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Commission decision could lead to Morro Bay Cayucos split

January 11, 2013

morro bayThe California Coastal Commission on Thursday voted to deny the rebuilding of a sewer plant for Morro Bay and Cayucos at the site of the current outdated plant which could lead to the two communities building separate plants.

The unanimous vote followed the Cayucos Sanitary District’s withdrawal of its application and Morro Bay’s request for a denial. For years the two communities have been at odds over where the plant should be rebuilt.

In 2003, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board informed Cayucos and Morro Bay that they would have to upgrade their plant by March 2014 or face penalties. Last year, the Coastal Commission said it wanted the plant moved a mile from the coastline.

Moving the treatment plant to a new location will add about $20 million to its cost if the two communities agree to work together building an oxidation ditch plant. The cost is likely to change if the communities elect to build separate and different types of plants.

 


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It was my belief that the sewer was now only primary treatment and they are only required to go to secondary. Tertiary treatment is much more expensive. You do get water that can be reused with tertiary, but most communities that have gone that route find it very hard to get anyone to take the water.


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150,000,000 and 7 years… Consultants, Commissions, Attornys, Activist, Sewer nuts, Council members, Surveys, Designs, Permits, Design consultants, Votes, Lobbyist , Recalls, New Council members, Bidding, “Experts” , Recommendations,

Get ready for the pain Morro Bay!


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too bad you are so confused.


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I’ve seen this movie before, I speak from experience , not confused…


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Now you know what the Los Osos residents in the Prohabition Zone have gone through & are continuing to go through. Thank you Bruce, Paavo & SLO County for raping the good people in Los Osos…


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I believe you are giving complete misinformation.


Morro Creek Ranch has offered to buy some of the recycled water from Morro Bay.

There are many avocado farmers that will be willing to buy the water.

With all the avocados planted up highway 41 water is going to be needed by many of the farmers.


At the last Morro Bay City Council Meeting City Engineer Rob Livick announced that Morro Bay bought

water this last year from the Mens Colony! So it looks to me like Morro Bay could also use the recycled

water from the new Waste Water Treatment Plant that will be built in a sustainable location.


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On a side note, The Coastal commission will not allow an “outfall pipe” into Estero Bay for the two new sewer plants. This drives up the cost considerably and I think what you’ll see though is ” the Authorties having juristiction” will ignore this and pay for design and consulting fees thereby adding more time and cost…


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The plant needs to go to tertiary treatment, its now at secondary I believe,

The ocean is not going to rise enough to get to that sewer plant where it sits for 100 years, a tsunami is the smallest of our worrys if one should destroy the plant where it sits, oh and how far inland did the Japanese tsunami go and what height did it reach, the “proposed ” spot for the new plant is about a mile east on hwy 41 and most likely only about 20 feet height in elevation so it could get nailed also, the money spent to move it isn’t warrented, and and that IS the GATEWAY to the city, how cool to drive past that and smell that on the way into town, what a great first impression,plus the destruction of a nice quaint ranch and property, but to the enviro’s that is OK when it suits them, but I’ll bet if I wanted to build a 3 story house there and upgrade the barn I’d get shot down in a second.

The orginal proposal for the plant was an upgrade not a mass move, so with the plans all shot down the city council has no choice but to remodel the plant where she sits.

Cayucos, by the way could still keep and operate the plant at its current location if MB wants to move someplace else.

And would you enviromental extremists quit spewing what you feel and try to stay focused on reality for a change.


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Clearly, you have not been keeping up with what is going on, and are seriously out of touch with reality. The plant-on-the-beach project is dead, and for good reason.


Yes, the original proposal WAS for an upgrade.Then the City did a flood hazard study and realized that an upgrade of existing facilities was not going to work – they would have to demolish the existing plant and build a new one. This is fully outlined in City of Morro Bay documents.


The flood hazards are far more serious than City consultants claimed. This is why cities up and down the California Coast are involved in a “managed retreat” from the coastline.


The Japanese tsunami, contrary to what a few people seem to think, is by no means the largest one ever to reach our area. There are documented records of one that was so high it overtopped the sand spit.


In addition, County tsunami response procedures, based on extensive modeling studies done by a major university, use a figure of 50 feet as the maximum potential tsunami inundation height. A more conservative study, done for nearby Diablo Canyon, and involving extensive and detailed modeling, estimates maximum inundation height at well over 30 feet.


There is no practical, cost-effective way for Cayucos to stay in the current plant. That is a silly, empty threat that was used to try to scare people into keeping the plant on the beach.


Sewage treatment plants do not have to be enormous and ugly and smell bad. Modern plants using the latest technology look (and smell) like office buildings, and can be built on just an acre of land.


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This could turn into another Milargro Beanfield War.


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Cayucos can never trust Morro Bay again. They will end up using Morro Bay’s current sewer after all the work has been done to upgrade it while the new “fanasy” plant is being figured out. Cayucos will save themselves a lot of money by letting the new Morro Bay City Council that they are living a fantasy world and that they are going to deal with reality. Morro Bay will be so sorry when they realize that the new City Council people care nothing about any budget.. Thye have an agenda and think the ratepayers will be happy to pay whatever it takes to support their “save the Earth” plan. They’re goint to quickly find out that they weren’t put in place to save the planet but, instead, were elected to bring the current plant up to secondary treatment and keep the ratepayers bills low enough for seniors to be able to pay them. This new City Council is a disgrace and care nothing about the damage they’ve done to seniors on fixed incomes. I see a recall in the near future. Bankrupting a City is cause enough for me. I’ll sign the petition in a heartbeat.


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So silly… What the new Council has had the courage to do is take action to prevent a huge financial disaster for Morro Bay. A new plant at the beachside location would be doomed from the start to be badly damaged by flooding. Sea level rise and climate change have proven to be very, very real, and all along the coast we are seeing communities engaged in what is being called “managed retreat” from the ever-rising and encroaching ocean.


Not only would it cost a fortune to deal with the results of a flood disaster shutting down the plant. It would cost another one to replace a nearly-new plant with one in a safer location – the price of not doing things right the first time.


Saving the planet? No. Saving us from a major disaster? Yes. Doing so at the lowest possible cost? Of course. Unlike prior Council majorities and their staff, this one is not inclined to waste taxpayer money on poorly-designed and equally-poorly-managed projects.


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sorry but I believe you are mistaken, really the last council was a big disgrace, and that was clearly

pointed out in this last election. now Morro Bay has some very progressive intelligent new council members.

seems the last mayor of Morro Bay was alcohol dependent.


there are better sustainable locations to build a sew plant then on the waterfront. Moving the location inland further away from the oceanfront and closer to the farming are only makes sense, especially since we need to recycle and reuse the million gallons a day that are currently being discharged into the ocean

and wasted.


what a great opportunity for MB to go with the latest technology, and not have a stinky plant.


how would Cayucos residents like to have a stinky sewer plant next to the pier. LOL


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‘Of course, the coastal Commission wants Morro Bay and Cayucos to play “Lets you and him fight” then they will get what they want , Two plants about a mile from the ocean and the pipe between towns removed so as to eliminate the possibiity of leakage in that main that runs parallel with the beach for about a mile… why have one plant when you can have two for twice the price?


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So silly


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“in” character.


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Looks like the fear factor isn’t getting much traction today. I did find your musings about Cayucos making a quick buck amusing though. It may be character, but I don’t think it’s in the cards.


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Cayucos had little choice but to throw in the towel after the MB city council voted to ask the commission to deny the project. The property where the new plant was to be built is owned by the city of Morro Bay. Cayucos could never build a new plant on Morro Bay’s property without its permission or cooperation.

The CSD basically had its back to the wall with a gun to its head after Morro Bay’s abandonment of the project.

If I were the CSD, I’d be looking to build a new plant somewhere closer to Cayucos (maybe by the pumping station at the south end of Ocean Boulevard) and get away from Moror Bay before the sh*t hits the fan.

They’d have no benefit from any kind of recycling project and the costs for this new treatment plant project (no matter where it’s built) are going to skyrocket.

The CSD should look at building its own plant and either selling out to Morro Bay (they own 40% of the property the current plant sits on) or hang onto it. When the property is cleared out and the plant built somewhere else, that property could be a gold mine, even though the only thing you can build there is an expansion of the existing RV park.

Morro Bay gets $170,000 a year minimum right now from the RV park and doubling its size could be worth a thousand a year to Cayucos in the future.


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Oops, I meant could be worth many thousands a year to Cayucos in the future.


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