SOAPBOX Letters to the Editor (Cont. from page 12) We need not be sorry for developers and we need not be “wishy-washy” by sending them mixed signals. In fairness, to be business-friendly, we need to tell them what we expect and want so they can incorporate those items in their plans early on. We tried doing this through a master plan process and perhaps that document needs to be reconsidered for its relevance today. We are offering these comments out of a sense to be constructive and supportive to development in the area and to help in doing the right thing for the long run of our historic community—not to take on a fight or be difficult but to remind everyone that what we allow today, will be here for future generations of residents, businesses and visitors. Sincerely, Mechelle Lawrence Adams, on behalf of Mission Preservation Foundation President George O’Connell, Founding President Tony Moiso and board members Bill Cvengros, Paul Mikos, Madeline Swinden and EJ Tracy. EDITOR’S NOTE: Gretchen Stroscher Thomson, the landowner and applicant behind The Shops at Capistrano, is also a member of the Mission Preservation Foundation’s board. Her name, however, was not included in the letter.
TIERED WATER RATES BASED ON GREED —Jack Chestek, San Juan Capistrano This is my protest to a cost increase in my water rate and service. First, this notice could be hard proof for a lawsuit. I’ll explain. City Hall records show Groundwater Recovery Plant costs have been reported at: $3,000 per acre foot in 2011; $1,342.51 in May 2012; $1,093 in October 2012; $1,250 in January 2014; and $588.18 in March 2014. Based on the above numbers, the capital cost of $2,941,002 per year to run the GWRP has somehow gone bye-bye. Over the past four years, residents have paid $11.6 million for a water cost factor that City Hall doesn’t need any longer or is hiding. This doesn’t make sense. Second, the new water rates don’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense to charge more for poop water—a.k.a. non-potable or recycled water—than drinking water. Rather than charge HOA’s $3.41 per unit to water their grass with drinking water from Lake Mead, City Hall plans on charging HOA’s more like $3.53 per unit for local poop water. Guess who makes out money wise? I believed 10 hundred cubic feet (ccf) of water cost me $36.04 today. After July 1, the same amount of water at the new proposed prate should cost $35.44. Wow, this is a 60-cent savings (Note: My guess
is this amount of cost reduction is now what Judge Gregory Munoz had in mind when he ruled our City Hall has to cut its water rates.) The same 10 ccf of water I have to pay today only costs $13.80 in Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, parts of Dana Point and Mission Viejo. Our City Hall has been charging residents the most severe drought rates the state asks for over the past four years. Now, City Hall is proposing to relax its restraints from 6 ccf to 9 ccf per month. This doesn’t make sense. The state is experiencing its worst drought ever this year. This is just one of many overcharges City Hall needs to repay over the past four years. Oh yeah, I believe the proposed monthly service charge of $30.74 for a 1-inch meter far exceeds any other agency in Orange County. Mission Viejo residents pay $7.77 for the same service. Third, the new tiered rates don’t make sense. All of this town’s water comes from reservoirs. Seventy percent of our water storage comes from two reservoirs. City Hall has no way to supply these two reservoirs with GWRP water. So it’s dumb to say everyone’s tier-one rate is based on cheap GWRP water when it can only be distributed to 30 percent of the town. In summary, during the past four years, City Hall has overcharged residents a
fixed $11.6 million plus millions in varying excessive water rates. The term volumetric is meaningless as used in this notice. City Hall has absolutely no way or means of measuring water used on residential landscape, which gets its GWRP water, which gets water from the Metropolitan Water District of Orange County and how much of the two water sources they get or use. As a past city water commissioner for six years, I’ve concluded City Hall’s only justification for tiered rates is greed. One day, tier four water costs $11.67 and the next day it costs $5.15. This greed breeds corruption. Is City Hall hiding $2.9 million in GWRP capital costs per year and why? In my view, City Hall has to stop screwing residents with tiered rates. Stop promoting the GWRP as a fix for earthquakes and droughts because its days are numbered until our aquifer is depleted of free water. Turn our water service over to Moulton Niguel, which knows how to manage water, and get out of the political greed business. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU To submit a letter to the editor for possible inclusion in the paper, e-mail us at letters@thecapistranodispatch.com or send it to 34932 Calle del Sol, Suite B, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624. The Capistrano Dispatch reserves the right to edit reader-submitted letters for length and is not responsible for the claims made or the information written by the writers.