Resident urges district to consider Dunn School land and local treatment instead of five-mile pipeline

Catherine Rohr, a resident who identified herself during public comment, told the Lesleybos Community Services District board that the current plan for a five-mile pipeline to an off-site treatment plant "arguably [chooses] the least local solution to a small local problem" and eliminates the chance to recharge groundwater locally in and around Los Olivos. Rohr said Dunn School repeatedly offered "five or more acres of their land for a local treatment option" and that the boards refusal to engage Dunn deserves correction.

Rohr cited an earlier recommendation she said came from Jane Gray, then-chair of the regional water quality control board, that the district reach out to Dunn: "over 2.5 years ago, the water board chair told Tom Faver that working with Dunn, and I quote, might help to offset costs for the community and is a more attractive project for any funding agency." Rohr also disputed the suggestion that Dunns timing or neighborhood concerns made the offer unusable, saying Dunn runs an underground treatment facility adjacent to sports fields and classrooms that has operated for about a decade without odors. "If there's a single property owner in all of the Santa Ana Valley that has successfully installed an on-site treatment facility without odors and other hazards, it's the Dunn School," she said.

The board did not take action on Rohrs request at the meeting; staff said public comments would be part of the broader evaluation as the district develops assessment and project options. The comment was made during the general public-comment period before the consent agenda.