CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayors and City Councils DATE: September 14, 2022
FROM: Whitney McDonald, Arroyo Grande City Manager
Matthew Bronson, Grover Beach City Manager
James R. Lewis, Pismo Beach City Manager
SUBJECT: Central Coast Blue Joint Meeting of the City Councils
RECOMMENDATION
Receive information regarding the Central Coast Blue Regional Recycled Water Project and provide questions and comments to the Project team.
BACKGROUND
A joint meeting is being held this evening at the South County Regional Center to showcase the collaboration and partnership between the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Pismo Beach as it relates to the Central Coast Blue Recycled Water Project. A meeting of the three City Councils is a unique and historic event and provides an opportunity for all agencies to simultaneously receive a comprehensive update on the project while also being able to ask questions and share comments. This is the first joint meeting of the three City Councils in at least a decade. The following major topics will be covered this evening:
1. Project Overview - This component will review the recycled water project and how the technology works. It will review the technical components of the project, the location of the project, and what the advanced treatment facility will look like.
2. Water Supply Drivers and Project Benefits - This component will discuss current water sources for each of the cities and the current state of those sources. There will also be a discussion of how this recycled water project protects the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin from seawater intrusion.
3. Costs and Funding - Phase I of the project is currently expected to cost $93 million for the treatment facility along with related wells and pipelines. This amount includes total project costs including capital costs, soft costs, and a contingency. Funding is expected to come from state and federal grants with the balance being financed through government subsidized loans secured by the member agencies.
4. Project Governance - A Joint Powers Authority (JPA) is being formed to own and manage the facility. Each member agency will have one equal vote on the board. Staff will provide an overview of key components of the JPA agreement under development this evening.
It is expected that the three Councils will be asked to approve the agreement to form the JPA by November 2022.
Staff Report: Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and Pismo Beach Joint City Council Meeting Page 2 September 14, 2022
5. Project Schedule - An overview of the project schedule will be provided. It is expected that design and permitting will be completed in 2023 with construction beginning late that year. The facility is estimated to be completed and operational in 2025.
The Project team consultant Water Systems Consulting will be the primary presenter at the meeting with staff from the three cities available to provide comments as needed. There will be multiple opportunities for Council questions on the topics presented and time for Council comments as well as public comments. It is anticipated that at the end of the meeting, Council Members will have the opportunity to celebrate this historic collaboration by collectively signing a statement of commitment to a sustainable water future. The Regional Director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will also attend the meeting to make a formal presentation of the $14.1 million Title XVI funding award awarded to the project.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact of the joint meeting as the meeting only provides an update and opportunity to ask questions.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.