Home › News › County News
Flynn seeks to allocate money from property sales for El Rio sewer
STORY TOOLS 
More from County NewsVentura County Supervisor John Flynn will try again today to convince his colleagues to reconsider a decision he says robbed El Rio residents of money needed to pay for a new sewer system.
In December, the board allocated $5.18 million in Watershed Protection District money to six projects across the county, with $1.6 million going to the El Rio sewer project. Flynn contends it all should have been spent in El Rio, or elsewhere in the Oxnard area, because it came from the sale of county property in Oxnard.
In May, he tried to have the issue reintroduced to the board, but his motion failed when no one seconded it. It will be on the agenda again today.
In most cases, money raised from each zone of the Watershed Protection District must be spent within that zone. However, the county's attorneys told the board that money from the sale of government property can be spent anywhere in the county.
Flynn disagrees, and argues nothing in the law specifically allows money to be moved from one zone to another.
He also says the board went back on a promise to give $4 million in grants to El Rio residents, approving a $1 million loan program instead.
El Rio faces a deadline of 2008 to replace its septic tanks with a sewer system or face fines from regional water quality regulators. So far, about $16 million in public funds have been secured for the $38 million project.
Residents will have to make up whatever amount remains unfunded through hookup fees and increased sewer rates.
Posted by luv2sail on September 18, 2007 at 10:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sadder yet is that most people complain but when it requires them to take off a few hours and attend a meeting, they always find an excuse not to.
Of course, when decisions go against their grain, then the complaints begin again.
Posted by danp on September 18, 2007 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Have they even sold one of those places yet?
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.