Thursday, May 21, 2015

[Tulare County] Grand Jury looks at City’s biosolids plan


Only minor issues found


An investigation by the Tulare County Civil Grand Jury resulted in just a few minor corrections being recommended to how the City of Porterville handles its biosolids program.
A complaint filed with the jury by a citizen brought about the investigation based on charges “the city had failed to use proper procedures pertaining to requesting and reviewing proposals and subsequently entering into a lease agreement involving farming of some 682.4 acres of land owned by the City.”
The jury found the City has no formal schedule pertaining to lessee performance and compliance monitoring. The report also states that the lessee of Porterville’s so-called “Sewer Farm” failed to adhere to the crop rotation requirements of the city’s biosolids management plan (BMP) and is, therefore, out of compliance with the terms of the lease.
The jury’s “Finding 1” points to a need for clarification of responsibility regarding which City Departments will be accountable for the timing and collection of lease payments. “Finding 2” focuses on shortcomings in the City’s development and maintenance of schedules for performance reviews relative to the implementation of the BMP and the documentation thereof.
The issue involves the city’s leasing of land and providing treated sewage water on land east of the city’s off-highway vehicle park. That lease was given to farmer Bobby Nuckols late last year after the city went through a bidding process. However, that lease was terminated in January and given back to the previous lessee, Rick Perigo Roadsiding, after the city said Nuckols violated the agreement.
Nuckols, in a lengthy letter to The Recorder, not only denies he violated the agreement, but said the city caved in to the other bidder because he had filed a claim against the city. Nuckols also said a crop he had been tending to for five months was given to the new bidder, who was able to harvest it and sell it.
City manager John Lollis said the city was in the process of pulling the lease from Nuckols and giving it to Perigo when the grand jury began its investigation in February of this year. He said a claim against the city by Perigo was never executed.
“While they (jury) were doing their investigation, we were dealing with what they were investigating,” said Lollis.
The city has been utilizing a farmer — it was Nuckols Farming for many years — to dispose of its treated effluent by applying it to crops that are not edible for humans. The contract was from the city’s Biosolids Management Plan.
According to the grand jury report released late last week, the city’s compliance monitoring relative to the lessee’s adherence to the contract “displayed confusion and or misunderstanding on the part of staff as to which city departments [had] primary responsibility for the timing and collection of lease payments.”
It’s recommendations are the city “implement a revised comprehensive performance evaluation process wherein the lessee(s) are more closely monitored” and the city “define and implement detailed accounts-receivable policies and procedures.”
The lease of the city farm, as it is commonly referred to, has been controversial for years and was a hot topic of discussion by the council when it was given to Perigo in 2009, and again when it was awarded to Nuckols in October of last year. The city gave the bid to Nuckols, who bid a higher price, even though he failed to include all the bid documents. Those documents not filed by Nuckols were ruled unnecessary and waived by the council. Nuckols outbid Perigo by $74 an acre.
However, when Nuckols planted a crop not allowed under the management plan, the city withdrew its lease. Nuckols said he got approval for the crop he did plant — oat hay — but that was after he had planted it.
Under the lease with the city, the farmer farms the city’s land utilizing the treated sewage water, about 4 million gallons a day. The agreement specifies what crops are acceptable.
The idea, explained Lollis, is to put the water on crops which remove nitrates from the water, which is why it is called a reclamation project.
He said the city is still in negotiations with Nuckols and that concerns expressed by the grand jury have already been rectified.
May 19, 2015
Porterville Reporter
By The Recorder

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