Last chance for Los Osos according to Blakeslee
Monday October 22nd, 2007 - 1:10:49 am
Dan Reddell Email
Sunday, Oct 21, 2007
Posted on Sun, Oct. 21, 2007
‘Moment of truth’ for Osos residents, assemblyman says
Antonio A. Prado
As the end of a key election that will determine the fate of the latest Los Osos sewer project nears, the lawmaker who brokered the plan said it’s the community’s last chance to stave off a state crackdown.
State Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee said he would have no credibility to ask state water quality regulators to wait again if property owners reject a tax that would pay for the county to design and build a sewer.
“For the property owners, this is the moment
of truth,” Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, told The Tribune editorial board Thursday.
“A ‘no’ vote becomes ‘let the enforcement agencies do their worst,’ ” he added. “It would be tough to ask for another chance.”
Some community officials and residents disagree, though, saying they need to see a defined project before making a financial commitment.
For decades, state officials have been pushing Los Osos to build a sewer in hopes of ending nitrate pollution of the groundwater and Morro Bay.
Water quality regulators blame that contamination on individual septic systems in the coastal town of about 14,000.
They fined the Los Osos Community Services District $6.6 million after its new board — installed in a 2005 recall election — halted construction on a sewer project launched by the ousted board majority.
But they have held off enforcement on a number of occasions as several attempts to build a sewer failed.
More recently the state’s regional water board agreed to allow the county time to build a sewer before issuing several thousand stop orders that would force people to unhook from their septic systems by 2011 or face stiff fines.
Blakeslee brokered a plan approved by the state Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that turned over preliminary design and construction of the sewer to the county.
The county is now asking owners of most developed properties in Los Osos to approve a $127 million assessment to finance that work.
For most homeowners, that’s about $25,000 if paid in a lump sum. But county officials expect most would pay in twice-annual installments of $960 on property tax bills for 30 years.
Under Proposition 218 — the Right to Vote on Taxes Act approved by California voters in 1996 — the assessment must get a simple majority of “yes” votes weighted according to how much each property would be levied.
Ballots are due Tuesday at the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
Blakeslee noted that if the tax is rejected, all the responsibility for building a sewer would return to the town’s services district.
He said the district — now under federal bankruptcy protection — “has demonstrated that it does not have the resources to pull through” in building a sewer.
Reaction
The district board voted 3-2 Thursday to approve the assessment on property it owns. Board members Lisa Schicker and Julie Tacker voted “no.”
“Many citizens really want a defined project before them before committing to big money,” Tacker said Friday, adding that she remains optimistic the district can pick up where it left off before the county became involved, if necessary.
She acknowledged that the district is now“financially compromised,” but added that a way could be found.
“I am not giving up,” she said.
Tacker was critical of Blakeslee’s statement that without a “yes” vote he would not be able to do much more to help the residents of Los Osos.
“What Blakeslee was able to do is keep the county clean from our liabilities,” she said. “If he is going to be a leader, he needs to say that if this is not going to work then we can find something else that will.”
Chuck Cesena, the district board president and one of the three “yes” votes Thursday, urged residents to follow the board majority’s lead.
“In the community’s interest, I do think a ‘yes’ vote is the thing that needs to happen,” he said. “I think we need to partner with the county to make this project happen.”
Cesena said he would be concerned about the district once again taking control of the project, because it would be unduly delayed.
“There are still some people out there that do not want to see our board succeed,” he said. “They would try to prevent everything we did, and I am afraid that anything the district would try to do would be bogged down in additional litigation. That is the last thing this community needs.”
Blakeslee said that if property owners approve the assessment, “there is a superb chance of low-interest loan financing” from the State Water Resources Control Board.
And if the assessment passes, it would show a community commitment that could make it easier to obtain federal or state grants to help defray the sewer’s cost, he said.
Blakeslee said that, based on his talks with regulators charged with ensuring water quality, they are eager to see Los Osos build a sewer to protect its groundwater and the bay.
The only condition — spelled out in Schwarzenegger’s signature message of Blakeslee’s bill — is that the state be paid back $6.6 million the district defaulted on from an earlier loan.
A state loan would be the cheapest long-term financing for Los Osos taxpayers compared to municipal bonds or bank loans.
Under the county’s plan, part of the proceeds from the assessment could pay back the money the district owes the state for the defaulted low-interest loan. That loan, one of the largest debts in the bankruptcy, was to pay for early construction of the previous district board’s sewer project.
AnnMarie Cornejo contributed to this report.

© 2007 San Luis Obispo Tribune and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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