YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Spring Forward March 10
Vol. 17, No. 10
READ BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.THEPRESS.NET
Town’s first manager set to retire by Dawnmarie Fehr
March 8, 2019
On Worship And Inclusion
Correspondent
Next month, the Town of Discovery Bay will be losing one of its most familiar faces. Virgil Koehne, who has dedicated the last 21 years to making Discovery Bay a better place, will be retiring at the end of April. “I’m looking forward to (retirement),” Koehne said with a smile. “Especially fewer phone calls.” Koehne was the town’s first general manager when it became a community services district (CSD) in 1998. After serving in that capacity for 12 years, Koehne stepped down to manage the water and wastewater functions for the town, which he has done up until now. Discovery Bay’s current general manager, Mike Davies, acknowledged Koehne’s major role in the development of the town as it is today. “For the last 20 years, Virgil has been the quintessential face of Discovery Bay,” said Davies. “When a problem arises, Virgil is the one who shows up to resolve it. We congratulate him on his retirement. But on the other hand, he will be sorely missed by the board, his coworkers and the people of our community.” Koehne has long considered problem solv-
A recent vote by the United Methodist Church may affect LGBTQ+ community. Page 5
Making Music Meaningful Photo by Tony Kukulich
Discovery Bay’s Water and Wastewater Manager Virgil Koehne, will be retiring in April after 21 years with the town. ing to be one of the perks of his position. As someone who loves a challenge, the myriad dilemmas that plagued residents offered a welcome puzzle Koehne always enjoyed solving. “I love to problem solve, so I love trying
to bring solutions to problems,” Koehne said. “Some are challenging, but that’s the most rewarding part of the job. Sometimes it may take see Retire page 30
WaterFix hearings put on hold by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
The real-world implications of Gov. Newsom’s rejection of the twin tunnels project became more apparent last week as the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requested and were granted a 60-day stay of hearings with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). “We agree that the SWRCB water rights hearing should be stayed while the state determines what project it wishes to pursue,” said Osha Meserve, a Sacramento-based environmental attorney representing counties, local agencies and environmental groups opposed to WaterFix. “We are urging an open and
“ It would not make sense for the water board to move ahead to a final decision on the current project, which will never be built. It makes sense to wait until the governor fleshes out his plan for the new project …
”
Michael Brodsky, legal council for Save the California Delta Alliance transparent process to assess alternatives to the twin tunnels concept rejected by the Governor that could be more readily implemented.” During last month’s State of the State address, Newsom stated unequivocally that he did not support the twin tunnels, but did support a single tunnel. New-
SAVE NOW
som’s position created a quandary for DWR. The project has, up to this point, been contemplated as a two-tunnel project. Years of environmental impact reports, wildlife impact studies and construction permit requests were completed based on two tunnels with three intakes — each with a 3,000 cubic feet per second
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capacity — to be constructed on the Sacramento River, south of the city of Sacramento. The size of the tunnel, the number of intakes, the capacity of those intakes and their placement are now unknown quantities. The request to construct the intakes, referred to as a change in point of diversion (CPOD), was submitted by DWR and the Bureau of Reclamation to the SWRCB in August 2015. DWR is the state agency charged with building and operating WaterFix as part of the State Water Project. The Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency, is involved because the Central Valley Project (CVP) is expected to receive water from the WaterFix infrastrucsee WaterFix page 30
Be A Lifeguard
www.thepress.net/news/webextras
The East Bay Regional Park District is recruiting 40 to 60 lifeguards in the East Bay.
A new nonprofit organization is bringing musical harmony to special needs students. Page 4
Girl Grappler Grabs Title
Freedom’s Dalia Garibay takes first state title at girls’ wrestling championship. Page 21 Calendar................................31 Classifieds.............................25 Cop Logs................................29 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Milestones............................13 Opinion..................................20 Pets.........................................15 Sports.....................................21
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McNerney leads bipartisan effort to protect Minority Business Development Agency.