April 2016, Vol. 71 No. 4
Newsline
San José Rejects Tributary Agencies’ CIP Claims, Urges Shift In Focus
The city of San José, CA, formally rejected claims made by wastewater tributary agencies in regards to the planning, implementation and costs for the long-term Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility serving 1.4 million people in Silicon Valley and protecting the water and environment of southern San Francisco Bay. The CIP is a 10-year, $1.4 billion program for rebuilding the 60-year-old waste-water facility.
The agencies in question represent approximately 20 percent of the total people served by the San José facility; the agencies filed a claim against facility owners San José and Santa Clara, CA, but San José contends the claim misconstrues events and provides inaccurate information.
The tributaries allege San José is not allocating cost correctly, affecting the agencies directly as state law requires the city to pay its proportionate share of operating and capital improvement costs as laid out in the master agreements between the tributaries and the cities of San José and Santa Clara.
Furthermore, individuals from the tributary agencies assert they do not possess adequate information about the CIP, contradicting years of public discussions and participation of tributary agencies in the development of the CIP. In the claim, the agencies allege ratepayers are subsidizing San José and Santa Clara ratepayers for the cost of the project.
“The tributary agencies’ elected representatives and their staffs have been directly engaged in improvement program discussions for the last eight years, and with the financing discussions for the last four years,” said Ashwini Kantak, assistant director for the San José Environmental Services Department, the agency responsible for the regional wastewater facility in question.
In addition, the agreed-upon cost formula and independent analyses clearly show that San José and Santa Clara will pay for nearly 80 percent of the costs of the CIP, added Kantak.
The tributary agencies involved include the city of Milpitas, West Valley Sanitation District, Cupertino Sanitary District, County Sanitation District No. 2-3 of Santa Clara county and Burbank Sanitation District.
In addition, San José is in the process of securing a low-interest loan from the state that would benefit ratepayers from all affected cities and special districts. The tributary agencies were asked to execute a simple amendment to the Master Agreement that would provide assurance of repayment commitment. However, the aforementioned agencies have opted not to do so.
“We firmly believe the tributaries are wasting both time and money with these legal claims and records requests, both for themselves and for San José, said Kantak.
“We want to end this dispute and its distractions so that all of us can focus on our main challenge to rebuild and replace the Regional Wastewater Facility so that everyone can benefit from the capital improvement program.”
The cities of San José and Santa Clara began the Plant Master Plan process in 2007 in an effort to continue the service and protection of the region of the 60-year-old wastewater facility without risk of failure. The long-term CIP will aid in achieving the plan’s goals benefitting South Bay residents and businesses by protecting public health, the environment and the Silicon Valley economy. www.sjenvironment.org.
Comments