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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/21/2026 Item 7b, Mavis Colunga-Lopez, Andrea Damien Mavis < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Sewer lateral offset program 7B Greeting SLO City Council— I wanted to voice my support for the Staff recommendations on item 7B, the elimination of the sewer lateral replacement program. Unfortunately I cannot attend the meeting otherwise I certainly would. But if anyone wants to discuss any of this further please send me an email or give me a call. First off I’d like to thank the Utilities department for the inclusive outreach process they ran. They really reached all the stakeholders and were open to ideas and solutions. The staff proposal covers all the bases. There is a requirement that large projects do a sewer study (consistent with other local jurisdictions) this makes sure that any major specific impacts are addressed from large projects. It also targets the solution to the problem and doesn’t target innocent third parties. The private side problem is poor condition laterals. And although there are not a ton of bad laterals, they are a huge problem (by my numbers flowing 16 times more than a good lateral in wet weather conditions). They are the responsibility of each property owner, but they affect each rate payer and public health if they fail. We all agree they need to be fixed, and it is expensive to fix them. These are our friends and neighbors so the idea of requiring the work to be done in connection with a sale, giving them ample time to do it, and financial support, seems like it is as gentle as possible while still solving the problem. It will also ensure that new homeowners are not inheriting the sellers bad lateral and all the problems that comes with. I am not sure there are any other jurisdictions that are being so generous, so instead of some special interests being against this new proposal they should be thanking the City for their generosity. What other private home improvement is financially sponsored by the City? This generosity should be commended! The program this is replacing had none of the positive attributes of the new proposal. The old program identified the problem (by requiring video inspection upon sale) but then made those responsible for the problem immune from being required to remedy the problem. Imagine the utilities department watching a sewer spill into the SLO creek, knowing full well there is a list of bad laterals that are contributing to the spill but having no way of compelling their repair. Then the only solution was for an unrelated homeowner or builder looking to build an ADU or home being required to go fix their neighbors failing lateral, even though their proposed project contributes nowhere near the same amount of flow the bad lateral was producing. At the last public hearing I did a poor job of explaining why I thought the existing sewer lateral offset program was unfair. Its probably easier in writing. I used the numbers in the city sewer study and came up with a pretty concerning number. I want to note that these numbers are based on averages, and each 1 lateral is different in its condition etc. however, I do think this the logic is sound. It appears based on the city study that on average a bad lateral flows 3,900 gallons per day in wet weather conditions. A new residential lateral on average flows 250 gallons per day in wet or dry weather (no leaks). So a bad lateral on average flow 16 times what a new good lateral flows. When the lateral offset program was in place it required a builder to replace one bad lateral to be able to build one new unit. That ratio was 1 to 1, not 1 to 16 which would be replace 1 bad lateral to be able to build 16 new laterals or homes, which is what the numbers would indicate is fair. Even if my numbers are off it was clear that the old program was not fair. By contrast this new program is quite fair and treats those with a bad lateral in a gentle and generous manner. Therefore I support all 4 of the staff recommendations on this matter. Sincerely, Damien Mavis Principal dmavis@covelop.net Bus: 805.781.3133 Cell: 805.748.5546 2