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All the debate at the OCSD meeting was about how much the fees should rise to meet the deferred maintenance of the last 20 years. Only one Director mentioned using the $393m "reserves" for this purpose before raising rates, which must have raised staff hackles. Because in a sense, the "reserves" don't exist any more than an entry in a ledger. The District has borrowed about $1B, using its inexhaustible credit to write tax-exempt low-interest bonds and notes. OCSD then loans out a portion of that at a higher market interest rate, and pockets the difference, which helps meet operating costs. So, really, the secret ellipsis here is that the more they borrow, the more they earn! It's a yuk amongst those who know about this, and is funny to hear the explanation that they need the money to "tide us over to the next tax payment". Whereas, the entire Operations and Maintenance budget -- what it takes to run the plant and pump the sludge -- is about $60 million, dwarfed by the "reserves". Hence, the correct path, as the Board decided, is to borrow as much as possible in order to get the benefit of the interest rate differential -- termed by the IRS as the "bond arbitrage" if the money is kept longer than 3 years before being spent on the project it was earmarked for. It's fully legal if the money is used in due course. Moreover, it is fair to spread repayment of the capital cost over the generations who will benefit from the plant improvements. This OCR article quotes some of the knowledgeable Directors, such as Brady and Krom, but also quotes some public who are "taking up a petition" for the vote at the June meeting. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE JUNE 25 MEETING OF THE BOARD AND SUPPORT THE FEE INCREASE! ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- "Currently, OCSD has identified the need for a $2.4 billion Capital Improvement Program (CIP) over the next 18 years. The rate increases will finance improvements and retire any necessary debt incurred. The CIP includes $1.1 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction of existing treatment facilities, $585 million for collection systems (sewers), $ 422 million for expansion of secondary treatment and $180 million for increased water reclamation. "OCSD is committed to preserving and enhancing the quality of life in Orange County...It is essential to preserve coastal quality through advancements in treatment and innovations such as urban runoff diversions. With visionary projects such as the Groundwater Replenishment System, OCSD will provide a new supplemental source of safe, high-quality water for our arid county. "'We are here because our cities gave us the opportunity to represent their interests, and we must take our jobs very seriously,' said Board Chair Shirley McCracken during the discussion amongst the board. 'We need to consider all of the alternatives as we debate the user rate and consider future generations that include your grandchildren and what they will need to maintain a clean water environment.' "...single-family
residential user rate will increase over the next five-year period from
the current rate of $87.50 to $100 next year. At the end of five years,
the rate will stand at $175 a year per single-family residential unit..."
"For more information on the rate increases, visit the OCSD ---------------------------------------- Clearly, the Board has taken up a new direction. It is a pleasure to see OCSD taking action NOW to avoid the water emergency now facing San Diego -- which they got into precisely because there was no examination of the type being done by O.C. The Urban Runoff ad-hoc Committee is forming new ideas, trying to cope with the most difficult of the 3 problems facing water disposal, planning (at the suggestion of Director Cook of HB) to meet at IRWD constructed wetlands, to find out how it can be done. The other 2, degraded infrastructure and purposeful dumping into the Ocean, involve fewer lifestyle issues. All 3 problems are going to take the full attention of the talented people who live in O.C.Hence, you can really not afford to ignore this issue. The OCSD Board needs firm support in all its endeavors, at this point, including help from the feds and coordination with the state (Maddox and Harman have been excellent, signing on to Correa Santa Ana River Conservancy Bill, helped by Bill Orton, and other good things). DO NOT LEAVE THESE EFFORTS IN THE LURCH. Certainly, they will make mistakes, and, being gov't, there will be waste and even abuse. But bear with them, they are now willing to cope with this awful problem. We have transformed the County from a bunch of sleepy farm villages, with tractors holding up traffic on major roads, and now we have to figure out how to keep the quality of life from degrading from the impact. Please attend the June 25 meeting, and instead of criticism, BRING YOUR GOOD IDEAS! Support the rate increase, of course, but talk about how: OCSD should fit into the future, How it should relate to the Water District, The issue of "groundwater producers" (declining well water), Natural treatment (constructed wetlands), Water conservation ideas, and Support for AB469, Correa, helped by Bill Orton, the revitalization of the mighty Santa Ana River which runs from Big Bear to our Ocean. This could be a great resource, a corridor of recreational and habitat values, building on the Prado Dam area, with trails, memorials, interpretive centers, water sports areas, wild areas, settling ponds, and so on. All it takes is public policy commitment! Water use is the question of the future, if there is one, and O.C. is in the best position right now to avoid the errors of L.A.River and San Diego Sewage. ----------------------------------------
JUNE 14 FROM 5PM TO 10 PM ON THE SAND at 8th St. in Seal Beach, giant
tent TICKETS: 714-235-0880 Seal Beach is a vital ally in stopping the pipeline scheme of Hearthside Homes (from scarce wells in Cypress, down Bolsa Chica St.). The unit of "California Coastal Communities" (nasdq: CALC) is desperate to get water for their evil housing tract on top of the ancient village site of the cogwheel people, a cemetery, and valuable archaeological resources, on the area known as ORA-83 and the "poleyard", and probably Shea Meadows as well (170 house attack on the former stables), threatening the upper bench of the Bolsa Chica Mesa. Seal Beach Trees should be encouraged, so if you can come, it is also reputedly a lot of fun. Seal Beach, at the foot of the San Gabriel, has a vital interest in quality of the river and in replanting the Oak canopy that should be here. L.A. County Supervisor Molina and US Rep. Hilda Solis are working to upgrade the San Gabriel. Each city at the foot of a River feels like the guy who is at the bottom of the elevator shaft, and there are 83 floors throwing their refuse down it. ----------- Back to T.O.C. 3
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