County Service Area No. 7 (CSA No. 7)  -  Summary of Activities

In order to provide timely information regarding the County’s proposal to reduce costs of operating the sanitary sewer system for CSA No. 7 by contracting with a private operator, the County of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works will maintain this website.  Reports to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) can be viewed at the County’s website under “Board of Supervisors Meeting List”.  A list of the dates when Board items related to CSA No. 7 are scheduled to be or were previously discussed at the Board meeting is shown below.

BACKGROUND

On May 20, 2003, the County of Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors adopted fees for 2003/2004 that did not include the requested increase in sanitary sewer fees for CSA No. 7, due in part to a petition submitted by a majority of the  CSA No. 7 fee payers.  The Department of Public Works (DPW) currently operates the sanitary sewer treatment facilities and provides maintenance of the sewer collection system according to the terms of a waste discharge permit issued by the State Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).  However, based on the revenue provided by the current service charge, DPW cannot provide the needed level of service at the current budget (see attached).

In order to pursue less costly alternatives, the Department of Public Works was directed by the Board of Supervisors to prepare and distribute a request for proposals (RFP) to consider contracting  with a private operator to operate the sanitary sewer treatment facilities and collection system for CSA No. 7.  Private operations management companies have been able to provide this service at lower cost to fee payers at other locations in California.  At the November 25, 2003 Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved distribution of the RFP for these services.  On March 23, 2004, the Board of Supervisors was notified that only one proposal was received, and it was contingent upon completing a number of costly capital improvements.  The following table provides a summary of information related to the service area.