Tom Lochner reports: In a continuing drive to cut spending, Hercules terminated several more consultant and vendor contracts this week, including one that it had canceled before, only to reinstate it. [...] At least three other contracts were canceled by Long and reinstated by Oliva and then canceled again by Deltorchio; they include: A $90,000 [...]
A scoping meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening to kickoff the EIR process to study a plan to send the city’s wastewater to WCWD (instead of the joint Pinole-Hercules facility). The City of Pinole has already decided not to join Hercules in the switch and upgrade the existing facility instead. The cost to Hercules to [...]
Tom Lochner reports… “According to Pinole’s latest projections, the Pinole-Hercules plant would need about $44 million in upgrades by 2015, to be shared equally, if both cities stick with it. Studies have projected a cost to Hercules of $59 million to $73 million to move to West County, depending on whether both cities move or [...]
Earlier this week I posted a link to a recent Patch article on the wastewater treatment facility and the City’s decision to switch from the joint Hercules-Pinole facility just over the southern border and instead send the city’s waste to WCWD in Richmond. (The City is also considering a privately financed and managed facility, likely [...]
The Patch has a report on the planned switch to WCWD for wastewater treatment… “‘The main reason behind switching is to accommodate Hercules growth,’ [City spokesperson Michelle] Harrington wrote in an e-mail. ‘The City also believes that in the long term, moving to West County will be more financially responsible as the infrastructure of the [...]
The agenda for tonight’s City Council meeting — 7pm at City Hall — is light, a further sign of the City Manager’s prolonged absence of late. The Council will continue its evaluation of the City Manager’s performance in closed session prior to the meeting. The City will increase the wastewater treatment budget by $250k to [...]
The relationship between the cities of Hercules and Pinole could seemingly not be any more strained. A principal reason — if not the only reason — is the continued shared operation of the wastewater treatment facility just over the Pinole border. Hercules has formally left the joint facility (opting for a switch to WCWD or [...]
The City formally broke away from the existing joint Pinole-Hercules wastewater treatment facility just over the Pinole border when it announced its intention to switch to the West County Wastewater District (WCWD) in Richmond. The City Council recently approved $1.16m in preliminary design fees to make the switch. However, the cost to switch is high, [...]
Most people are familiar with this — the recent earthquakes map generated by USGS which shows the active faults in the seismically-active bay area region… The map does not include the nearby Pinole Fault however. The City’s General Plan, adopted in 1998, minimizes the potential impact of the fault’s proximity, concluding that the fault does [...]
A short-sighted, financially-based decision… “West County Wastewater will begin negotiating with Hercules on a service agreement, said general manager E.J. Shalaby. The agency in the past has embraced the idea of a regional approach to wastewater treatment. But the infrastructure costs of a move to another district are high, Shalaby said, and Pinole’s rate calculations [...]
Tom Lochner keeps digging… “[Mike] Sakamoto worked for an investment banking firm that underwrote a $60.6 million Hercules Redevelopment Agency bond issue. But that information is not included in public disclosure documents available at Hercules City Hall. [...] Today, Sakamoto, who served as city manager from early 2002 to April 2007, has several consulting portfolios [...]
In addition to the value engineering study, other items on the agenda for Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting are also noteworthy. The City Council will commence the design of the sewer system as it switches from the Pinole wastewater treatment facility to WCWD in Richmond. The preliminary design cost is $1.16m. The Council will receive [...]
The City Council will approve the issuance of $37m in bonds at tonight’s meeting — 7pm at City Hall. The bonds will finance the planned switch to WCWD for wastewater treatment (leaving the Pinole facility) and expanding the City’s electric utility, HMU. The Council will also hold approve the yearly operating budgets for the Lighting [...]
In closed session prior to next Tuesday’s City Council meeting — 7pm at City Hall — the Redevelopment Agency will enter negotiations to apparently purchase the Hilltown property (the northeast corner of San Pablo Avenue and John Muir Parkway, formerly a tank farm). Other items on the agenda include… Adding Pinole to the sewer alignment [...]
The long-term interest for both cities — even in light of today’s economy — should be the greatest factor in the ultimate decision… “Last month, Hercules confirmed it wants to reroute its sewage flow from the joint Pinole/Hercules treatment plant to the West County Wastewater District’s plant in North Richmond. Pinole officials recently said they [...]
Pinole may be throwing away an opportunity to do something great. Although Hercules has (wisely) informed them of their intent to send waste to WCWD (West County Wastewater District) in Richmond, Pinole still holds hope that Hercules will join them in their efforts to upgrade the existing facility (Option 1 in the recently-released Draft EIR, [...]
Yes, good news… “[Hercules City Manager Nelson Oliva] suggested to Pinole officials that they consider conveying their sewage to West County also and decommissioning the existing plant, thus freeing prime Pinole waterfront land for other uses.“
This is great news, albeit costly. The next step will be convincing Pinole to join the switch to WCWD (and then the existing facility could be removed, and the site’s value could be redeemed)… “In a March 5 letter, Hercules City Manager Nelson Oliva said he anticipates recommending to his City Council within the next [...]
Tom Lochner reports that a new idea had emerged at the latest Pinole-Hercules wastewater meeting, “that Pinole and Hercules might take the lead in some kind of regional approach to sewage treatment, to include Rodeo and Crockett and the West County district.” As I have written previously, Pinole’s stubborn and shortsighted decision to upgrade the [...]
According to the City of Pinole — our neighbors to the south — it is all about dollars and cents. With Pinole’s current financial situation, there is only one solution for the aging wastewater treatment plant we share: the least costly one. And that means spending $46m to upgrade the facility. Whether or not Hercules [...]
Driving on San Pablo Avenue through Old Town Pinole this evening, I noticed a construction sign announcing that the annual fireworks have been canceled. While this is a sign of the times for our neighbor to the south (whose finances are in dire straits), it is a golden opportunity for Hercules to be the good [...]
The capital improvement spending plan that is being approved at tonight’s City Council meeting is in concept only, so dates of construction are estimates at best (dependent upon funding mechanisms, regulatory filings and the economy), but the outline of what to come is certainly exciting… $7.8m to build the rail and ferry terminal over the [...]
Obviously I’m biased on the subject, but Pinole’s view that the only solution is to keep the wastewater treatment plant in Pinole active (thereby requiring costly upgrades) is quite silly. The alternative to transfer to the West County Wastewater District (WCWD) makes sense for the growth expected in Hercules, and provides the City of Pinole [...]
I think Pinole is being unrealistic and undervaluing a switch to WCWD, however Hercules could be more straightforward… Pinole to Hercules: Clarify growth plans By Tom Lochner Heading into Tuesday’s meeting of the Pinole/Hercules wastewater board, Pinole wants Hercules to give a clearer idea of its future growth plans. A wastewater treatment plant co-owned by [...]
The gist of the report by Tom Lochner… The $2-a-month-increase “will help cover the costs of the new infrastructure needed to transfer our wastewater from the Pinole Plant to the West County Wastewater District,” reads a brochure that Hercules City Hall sent to residents in April. That message has upset officials in Pinole, which shares [...]
I see two issues in the possible switch from Hercules sending wastewater to Pinole to sending wastewater to the West County treatment plant (WCWD)… (1) Is it in the City’s best long-term interest to complete a full switch to WCWD? Yes, and I’d also argue that it is in both city’s best interest to do [...]
The City will transfer $1 million from the redevelopment agency coffers to the Education Revenue Augmentation Fund, as required by law, at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting, 7pm at City Hall. The Council will also approve a lease with Sala Thai as a tenant for the restored historic Civic Arts Building. The details of the [...]
This is a good idea. The West County Wastewater District (WCWD) has the space to grow — where Pinole does not — plus it provides Pinole the opportunity to redevelop the valuable waterfront property it has (assuming Pinole would also join WCWD). It is in the best interest of both cities for the long-term… Hercules [...]
Note: I spoke to a City official last night on this subject after I had written the draft of this post, and he said that Railroad Avenue currently serves as the only emergency access route to Pinole. I am not sure if that is a critical pathway, however if that is the case, it would [...]
The agenda is relatively packed for Tuesday night’s City Council meeting — 7pm at City Hall — including a whopping $4-million item on the consent calendar.* Some highlights… Commence a lease (5 years at $1800/month) with AT&T to install a cellular tower at the PG&E facility. Spend $62k on lighting design for Sycamore Downtown (formerly [...]
The City of Pinole approved three years worth of capital improvements, “including almost $8.1 million in the coming year, that will include substantial renovations at the Wastewater Treatment Plant that Pinole owns jointly with Hercules.” The waterfront park in Pinole is a nice little space if it weren’t for the god-awful smell that periodically consumes [...]