Posted by: thepinetree on 02/20/2008 06:54 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/20/2008 09:06 AM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
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The !@#$% May Hit The Cyclone...and That's A Good Thing~By John Hamilton
Bear Valley, CA...We had the chance to stop by the Bear Valley Water District Board meeting on Monday where they discussed an alternative to the proposed $12,000,000 conventional treatment plant. Partners from Clean Filtration Technologies gave a presentation on using a cyclonic filtration system and small micron filters instead of the traditional waste treatment facilities. One of the partners in the company is Bear Valley homeowner John Mallard. One of the added benefits of using a system like this is that it may be possible to get the output to "Title 22" standards. This level is needed to for treated water to be sprayed on Ball Fields, Parks, Golf Courses or even Snow Making. One option is for these systems to be built into standard shipping containers. This would help with the short building cycles in Bear Valley. The district could potentially drop in a turn key system for less than half the cost of the conventional treatment plants...
The board voted to go forward with additional information gathering on the system. So it seems that Bear Valley's Silicon Valley connection may help solve one of the issues facing Bear Valley. The small micron filters are manufactured in a manner similar to circuit boards rather than traditional machining. It is our understanding that this process allows them to build filters down the the one micron size.
The Bear Valley Water district will have to make upgrades to it's system even without the new development. The plan is to issue an assessment bond to cover the costs of the upgrades. One potential sticking point is how much of the construction costs for the new plant that the developing partners of the new village would be willing to fund. All the property owners in Bear Valley would be assessed for their "Fair Share" of the costs. On undeveloped parcels the owners would be assessed according to how many units they plan to build.
The developing partners would like to see their assessment based on a lower number than the possible maximum in case they don't end up building quite as many units. This would lower their portion of the assessment bond considerably.
This has the potential of increasing assessment for the other property owners. However if the costs of the new treatment facility can drop significantly it helps everyone and make getting to an agreement much easier.
Eric Jung has written some very nice pieces in The Cub Reporter on this issue. If you would like to get a more detailed view just pick up a copy of the February Issue.
