$50 Per Month Sewer Bills Proposed

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By Tom Fruitcheese and the Monterey Peninsula Water Pollution Creation Agency. Protesters tried to stop it with a written campaign but fell short, kind of knee deep in the sewage.

The city’s aging sewer system has led to repeat sewage spills into protected coastal waters. Officials sought the fee hike to cover the long-term costs of repairing it, pinned at $13.9 million over 10 years.
“Portions of the sewer system are almost 100 years old,” P.G. City Manager Tom Frutchey writes by email. “In order to keep the system functioning effectively, for the safety of residents and the protection of the Bay, the council adopted the proposed rates. Throughout the 10-year period, future councils will be able to make further adjustments.”
Meanwhile, the Monterey Peninsula Taxpayers Association has pressured the city to refund a $600,000-plus sewer fee overcharge to residents. Officials have said they’d rather apply it as a credit against the upcoming fee hike.

$50 Per Month Sewer Bills Proposed

El Torito Sewage Spill Closes Beach

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Go easy on the frijoles, ok?

The bureau closed access to McAbee Beach around 10:35 a.m., after the Monterey Fire Department reported a sewage spill coming from El Torito Mexican Restaurant, located at 600 Cannery Row, according to the county officials.
The restaurant sits adjacent to the beach and right on the water’s edge.
The fire department learned of the spill sometime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when a person passing through the area called to report sewage spilling into the ocean, according to Monterey Fire Captain Barry Perkins.
The amount of sewage released into the Monterey Bay is unknown at this time, Supervising Environmental Health Specialist with Monterey County Marni Flagg said.

El Torito Sewage Spill Closes Beach
KPIX SF

Higher Pay Per Flush Approved

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Not enough input from opposition.

New rates will help cover the cost of fixing old pipelines that date back to the early 1900s. Pacific Grove residents will now see a 5 percent rate increase on their monthly sewer bill, totaling about $42 a month, and some residents in the area aren’t too happy.

The city said the sewage rate increase will bring in more than $800,000 over the next couple of years. City officials said the sewer fund is separate from the general fund and can only be used for sewer maintenance.

Higher Pay Per Flush Approved

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

4,000 Year Old Skeleton Unearthed On Lighthouse Avenue

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Newest Outzenville apartments being built over native burial site. Nothing to be afraid of, right?

The mysterious male skeleton found on a Monterey job site last month is 4,080 years old, testing has revealed.
The age solidifies early assumptions he was Native American, significantly predating European contact.

The skeleton’s age did not surprise the local Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation.

“What can we say? These are our ancestors and we know they’ve been here for longer than the 4,000 years,” chairwoman Louise Miranda Ramirez said.

4,000 Year Old Skeleton Unearthed On Lighthouse Avenue

Newcomer Food Critic Moves In

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Drinks a bit much – super concern over lack of bars. What were you expecting?

I never imagined moving to the 93950, the land of Monarch butterflies, grenade-dropping seagulls and the ubiquitous red-faced, short-sighted nimby. But a few weeks ago I left Monterey and landed in Pacific Grove, a bit wary yet eager to explore “America’s Last Hometown.”

The first oddity: There are no bars in Pacific Grove (the city currently allows on-site consumption of alcohol only at full-scale restaurants — requiring at least 70 percent of seating reserved for dining).

The second oddity: Driving downtown after 8 p.m. is like riding into Tombstone before a gunfight. There are a few folks spilling out of the movie theater (great theater experience, by the way), and more than a few hospitality folks bellied up to the wine bar at Jeninni. But that’s about it. Carmel has a frustrating parking problem. P.G. can only wish for such a problem. A responsible, classy bar (even as part of a downtown restaurant) would help extend the nightlife past sunset. And it would also provide me with a home office.

Newcomer Food Critic Moves In

Turn Of Events: Holman’s Antiques Robbed

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Unlike sellers of fake antique clocks…

Holmans Antique Sale

Pacific Grove police are on the lookout for two suspects in a theft at Holman Antiques on Lighthouse Avenue Friday.

A black man and black woman distracted the clerk while they took diamond earrings and two Rolex watches, police said.

The employees didn’t notice the items were stolen until they closed the shop.

Turn Of Events Holman’s Antiques Robbed