HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.a. (Handout) Bahman-VincentElaine Boehme
From: haideh vincent <haidehbahman @yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 9:58 AM
To: Elaine Boehme
Cc: louise.benevue @comcast.net
Subject: Please forward to the board for 7/19/12 meeting.
Attachments: Sinfo12071808360.pdf
Dear Ms. Boehme,
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Please kindly forward the attached two documents to the board today so that they would have ample time to
review for tomorrow's meeting on the CAD exception policy. The first document is a solicitation letter from a
proponent on 8/28/2011 asking neighbors to contact Russell Leavitt at CCCSD, a great partner in the sewer
project (truly a conflict of interest). The second doucument is a pamphlet issued by California Water Boards on
OWTS. Please feel free to e-mail me back should you have any questions or concerns.
Regards,
Haideh Vincent
Dear Neighbor:
Have you thought about hooking your home up to the public sewer?
A group of home owners recently met with the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
(CCCSD) to discuss bringing the public sewer line further up El Toyonal to Alta
Vista /Dos Osos, serving all the homes along the route. Here's what we learned:
1. The economy is in our favor. While the economy has all of us thinking about ways
to save rather than spend money, it also has many local contractors interested in
negotiating very fair rates for larger projects.
2. Increased home values. Today, our homes are not worth what they were 4 years
ago, and potential buyers are more discriminating than ever. Given the choice, would
you buy a home with an aging septic system that might not legally be replaced?
3. CCCSD support. Dealing with septic system cleaning, maintenance, and failures is
unpleasant and gets costlier as the systems age. Connecting to public sewer comes
with the support of CCCSD for line maintenance, repairs, and (of course) sewage
treatment.
4. Community pride. We're all proud of our homes and the community we live in,
switching over to a more modern means of sewer management impacts the entire
community in a positive way.
5. The environmental impact. It's well known that sewage treatment facilities are a
superior means for managing waste water, especially in populated areas like Orinda.
The big question for all of us is, what will it cost?
The cost estimate TODAY is a range, which depends on the number of homeowners
that participate in the project and the exact route the sewer will need to take to serve
project participants. One plan is as low as $18,000 per homeowner. It's critical to note
that this is an estimate, based on performing this work in the near future. Also, there
are additional costs to hook up each home to the sewer line at the street, which is
estimated to be about $8,500 per homeowner (CCCSD fees), plus $5,000 to $10,000
for on -site septic tank abandonment and side sewer construction to connect your house
to the sewer.
CCCSD has financing available for initial participants only. As an initial
participant, CCCSD will offer financing for your portion of the sewer construction and
most of the connection fees, which can be paid as part of your property tax installment.
The rate is competitive and will ease the cost of this investment. Financing through
another lender may also be available as a home improvement loan, if you wish to seek
out competitive rates.
Setting the record straight on future hookups. There's a myth that if you wait until
others have invested it will be much cheaper to connect to the sewer line. This is simply
not true. The investment is divided up between the parcels along the proposed route
and each connection to the line (today or in the future) will be required to pay their fair
share. This means that initial participants will be reimbursed by future participants
connecting within twenty years.
If you've made it this far in the letter, you may very well be interested in connecting to
public sewer. If you would like more information from CCCSD, please call CCCSD's
Russell Leavitt at (925) 229 -7255 or send him an e-mail at rleavitt(- centralsan.ora
(Russell is a great partner in this project and would love to hear from you).
If you would like to contact the El Toyonal property owners group currently working on
this project, call Russ or Jill Cohn at 510- 527 -5205 or e-mail iillcohndc CDaol.com or Bob
Wander, who can be reached by phone at 510 - 282 -0531 or by email at
robertandingrid .wander(cD-comcast.net.
Thanks for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Your Neighbors in the El Toyonal Community
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Water Quality Control Policy for
Sitting, Design, Operation, and
Maintenance of Onsite Wastewater
Treatment Systems
.dune 5, 2012
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Water Boards
STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD
REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARDS
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Underline /Strikeout Reflecting Revisions To March 20, 2012 Version
Preamble — Purpose and Scope — Structure of the Policy
6/5/2012
Preamble
Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are useful and necessary structures that
allow habitation at locations that are removed from centralized wastewater treatment
systems. When properly sited, designed, operated, and maintained, OWTS treat
domestic wastewater to reduce its polluting impact on the environment and most
importantly protect public health. Estimates for the number of installations of OWTS in
California at the time of this Policy are that more than 1.2 million systems are installed
and operating. The vast majority of these are functioning in a satisfactory manner and
meeting their intended purpose.
However there have been occasions in California where OWTS for a varied list of
reasons have not satisfactorily protected either water quality or public health. Some
instances of these failures are related to the OWTS not being able to adequately treat
and dispose of waste as a result of poor design or improper site conditions. Others
have occurred where the systems are operating as designed but their densities are
such that the combined effluent resulting from multiple systems is more than can be
assimilated into the environment. From these failures we must learn how to improve
our usage of OWTS and prevent such failures from happening again.
As California's population continues to grow, and we see both increased rural housing
densities and the building of residences and other structures in more varied terrain than
we ever have before, we increase the risks of causing environmental damage and
creating public health risks from the use of OWTS. What may have been effective in
the past may not continue to be as conditions and circumstances surrounding particular
locations change. So necessarily more scrutiny of our installation of OWTS is
demanded of all those involved, while maintaining an appropriate balance of only the
necessary requirements so that the use of OWTS remains viable.
Purpose and Scope of the Policy
The purpose of this Policy is to allow the continued use of OWTS, while protecting water
quality and public health. This Policy recognizes that responsible local agencies can
provide the most effective means to manage OWTS on a routine basis. Therefore as
an important element, it is the intent of this policy to efficiently utilize and improve upon
where necessary existing local programs through coordination between the State and
local agencies. To accomplish this purpose, this Policy establishes a statewide, risk -
based, tiered approach for the regulation and management of OWTS installations and
replacements and sets the level of performance and protection expected from OWTS.
In particular, the Policy requires actions for identified afeaswater bodies specifically
identified as part this Policy where OWTS contribute to water quality degradation that
adversely affect beneficial uses.
Underline /Strikeout Reflecting Revisions To March 20, 2012 Version
Preamble — Purpose and Scope — Structure of the Policy
6/5/2012
This Policy only authorizes subsurface disposal of domestic strength, and in limited
instances high strength, wastewater and establishes minimum requirements for the
permitting, monitoring, and operation of OWTS for protecting beneficial uses of waters
of the State and preventing or correcting conditions of pollution and nuisance. And
finally, this Policy also conditionally waives the requirement for owners of OWTS to
apply for and receive Waste Discharge Requirements in order to operate their systems
when they meet the conditions set forth in the Policy. Nothing in this Policy supersedes
or requires modification of Total Maximum Daily Loads or Basin Plan prohibitions of
discharges from OWTS.
This Policy also applies to OWTS on federal, state, and Tribal lands to the extent
authorized by law or agreement.
Structure of the Policy
This Policy is structured into ten major parts:
Definitions
Definitions for all the major terms used in this Policy are provided within this part and
wherever used in the Policy the definition given here overrides any other possible
definition.
[Section 1
Responsibilities and Duties
Implementation of this Policy involves individual OWTS owners; local agencies, be they
counties, cities, or any other subdivision of state government with permitting powers
over OWTS; Regional Water Quality Control Boards; and the State Water Resources
Control Board.
[Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5J
Tier 0 — Existing OWTS
Existing OWTS that are properly functioning, and do not meet the conditions of failing
systems or otherwise require corrective action (for example, to prevent groundwater
impairment) as specifically described in Tier 4, and are not determined to be
contributing to an impairment of surface water as specifically described in Tier 3, are
automatically included in Tier 0.
Section 6
2