The Capistrano Insider

Power Out in Southwest Part of Town

San Diego Gas & Electric reports that 1,333 residents in San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and Laguna Niguel are without power.

The electricity went out about 12:45 p.m. and is due back on by 3 p.m.

The utility's website says it's a problem in the overhead delivery system.

Capistrano Council to Discuss City Manager's Two Contracts

 

 

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Tuesday is scheduled to discuss its contracts that pay one man to do two nearly full-time jobs for $330,000 a year.

 

City Manager Joe Tait was working on a contract as the Utilities Director when former City Manager Dave Adams resigned more than a year ago. The City Council then forged a second contract with Tait that made him the interim City Manager, although the “interim” was dropped in later agreements.

 

Both jobs pay Tait a combined $330,000 and provide him a city vehicle. But City Council members contend the arrangement saves the city about $160,000 a year because Tait—a former executive with the Metropolitan Water District—does not receive any benefits beyond the city vehicle.

 

But the arrangement has drawn statewide attention in light of relevations that the city manager in Bell earned nearly $800,000 a year while some City Council members there brought home almost $100,000. While Capistrano council members are paid $300 a month—and can receive the same health-care package as city employees—Tait’s unusual double-contract caused some double-takes.

 

Some residents aren’t happy either.

 

“Unless he works 16 hours a day, seems to me he has two part-time positions,” Ruth Clark writes. “At $324,000, I don’t see how he saves us, the taxpayers, any money, let alone $162,000.”

 

Council members have continued to defend the contracts as good for the city, however. They also point out that Tait is training a staffer who can assume the Utilities Director role and plays a key role in negotiations with Chevron over a MTBE leak that tainted the city’s groundwater supply. Tait is also engineering a City Hall restructuring.

 

The agenda listing for Tuesday’s council meeting does not give any insight as the intention of the discussion.

 

The council meets at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto.

 

Download Municipal Management Group - 2009 Agreement 

Council Approves Fee Reductions for Hotels, Car Dealers

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Tuesday approved a 75 percent reduction in city sewer, water and traffic fees for hotel and auto-dealer developments. Those are the only three fees the city has complete control over, officials said.

The measure, which will remain in place a year, passed 3-2. Those who supported it said it was necessary to entice hotels and auto-dealers to town—two industries that return high tax dollars to city coffers.

Capistrano has only one hotel, although two new proposals are in, and has suffered the economic loss of two auto dealerships, although officials said new dealers are also inquiring. The lower fees, they say, will help seal the deals.

Mayor Lon Uso and Councilman Mark Nielsen voted against the stimulus plan, saying it was too generous.

 

 

NRC Sets Dana Point Meeting for San Onofre Performance Review

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting in Dana Point on March 24 to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

An “open house” will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. to provide an opportunity for people to meet informally with NRC staff, followed by a formal meeting between the NRC staff and Southern California Edison officials starting at 7 p.m.

The meetings will be held at the Doubletree Guest Suites Doheny Beach, 34402 Pacific Coast Highway.

Capistrano Reports Chevron Warned for Foot-Dragging on MtBE Cleanup

From the city:

 

Chevron receives notice of violation for failing to clean up MTBE in San Juan Capistrano's water

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a notice of violation to Chevron U.S.A., Inc. for failing to take responsibility for contaminating and treating city wells from its methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination.

The notice dated Feb. 2 subjects Chevron to possible enforcement action by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, State Attorney General and the Orange County District Attorney's office for criminal prosecution if it continues to ignore its responsibility to clean up the contaminate. Chevron is also subject to civil liability of $5,000 per day per violation.

The board's move is significant for the city, which has long been trying to get Chevron to take responsibility for the MTBE plume in the city’s groundwater that has curtailed use of the Groundwater Recovery Plant. MTBE spilled into city's aquifer years ago from two Chevron gas stations in town. The fuel additive was detected two years ago in city groundwater wells.

The levels of MTBE in the groundwater have been measured at over 20x the maximum allowed. The drinking water wells are currently only showing levels below the maximum, but still they show levels that the oil industry's own studies proved can be tasted or smelled by significant portions of the population.

Due to the contamination recorded at the Dance Hall Well, the City has been forced to supplement its water supply by purchasing imported water from the Metropolitan Water District.

For the past year, the City has agreed to let Chevron have immediate access to build the treatment facility; however, Chevron has refused to do so in a way that is workable and does not further damage the City.

"We have had a high level of confidence that the Regional Water Quality Control Board would find that Chevron is responsible to clean up our water," said San Juan Capistrano Mayor Londres Uso. "Now that they have done so, we very much hope that Chevron will come to the table in earnest to resolve these issues. We would much rather resolve them through negotiation than litigation."

In an effort to remedy the situation since Chevron failed to address the contaminate in the city's groundwater, the City Council two weeks ago approved installation of a system to remove the fuel additive from the city's groundwater.  With council's latest action, the city’s costs since shutting down this primary well exceeds $4 million.