News - Local - North Coast

Sunday, Jul. 27, 2008

County gauges reaction to new sewer proposal in Los Osos

The plan would call for all Los Osos residents to install a septic tank on their front lawns

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The county Public Works Department is surveying thousands of Los Osos residents regarding the reaction to a sewer system that would place septic tanks on each property and then pump liquid effluent to a treatment plant.

It’s part of a plan to determine the popularity of the type of sewer that could be built in the coastal town.

The STEP — septic tank effluent pump— alternative would require property owners to install septic tanks in their frontyards.

John Waddell, project engineer, and Paavo Ogren, director of Public Works and sewer project manager, answered some questions about this type of system.

How will the county determine whether to build a STEP system?

The county’s determination between a STEP system

and a gravity collection system would be based on several factors.

The county has not yet developed a recommendation for what type of sewer to build, so the questionnaire on the possible location of STEP tanks is an initial formal request from property owners.

Factors that would be considered include impact on property owners and community preferences, cost determinations and environmental analysis.

How will the forms that are returned factor into that decision?

The questionnaire was developed primarily to help with preliminary design to identify potential locations of STEP tanks on individual properties in case that alternative is developed.

The questionnaire, however, is not being used as a final determination of whether the community prefers the STEP option.

A community survey — which would be distributed after a draft environmental impact report on sewer options is made available to the public — would be used to gauge community preferences.

What happens to forms that are unreturned?

Because the questionnaire has been developed as initial formal requests for information, the county would follow up with people who don’t return the form.

What if there isn’t overwhelming support for STEP? Could the county select it anyway?

The Board of Supervisors has final authority on the project.

But because the impact on property owners could be substantial for a STEP system, the recommendation from Public Works would likely not back that if the community doesn’t support it.

What if I already have a septic tank in my backyard? Do I have to get it replaced with a tank in the front?

Existing septic tanks would need to be replaced.

The county estimates that about 5 percent of properties would need grinder pumps in the back yard to lift sewage to a STEP tank in the frontyard.

Would it be the property owner’s responsibility to pay if he or she has to install a backyard pump?

Yes, the cost of the additional facilities that would be required on some properties are the responsibility of those property owners.

The cost of landscape restoration and providing power to the STEP tanks would also be a property owner’s responsibility.

Some property owners might also need to locate the new tanks under their driveway.

All of these costs can vary among properties, and county estimates of these costs for property owners range from about $1,500 to $8,000 each.

Property owners would also be required to provide an easement to allow workers to access the STEP tanks for maintenance and inspection.