FOREfront--Working for the People of Roseville
Volume 4 Issue 3
May 2001
WATER SHORTAGE
SOUNDS WAKE-UP CALL
California faces enormous electric and
natural gas shortages and even Roseville will not be able to shield its
ratepayers. Some people will suffer greatly from the devastating negative
impacts of uncontrollable costs passed on to them. People who
can absorb higher costs, while not happily, will be able to buy their food,
medicine, pay their rent or mortgage and still be comfortable with a little
belt tightening. Limited income people, and many small businesses, will
not end up as comfortable as their budgets leave little room for increased
outlays.
The next looming
shortage facing Roseville residents and businesses, and in
fact all of California, is the lack of water. We have not
had a drought since most of the rapid growth has taken place in Roseville and Placer County in recent years. Our city council
and city staff tell us Roseville has adequate water to service all
residential and commercial development. Why then is San Juan Water District
furnishing water to new development in Roseville?
Regardless of how
much water entitlements Roseville and Placer County have those entitlements may
disappear with a drought. California got very little rain this year.
There is no new water supply. Will we be left holding the bag just as we have
with the shortage of power?
According to the
city council, any annexations to Roseville will require the development to
“bring its own water”. That means they must have agreements from other water
districts or drill wells for their developments. Does that mean Roseville will pump the water through Roseville’s water treatment plant and
system? What happens during a drought if those water districts cannot meet
their obligations? Will those residents in new developments be abandoned and
treated differently than other Roseville residents or will we all be rationed
water because there will not be enough water to go around? Placer County has 237,000 acre feet of water
entitlements and when its general plan is built out then will be only 1,600
acre feet of water left over -- enough water for 1,600 residential units,
providing there is no DROUGHT.
Many communities
throughout California have placed limits on how fast
they will grow. Roseville does not have such a limit. In
fact it is one of the fastest growing cities, outstripping the 20-year general
plan by 10 years. How will the city council justify the annexation of huge
tracts of land in west Roseville when our area has already provided
more than its fair share of population growth? Who will benefit if we continue
to be one of the fastest growing cities in the state without water?
Are you willing to
see your quality of life disintegrate so that Roseville can continue expanding at
breakneck speed? Have we reached our limit to provide sufficient water to Roseville residents so they may maintain the
quality of life they expect and deserve? A water shortage is sounding a wake-up
call for our city council. Do you want to help them hear it?
“He who is carried does not realize
how far the town is.” Nigerian proverb
PROPOSED POWER PLANT MAY NOT BE
WONDERFUL DEAL COUNCIL CLAIMS
Roseville has entered into an agreement with
Enron North America, a Texas energy company, to allow Enron to
build a cogeneration plant, using natural gas, on Roseville property. Cogeneration is the dual
production of useful steam or hot water and electricity from a single source.
A few facts about the cogeneration
plant in Roseville:
* The
power plant will produce between 350 and 750 megawatts (MW) -- a very large
plant.
* Enron
is filing plans and negotiating the deal, but is known to sell projects to
someone else to build.
* In
August, Enron is expected to submit plans to the California Energy Commission
for approval. It should take 6 to 18 months for approval.
* If
a 750 MW plant is built, Roseville would get $1 million a year for 25
years for the rate stablization fund and $200,000 a
year for 25 years for the Citizens Trust Fund. A smaller plant means less
money.
* For
example, if a 350 MW plant is built, Roseville would get about $450,000 a year
for 25 years for the rate stablization fund and about
$95,000 a year for 25 years for the Citizens Trust Fund.
* Gifts
to Lincoln and Rocklin would be $200,000 a year for 25 years; Loomis’ would be
$150,000 and Placer County would be $200,000 for a like
period. (Political hush money!)
* Why
was Auburn left out? They will get much of
the pollution -- none of the money.
While this deal may sound great for
Roseville, this may not be the wonderful
deal the city council claims.
Some things to consider:
* This
is a very large plant and will affect traffic and air quality in South Placer County.
* Three
smokestacks will be 150 feet high and be located near Sun City.
* While
California needs electricity, Mike McDonald,
representing Enron, told the council at the March
21st council meeting that there is
no guarantee that this power will be delivered to Roseville, Placer County or California. Roseville is not guaranteed electricity from
this plant.
* If
Roseville wants electricity from the plant, Roseville will have to pay the going market
price.
* Why
is Enron willing to pay what many people would consider a lot of money to build
the plant?
* The
$1.2 million a year to Roseville is minor compared to the money
Enron will get selling the power.
Roseville should rethink and renegotiate its
deal. In addition to the yearly pay out to Roseville, one would think that Roseville should get power at reasonable
prices, without long-term contracts, from a plant in its own city limits. What
benefit does Roseville get of Placer County, Lincoln, Rocklin and Loomis “gifts from
Enron” other than the impacts and inconvenience of the plant to Roseville residents? Does it make sense or
have they all learned from the Indian Casino sharing?
IN LIEU FRANCHISE FEE COURT CASE
APPEALED
Roseville has appealed the Placer County
Superior Court final ruling which ordered the city to cease collecting a 4% in
lieu franchise fee as of July 1, 2000. The in lieu franchise fee in
question is on your water, sewer and trash bills. The Superior Court held that
those utilities cannot charge more than the cost to provide those services. The
4% charge, which is placed in the general fund exceeds
the cost of service. The appeal is in the Sacramento Court of Appeals. A court
date has not been set.
UTILITY USER’S TAX GOING TO COURT
The Roseville City Council
certified Measure Q following the November election as passing with a simple
majority vote. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association believes Roseville’s utility user’s tax, under
Measure Q, which is budgeted and appropriated solely for police, in, parks
and recreation or library services, is a special tax under the California
Constitution and required a two-thirds vote. The city and the Jarvis Group
spent three months in negotiations to settle out of court. Negotiations were
not fruitful and the case is now in the discovery phase prior to a court date
being set.
PROPOSED ANNUAL CITY BUDGET
Each year at this time, the city
prepares a budget for next fiscal year. FY 2001-02 starts July 1 and the
budget will be considered in June. You
may want to attend the budget hearings.
We see a number of things for the
budget.
Roseville’s financial health is outstanding.
Sales and property taxes have ballooned. However, general fund income will be
understated by about $4 million and expenses overstated by about $5 million.
When this fiscal year ends, the
city should have a $15 million surplus. But, the city has done a number of
things to lower that surplus.
> They obligated $2.4 million at
the end of FY 2000-01 for items departments just have to have -- at the right time, those items will not be needed.
> $3 million has been placed
into a rehabilitation fund, mainly to upgrade older parks -- at the right time
money may be moved to other uses, like an employee parking garage.
> Big salary increases were
given top management -- to stay competitive.
> $1.1 million paid to the Galleria that will be
each year for a number of years.
> Annual payments for certificates
of participation (COPs) are being made from the
general fund. COPs are like bonds except they do not
need a vote of the people. Yearly COP payments should be made using revenue
from the project they finance. An example is the new police facility which
generates no revenue, so the general fund pays.
In the general fund, “conservative”
estimates of expenses and income create about a 10% surplus as mentioned above.
Now add the official 10% economic reserve and that is a 20% surplus.
Yet, that is not the end of many
different money pots. Has the rainbow dipped into Roseville?
RECYCLE NEWSPAPERS?
WHY? Because,
while we the residents own the public garbage service, we must pay higher
“tipping fees” (cost to dump at the land fill) when newspapers go from your
home to the dump.
For every 100 lbs of newspapers you
drop off at Roseville newspaper recycling bins, $4.5!)
is saved in operating costs which ultimately
affects garbage rates. All bins in Roseville, including schools, belong to our
public garbage department and the money offsets operating costs. That means, as
more newspapers are recycled in Roseville bins, the lower the garbage rates.
Call 774-5780 to locate a
bin near you. FORE encourages you to take a few minutes to recycle -- it is in
your best interests.
“Shoes divide men into three
classes. Some men wear their father’s shoes. They make no decisions of their
own. Some are unthinkingly shoed by the crowd. The strong man is his own
cobbler. He insists on making his own choices. He walks in his own shoes.” S.
D. Gordon
DEVELOPER ONE –
NEIGHBORHOOD ZERO
Another
neighborhood lost an appeal to the city council on ApriL
4th. Even though a large number of residents contested the 6.2 acre Crocker
Oaks affordable rental housing project on Painted Desert Way, the council, on a 4 to 1 vote
(councilmember Roccucci opposing) approved the
project.
While
affordable housing is needed, at issue were three-story apartment buildings next
to single-family homes and a disclosure statement. The attorney for John Mourier Construction, the developer, said residents signed
statements acknowledging that affordable housing would be built in their
neighborhood. Bruce Larsen and his wife said they did not sign such a
statement, which Mayor Gamar conveniently produced.
The city attorney said if that was so, then the Larsen’s only recourse would be
to take the developer to court for fraud. Larsen said that it was too expensive
to go to court.
JMC
has been the subject of numerous complaints and lawsuits and it is unfortunate
the city would not look at all the questions raised on the entire project.
People expect the council to rule taking all the facts into consideration.
DEVELOPER
80+ 204 -- OAK TREES ZERO
Native
oak trees continue to fall faster than the leaves of autumn
There
are many developments that require trees to be removed, but Actium
Development had a 99-unit subdivision at East Roseville Parkway approved in 1998 allowing them to
remove 204 oak trees. This March the developer submitted a change to the
project to remove 80 more oak trees. That is 284 native oak trees for a
relatively small development.
Over
900 trees were removed in 1999 and about the same number last year. This year
may set a record. When the planning commission can approve a large number of
trees to be removed at one meeting, such
as 606 trees at their May
13, 1999
meeting, then it may be time the city council reevaluates what is happening to Roseville residents’ quality of life.
AUTOMATED TRAIN HORN TO
BE TESTED
A
recent agreement between the city and the railroad has brought Roseville one step closer to the start-up of
a 2-year test of the automated train horn system. The more neighborhood
friendly horns are expected to be installed by October. Driver behavior at the
city’s railroad crossings will be monitored prior to installation of the horns
and after they are activated. Data from the monitoring will be used to
determine the horn’s effectiveness as a safety device. The automated horn is
currently used, instead of the locomotive horn, in several cities outside of California where it has proven to be an
effective warning device and in reducing noise to nearby neighborhoods. Roseville will be the first city in California to test the new automated train
horn.
Kudos
to Judith Donato and Frank Weinstein, members of
FORE, for educating the public, and educating and
convincing city staff, legislators, and regulatory agencies on the value of the
horn system.
DRIVE-BY
MAIL BOXES AT SIERRA GARDENS MAIL CENTER
The
United States Post Office, Roseville Postmaster Paul Leahy and the Sierra Gardens Drive mail center property owners are
congratulated for placing drive-by mall boxes in the mall-center parking lot.
Mr.
Leahy and Friends of Roseville have been working together for over two years on
the project. It allows driven to place mall in mall boxes from their side of
the vehicle. Drivers don’t have to lean over the passenger side of vehicles or
get out to drop off mail -- two dangerous ads. It is
wonderful and complements similarly placed boxes in the Galleria parking lot.
We look forward to driver friendly mall boxes near the main post office on Vernon Street.
Congratulations Mr.
Leahy, you have made life a lot easier for many people.
COPYRIGHT 1999, FORE, Roseville, CA
WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE OF ROSEVILLE
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