplement to Cambria’s groundwater sources if and when needed, see the last paragraph.

My statement regarding the SWF design capacity of 250 AF/Year was only used as the basis from which to establish the daily water production rate acre-feet per day (AF/D). The AF/D and the other daily operating factors provided by the by the CCSD general manager (June Cambrian) plus the brine-trucking cost estimate to the San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District (Pacific Petroleum CA) provided the necessary factual data to calculate the $20-per-unit water cost estimate.

Your statement that the SWF was never planned to be used to its maximum capacity. Contrarily, perhaps the best justification for the SWF is as a deterrent against several water threatening scenarios in addition to a severe drought condition. These scenarios would require the facility’s maximum capacity for extended periods of time.

Mr. Sanders: You misinterpreted my use of the 250 AF/Y. Please see my comment to Mr. Rochefort above.

I was surprised to learn from your article (2015 Urban Water Management Plan) that in normal years the SWF would only need to produce a 35 AF supplement to the annual ground water supply.

A significant takeaway from your article was the planned repurposing of the failed brine pond could supply up to 20 acre-feet as needed. Adding 15 more acre-feet to the repurposed pond project would provide the necessary annual 35AF water supplement without turning on the SWF — a Sustainable Water Reservoir.

Maybe hikers should replace Cambria CSD

I had to chuckle when I read that three local hikers came across a beautiful waterfall and thus were the first to discover a major water leak in Cambria. Nice! Maybe Cambria should replace the CCSD with such water-seeking resident hikers.

Thanks for printing Fire Safe Tips

Once again the Cambria FireSafe Focus Group would like to express our appreciation to The Cambrian for printing our Fire Safe Tips. As we face another fire season, it is imperative that we be prepared, and The Cambrian has certainly done its share to help the community. It is much appreciated by all.

Are deficits really good stewardship?

Help us understand In their opinion article in the July 13, 2017 edition of The Cambrian, current CCHD Trustee Mary Anne Meyer and former Trustee Kristi Jenkins stated that the CCHD board has exercised “prudent stewardship” when preparing the annual budget and that the CCHD board has a “fiduciary responsibility to the residents of the district.”

They also stated that the fiscal year 2015-16 negative variance (cash receipts lower than cash expenditures) was .03 percent. A negative variance of $52,000 against revenues of $1.7 million is a 3 percent negative impact (100 times greater). Good math always tells a better story.

Help us understand how five years of deficit spending meets the definition of “prudent stewardship”? Help us understand how five years of deficit spending fulfills Cambria Community Healthcare District’s “fiduciary responsibility to the residents of the district”?

When cash expenditures exceed cash receipts, you have two options. You can increase cash receipts, which, in CCHD’s situation, is difficult to do, or you can identify cost reductions. Are the concepts of cost savings, cost reductions and good old “belt tightening” unknown to the CCHD board majority? Help us understand.

There is an iceberg out there, in the distance, with big letters written across it that reads “No More Cash Available.” CCHD is on a collision course with that iceberg. Unless CCHD alters its current financial course, it will, at some point, hit that iceberg.

In the absence of operational changes that will result in real cost reductions, everything else that CCHD does, from a financial perspective, is nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on a ship named “Titanic.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Cambrian letters to the editor, July 20, 2017."