It is the intent of this website to present factual and unbiased information pertinent to our goal of changing sewer providers thus informing those interested in this important topic.
The Toro Area Coalition of Homeowners Associations was formed in response to something that went terribly wrong. It happened after the privately owned sewer company that serves the developed communities of Creekside, Serra Village, Toro Sunshine, Toro Views, Toro Hills, Toro Park Estates, The Villas, Meadows and Palma Grove (Markham) filed a giant rate increase application of 120% with the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in September 2009. The small Adcock family owned sewer utility is incorporated as California Utilities Service (CUS).
In December 2010 a successful Town Meeting was held about our sewer service
A storm of protests came from the Highway 68 corridor customer-ratepayers. About 250 of those customer-ratepayers met at a Town Meeting on 12/6/2010 to discuss a possible takeover of the sewer utility. Eight speakers made presentations. Here are some of them. To see some of the speeches, Press here to see Walt Conley's speech. Press here to see Mike Parrish' speech Press here to see Joe Green's speech. To see Jim Murphy's speech click here.
Some history
The Adcock family owns two utilities, both operated out of its office at 249 Williams Road, Salinas. One water utility, serving about 8,800 customers in Salinas is Alco Water Service, and the second is the sewer utility, California Utilities Service. Patricia Adcock is the current owner, and son Thomas Adcock is the manager for both utilities. Some of the same staff at the Williams Road office serve both utilities. Alco Water served many other small water utility companies, but was required under Federal court order to divest itself of all but Alco Water after the Environmental Protection Agency filed suit for inaccurate reporting of water quality tests. Press here to see the Court opinion
Back to the sewer rate hike
On September 25, 2009 Tom Adcock filed a 96 page application for CUS with the PUC for a rate increase from about $62 per month for each residence to $136 per month. Get ready for a long read if you wish to read the entire application – press here The Coalition was formed in November 2009 and protested the huge size of the rate increase, writing a letter to the PUC, objecting to the lavish expenses to CUS employees and wanting to rid ourselves of the current business owner. Mr. Adcock responded with a letter on December 29, 2009 you can view for yourself here. Click here to see the CUS response
Coalition hires an engineer to file a Response
to a proposed Rate for $115 per month or 88.5% increase. The PUC filed a proposed rate of $115 per month for residences or 88.5% increase, to which an engineer hired by the Coalition disputed, based on allowing only a fair rate of return on investment of 12.5%. See the engineer’s report by pressing here. The PUC instead had previous marching orders to allow small (Class C) utilities a greater rate of return of 33%, based on the expenses anticipated by the sewer company (rate of margin). See the PUC new sewer rate order of August 12, 2010 by clicking here
Investigating other options
Takeover of CUS and switching to Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA). The Coalition requested that the MRWPCA do a feasibility study on whether we could annex to their wastewater system. One ratepayer suggested this in a letter to the editor in the Salinas Californian and Herald. Press here to see the letter MRWPCA charges its residential customers $12 per month, but the cities tack on other charges for the collection of waste water, and it varies (Salinas, Castroville, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Sand City, Seaside, Monterey, Pacific Grove). See their website by pressing here The MRWPCA did the feasibility study, and said it would cost between $79 to $134 per month per household to get the job done (stretching out the cost over 30 years, and then reverting to their normal rate), assuming that Adcock’s CUS could be purchased for $2 - $5 million. New plumbing would be required from the CUS sewer plant on River Road to Hitchcock Road (about 2.3 miles of pipes). The catch is we would have to partner with an existing district or create a new district to do the collection of wastewater to the MRWPCA hookup at Hitchcock Road. See the technical feasibility study by clicking here. (This is a large file, please give it some time to complete downloading.)
A District we may consider partnering with is Marina Coast Water District to do the collection of our wastewater. See their website by clicking here. Marina Coast Water District does the sewer utility up to East Garrison on Reservation Road, a few miles from our sewer plant.
Encouraging news
Felton wrestled away the water system from Cal Am in 2008. A grass roots effort by community members decided they had it with Cal Am and the unbearable rate increase sought by that private utility company. The entire community was behind the effort of a takeover, and ratepayers passed a $10.5 million bond with 74% of the vote. Cal Am took most of the bond money for a negotiated price for their water system, and now Felton owns its own water system. Happy campers with decent water rates (albeit paying at the other end for the bond). See their Frequently Asked Questions on the Felton takeover by pressing here.
Also, Monterey Peninsula is making a run at taking local control over Cal-Am Water, fighting the good fight. A presentation was made at a League of Women Voters in Monterey on February 9, 2011. Since our Coalition has the same goal (acquiring a private utility and making it a public one), we may learn something from their stategy. See their website WaterPlus
For other websites on Highway 68 issues see:
Meyer Community Group - concerning new developments along the Hwy 68 corridor
Highway 68 Buzz - concerning shopping center at Corral de Tierra
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