About Cambria

A recent post on our sister site (aboutccsd.com) looks at water production over the last 20 years in Cambria. Check it out now.

Very recently, the Ecology Law Review posted a comment on the water moratorium that Bolinas imposed in 1971 and is still going strong after 37 years. The article lays out the history (legal and social) of the moratorium and offers a potential alternative to solving the water shortage and allowing people to build on their property. The author’s suggestion would only work for Bolinas if the moratorium is really about a water shortage and not about stopping growth.

It’s not a short read, but for anyone interested in the issue of a water shortage emergency and accompanying moratorium, there are some instructive and useful ideas in this paper.

Download and read it here.

Every meeting of the CCSD has an agenda and a packet of information for the board related to that agenda. State law (commonly called the “Brown Act”) requires the district to publish the agenda at least 72 hours before the meeting. A recent change requires that the Board Packet be available to the public at the same time the Board of Directors receives it. Frequently, the agenda a Board Packet come out at the same time, though the packet is sometimes available only the evening before the meeting.
The CCSD has been good about posting the agenda and packet on their website (except in September this year). An agenda should be posted at the Vets Hall before noon on Monday during the week of the meeting, if they meet Thursday. The packet is delivered to the directors and should be available at the district office for inspection during regular office hours.
Each month, an expenditure report of about a dozen pages is part of the packet. The Board approves the expenditures, usually as part of the consent agenda. Although this report sheds some light on where the money goes and what the district is working on, it isn’t the easiest of things to wrap your head around and definitely won’t really show any kind of patterns in spending. It also doesn’t include a balance sheet. It is only the outgoing funds that are shown. After browsing through these reports over the last year and a half and listening to what others have noticed, I started to put the data into a format that made more sense to me. I wanted to understand more clearly where the money was being spent. It’s been a challenge for this English teacher, but a fun one. Below are the sheets for fiscal year 2007-2008. They include only some expenditures – the ones that interested me for some reason or other. I invite you to look through the numbers and totals for projects like the Pine Knolls replacement tanks, and the desalination plant and payments made to particular service providers live Innovative Solutions and RBF Consulting. If you find an error or have a comment, I welcome your comment here or in an email to amanda at Aboutcambria dot com.

In 2005, the House of Representatives published a report “ DESALINATION WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGE PREVENTION ACT OF 2005″ (Click to read the full report). The report recognized the importance of desalination as a new source of needed water and the cost of the energy consumed in the desalination process. It states that “qualified desalination plants” will be paid 62¢ per thousand gallons (or about $200 per acre foot) of desalinated water produced and sold, adjusted for inflation every year using the method used by the IRS. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary (of DOE) $200,000,000 to carry out this section from fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2016.

Limitations. — In any fiscal year not more than 60 percent of the funds made available by the Secretary under this section shall be made available to the owners or operators of qualified desalination facilities that obtain source water directly from the sea, an estuary, or from in-bank extraction wells that are of seawater origin

Priority.–In awarding incentive payments under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to any application for a project that–

(1) uses innovative technologies to reduce the energy demand of the project;
(2) uses renewable energy supplies in the desalination process;
(3) provides regional water supply benefits;
(4) provides a secure source of new water supplies for national defense activities;
(5) reduces the threat of a water supply disruption as a result of a natural disaster or acts of terrorism;
(6) uses technologies that minimize the damage to marine life; or
(7) provides significant water quality benefits.

The payments would partially offset the cost of electrical energy required for operation. The facility has up to ten years after enactment to submit an application to the Secretary for incentive payments. These incentive payments will then be available up to ten years after the written agreement is finalized.

The financial costs of desalination have gone down fairly significantly over the last 10 years, but little has changed in terms of the environmental costs. Last March, Santa Cruz started up a pilot desalination plant. Four different pre-treatment technologies along with reverse osmosis desalination technology are being tested for at least a year at the facility. The results of the pilot plant operations will be used to define the design requirements, the best pre-treatment process and costs of a full-scale desalination facility.

Although the composition of the sea water Santa Cruz will desalinate is different from the water Cambria would be using, I look forward to hearing the results of their year-long experiment. It could indicate how feasible and expensive a plant here might be.

The issues we face here in Cambria are complex and there are many people whose plans have been on hold for nearly 20 years as Cambria struggles to officially ensure there is enough water for everyone. Even with a board committed to implementing the Water Master Plan, it looks like it’ll be at least four more before lawns can be planted and intent to serve letters are provided to those wanting to build.

I try to keep the AboutCambria.com Datebook as up-to-the-minute as possible, adding new meetings, events, fundraisers and other activities to the Google-based calendar as soon as I get word of them. (You can add the aboutcambria.com Google calendar to your own personal calendar -many are compatible Click here to get reminders from the AboutCambria.com datebook:

It’s a busy week no mater which way you look at it. To keep things simple in this post, I’m omitting the whens and wheres, counting on you to go to the datebook to click on the event to see all the details. Community meetings include the CCSD on Monday and the weekly County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Wednesday the Allied Arts meeting and a workshop on understanding the quarterly financials conflict slightly and could conflict with the North Coast Advisory Council.meeting held at 7pm. All three meetings will be in different locations, so it’s only you that must defy known physics.

The SLO County Local Agency Formation Commission will be together for their monthly meeting in the bay are. The Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch will meet this Thursday evening (check the datebook for more details)

Life here isn’t always about meetings, though. There are some excellent opportunities to see and hear some talented artists next weekend. Houselights Theatre will be continuing the run of Indoor/Outdoor at the Theatre at the Old Grammar School (TOGS); New Dawn Montessori will host a Martini’s and Jazz at the Vets Hall Saturday.

As more information becomes available, I’ll be posting it here….Because there is so much going on, you just can’t always see it!

If you haven’t yet visited AboutCCSD.com this week, hop on over to see what the is set for the November 17th CCSD Agenda. Along with some presentations (including one for soon-to-be-former Chief Putney) are several items on the consent agenda that would seem to warrant  discussion.

If you aren’t signed up for the update notifications for AboutCCSD.com, this would be a good time….new directors and new direction and more community input (if campaign promises are kept).

The CCSD will host a WORKSHOP to discuss HOW TO REVIEW CCSD QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORTS on Wednesday November 19 at 5pm in Suite 204 of the CCSD offices. Director Greg Sanders said this about the short notice and timing:

For those who cannot make it, we can schedule another session at a later date and a more convenient time.  I thought it best to get the earliest possible date so that those who can attend will have the benefit of a better understanding of the recently published quarterly financials sooner rather than later.

It’s been an interesting, fun-filled year. Here are some selected posts from the last 12 months.

Citizen Committee Ownership

Cambria University – Resource Spotlight

Why Buildout Reduction?

Who defines Cambria’s future? and What is Fiscal Responsibility? (By Frank DeMicco)

Joint Use Agreement between County and CCSD for Acquisition of Community Park

CCSD Vehicle Use Policies and follow-up CCSD Vehicle/Transportation Allowance Policy Change

Prop 218 In Other California Towns

Collaborative Public Involvement – No Boogie Man

CCSD Candidate Muril Clift Shares his Vision for Cambria

Have You Had a Good Look at Cambria, Recently?

The Many Services a Healthcare District Can Provide

Wednesday, Nov 12 • 7-9pm
Rabobank Community Room
Cost: $5 donation welcomed
Guest Speaker: Nancy Anderson

Nancy will discuss strategies for involving community members in collaborative partnerships that address community concerns. During these current economic hard times we can’t depend on government agencies to implement that plan. History demonstrates that in times of crisis people find ways to set aside their differences, help each other, and protect their communities. Based on that premise, Nancy urges us to find common concerns as the basis for cooperative efforts to save our Cambria forest.

For more information visit the Greenspace website or call their office at 2866.

Karina Tiwana, Commander, American Legion, Post 432 is hosting Commander’s Guest Night during Monday Night Football at Post Club tonight and each Monday night for the rest of the football season. You and all your friends are invited to go by and have old-fashioned hot dogs for only 75¢ and draft beer for only $1.50 ! ( You’ll be astounded at the low full-bar drink prices too!) Yes, the game will be on for those who want to watch it, but the point is to open the club to the public and share their normally “members only” bar with the community and to share the Post Family mission with the entire community. Members are always invited and non-members may sign-in as Karina’s Guests. Go check it out if you can. All of the proceeds from their Club go not only to keeping the club open, but to helping the American Legion support our many worthy community projects, including Operation Holiday Package – with the mission of sending a little something from home to the troops during this holiday season.

The Post Club is located downstairs near the Pinedorado grounds at the Veteran’s Memorial Building. The club opens at 5PM. If you are a non-member and are accompanied by a member, you may enter the club and if you are a non-member and need to be signed-in as Karina’s Guest, She’ll be there at 6PM

For more information about American Legion Post 432, visit their website.