Los Olivos Gifted a “Yes and . . .” Moment: Protect the Groundwater AND Preserve our History and Open Spaces
Hello friends and neighbors,
These are exciting times in the Santa Ynez Valley. For those without Facebook access, I am “reprinting” here an interesting recent post by longtime Los Olivos resident, Michelle deWerd.
Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) to the Rescue
The Los Olivos Community Service District is gifted a $75,000 Grant to complete a third-party study to determine the most efficient and cost-effective wastewater options for Los Olivos residents, to protect the groundwater, and to preserve our quaint town’s history and open spaces.
After months of dithering and nay-saying by the Los Olivos Community Services District’s board president, POLO, a local non-profit founded in 2003 to protect the rural character of the town of Los Olivos and the Santa Ynez Valley, threw a much-needed life-line to the Los Olivos CSD that was short on cash and seemed to be fresh out of inspiration.
The District will have spent over $1 million of district residents’ taxpayer money in the last five years without yet constructing adequate test wells [] or commencing work on an appropriate design for a wastewater collection and treatment system for this tiny community. The latter is especially disappointing in light of the fact that the Los Olivos CSD board had community and County agency buy-in for a “phased approach” that, had the CSD board pursued it, would already have the downtown commercial core off septic and, most likely, also would have decent public restrooms available downtown for residents and visitors alike. Over the course of the last four years, that has not happened, but this POLO grant presents an opportunity to get this project back on track with a focus on a local solution to a local problem.
POLO believes that how Los Olivos addresses its wastewater issues is the single biggest issue controlling the preservation of the small town of Los Olivos and the character of the greater Santa Ynez Valley. It is vital that the residents and property owners of Los Olivos fully understand the costs, benefits, and negatives of the various collection and treatment options available.
As a result, POLO is donating up to $75,000 to the Los Olivos CSD for the purpose of completing a third-party engineering study to evaluate the feasibility, design, and cost of various local wastewater collection and treatment options in the LOCSD service area.
A representative of the engineering firm will present his initial thoughts following his recent pre-engineering visit to Los Olivos in a public [meeting] at 6:00 pm this Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Come out to hear about some of the modern, environmentally friendly, economically feasible options for our community.
