Property Owner to Water Board: 'You'll Have a Ghost Town'

A property owner from Poway who was in hot water with the Ramona Water Board last month regarding grease-filled sewer pipes brought a lawyer and public advocate to the Dec. 11 meeting, telling the board "you're getting bad advice from counsel."

Eugene Plantier was back in front of the Ramona Water Board after a November dispute regarding mismanagement of grease disposal from a restaurant that sits on Plantier's property at 109 10th St.

At the November meeting, the Ramona Municipal Water District told the board that grease was seemingly being dumped directly into sewer pipes and causing blockages.

Read more here: Restaurant Faces Water Board Criticism After Grease Found in Sewer Pipes

The water board was asked to vote to approve the following undocumented EDU ad hoc committee recommendations at last month's meeting:

1. Deny the property owners request of fee forgiveness for the sewer connection fees and sewer service charge fees as it only provides a private benefit to the Plantiers and not a public benefit to the community of Ramona
2. Request payment of $33,755.18 for the additional 4.82 sewer EDUs required to bring the property to compliance with current RMWD legislative code.
3. Waive the $96,400 mitigation fee ($20,000 per EDU on 4.82 additional EDUs required) citing Mr. Plantier's contention that the property had existed as a restaurant when the mitigation fee was set.
4. Require the owner obtain a waste discharge permit for this establishment in order to continue discharging into the sewer system.
5. The property owner be billed for the actual costs of cleanin the sewer main (outside of regular bi-annually maintenance) if required due to failure to comply with wastewater discharge permit requirements resulting on excessive amounts of grease being discharged from this establishment into the sewer main.

After Plantier complained about late notice of the public meeting with his property item on the agenda, the board voted to table the discussion until Dec. 11.

At this month's meeting, Plantier brought with him a lawyer, David. A Peffer, and Charles Langley from the Utility Consumers' Action Network.

"The issue here isn't really the grease violation," Plantier told the board. "It boils down to violation of property rights and your absolute disregard... of the California Constitution."

Plantier said there's no proof the grease build up in the pipes is all from his property and told the board that the grease disposal issue was handled months ago when it was first brought to his attention.

Peffer brought documents to prove that the property had a cleaning service to rid the property's grease trap of grease during the time the water district claims grease was being dumped into the sewer.

New pipes that service the property were installed in late 2011 as part of the 1018 "A" Street Improvements. They were inspected on March 23, 2012, which is when significant amounts of grease were found.

"In April 2012, a letter went to the property owner regarding a compliance issue," Metts said.

Peffer gave Patch copies of the documents dated from April 2012-November 2012 that show cleaning services for the grease trap on the property were paid for.

"It's possible the people they hire to clean the trap were dumping it into the sewer," said board director Red Hager.

Peffer told the board that the grease issue was "essentially a red herring."

"We're keeping a very close eye on this," Peffer said.

Langley introduced himself to the board simply to let them know who he was.

"We're going to be attending board meetings," Langley he said.

The water board voted on the ad hoc recommendations grouping the items together for voting:

• Recommendations 1 and 2: Passed 4-0, Hager abstained.
• Recommendation 3: Passed 4-1, Director Kit Kesinger opposed.
• Recommendations 4 and 5: Passed 5-0.

"I'm not in favor of waiving [the mitigation fee] at this time," Kesinger said. "I'd lik to take a look at the policy and then readdress the issue."

Plantier is now required to pay $33,755.18 for sewer EDUs, must obstain a Waste Discharge Permit for future grease dumping into the pipes and will be billed for the actual costs of cleaning the sewer main pipe if he does not comply with the Waste Discharge Permit.

"You are violating the property owners... in this community," Plantier told the board. "If you continue this mayhem... you'll have a ghost town."