OPINION: Why the CSD Board is Facing a Crisis of Confidence (The Proof is in the Pudding)
Dear LOCAL Control Friends and Neighbors –
Grab your reading glasses! This one is a doozie.
I certainly cannot speak on behalf of all members of the community or even on behalf of all those who have joined LOCAL Control’s mailing list, but I am happy to share my perspective on why I, Kathryn Rohrer, believe the LOCSD Board is facing a crisis of confidence. All the hyperlinks in the text that follows lead to source (primary or original) records on which I base my conclusions. (All this information and supporting documentation, and more, is also available in the How We Got Here timeline.)
Those of you who attended the LOCSD’s August General Meeting probably recall almost as vividly as I do the questions and concerns raised by the three Board Members in attendance. Vice President Brad Ross asked for “proof” in support of concerns community members have raised about the Board’s lack of transparency, President Tom Fayram called out unidentified “liars,” and Director Lisa Palmer reminded us of her commitment to the goals and policies set out in the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan. A link to the recording of the Board Members’ Comments at the August General Meeting is provided here as a point of reference for the comments that follow. It is worth watching.
The LOCSD Board Members’ claims that, MORE THAN FOUR YEARS (and several hundreds of thousands of dollars) AFTER THE LOCSD WAS FORMED, they now need to study various solutions, and the community will have to choose from among various solutions, are not supported by the record.
I base this conclusion, in part, on:
The Los Olivos Wastewater Community Plan prepared by Santa Barbara County EHS in September 2010, which studies the alternatives and reiterates the long-standing recommendations of (a) a system in and for the downtown commercial core, coupled with (b) a program to monitor and upgrade existing onsite systems. and states: “Collecting and moving wastewater from the Los Olivos Special Problems Area to a new or existing centralized treatment plant would only become an option if local efforts to abate water quality failed, and decentralized OWTS became impractical or infeasible.”
the fact that that the full LOCSD Board, this community, and all the relevant County agencies already agreed in August 2019 that the LOCSD would pursue a Local Phased Approach that includes: (1) development of requirements for parcels that can continue to use septic systems (residential onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS)), (2) implementation of a groundwater monitoring program, and (3) a “phased” collection and treatment system in and for the downtown commercial core “sized to serve Phase I needs”, with any “[s]ubsequent phases into adjacent high-density areas [to] be determined by the results of groundwater monitoring.” There is no evidence in the record that the LOCSD is required by any change in the law or any newly developed facts (e.g., no new groundwater data) to pursue any course other than the Project Description it pledged to pursue THREE years ago.
After spending TWO YEARS and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS in pursuit of the Local Phased Approach, with NO community outreach or input, three members of the LOCSD Board (Palmer, Fayram, and Ross) agreed in July 2021, to stop pursuing the unanimously adopted Project Description and to change the size, scope, and nature of the septic-to-sewer project for Los Olivos, in July 2021.
I base this conclusion, in part, on:
This video of the three Board Members’ July 2021 agreement to change to an “Entire District” plan;
Their decision in that same meeting to request a new proposal, based on a New Scope of Work, from their engineering firm, Stantec;
Stantec’s August 2021 confirmation that the requested change (which resulted in a $100,000 fee increase) from the Local Phased Approach (in the Project Description) to Hillary Hauser’s “Entire District” design required a “base mapping and plan production effort” that is SEVEN TIMES larger than that required for the Local Phased Approach.
Directors Palmer, Fayram, and Ross lacked authority in July 2021 to abandon the Project Description set forth in Resolution 19-04, and they lack authority to authorize work (e.g., enter into contacts, pursue studies) that is inconsistent with the Project Description.
I base this conclusion, in part, on:
the unanimously adopted Resolution 19-04, in which the LOCSD Board pledged that all studies, contracts, pursuit of grant funding, and other tasks associated with Project Development and Implementation would be consistent with the terms of the Project Description, was still in force and controlling. See bottom of page 1 and top of page 2 of Resolution 19-04. No action was taken to reconsider or amend Resolution 19-04.
The LOCSD Board’s many representations to the Community and to LAFCO, up to and including in April 2021, that it was diligently pursuing a program to support continued septic system use on some residential parcels, implementation of a groundwater monitoring program, and the Local Phased Approach for septic-to-sewer conversion in which any expansion beyond Phase 1 (downtown commercial core) would have to be based on new groundwater data.
The three LOCSD Board Members (Palmer, Fayram, and Ross) so bothered by assertions that Hillary Hauser is behind the vast increase in the scope, size, and cost of the Project are well aware of, have taken direction from, and continue to accept assistance from Hillary Hauser.
I base this conclusion, in part, on:
this recording of their discussion with Hillary Hauser in July 2021 (transcript);
the information on Hillary Hauser’s HTO website identifying an HTO field advisor as responsible for the Los Olivos wastewater solution;
this August 2019 email chain between Hillary Hauser and LOCSD Board members, copying HTO field advisor Rick Merrifield and consultant (and Chair of the Regional Water Board) Jane Gray; and
this January 2022 email from Hillary Hauser to Dirs. Palmer and Fayram and copying HTO field advisor Merrifield.
Directors Palmer, Fayram, and Ross are not concerned with developing a sewer system or a sewage treatment plant that is consistent with the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan.
I base this conclusion, in part, on
this recording (transcript) of Lisa Palmer, Tom Fayram, and District Counsel G. Ross Trindle’s conversation in July 2021, in which they clearly articulated their plan to avoid complying with the SYV Community Plan so that they could locate what we now know would be a 1.9-acre sewage treatment plant to be surrounded by fencing and 24-hour lighting: (1) on a prime agricultural parcel (2) on a scenic route and (3) in a designated “buffer” area to keep Los Olivos and Ballard townships separate and distinct, (4) outside the LOCSD’s jurisdiction and sphere of influence, and (5) surrounded on three sides by homes occupied by Los Olivos Elementary school children. Their selection of that course of action was an express rejection of the Project Description requirement (at page 4 of 6) that the LOCSD sewage treatment facility “be consistent with the policies and development standards of the Santa Barbara County Comprehensive Plan, including the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan.”; and
this recording (transcript) of Dirs. Palmer, Fayram, and Ross agreeing to manipulate the criteria they had given an outside consultant — in order to “reverse engineer” support for selection of a site (1) on a prime agricultural parcel (2) on a scenic route and (3) in a designated “buffer” area to keep Los Olivos and Ballard townships separate and distinct, (4) outside the LOCSD’s jurisdiction and sphere of influence, and (5) surrounded on three sides by homes occupied by Los Olivos Elementary school children.
The SYV Community Plan expressly provides that rural and agricultural areas in the Valley are to be preserved, describes a wastewater solution for Los Olivos that looks like the one detailed in the Project Description adopted by the Los Olivos CSD in August 2019, and sets forth policies to ensure that the following Land Use Development Goal is respected: “The beauty of the land should be preserved by limiting urban sprawl and creating buffer zones to maintain the individual character at each town.”
The LOCSD Board’s claims that they now need (new?) direction from County EHS, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, and other unnamed officials in order to identify an appropriate course of action to address groundwater quality are not supported by the record.
I base this conclusion, in part, on the LOCSD’s longstanding assertions that Los Olivos was designated a Special Problem area largely, if not entirely, based on concerns about elevated levels of nitrates in the area groundwater, and its confidence that “[r]emoval of this designation would occur as a result of demonstrated improvement of water quality within the District Boundaries. . . . The results of on-going monitoring (sampling and modeling) will be the key to removal of this designation. This monitoring will also assist in determining the timing and prioritization of successive Phases in providing centralized collection and treatment of wastewater to the residential areas of the District.”
There is no evidence in the record that there has been any change in the controlling LAW or REGULATIONS , and there is no evidence in the record of any new or additional GROUNDWATER MONITORING DATA that would dictate a different course.
If you share any of the above concerns or have any others, attend the September 14, 2022 meeting (tomorrow night!) and let the Los Olivos CSD know you do not want Hillary Hauser’s plan and you do not want to pay for it.
If you want the Los Olivos CSD to return to the plan approved and endorsed by every relevant stakeholder back in August 2019, write to the Los Olivos CSD and let the Board Members and Staff know. Otherwise, the Los Olivos CSD is going to continue to spend your money on this unauthorized “too big to fail” plan and lose the LOCAL CONTROL the Los Olivos CSD promised this beautiful little community.
