Group asks NCSD to back incorporation movement
By Randi Block

An impressive showing of community support at a recent Nipomo Incorporation Committee meeting led two proponents to ask Nipomo Community Services District directors to play a larger role in the movement last week.

The board was unable to respond to the proposition because it wasn’t on the agenda but offered to have the discussion at a future meeting.

Mike Eisner and Guy Murray, co-chairmen of the Nipomo Incorporation Committee, held a community workshop the previous weekend so the public could learn more about what it would take to form a city and how close Nipomo is to reaching that goal.

“There is a desire (in the community) to explore this,” Eisner said.

Fifty-six people attended the event, which covered several issues related to cityhood, including a focus on Nipomo’s financial picture, water shortage and potential boundaries.

Fourth District Supervisor Katcho Achadjian, who represents Nipomo, attended the meeting and said the Board of Supervisors and surrounding communities of Arroyo Grande and Oceano support Nipomo’s efforts.

He said he would support the push if a majority of residents also were in favor of gaining more local control.

Incorporation proponents learned in November that Nipomo generated $200,000 more in sales tax revenue in 2005 than was originally predicted — a sign the community is moving toward financial independence.

At the weekend meeting, members of the public volunteered to form a committee to study the feasibility of incorporating and fundraising strategies, because $200,000 is needed to initiate the process, Eisner said.

At the NCSD meeting Jan. 24, the men asked the directors to support the effort and nominate someone to participate on the committee.

“We’re here to ask the NCSD to participate with the continuation of these studies,” Eisner said. “We think the NCSD could play a large role in this process.”

In the past, individual members of the NCSD board have said they support the idea of incorporation if the finances pencil out and allow Nipomo to retain similar levels of service without raising taxes.

No date was set for the NCSD discussion of incorporation.

Randi Block can be reached at 347-4580.

February 02, 2007

My understanding is that the NCSD Board has not yet formally decided to discuss any formal support for the Incorporation Committee at this juncture, they have agreed to appoint a Board Member, Jim Harrison as their lianson to the Incorporation Committee. Thanks to the Adobe for covering the incorporation movment and dialogue in our community!

I orginally published a version of this article almost two years ago, in March 2005.  A version of it is on my old blog, and a version was published in the Adobe Press. I’m updating and republishing it now to reflect the most current events, and my own personal thinking about incorporation. I’ve previously published a short history of Nipomo’s incorporation movement here. While there is certainly more to this history, I think what I provided is a fairly accurate overview–though admitedly brief.

On 2/15/05, the Davis Company submitted its final report on its preliminary feasibility analysis of Nipomo’s incorporation. You may read that report on line here. This report, some times called the Davis report, was prepared on behalf the Nipomo Community Services District (NCSD), which hired Mr. Davis to perform an intial feasibility study to determine whether it was fiscally feasible for Nipomo to incorporate–that is become a city. The study cost the NCSD approximately $25,000.00, which in my opinion was money well spent.

The most critical finding of the Davis Company (at that time) was summarized on page one of Mr. Davis’ cover letter:

“In general, however, most of the $720,000 amount that was originally projected from Vehicle License Fees has now been eliminated from the revenue estimates for the new city. Only a residual estimate of $61,000 remains. The change means that the fiscal viability of incorporation is well beyond the three – five year period originally estimated. For example, current estimates indicate that, in the year 2008, a new city would still be almost $600,000 short of breaking even.”

Mr. Davis went into greater detail in his report about the VLF issues, and why we were then in a situation, that did not exist in November 2004, when the first version of Mr. Davis’ report was released. Assuming Mr. Davis’ research to be reliable and his prognostications to be accurate, based on his own conclusions:

These recent policy changes, if unchanged, are likely to put off Nipomo incorporation for a period of seven to ten more years.

Mr. Davis’ initial projection, in November, 2004 was that Nipomo’s incorporation was at least three to five years in the future. In February 2005, he believed Nipomo’s incorporation was between seven to 10 years away. Or, somewhere between 2012 to 2015. Since the incorporation process, even if started today, would take two to three years, no matter what the immediate fiscal feasibility, Nipomo’s incorporation is still several years in the future.

In November 2006, the current incorporation committee obtained the latest sales tax figures from San Luis Obispo County, which I discussed here. The good news was that we were over two years ahead of Mr. Davis’ sales tax projections. With several commercial and retail projects in the planning and even construction stage here in Nipomo, it is my opinion that these sales tax figures will continue to rise.

The question is, in terms of incorporation, where does Nipomo go from here? The answer, I believe lies northward, and inward. The Cambria CSD was also contemplating incorporation back in 2004. This was not the first time that Cambria had considered becoming a city. In 1974, some Cal Poly students completed a preliminary feasibility study for the Cambria community, which concluded that in the mid 1970’s it was fiscally feasible for Cambria to become a city. Yet, Cambria did not pursue incorporation in the mid 1970’s.

In 1989 another Cal Poly study also concluded that Cambria could become a city. This conclusion was confirmed by two more studies, one in 1991, just prior to the enactment of revenue neutrality, and then again in 1995, even after revenue neutrality had become law. Still, Cambria decided not to pursue incorporation.

In 2004, Cambria again decided to look at incorporation, and appointed a committee to assist them in that endeavor. Cambria’s most recent incorporation website is here.

In late 2005, I spoke with Tammy Rudock, General Manager for the Cambria CSD about their incorporation process. In order to gauge and garner public support for Cambria’s incorporation, the Cambria CSD board of directors appointed a public panel (of 10) consisting of volunteers from Cambria’s citizenry to oversee their incorporation process, in conjunction with their incorporation consultant, Andy Belnap associated with Management Partners. Mr. Belnap guided the citizens’ group in this process.

This panel, under Belnap’s guidance reported directly to Ms. Rudock and the CSD board. Interestingly, the Cambria CSD decided that they would pay (up to $150,000) for the comprehensive fiscal feasibility study required by LAFCO, if they had voted to proceed with a petition to LAFCO to begin the formal incorporation process.

Unfortunately, for Cambria, their incorporation committee decided that the alimony payments under revenue neutrality that they would need to make to San Luis Obispo County, were just too high, i.e., up to $2.2 million a year for an undetermined period of time. In their final report to the Cambria CSD, the citizen incorporation committee in part recommended:

The Ad Hoc Citizens Incorporation Committee was appointed by the CCSD Board of Directors in September 2004 and has worked diligently to evaluate the feasibility of incorporation. Generally speaking the Committee believes that Cambria would be better served as an incorporated area with local control/planning, and regrets that the area did not incorporate years ago. However, in light of the results of the recent community questionnaire and in light of the following four points, the Committee recommends that no further steps towards incorporation be taken at this time.

Having the Cambria Community Services District behind the incorpration movement was a hugh advantage for the Cambria community. According to Ms. Ruduck, the primary rationale in Cambria for incorporation was to assume all land use and planning decisions from the county, in order to better control their destiny. This is the same rationale here in Nipomo.

Of course Cambria’s most recent feasibility study was much different from Nipomo’s. Cambria has the opposite problem than Nipomo–they are too feasible, while we are not yet feasible. As a result, Cambria, was looking at having to pay $2.2 million dollars in revenue neutrality payments for as yet an undetermined number of years. In other words, in late 2005 Cambria was generating so much revenue to the county, that under the revenue neutrality law San Luis Obispo County was going to require them to pay up to $2.2 million a year in alimony to break away from the county. The reason is that under the revenue neutrality law, since Cambria was making more money than it was costing San Luis Obisop County to support at the time, Cambria would have to make up for the lost revenue they would take with them as the new city.

While Nipomo is not yet fiscally feasible for incorporation, we are in a better position than Cambria, because we are on the correct side of the revenue neutrality equation, and probably will be for the next few years; however, if Nipomo’s incorporation is to succeed, we need to follow some of Cambria’s example, and look inward as well to see whether enough community support exists for success.

The NCSD cannot sustain the incorporation burden alone. They do not have the manpower, either in board members or staff. And, quite frankly, there needs to be much greater community support. I believe Nipomo’s current incorporation movement is at a cross roads. We can build on the past work our CSD board has accomplished. Or (like Cambria) we can let the incorporation dialogue dissolve into the background, and perhaps reinvent the wheel again several years or decades down the road. These will be years and decades that San Luis Obispo County will continue to make, implement and enforce planning and land use decisions by people who do not live here, work here, have any roots here, or are accountable in anyway to Nipomo’s citizens.

I believe the time has come for our own NCSD to form a similar citizen’s panel to Cambria’s. The community needs to support this movement, or Nipomo must remain under county control for land use and planning decisions for the indefinite future.

I have spoken with or exchanged emails with several individuals in the community about Nipomo’s incorporation. Many have expressed interest in keeping the issue alive. With the current explosion in commercial development in Nipomo, such a citizen’s panel could and should continue to update the Davis report, and keep the CSD board current. The current and likely continued growth in sales tax revenues may make incorporation feasible more quickly than the 7 to 10 year projections; however, we will need some mechanism to do this. We need to stay on this side of the revenue neutrality equation, while monitoring our fiscal feasibility. We cannot afford, as Cambria did, to let incorporation wait until the future. Cambria set a good example of what not to do in that situation. Had Cambria incorporated in the mid 1970’s, pre revenue neutrality, they would be a city today, controlling their own destiny, without ever having paid a dime to the county.  We need to learn from Cambria’s mistake, and make certain we move forward on incorporation before Nipomo begins to generate the type of reveunes that will fall under the revenue neutrality laws. We don’t want to wake up decades from now and find out that Nipomo is on the wrong side of the revenue neutrality equation.

Another example of revenue neutrality’s harshness can be found in another neighbor to the south, Goleta. They also were on the wrong side of the revenue neutrality equation when they finally did incorporate, and are now paying millions of dollars to Santa Barabara County under their revenutraility agreement with them. Let’s not repeat the mistakes either of Cambria or Goleta here in Nipomo.

This is an exciting time here in Nipomo.  The SCAC Incorporation sub-committtee is going to be planning and holding an incorporation workshop in the near future.  Once I have more details, I will publish them here, and on the Nipomo Community egroups.  As always, feel free to leave comments or questions if you have any.

Residents need to decide the real future of Nipomo

Water district officials in Nipomo should have paid more attention to the film “Chinatown,” a 1974 Oscar winner, the defining premise of which is that water is power.

“Chinatown” is fiction. The fix the Nipomo Community Services District board finds itself in is not.

The board is attempting to figure out how to meet the community’s water demands in the coming years. Plan A has been to build a pipeline from the city of Santa Maria, which has agreed to sell a portion of its state water allotment so that Nipomo can better meet the needs of growth.

But Plan A will likely have to give way to Plan B, C or even further down the list, because the cost of building the pipeline has quadrupled — from an estimated $6 million to $24 million — since the board began considering such a project.

The real, final costs won’t be known until an analysis is completed in a few months, but if the normal laws of economics apply, the pipeline project will only get more expensive. Assuming that to be the case, NCSD board members had better start working on other options — if the overriding philosophy is that the community should continue to grow. More about that in a moment.

Looking at other options is clearly a wise idea; however, it is too early to throw in the towel completely on the water pipeline. As the editors point out, we won’t know final costs for a bit longer.

The best other option mentioned so far is construction of a desalination plant, turning ocean water into potable water. But the problem is that the desal option is expensive, too. And desal plants across the nation are encountering all kinds of operational problems that push up the cost even more.

I actually think this is the best option available. Yes, desal plants are expensive; but, they are also a reliable source of unlimited water for our community. The pacific ocean isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Furthermore, Cambria, our coastal neighbors to the north are looking into the same option. We can learn a great deal from their efforts.

Another option is that the district could take a stab at tapping into the State Water Project, a notion that was widely rejected here two decades ago. That also would be the least expensive alternative.

But it’s not a viable option. For one thing, surrounding communities that participate in the state water hookup would have to agree. Santa Maria officials have already indicated they’re not interested in such a deal, in large part because of the money the city has invested in its state water connection and because of the loss of business in selling its water to Nipomo.

State Water might be a short term fix if feasible; but, I honestly don’t know the requirements for tapping into state water at this stage. If, as the editorial suggests, that surrounding communities must give their assent–then it looks like state water will be an unlikely option for the reasons cited.

This is quite a mess, one made worse by the myopia of past district officials and Nipomo residents who decided years ago they wanted no part of state water. Time and circumstances have certainly changed that outlook.

The disputes surrounding state water those many years ago were focused on cost and using water as a growth facilitator. It is now clear that inflation has made those original state water costs a bargain.

Using water as a weapon against growth, continues to this day. There are voices in this community which continue to claim Nipomo is running out of water. There are voices claiming that no further growth can occur without new water sources. While I agree that supplemental water is necessary–it is neccesary for our long term future water security, not because we need more water in order to sustain the current growth. That is simply false. Using water to control growth did not work in the past, and it will not work now.

But what of the growth issue? Nipomo is showing signs of wanting independence from county rule through incorporation. The community wants to determine its own future — and those are decisions that need to be made on a broader scale than at the NCSD board level. Perhaps the district should consider a communitywide referendum on enhancing the water supply and how that facilitates growth.

This goes beyond the board just seeking more input from citizens. These are issues that need to be voted upon by the folks who will have to live with the outcome.

While water is a very important issue facing our community, I believe incorporation is by far more critical to Nipomo’s future than is the current water debate. Though, I do not mean to suggest the water debate should be set aside or postponed. We can and should address both issues. But, the indisputable fact remains that water and growth issues will be issues in Nipomo’s forseeable future whether we are a city or not. The difference is that as a city, Nipomo will have more and better refined tools to address the issues of water and growth. Cityhood isn’t necessarily about water or growth. Rather, it is about a better way to address both of those issues.

The editors are right that growth issues should be decided on a community wide basis. Once incorporation moves forward and a petition made to LAFCO, then residents community wide will have an opportunity to vote on cityhood as well as the ability to have a say in their future growth. But, the NCSD can and should play an important local role in the incorporation movement. They are the only viable source of revenue to finance the high costs required to move forward with incorporation. (I will post more on this shortly). They are also the most equitable body to lead the community to its eventual destiny.

For now, the board has made a good decision to put the pipeline project on hold. Now the real discussions about the future need to begin.

I agree.

This week’s Adobe Press ran a front page article on Nipomo’s possible incorporation. Randi Block did a very good job on researching the article and reporting on the issue. I don’t have too much more to add; but, did want to make just a couple of comments.

The lead paragrahs of the article talk about how incorporation might affect Nipomo’s rural nature (a very important and endearing quality of our community):

A renewed effort is under way to help Nipomo become a city and have greater control over the community’s planning issue.

While a number of residents have indicated support for a break from San Luis Obispo County governance, many agree that it will be difficult to achieve that freedom because Nipomo does not have a broad revenue base.

But to encourage the development of large commercial businesses and more sales tax revenue would work against the one thing most residents want — to keep Nipomo rural.

“That is a trap that everybody falls into when they get incorporated,” said Ed Eby, a director of the Nipomo Community Services District. “There’s a temptation to permit businesses just so you’ll get the sales tax. So you’ve got to have a careful balance whenever you accept any new businesses, because the fact is that this is going to take us away from being rural.”

While Ed is correct that more businesses will diminish Nipomo’s rural quality to a degree, the weakness in his (and others’) arguments on this score is that Nipomo is going to continue to grow and build out regardless of whether we incorporate into a city or not. There is always going to be a dense commercial core in the business district along Tefft Street–whether we incorporate or not. The smart thing to do is to plan for the upcoming growth and is coming to Nipomo. We can’t stop that growth; but, we can plan for it, and use it to our advantage by harnessing the tax revenues that new business brings to lay the foundation for our eventual incorporation.

The article then points out the very postive sales tax revenue increase from the last time figures were calculated in February 2005:

Michael Davis of the Sacramento-based Davis Co. completed a report last year that said it could take Nipomo a decade to incorporate, but residents are enthusiastic about new data that suggest it may take less time than originally predicted.

Davis estimated in the study that Nipomo would generate $758,000 in sales tax in 2005, but closing numbers revealed the community actually raised $921,000 — almost $200,000 more than predicted.

“Where we are now is a much better place than we’ve ever been,” said local lawyer Guy Murray, who has been a leader in the incorporation push.

Kevin Beauchamp, a member of Nipomo’s advisory body, said he was encouraged by the news and the progress of five large commercial projects in town, all of which have the potential to bring in big bucks.

“If we decide to pursue incorporation, now’s the time to do it,” Beauchamp said.

Again, the jump in sales tax revenue is only a positive thing. That is the basis and foundation upon which we can and should build our future city.

The article also noted Cambria’s own incorporation efforts in the past, which efforts are an important object lesson for our own community:

Breaking away from county government has been difficult lately for cities across the state. Under a 1992 law requiring “revenue neutrality,” all incorporation efforts must prove counties won’t fall short after the new city is formed.

If cities bring in more revenue than the services they require, they are forced to pay the county government the equivalent of alimony.

“You want to incorporate when you’re slightly in the red, but where there’s a trend for revenue,” Winn said.

Cambria has made several unsuccessful attempts to incorporate over recent years and finally put the effort on the backburner after determining the revenue neutrality payments to San Luis Obispo County would be too great, said Art Montandon, counsel for the Cambria Community Services District.

Montandon also said that when the district polled water customers, 90 percent of those who responded said they could not support incorporation. His advice for Nipomo residents, therefore, is to spend a lot of time explaining the benefits to the community.

“It should be organized across the board to be an educational effort,” he said.

Good advice from Mr. Montandon. The most critical factor in any future incorporation, aside from the revenue will be a broad based educational effort by incorporation proponents and community organizations. In my opinion most communities which have faced incorporation and failed have likely done so because the didn’t properly educate the community. This will be one of the biggest challenges we face here in Nipomo as well.

The other important point above is the revenue nuetrality issue. Right now, Nipomo is not a financial cash cow for the county like Cambria is. For Cambria to leave the county, would result in a financial windfall to Cambria and shortfall for the county. Right now, Nipomo is slightly in the red, as Mike Winn points out–which is the time to incorporate. Cambria’s biggest problem on their incorporation movement, is that they first considered the possiblity in the mid-1980’s but ultimately decided against incorporating then–when it would have been financial feasible. Now, it could cost Cambria millions in what I like to call “alimony” payments to the county to satisfy revenue neutrality laws. I will be doing a post shortly on where I think Nipomo’s incoporation movement needs to go, and point to Cambria’s examples for learning tools. Another furture post will deal with “revenue nuetrality” and exatly what that means.

The Incorporation Committee’s members said they want to reach out to the general public to determine whether there is broad support for moving forward with the break. The first step is to determine whether the NCSD board, currently Nipomo’s only governing body, is behind the effort.

Directors Winn and Eby both said they support the idea of incorporation if the finances pencil out.

“My position is and always has been that I’m for incorporation because it gives local land-use planning control,” Eby said, adding that he thought the whole board would support the idea.

A workshop on incorporation will likely be held in early January and sponsored by the committee.

Anyone who wishes to comment on the idea, can e-mail Murray at guy.murray@gmail.com.

The next steps toward Nipomo’s incorporation are very important. I believe the NCSD needs to become re-engaged in the incorporation dialogue. Cambria’s Community Services District likewise took a leading role in their movement (even though they eventually chose not to proceed). Workshops will also be important–as will increased public involvment and interest. We need more and more people, individual citizens and groups to become involved.

I am pleased to see both Ed Eby and Mike Winn, two current NCSD directors speak positively about incorporation. This is a good sign, and will help make the approach the NCSD more effective. You can feel free to email me at the addres above, or leave public comments on the blog about incorporation. What do you think about incorporation? Do you have any opinions? Do you have any concerns? Do you have any questions? Let’s begin this dialogue anew.

Nipomo Cityhood Debated

By Randi Block

A renewed effort is under way to help Nipomo become a city and have greater control over the community’s planning issue.

While a number of residents have indicated support for a break from San Luis Obispo County governance, many agree that it will be difficult to achieve that freedom because Nipomo does not have a broad revenue base.

But to encourage the development of large commercial businesses and more sales tax revenue would work against the one thing most residents want — to keep Nipomo rural.

“That is a trap that everybody falls into when they get incorporated,” said Ed Eby, a director of the Nipomo Community Services District. “There’s a temptation to permit businesses just so you’ll get the sales tax. So you’ve got to have a careful balance whenever you accept any new businesses, because the fact is that this is going to take us away from being rural.”

Members of the Nipomo Incorporation Committee recently met to discuss the likelihood that the community would be able to support itself and to determine how to gauge whether a majority of residents would support the idea.

Michael Davis of the Sacramento-based Davis Co. completed a report last year that said it could take Nipomo a decade to incorporate, but residents are enthusiastic about new data that suggest it may take less time than originally predicted.

Davis estimated in the study that Nipomo would generate $758,000 in sales tax in 2005, but closing numbers revealed the community actually raised $921,000 — almost $200,000 more than predicted.

“Where we are now is a much better place than we’ve ever been,” said local lawyer Guy Murray, who has been a leader in the incorporation push.

Kevin Beauchamp, a member of Nipomo’s advisory body, said he was encouraged by the news and the progress of five large commercial projects in town, all of which have the potential to bring in big bucks.

“If we decide to pursue incorporation, now’s the time to do it,” Beauchamp said.

However, Mike Winn, NCSD director, said that even if those projects are built in the next few years, they can’t open for business until there’s a supplemental water source in the town, which may be significantly more than five years away.

NCSD just found out the pipeline project to bring water in from Santa Maria is now estimated to cost more than $24 million, and the board is unsure how to pay for the construction.

One of the main obstacles standing in Nipomo’s way to incorporation is its lack of a tax base, which has concerned many residents who are worried that services may have to be scaled back.

“It can work, but it can’t work without more businesses than Nipomo has at the moment,” said Clyde Cruise, president of the Nipomo Chamber of Commerce.

Cruise said one of the quickest ways to garner more revenue is to build more hotels, which raise high taxes for the community.

Meanwhile, it’s important to stop allowing developers to construct residential projects on property zoned for businesses, especially on West Tefft Street, Nipomo’s prime commercial core, said resident Bob Blair.

Beyond needing to find enough money to prove Nipomo can function as its own entity, community members also are facing an estimated $3.5 million price tag just to form a city, according to Davis’ study. That prediction includes the cost of creating a city government and planning and building department and funding public safety.

That number could be reduced significantly, Cruise said, if Nipomo agreed to sign an agreement with the county to pay for some services while still allowing the incorporation effort to move forward.

“The reason for incorporation is to call your own shots,” Cruise said. “But I think we should not create our own fire and police (departments) and let the county do that.”

Breaking away from county government has been difficult lately for cities across the state. Under a 1992 law requiring “revenue neutrality,” all incorporation efforts must prove counties won’t fall short after the new city is formed.

If cities bring in more revenue than the services they require, they are forced to pay the county government the equivalent of alimony.

“You want to incorporate when you’re slightly in the red, but where there’s a trend for revenue,” Winn said.

Cambria has made several unsuccessful attempts to incorporate over recent years and finally put the effort on the backburner after determining the revenue neutrality payments to San Luis Obispo County would be too great, said Art Montandon, counsel for the Cambria Community Services District.

Montandon also said that when the district polled water customers, 90 percent of those who responded said they could not support incorporation. His advice for Nipomo residents, therefore, is to spend a lot of time explaining the benefits to the community.

“It should be organized across the board to be an educational effort,” he said.

The Incorporation Committee’s members said they want to reach out to the general public to determine whether there is broad support for moving forward with the break. The first step is to determine whether the NCSD board, currently Nipomo’s only governing body, is behind the effort.

Directors Winn and Eby both said they support the idea of incorporation if the finances pencil out.

“My position is and always has been that I’m for incorporation because it gives local land-use planning control,” Eby said, adding that he thought the whole board would support the idea.

A workshop on incorporation will likely be held in early January and sponsored by the committee.

Anyone who wishes to comment on the idea, can e-mail Murray at nipomolaw@aol.com.

November 24, 2006

Growth in Nipomo

Guy Murray: Exactly how do you envision the NCSD having any impact in matching growth with infrastructure?

Jim Harrison: I am aware that NCSD has no planning powers however I believe that elected bodies of community service districts can and should influence the Supervisors, the Planning Commission, and County planning staff. This can be done by establishing good friendly communications, keeping the needs and desires of the community in front of these people all the time, by working with these offices to make sure that the infrastructure is in place prior to building massive projects, assure that long range planning considers all these needs. For a long time the county has approved projects without a good method of providing the infrastructure needed for our community, I am aware they are at this time working on methods of paying for this failure. Hopefully their efforts will meet with success.

Supplemental Water (Pipeline)

Guy Murray: Do you favor the pipeline?

Jim Harrison: Yes, with the present court stipulation, NCSD has little choice they must build a pipeline that will bring in 3000 afy of supplementary water from Santa Maria.

Guy Murray: If so, do you favor a restricted flow pipeline, or as large a pipeline as can be built?

Jim Harrison: Build the pipeline across the river to the storage tanks, large enough to handle the foreseeable future needs for water in the amount Santa Maria is willing to sell to the purveyors on the Mesa.

Guy Murray: How should the pipeline be paid for?

Jim Harrison: The present District Manager has written a paper outlining different options to pay for this project, Grants, low interest loans, developer fees, and the already approved increases for the rate payers. Working with the manager the board should come up with the most economical method possible to pay for the project.

Guy Murray: What other options do you favor as additional solutions to Nipomo’s water situation?

Jim Harrison: NCSD should research the option of a desalination plant to provide a long range dependable source of water outside of the aquifer. I think that when Santa Maria is built out and the drought comes, the state cuts back on the allotment of water to Santa Maria and Santa Maria passes that cut back on to all its users, The purveyors on the Mesa may not be able to meet their needs.

Guy Murray: Finally, how do you view Nipomo’s water situation?

Jim Harrison: I do not believe there is a crisis in the aquifer at this time. I think the problem is two fold, the first there are depressions in some areas of the Nipomo Mesa Management Area (NMMA) of the greater Santa Maria Aquifer due to the purveyors pumping water faster from these areas than can infill by natural flow of the underground water, I do not think these depressions are a major crisis at this time, they could become a major problem if they continue and a long term drought were to occur. Second and perhaps more pressing is the fact that NCSD failed to obtain rights to pump water from the aquifer other than what is determined to be excess after all other users have pumped up to 110% of their established highest year usage. This determination will be made by a board set up to over see the NMMA. I think during a drought NCSD can be left without enough water to fill its commitment.

Annexation of new areas by NCSD

Guy Murray: Do you favor greater annexation or no annexation, and why?

Jim Harrison: When a developer wants to annex into the district and I believe that all developments in the sphere of influence should be required to annex, that developer should pay for the supplemental water, and other service needs for their project as well as for the infrastructure to get the services to their development. I believe it is the responsible of the NCSD to plan and provide for the growth that is projected by the County Land use ordinance. Someone is going to provide the services because the County is probably going to approve the development as long is it meets the requirements of their land use ordinance, if in the sphere of influence it should be NCSD.

Expanded NCSD Powers:

Guy Murray: Do you believe the NCSD should expand its current powers–please explain why or why not?

Jim Harrison: There are areas NCSD should explore expanding their powers, they have to make sure that funds are available to pay for these expanded powers, expanding the powers of NCSD would bring more local control over the things that influence our lives.

Nipomo Incorporation:

Guy Murray: What is your position on Nipomo’s Incorporation?

Jim Harrison: Nipomo should to be working toward incorporation now.

Guy Murray: Does or should the NCSD have any role in that process?

Jim Harrison: NCSD should play a major role in this process; they need to be the vocal point for informing the public of the process. The incorporation committee needs to continue working toward this goal. That hold harmless law makes it important to keep track of the position we are in with regard to the tax base in our area when we reach a point where we can pay for the services the county presently provides the community should incorporate and bring local control to our area. My fear is that Nipomo will wait too long much as other communities have waited in this county and are required to pay large sums of money from their tax base to the county. We need to make sure we do not reach that point prior to gaining local control over our tax base and our community.

I think two of Jim’s strongest points are: Nipomo’s Incoproration and increased NCSD powers, as well as studying the feasilibity of a desalination plant here in Nipomo. I urge Nipomo’s voters to vote for Jim Harrison on November 7, 2006.