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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