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COMMUNITY NEWS
It's official -- CSD will take over garbage collection
Published
Sunday, August 28, 2005
It’s
official -- the Community Services District will take over
garbage collection service from the county, effective Nov.
1.
On
Wednesday, the board voted unanimously to put an ordinance
defining the service in place and approved a 10-year contract
with California Waste Recovery Systems, the vendor that
will perform the service.
The
board’s action was delayed from the previous week’s
board meeting after the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
failed to act on an agreement allowing the changeover and
committing the CSD to pay a $1 per month per customer fee
for services the county says it will continue to provide
after the switchover.
The
agreement calls for a charge of $3 if a landfill other than
Kiefer Landfill is used for dumping the community’s
garbage. The dollar fee is included in the rates for the
new collection service, which will use Kiefer.
On
Tuesday, the supervisors considered the proposal for the
third time and approved the agreement on a 3-2 vote, clearing
the way for the CSD to provide the service.
The
CSD first started looking into exercising its power to provide
garbage collection three years ago. Its goals were to provide
better service with a responsible vendor at the best possible
rates.
The
CSD will exercise control over both rates and service, but
the day-to-day operations will be handled by California
Waste Recovery Systems.
Depending
on the size garbage can they use, residents will see a 7
to 18 percent decrease in garbage collection costs. Residents
who use a 64-gallon can, the most common size in use here,
will see the largest reduction, $3.55 a month. The charge
for garbage collection will be included on the CSD bill.
Rates
will be adjusted for the first time in July 2007. Director
Dick Taylor said the CSD will set up a reserve that can
be used as safeguard against rate increases.
Service
improvements include on-call pick-up for bulky waste four
times a year, instead of the county’s single annual,
community-wide pick-up, and free collection of bagged leaves
from January through April. E-waste – televisions,
computers, etc. – will be included in the bulky waste
pick-ups, something that the county doesn’t offer
as part of its annual bulky waste pick-up.
New
color-coded cans and new diesel trucks are being provided
by the vendor.
The
can sizes are the same as the ones now in use -- 32-, 64-
and 96-gallon. Residents will be given the opportunity to
choose the sizes they want before the new service begins.
Many
things will remain the same -- can sizes, alternating green
waste and recyclables pick-up, and pick-up locations.
The
main change involves pick-up days, since the community will
be divided into three areas and collection will take place
on separate days -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Presently,
Friday is garbage day for everyone, which can be problematic
if people go away for the weekend and leave the cans out
at the curb.
The
transition from county service to the private collection
company begins Oct. 28, the last Friday that the county
will pick up the garbage. At that time, the county cans
will be removed and replaced by the new cans. The new pick-up
schedule goes into effect Nov. 1.
The
CSD’s consultant made a detailed presentation about
the service at the July CSD meeting. That coverage is available
here.
Items
that were discussed at the CSD’s regular board meeting
on Aug. 17 include the following:
Reviewing
reports on wastewater operations
The
board approved a proposal from HydroScience Engineers Inc.
to review the monthly, quarterly and annual sampling reports
the CSD has submitted to the Regional Water Quality Control
Board since receiving a waste discharge requirements permit
in October 2001.
When
the CSD met with the regional board in May to discuss issues
related to wastewater operations at the CSD and the Country
Club, the regional board asked that additional work be done
to satisfy monitoring and reporting requirements, Joe Majarucon,
director of field operations, reported in a memo to the
CSD Improvements Committee.
The
consultant will review previous reports, note any deficiencies,
and work with CSD staff to address them.
On
an ongoing basis, the consultant will provide a quarterly
review of groundwater monitoring reports that are submitted
to the regional board. The regional board wants a registered
engineer or hydrologist to prepare and sign the reports,
and the consultant “fits this requirement,”
Majarucon reported in his memo.
The
board approved the expenditure of up to $12,655 over the
next year for these services.
Comments
on Murieta Gardens project
The
CSD submitted comments
to the county on plans for a commercial and residential
development next to Rancho Murieta Airport and across from
the Plaza. The county is preparing a draft environmental
impact report for the project, which includes about 200
homes.
Among
the CSD comments is a request for a traffic engineering
study of Highway 16 to evaluate the impacts of the project
as well at the impacts of the development proposed by the
North developers.
The comment letter also states that there is no water available
for the project at this time.
The
letter requests an evaluation of the compatibility of the
airport with the proposed residential project. CSD General
Manager Ed Crouse proposed adding the comment in light of
the recent crash of a small plane near the airport.
The
last comment in the letter is a request to the county to
“evaluate the lack of park and recreational amenities”
in the plan. The county is asked to consider including park
facilities in the project, requiring the payment of in-lieu
community park fees or participation “in a future
community-wide recreation/park program.”
The
CSD has the power to build and manage parks, but, up to
this point, has elected to exercise it only as what the
district has called “an insurance policy,” should
the Rancho Murieta Association be unable to collect a parks
contribution from a developer.
At
the board meeting, CSD President John Merchant suggested
the district consider keeping approximately 10 acres of
land it acquired from the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating
Engineers last year vacant in case the site is needed in
the future for a community center or other project. The
property was acquired in a legal settlement with the PTF.
Complaints
about colored water
About 25 households
complained about coloration in their tap water between July
26 and Aug. 9, Joe Majarucon, director of field operations
told the board. At the peak of the problem, he received
six calls in one day.
After investigation,
Water Department staff concluded the problem was in the
water distribution system, Majarucon said, because the coloration
wasn’t a community-wide problem and the water at the
water treatment plant was clear.
In response to
an e-mail that was sent to RanchoMurieta.com, Majarucon
explained that the coloration was due to iron and manganese,
two naturally occurring metals present in the community’s
drinking water. Under certain conditions, including hot
weather, the metals can become more pronounced and cause
discoloration, although they do not pose a health risk,
Majarucon said.
Water lines were
flushed at homes where colored water had been reported.
At the treatment plant, aeration was stepped up so the metals
would oxidize and "settle out," and the amount
of chlorine added to the water as it comes into the plant
was increased, he said.
Majarucon said
sources outside the CSD were consulted in the matter and
agreed with the measures the CSD staff took to address the
problem.
Rio
Oso tank repairs scheduled, funded
Work on repairing
and rehabbing the Rio Oso water tank will begin Oct. 15.
Three
years ago, the district learned that corrosion had occurred
in the roof supports of the steel tank, which was built
in 1977. The tank holds 1.2 million gallons of treated,
potable water, and supplies the needs of about 30 percent
of Murieta North.
Any repair means
the tank has to be taken off-line, which is why the work
is scheduled after the end of fire season and when the peak
demand for landscape watering has passed.
The board put
the rehabilitation project out to bid earlier this year
and reevaluated other options than the repairs after the
lowest bid came in close to 50 percent over the cost estimated
by a consultant.
Staff examined
the project and also evaluated alternatives. The end result
was they found ways to reduce costs. One of the big cost
savings was determining that temporary water storage tanks
would not be needed after testing showed water flows would
meet the fire district’s fire-flow requirement with
the tank off-line.
The board approved
funding in the amount of $630,919 from replacement reserves
for the work, and another $20,390 for related concrete work.
The work will
also include taking measures to inhibit corrosion formation
on the interior of the tank in the future.
Delinquent
accounts addressed
The district
approved placing $17,434.08 in delinquent accounts on the
property tax rolls for collection by the county. “It’s
a great thing for all,” said Greg Hall, director of
administrative services, explaining that the CSD recoups
the amount of the accounts, and the county collects penalties
and interest.
