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THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Date: March 10, 1992 MATTER OF RECORD
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Citizens UnitedP.0. Box 8011, Pittsburg, CA 94565 510 458-9121
The Honorable Sunne McPeak, Chair
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors -' RECEIVED
651 Pine Street
Martinez, CA 94553 MR 1 O
March 10, 1992
Subject: Issues regarding Keller Canyon rate information CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CONTRA COSTA CO.
Dear Chairman McPeak and members of the Board,
There are two major areas of review that we believe are required before you should even consider opening Keller
Canyon. First, the state water resouces control board must complete its review of the serious concerns brought to light by
the city of;Pittsburg's appeal of the currently existing waste discharge permit. There are numerous items the state staff has
raised issues with including site stability, site hydrology and the adequacy of the current design to protect Contra Costa
water supplies.'Further information on this was provided to you in a memo from the local advisory committee on February
25. However, we would like to amplify one point raised in that letter, as it amplifys a key point in the second area of review
required, something the board is required to do - the area of rate review for Keller Canyon. One of the probable
recommendations to the state water board is that the current liner system at the site be redesigned. Because KCLC has
raced night and day to complete this site by some artificial March deadline, any implementation of a new design would
pass.on significant additional cost to the county ratepayers. This raises the general issue of the rate review required
before Keller can open. We believe it is in the county's best interests to ensure all costs regarding construction and
mitigation costs are known in advance to avoid initial "low-balling" of rates, with subsequent substantialjumps during
periodic reviews to follow. If this is not done_, and the initial rate structure does not reflect these costs, as well as those
required to subsidize the operation of two county landfills, in future years the county will be at the total mercy of the
operators, as controls that may have been available under the franchise agreement are no longer applicable once the
landfill is placed online.
All of the questions Supervisor Torlakson raised on October 8, 1991 (responded to on December 3, 1991) are essentially
still unanswered.-These must be addressed and the supporting information made available to the public to allow sufficient
time for independant, thorough review before the the board can consider any rate structure for Keller. Please refer to Mr.
Val Alexeeff's memo to you dated December 3, 1991 for the exact questions. To summarize, they concern analysis of the
total rate impact from the new landfills and transfer stations, whether there is enough garbage in the county to support the
capital investment in two landfills (and what the break even point is) and what the total costs are to meet the conditions of
approval the Board itself imposed. (This would also include the cost of the property value compensation/direct acquisition
programs initiated by the board).
We respectfully request that you delay all further activity you are required to take before Keller could go online until the
state has completed its review, and the details of all reasonable cost components of Keller Canyon are.known. Further,
we ask that before any rate review take place, the public be given access to the proposed rate structure and any
supporting documentation well before the public hearing on the issue. We believe a 30 day review period would allow any
interested members to review and prepare comments on what is of obvious interest to all county ratepayers. Some
information regarding Keller has been made available to the public only minutes before the public hearing - please don't
allow that to happen in this case.
Please contact Citizens United at 458-9121 or at the above address should you require any additional information on this
matter.Thank you for your time and attention.
Sin ,•
Jim Hicks Chairman, Citizens United
.J
The Board adjourns to Monday, March 16, 1992,
to allow Board Members to attend the Transportation
Committee meeting at 1: 15 p.m. in Room 105 of the
County Administration Building;
And then to 7: 30 p.m. to meet with the Board
of Directors, Los Medanos Hospital District, Pittsburg.
The Board then adjourns to the regular
scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 17, 1992 at 9: 00
a.m. in the Board Chambers.
Sunne Wright McPeak, Chair
ATTEST: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator
and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By
r -
Jeanne O. Maglio, Deputy Clerk