Monthly Archives: July 2015

Tree Tires Of Waiting For Permit, Falls On Its Own

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City arborist said the tree was fine and had a lot of life left in it. Arborist just might be a moron.

The top of the tree took out his children’s zipline and the family’s bench swing. Penchan said he is happy it was him and the dog in the backyard and not one of his three children, who may not have recognized the sound.

Penchan said he and his realtor had already asked the city for a permit to remove the tree twice.

“It should have never gotten this far. This was an issue we brought up first in November,” he said.

Penchan and his wife bought the home on Walnut Street at the end of 2014. In November, their real estate agent, John Carminati, with Jones Group, expressed concerns about the tree and filed for a permit to remove the tree. Carminati said the city lost that application.

Tree Tires Of Waiting For Permit, Falls On Its Own

Sewer Rate Increases

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Never mind the lack of maintenance and failing MRWPCA pump station. Pay Per Flush and Smart Sewer Meters can’t be far behind.

A discovery that the city had been overcharging customers for several years angered many and led to a grassroots effort to overturn a 10-year rate hike proposal, with 1,421 residents penning letters against the idea. But it wasn’t enough to stop the move — 3,051 responses were needed — and the City Council unanimously adopted the increases.

“We’re going to be able to move ahead,” said Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe just after the responses were tallied.

The figure was not what the opposition had hoped for. The controversy arose after the city collected $600,000 in sewer fees over the last few years without issuing a required notice to ratepayers. During that time, the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency also raised its rates, which were linked to the city’s rate and added to homeowners’ bills.

Sewer Rate Increases

That Free Fiber Plan Turns Into a $1,000,000 Per Year Cost To P.G.

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AT$T and Comca$t do not appear interested in paying for borrowed fiber optics running in the sewers.

Sifi Sewer Networks

SiFi’s business model is to take a low risk middle position in the deal and flip it to institutional investors. Initially, the risk would have been offset by signing long term operating agreements with incumbent cable and telephone companies. But as company CEO Ben Bawtree-Jobson said with classic English understatement yesterday, “there’s been some kick back from those tier one service providers”.

Bawtree-Jobson laid out the new deal:
SiFi builds the network for $15 million and Pacific Grove leases it for 30 years at a price in the $1 million a year range (ramps to $852,000 in year 3 with cost of living increases after that).
Third party ISPs resell services, with a residential gigabit pegged at $90 a month.

That Free Fiber Plan Turns Into a $1,000,000 Per Year Cost To P.G.(Steve Bloom, Tellus Venture Associates)

Diver Dies At San Carlos Beach

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A diver who encountered problems during a training exercise at San Carlos Beach in Monterey over the weekend has died, coroner’s office officials confirmed Thursday.

Exactly when she died is unclear, but on Saturday afternoon when she was taken to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment, paramedics said she was unresponsive and had a pulse.

Diver Dies At San Carlos Beach