San Simeon CSD writes settlement check, it bounces

November 26, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

San Simeon Community Services District staff wrote a $42,500 to a man as part of a settlement for allegedly encroaching on the man’s property, but the check bounced. The man is still waiting to get paid.

After more than a year of negotiations, the San Simeon district agreed to pay Ron Hurlbert $85,000 in two installments. The first check for $42,500 was to paid no later than Oct. 30, though the district wrote the check several weeks late.

After Hurlbert put the check in his account, his bank informed him the check had bounced. Instead of transferring money from savings, the district was hoping to get enough utility payments in to cover the check, Hurbert said.

Hurlbert is still waiting for the district to send him a replacement check.

Working to have drinkable water during dry spells, in 2015 the district constructed a water purification facility. In a rush to build the plant, district officials ignored reports they were building the facility on Hearst Conservation land.

In addition, both the district’s office and the water purification facility were partially built in the Pico Avenue right-of-way. The district compensated for their error by installing gravel on a vacant lot owned by Hurlbert, without his permission, to allow vehicles room to turn around.

Hurlbert, who has owned his lot for more than 35 years, had planned to build condominiums on his lot, though the construction of a water plant across the street is likely to diminish the value of the planned multi-family units.

According to the Oct. 23, 2023 settlement agreement, the San Simeon district agreed to pay Hurlbert $85,000, to wave sewer and water hookup fees for six units, to remove the district’s offices from the right of way within six months, and to provide screening to block his property view of the district’s reverse osmosis unit. The second check for $42,500, is required to be paid no later than Jan. 15.