COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Department of Public Works

DATE:

January 6, 2004

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 13, 2004

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Neil R. Cullen, Director of Public Works

SUBJECT:

Formation of a Sewer Maintenance District - Edgewood Estates and Rathgar Court Subdivisions, et. al. - San Carlos Area

Recommendation

Hold a public hearing on the proposed formation of the Edgewood Sewer Maintenance District, consider any and all testimony, close the hearing and adopt a resolution creating the Edgewood Sewer Maintenance District.

Previous Board Actions

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Adopted a resolution declaring your intention to form a sewer maintenance district to serve properties in the proposed Edgewood Estates and Rathgar Court subdivisions as well as one adjoining parcel, and set January 13, 2004, at 9:15 a.m. in your Board's chambers as the date, time and place for a public hearing to consider any and all objections to the formation of said district and the levying of costs for providing sewer service on the parcels to be served.

Key Facts

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Section 5820 et. seq. of the State of California Streets and Highways Code requires that a public hearing be held to consider any and all protests to the formation of the district and the levying of the costs of maintaining a district's sewer system on the properties located within said district.

Discussion

Alternatives to Maintain a Sewer Collection System to Serve the Subdivisions

Your Board approved the Edgewood Estates and Rathgar Court Subdivisions subject to the developers meeting the terms and conditions of approval which included the construction of a sewer system to serve the properties within the subdivisions.

We subsequently met with the developer and the staff of the City of San Carlos to discuss alternatives for providing sewer service to the area as the subdivisions lie within the sphere of influence of the City. The City has indicated that it will agree to transport and treat wastewater from the area, but will not by policy maintain sanitary sewer facilities outside its corporate boundaries.

We evaluated four alternatives:

1.

Annexation of the area to the Scenic Heights County Sanitation District (Scenic). We do not believe that this is a viable alternative as Scenic is subject to the District Reorganization Act, and the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has determined that Scenic has a zero sphere of influence and that its boundaries should not be expanded. Annexation to Scenic would be contrary to the determination of LAFCO.

2.

Contract with the City of San Carlos for sewer maintenance. We do no believe that this is a viable alternative as the City, as stated previously, has a policy of not maintaining sewer facilities outside its corporate limits.

3.

Require the maintenance of the sewer collection system by a homeowners association. We do not recommend this alternative as our previous experience has been that homeowners associations will not provide adequate maintenance especially since down hill stoppages do not directly affect their properties.

4.

Create a sewer maintenance district to finance the maintenance and operation of the sewer collection system. (Recommended alternative)

It has been suggested that the Scenic Heights County Sanitation District should provide sewer service to the properties by entering into outside sewer service agreements with the developers and property owners. This method was used to provide sewer service to three parcels on Palomar Drive that had failing septic systems. This method, we believe, is feasible. However, we believe that it is more cumbersome since the properties will be subdivided into 17 parcels upon approval of the subdivisions and the District would therefore have to administer 18 separate agreements in providing sewer service for this area.

We believe the formation of the sewer maintenance district is a more straight forward method of providing sewer service to the parcels to be created as the levying and billing for the costs of providing sewer service will be incorporated into the procedures used to levy and bill for sewer service in the nine (9) other sewer/sanitation districts governed by your Board. In addition , we believe that this alternative is appropriate as the enabling sections of the Streets and Highways Code provide that the district may be dissolved upon annexation of the area to a city. It is also our understanding that the property owner, as a condition of obtaining treatment capacity for their property, must agree to annex to the City when annexation is feasible, and the developers are in agreement with the maintenance district alternative.

Next Steps

Forming the District is the mechanism that will allow sewer service to be provided to the properties in the two subdivisions and the adjoining parcel, and to allow the costs of providing this service to be financed by the properties receiving said service. However, there are other steps that will also have to be completed before the district can provide service to the subdivision areas.

Your Board, as the governing board of the new district, will also need to enter into an agreement with the City of San Carlos for sewer capacity for the parcels within the district; and the four party agreement relating to the maintenance of the Hassler Sewer main - the sewer main that serves the surrounding area - will also have to be amended, as a portion of the Hassler Sewer main will be used to transport wastewater from the subdivisions. We will bring these agreements to your Board, acting as the governing board of the new sewer district, if the new district is formed.

Vision Alignment

We believe our recommendation is consistent with the Shared Commitment to be a "responsive, effective and collaborative government," as the formation of a maintenance district provides an interim method of providing this city type service until the area can be annexed to the City as envisioned.

Fiscal Impact

The developer will reimburse the Department for the staff time associated with creating the maintenance district, processing the necessary agreements, and filing the map and description with the appropriate agencies. The developer or property owners will also be responsible for the construction of the sewer collection system serving the properties. Annual sewer service charges will be established once the design of the system is known and the cost of treatment capacity for the City is determined. The annual charges for maintenance will be levied on each lot after they are developed. There is no impact to the General Fund or other funds administered by the County.

A form of resolution and notice has been approved by County Counsel and we have sent a copy of this staff report to the City of San Carlos and to the owners and developers of the properties that are proposed to be included in the maintenance district.