Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Recycled Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cloverdale council votes to accept 'no project' on recycled-water study amid budget concerns
Summary
After weighing four alternatives and a $400,000 federal/state grant opportunity, Cloverdale council voted 4–0 to accept the consultant’s report and designate 'no project,' shelving further predesign work that would have required a city match of roughly $430,000.
The Cloverdale City Council voted 4–0 on April 22 to accept the consultant’s recycled-water feasibility study and to record a "no project" outcome, preserving the city’s option to revisit recycled-water implementation later but declining to commit the city match required for predesign work.
The consultant from Westchester presented four alternatives: (1) serve existing irrigation customers (seasonal offset up to 87,200 gallons per day); (2) serve planned development and some agricultural users (up to 145,000 gpd); (3) serve agricultural users off-site (about 188,000 gpd); and (4) sell recycled effluent to Calpine Geysers (potentially up to 660,000 gpd). Alternatives 1–3 would require treatment-plant upgrades to produce tertiary recycled water, while an agreement with Calpine could, in theory, avoid upgrades because Calpine could use secondary effluent.
City staff and the city engineer said a next-phase predesign would likely cost $857,000 and would require a city match in the ~$430,000 range to leverage up to $400,000 in US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) funding. The city engineer recommended taking a cautious approach and the city manager and several council members raised concerns about the timing and the city’s other unmet capital needs for water and sewer projects.
After public comment — including residents who urged the city to focus on current infrastructure rather than new large projects — Council member Marquez moved to proceed with the 'no project' option; the motion was seconded by Council member Morgenstern and passed unanimously with Council member Lasky absent.
Staff said the consultant will finalize the study with 'no project' reflected and the city can pursue Calpine discussions or other options in the future without committing to predesign funding now. Council members asked staff to provide ongoing updates on related water projects and potential Calpine negotiations via subcommittee or future agenda reports.
