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Monday, July 20, 2009

Templeton Off Leash Dog Park Update

The following email was sent by Paula O’Farrell, who’s part of the group of amazing volunteers who got the Heilmann Off Leash Dog Park in Atascadero up and running and now have the beautiful new dog park in Templeton chugging along. If you have a chance, pay it a visit. It’s lovely and will keep getting lovelier as the trees grow and the shrubs shrub. Great site, great bunch of people making good things happen. So stopby SLO Animal Services and adopt a dog, then take a drive out to Templeton Dog Park for a romp.

Hi group,
It's hard to believe that our beloved dog park will soon be celebrating a 6-month anniversary. We have accomplished a lot in a short period of time thanks to hard-working volunteers and generous donors. Many of you often tell me how much this park means to you. I feel the same.

Some of you are concerned about our financial status so here's an update. Currently, we owe $3,867 on our park construction. Of that amount, about $2,700 was paid in the last two months for park landscaping, plumbing, and construction of our gorgeous new kiosk. We had some big bills including $500 to hook us up to the water meter and install a back flow device . Our landscaping, although newly planted, makes our park a real jewel.

We have a $5,000 credit line from our host organization, SLOPOST and this must be repaid by February 2010. I'm confident that we'll be able to retire this debt with our upcoming fundraisers (see below) and 2010 February membership renewals. All in all, we've done very well especially in this sour economy.
Our construction projects are starting to wind down (thank God!). Here's what we're working on:
* Installing a swim area towards the back (near the tool shed) of the park. With the help of community service workers, we're framing an 8' x 8' x 1' deep drainage pit which will be filled with gravel. We'll use this area for our shallow kiddy wading pool which we'll put out on Saturdays and Sundays through the summer. Many of you tell me that you visit the park every day and dealing with a wet dog 7 days a week would be a challenge. We're also mindful of the drought and want to be conservative of our water use. And of course, we have to pay our water bill which so far is not onerous.
* Installing a sponsor kiosk near the main entrance outside the dog park. This kiosk will hold sponsor plaques for donors who have generously donated $150 or more to our park. We will sell advertising space on this kiosk ($125 per year) to local businesses for add'l park revenue. This kiosk is an Eagle Scout project so we won't have any out-of-pocket expenses for this. This should be completed by the end of summer.
* Installing a fenced enclosure around our dumpster and green waste bins. The neighbors have asked us to do something to cover up these receptacles. It would be nice to have a locked area to discourage illegal dumping in our green waste bins which has been a problem from the beginning. This is another Eagle scout project and hopefully completed before the end of summer.
* Installing gate entry plaques for our donors of $500 or greater. I rec'd the plaques this week and will hopefully have a mounting solution for them in the next week or so.
We've had some amazing donations in the last month that I want to acknowledge:
* Lindamar Industries of Paso Robles has donated 50,000 plastic bags to our dog park and committed to supplying them for us whenever we need them. This represents about a $2,500 annual donation. You'll notice that we have switched our dispensers from the roll of bags to single sheet bags. We'll continue to use the bag rolls in our hard-to-reach dispensers that we monitor on the Salinas River Trail (thank you Carolyn!). I encourage you to bring your own plastic bags to recycle; you can stuff them in the wire dispensers located under the shade structure and behind the park umbrellas.
* Steve Roehrenbeck of Private Design donated plants and volunteered his services for our wine barrel plantings that are spectacular right now in their dazzling colors. He also has provided guidance in planting many of our shrubs and trees. He's been a delight to work with and incredibly knowledgeable. If you have a landscaping project at home or at your business, I highly recommend him.
* Bob Wandruff has donated countless hours in building our new park kiosk. It gives our park a real identity with an essential way to communicate with park visitors.
* Bill Hall donated supplies and his plumbing know-how to install all of our faucets and fix a few problems. Plumbers are expensive so this was a huge gift.
* Ranger Jim Hickok and County Park Staff have offered community service workers to us on a regular basis to help us on some of our bigger tasks. They helped us move wood chips, install a back flow device, remove trees, and countless other tasks.

I hope you'll mark your calendars for our upcoming events:

Sunday, August 23rd, 9 am - 10:30 am Coffee Social at Vineyard Dog Park. We'll be celebrating our 6-month birthday and toasting our new kiosk, and you can also make a reservation for Dog Splash Days. It's a great time to connect with other dog owners after a busy summer.

September 11-13, 3rd Annual Dog Splash Days at Templeton Community Pool. Admission is $15 (includes one raffle ticket). This event has sold out for the past 2 years so you'll want to make your reservation early to guarantee a spot. Check our website at www.parks4pups.org or look for the event flyer on the dog park kiosk. Proceeds for this event will benefit Vineyard Dog Park.

October 10th, 2nd Annual Dogtoberfest and Wiener Dog Races at Atascadero Lake Park. We're co-hosting this event with our great friends at Heilmann Dog Park and sharing in the proceeds. Details will be available on our website as we get closer to the event.

We could use volunteers to help us at these events so let me know if you can commit some time. These events are a lot of work but always a lot of fun.
Thank you to those who help so much at the park including all of our park angels. Linda does a great job of keeping our entrance beautiful. Dorothy installs all of our fence post plaques. Mike is handling the watering of our trees and shrubs. Dee is our hard-working treasurer. Susan monitors our collection boxes daily. Kathy keeps the wine barrel plantings alive with her daily TLC. Dog owners are the best!
See you at the park and the pool!
Paula O'Farrell, President Parks-4-Pups 805.239.4437 ofarrell@tcsn.net

Planning, Planning, Planning, Cont.
The Planning Commission will again take up the Los Osos Sewer March To The Sea on Thursday afternoon, July 23, continuing over into Friday, July 24, if necessary. Paavo Ogren was sent a new letter from the California Coastal Commission dated July 15, 2009. The Commission was in town July 8 & 9 and heard “numerous substantive public comments from Los Osos residents regarding the proposed wastewater treatment project.”

At this point, the Coastal Commissioners are aligned with the Planning Commission on the following issues:
1. It doesn’t make sense to get MORE water dirty, then pay more to clean it up to reuse it, when you can start conservation measure NOW thereby making LESS water dirty so you don’t have to clean up so much, and to also to halt sea-water intrusion from over-pumping the overdrafted aquifer NOW, instead of waiting years from now when the sewer plant is built. i.e. “. . . steps to protect the Community’s drinking water supply can and should be taken in conjunction with this project and not relegated to some future arrangement with water purveyors.”
2. The CC also strongly urges the County “. . . to build into the project sensible and doable wastewater reuse and disposal compoents,” including “ agricultural re-use” and “other feasible options” including “urban irrigation, residential re-use (purple pipe), constructed wetlands, disbursed leach fields and on-basin spray fields. A continued focus on spray disposal on the Tonini prime soils agricultural lands outside the basin is in our view inappropriate for reasons we previously communicated to the County . . .”
3. “A project that does not fully return tertiary treated effluent to the basin would be inconsistent with applicable LCP policies . . .” “We also encourage timely implementation of strong, effective water conservation measures, by both the County and private water purveyors, that will reduce water extraction, thereby reducing pressure on the lower aquifer. Irrespective of the rather limited project goals and objectives identified in the EIR, seawater intrusion is an adverse impact that is inextricably linked to this project, and as such, must be fully addressed and mitigated.”
4. And, oh, by the way, make” minimizing sludge production to the maximum extent practicable” a priority to be “reflected as a high priority in the selection of preferred collection and treatment technologies and that the County ensure that the methods chosen are the best ones designed to produce this outcome.”

5. Oh, and did we forget to mention, the “. . . wastewater and groundwater problems in Los Osos must be addressed holistically and not piecemealed. Sound land and water use planning and effective public policy implementation call for such an approach.”

Translation: The CC has been paying attention to both the Sustainability Group’s work and the Planning Commission’s “straw polls,” and understand that perhaps if the county had approached this as a True Design Build, instead of their Pretend Design Build PieceMeal, pre-determined Short List, a-priori It Will Be Gravity Even Before The TAC Sat Down type deal, the CC and the PC and the Sustainability Group and the County would have all ended up on the same page instead of “adversaries,” as they are now. Sigh.

Well, better now than later. Or, “As the Executive Director [of the CC] said at the July meeting, we are trying to convey our concerns to the County in a timely manner in order to avoid or minimize conflicts later in the process.”

95 comments:

Watershed Mark said...

Ann wrote:

Translation: The CC has been paying attention to both the Sustainability Group’s work and the Planning Commission’s “straw polls,” and understand that perhaps if the county had approached this as a True Design Build, instead of their Pretend Design Build PieceMeal, pre-determined Short List, a-priori It Will Be Gravity Even Before The TAC Sat Down type deal, the CC and the PC and the Sustainability Group and the County would have all ended up on the same page instead of “adversaries,” as they are now. Sigh.

Well, better now than later. Or, “As the Executive Director [of the CC] said at the July meeting, we are trying to convey our concerns to the County in a timely manner in order to avoid or minimize conflicts later in the process.”


Are you listening Supervisor Gibson? MIKE? Sorry, I forgot his last name Lynette? R1? Padnora? "r"?

Unknown said...

NOTE: The Coastal Commission is also very aware that the Tri-W Site with Broderson and MBR Technology, is still viable and was fully permitted whereas no other location or technology has even attempted permit review.

Furthermore, the Property is already owned. No other property has been purchased, only some preliminary speculations.

And finally, the State Water Board is also being patient and waiting on the County to meet the time table...but they won't wait for another 5 years to go by...

TCG said...

This is all getting way too far afield from the SEWER project that the County set out to build. I am starting to see a real possibility that the County will, on the basis of their due dilligence, walk away from the project as is their right under AB2701.

CSD back inn charge? Difficult--no, impossible--to envision.

Watershed Mark said...

TCG: "If" the County had actually and properly performed due diligence they would have arrived at a much different result/DEIR than the “ Pretend Design Build PieceMeal, pre-determined Short List, a-priori It Will Be Gravity Even Before The TAC Sat Down type deal…”

Thanks to public alarm about current drought conditions in California, and intervention from the governor's office, the new California gray water standard could go into effect August 4th, 2009 right after the California Building Standards Commission Meeting, six weeks from now, instead of in 2011, the original proposed date. The Department of Housing and Community Development, the authors of the new standard, believe that it will likely pass.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now that money is super TIGHT and $7MM has been misspent trying to have the “Pretend Design Build PieceMeal, pre-determined Short List, a-priori It Will Be Gravity Even Before The TAC Sat Down type deal” the County can continue with its conflict of interest study process or start over because the MWH gravity design is no longer viable due to reduced flow that leads to lack of scouring. Vacuum should really be studied and considered because it overcomes that flaw, by design.

Water conservation and the law of unintended consequences are in play in the LOSTDEP.
Add in the conflict of interest and poor performance by Paavo and crew and you have the makings of another great opportunity to do the correct thing, if you are a critical, common sense thinking citizen, who will pay either way.

TCG- Being afraid solves nothing. Just ask MIKE, sorry, I forgot his last name Lynette and "r".

Unknown said...

a great find for panda fanatic!
my roommate and i LOVE this bag
hkpanda.freetzi.com

Watershed Mark said...

No comment on the purse...


The Los Osos sewer project certainly will win the 2010 award for worst waste of taxpayers' money

Has anyone seen Warren Jensen’s “treatment” of Lisa’s complaint yet?

Watershed Mark said...

The Census Bureau projects that the Central Valley’s population will increase to 6 million people by 2020. This surge in population has increased the competition for water resources within the Central Valley and statewide, which likely will be exacerbated by anticipated reductions in deliveries of Colorado River water to southern California. In response to this competition for water, a number of water-related issues have gained prominence: conservation of agricultural land, conjunctive use, artificial recharge, hydrologic implications of land-use change, and effects of climate variability.

Watershed Mark said...

Santa Lucia Chapter
P.O. Box 15755
San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(805) 543-8717
www.santalucia.sierraclub.org


July 20, 2009

TO: SLO County Planning Commission

RE: Hearing on Coastal Development Permit & EIR for Los Osos Wastewater Project, 7/23-24

Dear Commissioners,

The Sierra Club greatly appreciates the time and effort your commission has put into the evaluation and conditioning of this project.

At your first meeting on the LOWWP, you took a straw vote regarding STEP vs. gravity collection systems. Since that time you have received the Ripley Pacific Company’s STEP Collection Report, including a 7-point rebuttal from Orenco Systems addressing the applicant’s specific rationale for not including a STEP system in the design-build process, and Orenco’s comments correcting the EIR’s conclusions on greenhouse gas emissions, supplying mitigation measures the EIR did not include.

You have received letters disputing the numbers used in calculating the relative soil disturbance of STEP tanks vs. gravity laterals in our Statement of Key Environmental Issues document, as prepared by the Sierra Club, Surfrider, SLO Green Build, the Los Osos Sustainability Group, the Terra Foundation and the Chumash Tribal Council. You have seen that the numbers we used were correct and that the attempts to refute our numbers and claim greater environmental impacts for STEP and lesser impacts for gravity collection were themselves in error, and have been refuted by wastewater engineers. You have learned about the inevitability of infiltration and inflow into unsealed collection systems and have suggested actions to partially curb significant infiltration into the collection system.

The NWRI Panel concurred with the sustainability goals in our Statement of Key Environmental Issues for the collection system for the Los Osos Wastewater Project – namely, that it should:

• Provide the greatest possible protection against overflows and other releases of partially treated or untreated wastewater from the system, which could pollute the Morro Bay Estuary and other sensitive coastal ecosystems.

• Provide the greatest possible protections to the groundwater of the Los Osos water basin.

• Avoid environmental impacts related to construction and installation of the system to the greatest extent possible, including the impacts of open trenching (e.g., dewatering, soil stabilization, and street reconstruction).

• Avoid impacts to Native American Chumash sites to the greatest extent possible.

• Provide the most energy-efficient solution and enable the use of clean, renewable energy sources, avoiding environmental impacts related to non-renewable energy production (e.g., GHG emissions).

It should now be clear from documents submitted and testimony heard throughout this process that a pressurized effluent collection system would best provide these protections and avoid these impacts, and that a full evaluation of such a system must be part of the design-build process. Please make provision for that necessity in conditioning the permit for this project.

We note per their June 29 memo to the Commission, the applicant’s latest argument against the need to curb seawater intrusion and create a wastewater project that includes beneficial reuse asserts that the Prop 218 vote mandated a wastewater treatment project only, therefore all other measures are barred. This is not adequate as an argument against adoption of the highest level of mitigation of the project’s impacts. There is no argument to be made against the fact that sprayfield disposal at Tonini cannot be permitted under the LCP.

Watershed Mark said...

We further note that the EPA, on their septic technologies website,* describes the requirement for a pressurized effluent collection system as consisting of: "shallowly buried plastic pipes, low-cost cleanouts instead of frequent/costly manholes, and a minimum number (if any) of lift stations. They have 40 years of successful experience in the US and worldwide (less I/I, exfiltration, construction duration and disruption). Their management requirements are equal to or lower than conventional gravity sewers (depending on the number of lift stations)."

This comment appears in the context of the EPA urging "full consideration of decentralized approaches to solving wastewater problems" as an alternative to a traditional gravity sewer, which "smaller communities cannot afford."

As the pressurized effluent system that has been proposed for Los Osos has no lift stations, the environmental and economic advantages of a STEP/STEG system -- on cleanouts, I/I, exfiltration, construction duration and disruption and management requirements -- are across the board. To which we would add, as per the DEIR, the fact that STEP/STEG collection results in a 75 percent reduction in the amount of sewage sludge produced compared to that a gravity system.

In terms of measures necessary to mitigate the impacts of the Los Osos Wastewater Project, the EPA and the Coastal Commission have pointed the way for the County. We trust the conditions you impose will reflect the reality that these agencies affirm.

Thank you for your consideration,


Andrew Christie
Chapter Director


* http://www.epa.gov/owm/septic/pubs/septic_technologies.pdf

Watershed Mark said...

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Volusia County selects USBF™ for new WWTP

Burnaby, BC, Canada, July 22, 2009 – ECOfluid Systems Inc. is proud to announce that the county of Volusia, Florida, has decided on the Upflow Sludge Blanket Filtration (USBF™) process, locally supplied by Randazza Enterprises, Inc., for one of their new wastewater treatment facilities.

After a thorough evaluation of all processes and technologies, including USBF™, SBR, and MBR, Volusia County and its consulting engineers decided that a USBF™ plant provided them with increased value that did not compromise any treatment efficiency or effectiveness. The contract was awarded to Randazza Enterprises, Inc. in June 2009 and is now currently under construction with start-up scheduled for the first quarter of 2010. The county will utilize the high quality effluent in reusable applications.

“Based on the high effluent quality, low operating and maintenance requirements, and the history of reliability the USBF™ process presented, it was really a no-brainer for the county”, said Nocif Espat of Randazza Enterprises. “Combine that with the significantly reduced capital cost compared to other technologies and you have a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

About Randazza Enterprises, Inc.
Randazza Enterprises, Inc., is the supplier of the award winning Upflow Sludge Blanket Filtration (USBF™) wastewater treatment technology in the state of Florida. To-date they have installed over twenty USBF™ plants. Their head office is located in Riverview, Florida. For more information please contact Mr. Nocif Espat, President, at (813) 677-0041.

About ECOfluid Systems Inc.
ECOfluid Systems Inc. provides wastewater treatment solutions for residential, industrial, commercial, municipal and decentralized applications. Its state of the art, award winning, Upflow Sludge Blanket Filtration (USBF™) wastewater treatment technology delivers high treatment efficiency, including biological nitrogen and phosphorus reduction, at highly competitive capital and operating costs.

Since 1995, ECOfluid has installed or supplied well over one hundred plants in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. The company also offers ongoing treatment plant operations and management services to municipalities and private owners. The result of this cross reference of design, construction and operating experience is a unique wealth of knowledge and ability.


Justin Hebner
ECOfluid Systems Inc.
T: (604) 662-4544 ext. 122
F: (604) 662-4564
E: jhebner@ecofluid.com
W: www.ecofluid.com

Watershed Mark said...

AB 2701

(c) The county may undertake any efforts necessary to construct
and operate a community wastewater collection and treatment system to
meet the wastewater collection and treatment needs within the
district. These efforts may include programs and projects for
recharging aquifers, preventing saltwater intrusion, and managing
groundwater resources to the extent that they are related to the
construction and operation of the community wastewater collection and
treatment system. These efforts shall include any services that the
county deems necessary, including, but not be limited to, any
planning, design, engineering, financial analysis, pursuit of grants
to mitigate affordability issues, administrative support, project
management, and environmental review and compliance services. The
county shall not exercise any powers authorized by this section
outside the district.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

http://www.last-stand.org/HTML/articles/moco_fubar_on_wastewater_kwc_dec7.htm

Watershed Mark said...

$7MM worth of fake studyand that's all you can pull up sorry, I forgot his last name Lynette???
The ROCK and New Times has much
done a better job of describing the LOSTDEP and many more millions are at stake.


MIKE, where is your research?

Meanwhile here is something to chew on as California attempts to get back on track...

The new Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research is charged with determining what treatments should be offered to patients. Do you believe that these personal medical decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their doctors, or by unaccountable bureaucrats?

Watershed Mark said...

The ROCK and New Times has done much a better job of describing the LOSTDEP and many more millions are at stake.

But thanks for reading.
How about that Sierra Club??? Too much common sense for ya?

Watershed Mark said...

Sorry, I forgot his last name Lynette,

"This editorial from the December 7 Key West Citizen:"

Can you tell us what year this "editorial" was written?
Better yet, who wrote it?

Reads like a whiny beaten competitor wrote it.

But do get back to us about who and when it was written.
A little perspective is in order.

Why do you want to bankrupt Los Osos/Baywood Park?
Are you so sure Lou will have a job next year?

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

I find it interesting that there are some people -- and their arguments are completely shot -- who simply post links without really explaining why they posted them.

The article's title is, "Political decisions undermine projects," which is about the wastewater situation in Monroe County. Without discussing its relevance to Los Osos, Mrs. Tornatzky feels it's crucial -- to the limited audience of believes she has online -- that this link is readily available for us to look at.

One part of the article reads, "Apparently, a majority of 'local' board members feels their brief experience has enlightened them beyond the college degrees and real-world experiences of those whose advice they purchased for tens of thousands of dollars."

At this point, I don't have to name names anymore. We know the people who clearly validate that statement -- one of them being the very same person who brought this factoid to our attention.

Look at the trouble it got us in.

Mrs. Tornatzky likes to push this idea of minimizing concerns over the County wastewater project as if it's merely political or people are compensating for their own personal problems. I have her words right here. I have no problem discussing those talking points.

I've read each article Tornatzky posted. She's trying to invalidate the benefits of vacuum systems by posting about problems with the vacuum system's pipes. Next, after that doesn't work, she posts about wastewater-related decisions being FUBAR'd because it's political.

Anyone who has been a part of the CSD in the past has made political decisions. People who are on the board right now have made very public, political decisions to support a process that took $7 million of taxpayer money and tossed it out the window.

I'm sorry, but Lynette Tornatzky, your time is up. Next speaker, please.

Watershed Mark said...

"My reason for picking it is, that it is the best of the two and I have enough experience behind me being involved on this since '97," board member Charles Brooks said. "First, [consultants] did not have a full understanding of the [Randazza treatment] system because it is relatively new."

USBF™ was perfected at the University of Prague, Czechoslovakia about forty years ago.
This clever patented variation of activated sludge is an environmental revolution that disrupts the “business as usual” methodology, because it conserves time, energy and money.

The drought of money and water is disrupting the business as usual methodology as well.
We are seeing history in the making during this LOSTDEP and I look forward to it.

Watershed Mark said...

USBF™-

“State of the art… an important environmental process revolution.”

Lawrence K. Wang, PhD, PE, DEE, CO
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Chief Editor, Humana Press, Albany, NJ
New York City Water Facilities Manager,
City of Albany, NJ, Water Dept.

Billy Dunne said...

I haven't been to this site forever, but it's hysterical how some things never change. Eleven posts in a row by the Dope from the Desert.....ELEVEN. Only to be broken up by one post by 'toons. Aaron comes in and, of course, comments ON THE ONE POST BY 'TOONS. Obviously spamming a sales pitch on this site is acceptable, even encouraged, but coming in occasionally with a differing viewpoint offends. Pathetic. But always predictable.

Watershed Mark said...

Willy,

Welcome back.

Sticks and stones "may" break my bones (I wouldn't count on that if I were you), but names will never hurt me.

Besides, being considered a "dope" by you is a compliment.
Keep writing, it shows us who and what you really are.

When my simple questions are unanswered my points are made, well.

Unknown said...

Well said Billy Dunne...

Thankfully this artsy-fartsy, wanta feel good, blog carries no weight in the County...

Watershed Mark said...

MIKE,
Wanna bet?

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Billy Dunne,

Good morning.

I don't run Calhoun's Cannon so I'm not suppose to actively comment on someone else's posting habits like Mark. Personally, I would compress all my thoughts into one post for easier reading, but this my style, Mark has his. Get over it.

90% of your comments, Mr. Dunne, have Mark as your primary focus. You can debate his occupation and his connections all day, but you clearly cross the line into obsession -- so it's clear to me that your knowledge stops at Mark Low and nothing else. If you can prove me wrong, that would be great. If not, you can continue to cry on the blogs anonymously since the public has already (likely) turned away from you.

So who is more pathetic? I think there's no question.

Lastly, posting links is not a viewpoint. It's a cop-out.

Unknown said...

...perhaps following a link is too difficult for some, perhaps a smart ass with an attitude...

...don't remember Aaron complaining about the plethora of sales links and the effrontery of a wantabe/never was "investigative" hack...

Yup, You might want to stand farther away from your "medicinal" weeds Aaron, you are trying to climb too high again...

Watershed Mark said...

Hitting too close to home for ya, MIKE?

Blogs change things...

Watershed Mark said...

Sorry, I forgot his last name Lynette,

Here ya go, right here and now and you are paying for it.

In another example of a county employee allegedly benefiting from a county contract, recently terminated assistant county administrator Gail Wilcox’s Arroyo Grande home was jointly purchased with local lawyer Clay Hall, whose firm receives hundreds of thousands of dollars annually as the vendor responsible for the majority of San Luis Obispo County’s outside legal work. The lucrative legal contract never went out for bid even though county laws require that expenditures of more than $10,000 are open to the public.

Watershed Mark said...

This from a Founding Father says much about where we are today.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
John Adams

Alon Perlman said...

OK, My turn.
Blah blah blah... Blah blahblah blah.

The CCC's Peter Douglass has a long long history with Los Osos Sewer Projects. As in -while the CCC comments arrived too late to be included in the EIR, the position of the CCC was "knowable"
Or as I tried to explain to the CSD about 3 years ago- The Coastal Commission is the only animal with longer teeth then the Waterboard.
The Planning Commission, on the other hand still has that "new planning commission smell", with at least one "Old soul" Hint-(Lightning-rod, If no one is complaining, then you arn't doing your job).
The Sustainability group's (Keith Wimer) Conservation plan (a significant portion of) is pretty much what the County's project should had looked like, had satisfying a regulatory mandate not taken precedent over solving the real life problems that justified regulatory burro-cracy in the first place
Word verification; lateless
as when it is happening and what we are ending up with

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Keep digging.

Churadogs said...

Alon sez:"The Sustainability group's (Keith Wimer) Conservation plan (a significant portion of) is pretty much what the County's project should had looked like, had satisfying a regulatory mandate not taken precedent over solving the real life problems that justified regulatory burro-cracy in the first place"

Amen, Alon, Amen. Here's the tragedy: right now it appears that the PC and the CC are doing what the county should have been doing with the $7 mil they've dithered away on pre-selected technology, short-listed, wink-nudge, let's make a deal a priori selection & etc. Wierdly, we may end up with something more akin to the Ripley Plan -- something we could have been building by now had this community (and 45 happless people) not been distracted by the appalling waste of the RWQCB's mad hatter tea party and all the other craziness . . . .

Gadfly said...

Yeah...what the Substainability Group has been promoting sounds exactly what we would have had with a constructed Tri-W.
You know, collecting and treating our waste water to tertiary levels, reversing salt water intrusion, installation of purple pipe to disposal fields throughtout town to maintain existing wetlands and preserve our water supply.

Yeah, The Substainability group desribes Tri-W perfectly; which is where the CCC wants the project too. How silly of the County to waste four years and seven million dollars when what the CCC and the Substainability Group wanted was Tri-W to begin with.

Unknown said...

...how silly was Lisa and her rush to halt the very legal and sustainable Tri-W project...

Alon Perlman said...

Dispatch from the Front Lines.
At 4:30 PM this day the LOWWP STEP Option died on the Government building meeting room floor
Mark hutchinson of county Staff confirmed and returned the CPR Paddles to the recessitation unit.
followed by an outburst ((R)(tm)registered trademark)by Al Barrow
This death will remain the status of STEP For at least the next three weeks.
The project is shoehorned into Giacomazzi with ponds, ag reuse water reuse, conservation and additional recharge areas identified.
Tri-W (or as county council said "whatever it's called now")
remains dead, though not quite as dead as Tonini. project.
106(?)Conditions and counting.
Oddly its not unlikely that the Tonini ranch will benefit by its relative proximity to a new water source.
Second word verification; marvacc
to remind me; Hybrid with Vac proposed for the Low lying areas

alabamasue said...

Yeah! STEP is DOA (at least for now) Whatever the Planning Commission does in three weeks won't change that. As far as the Coastal Commission goes: They don't care that much about our process - just the outcome. If the county has any sense (and I think they do)we might be back to gravity at the mid-town site. Works for me!

M said...

Doesn't work for me!
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

M...does that mean you'll be filing a lawsuit to stop any system you don't agree with...like Ann and Gail...????

M said...

No, just means I don't want a WWTP at Tri-W. With its outragous cost, and inherent risks, it doesn't make sense to put it there.
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

...M, just wait and see what the 4 years and counting delays are adding to whatever "outrageous costs" you might have percieved... You have been lied to and lead around by Gail McPherson for so long that you don't understand that no sewer will ever be perfect enough and that createing as much delay and additional cost is what she has intended to do from the day she moved to Los Osos...

As far as risks, every system will have some risk... Hoping in your car every day is risky, but you do it...

M said...

Well Mike, to put this in perspective for you, I was 35 years old when 8313 was conceived. I was 40 years old when the moratoriam started. I was 50 years old when the group that was going to solve our problems came into existence. I was 57 years old when the solution was mecifully stopped.
I am now 61 years old.
You see where i'm going with this?
Show me some numbers. Show me the pollution that could cause this burden on a community. Show me some rationale for allowing 1000 more septic tanks after they were dis-allowed.
Have you ever stood on LOVR at TRI-W and looked north? Right down to the bay. On the hill side above the general area of Tri-W, a big movement/slide of earth. Couldn't happen here? How about New Orleans? Couldn't happen there?
Alon Perlmon posted something recently which included the dangers of Tri-W in its relation the the Bay. If the flooding of the Midwest a few years back, or the overtaking of the levees in New Orleans have shown us things you less expect to happen, do happen.
To put un-treated sewage into a site that is highly receptive to calamity is irresponsible. New Orleans was built to accomadate the pirates. Is that the direction were going in now?
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

...sorry M, you are thinking with irrational emotion rather than through engineering logic... We would not have a bridge between SF and Sausalito, we would be in space or leaving footprints on the Moon with your hand wringing emotion... I'm thankful that you are not going to be designing any part of the sewer system...but then you wouldn't put in any sewer if you had your way... Thankfully there are well educated engineers who design systems, not someone who makes up their mind based on emotion... Perhaps you would be better off still making cave paintings and staying out of the light of the modern world..

M said...

Hey, I was fine with the Pismo site. It looks like a perfect spot to me. The Morro Bay plant is next to the high school. What's wrong with the Pismo site being next to the middle school? What's wrong is that Tri-W has some sort of mystical power over it's inventors that cannot let go. Trying to put a sewer plant at Tri-W has cost us money, lives ruined and altered, officials removed from office in recalls, all in the name of Tri-W.
Talk about stuck in the past! You are the one who keeps touting this ancient technology and refusal to even consider other remedys.
Sincerely, M
P.S. By the way, my cave paintings are on display at the Getty Museum in the Industrial Vision section. It's amazing how we have moved forward in so many areas.

Unknown said...

M...do you have any idea how difficult it was to "Buy" a piece of land large enough for a Waste Water Treatment Facility WITHIN the boundary of the LOCSD...??? ...and now some SoCal transplant with apparently no industrial OR business experience can so cavalierly pick another site and say, "Oh, let's buy another site, because I personally don't like that other one.." Get a life...you really don't know what you're talking about here...!!!!

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

I'm sorry, but tonight, I've concluded that you, sir, don't know what you're talking about. Tonight, I'm throwing the gauntlet down.

You've made absolutely no substantive comments thus far to contribute to any healthy, progressive discourse so I'm going to take on a new strategy when dealing with you.

M asked you to provide any sources, any proof of pollution. You didn't. You say he's "thinking with irrational emotion rather than through engineering logic," and I think I speak for quite a few people -- who have been asking the same questions for as long as M has -- when I say that you should have an answer.

When you're cornered, you tell people they should have a "quick and final" ending and proceed to make death threats. The evidence is overwhelming.

You asked people to vote, "Yes" on the 2001 assessment so that Los Osos would receive federal grant dollars. That never happened. You and about 150 other people put your name on the record to make that case -- you engaged in deception.

Judging the tone of your comments, sounds to me like you got some serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from your days in Vietnam... unless I check your military records to find otherwise.

Unknown said...

Sorry Aaron, but like the rest of the sewer obstructionists, you have created blended facts with your fantacy of some holistic smoke screen in the never ending quest for some perfect sewer...supported in your belief that the magic sands filter all the crap from the high density of septic tanks...

It actually doesn't matter what you or any of the obstructionists "believe", Los Osos is non compliant with Clean Water laws... You have become nothing more than anarchists in fighting every government agency you come upon... You are mirrored in the actions and antics of Lisa and of course Al... oh yes, you are indignate when called on for your impotent "Plan" to save Los Osos... You had no Plan, no chance at grants, yet you halted a fully permitted project and the grants that were nearly ready... Do you understand that there were grants, that grants are paid out on completed projects, not on construction...???

No Aaron, you still haven't a clue what was actually taking place in those CSD's... and the post CSD5 threw all those years of work away... You've listened to Lisa and Gail way too long... This all boiled down to a handful of extremists not wanting any sewer, actually they didn't want any government control of anything in Los Osos, there are true anarchists in Los Osos... They want the benefits of a give away society, but they don't want any restrictions on their percieved personal actions... There are a great many of us who are tired of the smoke screens and deflection of facts... We fully back the County in building whatever and where ever sewer they come up with... We do not believe Gail, Lisa, Ann, Al, Kieth, Ron or you know enough to design and build a sewer even if you actually said you would... We don't believe any of the multitude of sales pitches... We only want the County to get on with a single design that means all permit and stops putting up with the obstructionists trying to create every delay possible...!!!

Just get on with actually building a sewer for Los Osos...!!!!

M said...

Mike, please tell us all how adding 1,000 more septic tanks alleviated the high density of septic tanks.
Mike, please tell us all how Stan, Gordon, Richard, et al know how to build a sewer, but nobody else does.
What this comes down to is a handfull of extremist who will stop at nothing to get their beloved full blown, outragously expensive, poorly sited Tri-W sewer plant built.
Mike, please provide some documentation of any Grants that we were going to receive.
Mike, please tell us all of any project of this size and type where a Grant was provided after construction.
Actually, if you could provide us all with any useful information I would be surprised.
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

...not going to play your deflection game... The real CSD Boards actually hired experts in the aquisition, design and construction of the fully permitted system...

... now where is the Plan that your handful of lying extremists said they had and at a much lower cost...???? They failed where the previous Boards actually had a legal system under construction...

...but keep thinking that the sewer obstructionists knew what they were doing...they actually have done exactlly what they set out to do...delay, delay and delay... They have driven the costs thru the roof...

...and when you get your head out of your ass, call Lois Capps and see if there were grants being prepared... I know the Directors were fully engaged in writing requests for grants, something neither Kisa or Julie will admit to as they were doing everything to sabotage those efforts...but you know everything, you had a "Plan"...

M said...

How would you liked to have lived across the street from Tri-W? Maybe 100 feet away from a full blown sewer plant. This is the best these experts could come up with?
How about the lie that the sewer plant HAD to go there? How about the lie that the Coastal Commision required a park in this sewer plant?
How many parking spaces were provided for this park, amphitheater, tot lot, etc.? What about sludge removal?
All of this eminating from the center of our beautiful town. This is the reason for your abusive, foul-mouthed, threatning, name calling behavior?
How about sharing with us how this sewer will affect you. Do you live in the prohibition zone? Are you on a fixed income? Will the monthly bill be a burden on you? Or do you simply have to figure out how you can get your renters to pay all of this for you?
Okay, one last comment. The County had responsibility for the project for what, 10-15 years? Still hadn't broke ground. Then your beloved CSD in 4 years had aquired property, design, permits, and had actually broke ground. How did Julie, Lisa, Al raise the cost from $35 a month to over $200 a month?
Lois Capps is a politician. I wouldn't trust her to take my dog for a walk.
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

....my aren't YOU open minded and looking at all alternatives...and Lisa, Julie and Al are your role models...??? You left out your puppet mistress and the cheerleader Wow, I'm impressed with that brain trust... but YOU have a "Plan"... When will you obtain any one permit...??? When will you be able to buy any land...??? Now that you have created this war to save the planet starting at Los Osos, do you really think that land owners are lining up to give their parcels to Los Osos for free...??? How much can the bankrupt Edwards pull together to buy the Tri-W site and build high rise condos...???

You don't like how I talk, then you must love that sweet talking Piper... You sewer obstructionists just don't want to admit that there really is another side to this mess... I was there in those CSD meetings and I watched the wanton destruction of democracy by a bunch of eco-terrorists, but don't think the common man isn't fighting back...!!!!!

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

Tell me something new instead of copy and pasting the same rhetoric that you've posted on here time after time.

I called you out and you defaulted to your rhetoric, assuming wrongly so that I'm a member of the LOCSD.

Your time is up. Next speaker, please.

Unknown said...

...no Aaron, I do not think you are a member of the LOCSD... but you try to talk some high and mighty walk as if you are part of the an all knowing body that can reach down and cure the problems of Los Osos... Go back and read the Laws and court decisions... all your parade of clowns, fat ladies and trolls have not been able to overturn the State or the County...and now you've lost the CSD again...

You are not nearly as knowledgeable or open minded as you would like to try impressing the community...

Your time was up the moment you threw character assassinations at the Directors who had stepped up and made the decisions you are incapable of doing... You still think this is a high school play yard where you can "call someone out"... what an immature moron you are...!!!

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

I've heard that rhetoric too.

Do you have anything new you want to share with the class?

You were given a lot of time to put down everyone else, but let's talk about you. Let's talk about you now. Let's talk about your personal accomplishments that apparently transcend what the "parade of clowns, fat ladies and trolls" have done.

I'm all ears. Tell us about yourself.

M said...

Yes. Please do Mike. Maybe some little tidbit of information about yourself that might add to your credibility.
I'll start it off by saying that I am a long time resident, white male that lives in the prohibition zone. My signature of work is visible throughout the County. Actually, my work has shipped as far away as Puerto Rico. I have jobs that I have recently done in the city of San Luis Obispo that are unprecedented in design and concept.
Now maybe you could get you could get your ass out of your head and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

Actually I have provided quite a bit of myself, y'all just have kept your hands over your ears while running your mouths as to how expert you are in deciding what sewer Los Osos needs (or do you subscribe to the magic sands theory)...

Born in SLO, Poly engineering grad with 35 years of industrial project management experience around the world... and I bought my first Los Osos home in 1969... but enough, now I'm just one of the community who hates to see how a small group of extremists stole and destroyed local government...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

I would have responded to you sooner, but I was in the middle of brain surgery.

Okay, so you say you're a Poly engineering grad, but you have no grasp of basic engineering principles. Fisher Price and Legos don't necessarily count as industrial project management experience.

But please, continue.

M said...

Mike, is this the same local government that took away the County project at $77 a month, promising $35 a month, or the local government that took away $77 a month and turned it into $205+ a month?

Since you bought your first home here in 1969, I am going to assume you were here for the Broadby/Otto auction and possibly bought some cheap land in the process. Now you either want to build on some of it or you did build on it and now its on your renters.
Why you would care so much about this issue is beyond me. You and I are probably both going to be gone before this thing gets built.
All I know is that when I drive through the town of Los Osos on a Sunday morning about 10a.m., is there any better place on earth?
Sincerely, M

Unknown said...

...nice Aaron, real mature...

M... you're right, Los Osos is almost paradise, which is why I can't understand the obstructionism... The only reason we don't have a sewer today is the "Move the Sewer/No Sewer" terrorists... It would have been completed by now and we would be in compliance with the Law... Nothing better has been designed or permitted, just delay, delay, delay...

I love the quail and doves and the occasional deer in the backyard... I taught myself to sail in the back bay and still kayak when time allows... If the drug dealers and users could be rounded up, this might return to a quiet paradise...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

I don't believe your information. If you can, e-mail me your resume.

Let me know when it's sent.

Unknown said...

F-U.... I don not trust you Aaron...!!!!

You have no credibility, just a smart ass kid who chose to agitate in the recall... You haven't changed your stripes since then... Apparently you have a double standard... It was ok for you to curse the Directors that you were led to think were wrong and you haven't changed... Someday when you grow up, you'll realize there were at least 2 sides to the decision to build a sewer...I do know that all the pre-recall Directors did a tremendous job in developing a fully legal and permitted project inspite of what you may have been told around the dinner table... You may never appreciate the depths the extremists were willing to go to tear apart this community all because they had some personal agenda to halt any sewer... but as we all know, you are still too immature to understand... I've heard your words and have to say that I do not trust you....!!!!

M said...

If the drug dealers and users could be rounded up, this might return to a quiet paradise...
Jeez, what kind of creature are you? The Mussey brothers use to roam the street back in the day. Smoking and distributing hash in the grove;Tommy Thompson, pulling people out of the sand by day, murdering people at night.
Please don't take an isolated incident and make it more than it is.
So just to be clear, do you think the rounded up drug dealers and users should be shot, or maybe just a public hanging?

M said...

Ah, and while I am composing my last take, Mike comes up with an F-U blast. Is it any wonder Mikes side has not accomplished anything so far.
Sincerely, M

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

I'm not asking for your trust, Mike. I'm just asking for your resume because I have some serious doubts about your accomplishments.

If you have all this experience of industrial project management from doing projects all over the world, how come you're so adamant about insulting people anonymously on a blog?

Call me immature, fine. Call me a "smartass kid," fine. Call me anything you like. It's not about me. I've heard it a hundred times, but you've been given plenty of time to make your case. Now, I think it's time to talk about you.

You've spent most of your time here cursing people off and wishing people strokes. To me, that doesn't sound like something a Poly engineering graduate would say to people. You're all too willing to throw your expertise away from the sake of telling people, "F U!"

That's why I don't believe you.

If you can't answer simple questions, if you can't refrain from acting poorly, then it tells me a lot about your depth of knowledge.

Your move, Mike.

Unknown said...

...sorry Aaron... You haven't earned the right to play God...

...come back some day when you have some real life experience... not just playing your stupid double standard, "I'm right, you're wrong" game...

How does it feel to know there are peopl who don't agree with you or any of the sewer obstructionists...??? You poured on Richard, Gordon and Stan, but you can't take be called on your selfish lies... They were expected to take all that crap so you could be so smug hiding behind the scripts of McPherson and the wild threats of Barrow and Kieth...

But you are now losing all possibility of controlling any part of the County's coming sewer and you won't have a damn thing to say about where and what it will be... You'll still be parading the clowns and trolls and fat ladies, but the sewer will be constructed...!!!!

M said...

Okay Mike, I have some real life experience, I will take on Aarons move. Your move.
Sincerely, M

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

I'm not playing, "I'm right, you're wrong," nor am I playing God. I simply asked for your resume. This will be the third time I asked you. If you have this wealth of experience that -- you feel -- justifies the insults you've been dishing out for the past 2-3 years, here, take this grand opportunity to put me in my place.

Click on this link. It will open up your default mail client with my e-mail address in the To: area. Click on the paperclip to Attach, select your resume. I don't mind if it's in a DOC, TXT, or PDF format. I can open all formats.

I eagerly await your e-mail.

Sincerely,
Jesus

Unknown said...

Good Evening Ladies... You really are sick... I don't have time to play games with such children, but do keep up your parade before every government agency holding open hearings... maybe you can overthrow the RWQCB, but I wouldn't bet my houses on it...well maybe you already have...

Good Luck, there are many more like me who know you for the crazies you are... There is a sewer coming whether you like it or not...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Asking for your resume is a "sick" game now? If that's how you feel, you probably should steer clear from SLOJobs.com. Rumor has it that potential employers will actually read your resume, not just the cover letter!

See you later, "Mike." You failed to deliver just like all the others (like you) who tried to blog anonymously.

alabamasue said...

Hi Mike-
Yes, let's all email Aaron our CV's. You make good sense, although in perhaps an unusual way. What Aaron learned at the kitchen table was "the government is out to get us, never trust them". When you consider his parents, I guess we have to cut him some slack...or not

Unknown said...

Hi Alabamasue... Hahaha... in an "unusual" way... I'm not the surprised that you understand...

I did indeed lower the level of my postings to the level of those who have, and still are, so nasty to the wonderful men and women who worked within the legal boundaries and restrictions of the CSD... I doubt they will ever understand...

Those obstructionist don't like to see the table turned so they get to see themselves in the mirror... They still are crusading against any form of government and sewer requirement... They do seem to get super defensive, must be the Al Barrow syndrome... He sure has proven his credibility time and again... and little Aaron with his Napolean complex... wonder if his mommy every found out where Lisa lost the $2M...

Aaron hasn't figured out that I no longer need a resume... and I sure wouldn't trust anythng personal with him... maybe he should attend a job fair with his resume and try to get a real job... or he could run around the country installing that salvation of Los Osos, the Wrecklamator...!!!

Anyway young lady... keep on laughing at those obstructionists, you do understand what is going on....

Alon Perlman said...

Well..
Looks like Mike is the first to leave what is tending to a string of mutual mental masterbation.

Mike or anybody do you know who came up with "magic Sands?"
I used it during the sept '08
LOCSD Director campeign, thinking it original. ( Or, I may had been the one who said it much previously). To be magic they do need separation from Groundwater. also they cannot be overly disturbed because that disrupts the Clay which is a big part of the magic.

And "M", I did say that Tri-W had some features that make it worse re hydrology. On the other hand it actually is located much further from the freeflowing waters of California than Giacomazzi. And it is covered with Magic sands, more so than Giacomazzi. Having a large enough footprint to allow a retention pond, that could be used in case of overloads is one reason the afternoon discussion of the Planning commission could use some discussion here, rather than the "I know you are, but what am I" version
Just trying to be "fair and balanced"(RTm)
Just noticed Alabamasue post, Did you see "Borat"? ...or not

Unknown said...

...I seem to remember someone on the old Tribune blog using the Magic Sands argument... can't remember if it was tongue-in-cheek or one the other amusing "facts" about the holistic filtration of the also non-existent septic contamination...

...have a grand evening Alon, I've wound up a couple of them for you...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

M asked you a series of questions that you didn't answer. Your response to him was, "Not going to play your deflection game." Earlier you wrote, "You are thinking with irrational emotion rather than through engineering logic" when M asked you to show numbers and to provide any proof of pollution.

You failed to deliver.

I humbly asked for your resume because I felt that your language does not match the expertise that you say you have. You think it's a game. I gave you an e-mail address, told you how to attach a document, told you of the formats I can accept.

You failed to deliver.

Instead, you provide a plethora of insults recycled from previous posts, showing once again to the entire world that you refuse to deliver; you refuse to take accountability for anything that you've said.

You failed to deliver.

I'm not going to go down your path and say, "Well, your board did this and your board did that," because it's not about your board, it's not about the CSD, it's not about the government, it's not about the "parade of clowns, fat ladies and trolls." I'm talking about you.

Today, I've proven beyond a reasonable doubt that you're nothing more than words.

I challenged you and you rejected.

Coward.

Unknown said...

...go back to your school yard and challenge all you wish... you just can't handle the real facts that have been pointed out over and over... and you certaintly do not know law or you would know what the courts have said regarding any further need to prove that the RWQCB has the authority to enforce compliance whether you personally don't think there is any contamination... a moot point... just bring Los Osos in to compliance... Delays will only last so long and then some legal action will be enforced... but you are the legal sudent and you have Ann to bankroll your crusade, so have at it sonny, go prove that your septic tank and leachfield is not a violation in the eyes of the RWQCB...

...enough of you, just a child anyway...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

You were asked for numbers, sources, documentation to show if there's proof of pollution of our groundwater. You didn't answer.

I asked you for your resume and you piled on the same rhetoric that I've heard several times before. You didn't do what I asked for.

Clearly, you're hiding something. I'm not going to bother guessing what that is. I'm not going to trade insults with you.

The way you treat people on here, at meetings, in the public is shameful and cowardly.

I'll be looking forward to the day when your mask is removed.

Unknown said...

You all know me... I'm your neighbor... I talk with you in Miner's and Von's... We wave hello on LOVR...

I am the community who hates the destruction of our society by the extremists who have stalled and delayed the sewer... I am every member of Los Osos who is tired of the mismangement of our local government brought in as a recall of a CSD... I am the outrage at the CSD5 who stole our hard earned tax dollars and paid their personal lawyers in their crusade to overthrow the RWQCB... I am the property owners who have paid their taxes only to have little extremists make agreements between the Chuck and Lisa led CSD and the McPherson PZLDF and then lie once again to the community...

I am the community tired of seeing those same sewer obstructionists parading before every government agency to the very mistaken that they represent the interests of Los Osos...!!!! I am the community who does not fear government... We do not threaten or seek to overturn our government... I am the community who doesn't pretend to know everything about designing a sewer... I am the community who doen't care where the wwtf is located, but we don't puff smokescreens about a mid-town location...

Look around, I wear no mask, I am your neighbors and we are tired of your obstructive retoric that is nothing more than another lie and attempt to delay the sewer which should already have been in operation...!!!!

Watershed Mark said...

MIKE wrote: I was there in those CSD meetings and I watched the wanton destruction of democracy by a bunch of eco-terrorists, but don't think the common man isn't fighting back...!!!!!

Fighting back? With what MIKE? Gags, bits and business?
You never could tell us where your friends and relatives actually live in Az. I seriously doubt you actually have any friends or relatives in Az.

Aaron is correct, your time is up.
You should seek professioal help, old man, quick or fast...

Churadogs said...

Mike sez:"Look around, I wear no mask," and "You all know me... I'm your neighbor... I talk with you in Miner's and Von's... We wave hello on LOVR... "

So who are you and why do you post anonymously? And post nasty, juvenile name-calling posts at that? Do you wish strokes to people anonymously on this blog then smile and say hi to the people you've wished death to and wish them a good day to their face in Ace Miners, knowing they don't know who you really are? There's a word for that, you know. Two words, in fact.

Watershed Mark said...

MIKE: You should seek professional help. No joke.

Unknown said...

Why did the re-called Directors have to put up and still have to put up with the name calling and threats along with cheerleading from the back of the room...????

There are names for those folks who lied to this community... Ann, Gail, Lisa, Julie, Chuck, Al, Kieth, Piper... we know who you are and now you don't seem to like being faced with a community who dislikes your brand of extremist obstructive politics...!!!!

Remember, we did have a legal and fully permitted sewer under construction and you perverted the system for your gain and agenda, not for the good of the community...!!!!

Ron said...

Angry Mike wrote:

"...we know who you are and now you don't seem to like being faced with a community who dislikes your brand of extremist obstructive politics...!!!!"

You mean, this community?:

"Only (9-percent) of (Prohibition Zone) respondents chose the mid-town (Tri-W) location..."
-- Los Osos Wastewater Project Community Advisory Survey, March 27, 2009

And;

"... we did have a legal and fully permitted sewer under construction..."

You mean, this "project"?:

"The (SLO County Los Osos wastewater) Project team, given the clear social infeasibility issue associated with Mid Town (Tri-W) and the infeasible status of the LOCSD disposal plan, believes that if either of those options are deemed by decision-makers to be the best solution for Los Osos, then serious consideration should be given by the Board to adopt a due diligence resolution and not pursue Project implementation."
-- SLO County Project Team, June 29, 2009

(Gawd, I love that quote. Friggin' great!)

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Ron dug up a nice quote from the Project Team. Kudos.

I like Mike's response to everything.

"Well, I am the community and I do what I do because those mean obstructionists have lied about our fully permitted, legal system. They are the extreme ones here!"

Unfortunately for Mike, there are a few problems with that:

1. Those people don't post on the blogs so of course, it's always so easy to blame the people who aren't here.

2. Mike often goes beyond simple political disagreement to engage in juvenile name-calling and death threats. Even if one of the "obstructionists" -- that he brings up -- has engaged in similar behavior, that does not mean he has the right to.

3. Mike, you are not the community. Once people appoint themselves as representatives in this town, anyone can reasonably conclude that these people are really NOT representatives. Were you elected by the citizens to represent people? No.

If you're representing Taxpayers Watch, you're doing a serious disservice to Joyce Albright, Sharon Fredericks, Richard LeGros and Gordon Hensley who try to keep discourse relatively civil for the sake of educating the public. Your existence on this blog further disintegrates the value of any valuable resources they may provide.

4. Mike, your comments create a hostile environment for people. You claim that you say, "Hi!" to people in town, but doesn't that put you in the Holden Calfield category of "phony"? You're putting up a false front. You give people a false sense of security when your true intent is to stab them in the back. If you represent the angry members in the community, then it's probably best that we take out restraining orders on you and your supporters.

You really need help, "Mike."

I'm looking forward to the day when your mask is removed.

Unknown said...

...you really don't like being exposed to a mirror image of just how the sewer obstructionists continue to act and sound... and you are really afraid that there are many who oppose the delays created by the obstructionists... and you should be... All we want is to have the sewer designed and permitted and then constructed within the next couple of years... Oh, yes... we already had a fully designed and permitted sewer... so let's get the damn thing done...!!!!

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Do you have anything new to say?

The record seems to keep skipping for some reason.

M said...

Well Mike, anyone that has been paying attention over the last couple of years on this blog site can readily identify you. ja One would assume that you have been espousing the same stuff for so long, that you don't even realize the trail that you are leaving.ja I've stated it before that the way you talk about Lisa and especially Julie the syntax doesn't equate to someone named Mike.ja Now the next time I go to Miners, i'll have to be on the lookout for someone smiling at me while all the while they are wishing me a Quick and Final.ja Remember, it was your beloved and honorable CSD that took the sewer away from the County in 1998.ja Just think, we could have had a sewer up and running for long enough now that this blog site wouldn't even exist.ja I see you are responding to Aaron after each one of his posts, but not mine.ja I presume this is because you have no idea who I am.ja I just might be a concerned property owner.ja Not an sewer obstructionist.ja
Sincerely, M

M said...

Silence is eerie.
Sincerely, M

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

There goes the Taxpayer Watch brigade. Let's look on the bright side. At least they'll be welcomed in Selma, Alabama.

Unknown said...

Good Evening Ladies... just rewatched the Planning Commission meeting recording again... You must be real proud of your lead speaker, Mr. Al Barrow... Rally round him all ye Sewer Extremists.... Keep up the great tradition of following Al down your path of righeousness... Yup, you ladies make as much sense as him...

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

The only sense I've been making was trying to make sense out of your nonsense.

Now how about that resume?

Unknown said...

You don't need my resume... simply look in a mirror and then follow your Drum Major and going postal, Mr. Al Barrow and the rest of the parade of clowns, fat ladies, cheerleaders and trolls...

You don't understand how you've been so foolish in doing nothing to provide a solution to the continueing poisoning of the water supply for Los Osos... Use any figure you wish, but somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 gals per day of waste liquid is leeched through our septic tanks and into the magic sands... EVERY DAY and that's just under the PZ... Now the sewer has been delayed at least another 2 years AFTER the Tri-W sewer would have been in operation... so you can plainly see that at least 182,500,000 gals of liquid waste has been poured into the magic sand... and you continue to argue that no treatment of that amount of waste is needed... Thankfully, the Courts do not agree and that a waste water treatment facility will be built...

I will agree that the Planning Commission is a waste of time, but that is the "Process" your cheerleader loves to see... just more delay... I'm indeed sorry to see "design by committee"... The "public" should be thanked for their input and then the project should be out of the public and into the County's Engineering Departments... Nothing is really being accomplished in that Planning Commission other than wasteing the taxpayers money, they are not "planning" anything, they are not engineers, just part of the "Process"... But, that's exactly what the "Move the Sewer" folks wanted...a perfect system at all cost and with as long a delay as possible...

...so get behind Al (it would be too dangerous to be in front of him) and continue your march to no where while burning our tax dollars....

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

I asked for your resume. Here's my e-mail address.

I can keep doing this OR if you refuse to follow through, I can call the cops, get them to subpoena Blogger.com for your personal information, your IP address, your Internet Service Provider and have you arrested for making criminal death threats.

It's your choice.

Unfortunately for you, not everyone is Al Barrow.

alabamasue said...

Geez, what is it with some of the people around here? First Al Barrow goes apesh!t at the PC meeting, and now this idiot is making legal threats. It's just a sewer! Mike, don't email this fool anything. I hope the cop who responds (if any) has a good sense of humor.

Unknown said...

hahahaha... Thanks Alabamasue...

Aaron is just a little boy who apparently doesn't read very well... He also doesn't understand that HE is not the blog cop, schoolyard bully or even a lawyer...or even Jesus as he signed his blog post the other day...

I don't intend to play his childish game... He doesn't understand that there are folks like Al Barrow who have made real threats and have attempted to intimidate this community... but the community has had enough and those same wantabe sewer lawyers who don't like to see themselves as the butt of our jeers and catcalls... If they want to continue the parade, then they should expect characterizations such as clowns, fat ladies, overaged cheerleaders and trolls... afterall, they themselves were and still are, far worse in their attacks on the pre-recall Directors...

So strike up the band and let the parade continue... The sooner the BOS throws them all out of the "Process", the better we'll all be... I do hope Al Barrow specifically is banned or restrained in any CSD, County or State meetings from now on... his excuses of needing medication to control his outbursts is long past being ignored....

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Mike,

Many of your comments go beyond simple disagreement.

People are quick to focus on the aspect that I brought up legal action, but you most certainly gave cause so it shouldn't be too surprising to alabamasue or anyone else.

You need to be held accountable for your behavior. I'm not a blog cop, but some of your comments are... well... not exactly protected under the First Amendment. Some of your comments have been in violation of California Penal Code Section 422:

Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.

That's the law. That's the boundary. This is the reason why you should control your temperament. While many of your comments are tasteless to some degree, they are okay legally, but you sometimes go a little further than that. I'm just saying.

It's not about me. It's about you.

Feel free to call me an idiot, a "little boy," whatever. That's well within your First Amendment right to do that, but sometimes you're so antagonistic that it steps over the line into criminal harassment.

Sadly, you don't look in the mirror and say, "Wait, maybe I can say what I have to say in a way that wouldn't be detrimental to my cause."

I believe that Richard LeGros set a good example that you should follow. He politely handled disagreement and has assured me that he wanted to set the tone of Taxpayers Watch so that it would be more educational and informative instead of antagonistic and unruly.

You talk about Al Barrow liberally as if he's the leader of the obstructionists, but look at you. The difference between Barrow and you is that you hide behind this "Mike" alias. When you said, "I am the community," you created this situation where many community members feel the obligation to second-guess each other's motives. As "Mike," you launch a series of violent, obscene character attacks, which your friends don't see because they think you're right and anyone else -- who disagrees with you -- is wrong.

I believe you represent the hate that Los Osos needs to be removed from the politics. We have been divided for so long, but we're only going to remain divided if we do not hold ourselves accountable for what we say and do.

Address that, Mike.

Unknown said...

...well sonny, we have had to "second" guess the actions of the sewer obstructionists way too long... if you don't care for what I say, then I suggest you simply stay away from reading what I say... I suspect YOU don't like what you see in the mirror... Until there is some clear apology from those you have stolen 4 years so far from a legal sewer project and from those who used CSD money to sue the State, there will be a division... There have been too may nasty remarks and character assassinations from the post recall folks directed at the prerecall Directors... It continues today and unless you are blind, you see it but don't seem to want to accept that... Many in this community have been and will be financially hurt thanks to the recall and all that the CSD5 did to divide this community and flat set out to delay any project until most of us will struggle to afford it... Apparently a rich kid like you can afford it... You really don't want anyone to oppose your personal point of view...

If you don't like what I say... TBSS.... but you do know I'm correct in my assessment of the cause of the distrust of the sewer obstructionists... you would do well to remember those very lengthy CSD meetings and the crap that was hurled at those Directors... You were one of those, so don't try pointing fingers, I have one for you....

Aaron Ochs - Managing Editor of The ROCK said...

Since you have nothing else to say about yourself, I'll talk about myself for this comment.

Couple of things:

I, personally, have not "stolen" four years from any sewer project. Most people reading this blog know the extent of my involvement. I have not made any attempt to hijack any process or measure set forth by any governing body. However, I am very vocal in my opposition of some of the actions taken by the County during their controversial process.

Yes, obviously there have been nasty remarks and character assassinations from both sides, but I've seen a heavy concentration of bitterness coming from you especially. At 12:49 PM today, your comments referred to the "obstructionists" as "clowns, fat ladies, overaged cheerleaders and trolls," making personal jabs at people's physical appearances.

You say the character attacks against the pre-recall board were far worse, implying that it's not a big deal to antagonize from your standpoint, but not once have you gone into detail to describe one character attack that was so vicious, so vile that it would qualify your own set of character attacks.

You talk about me making character attacks at the CSD, but I assume that if they were so bad, so tasteless, so wrong, you would be able to remember the words I've said. Out of everything I've said so far at CSD meetings, what bothered you the most?

I've asked specifics and so far, you've given me very ambiguous answers. Give me something to work with.

GetRealOsos said...

Mike,

Give us all a break!

You say above, "... Many in this community have been and will be financially hurt thanks...blah, blah, blah,..."

Got news for you buddy, the County has just spent $7 million dollars for NOTHING!!

On top of that, Pandora took the County's project away, more delays and lies and millions wasted!!

You pushed the Tri-W, which simply could not fly. You started before you had to, destroying ESHA to boot!!

How many millions have been wasted by you?!

Who hurt who here?!

The County could easily do a cost effective system, but refuse.

Again, who's hurting who.

You are one dumb son of a gun!!