Top 10 2015 Stories: Santa Paula had diverse and busy news’ year

Santa Paula had a busy year for news with the good, the bad and in some cases the ugly capturing headlines during 2015.

It could have taken the top five spots on the Top 10 News Stories of 2015 but to let other noteworthy events in, let it suffice to say the news about Santa Clara Waste Water – Green Compass Environmental Solutions will be rolled into one — albeit continuous — listing of headline grabbers as the #1 Story of the Year.

When a vacuum truck exploded at the SCWW facility on Mission Rock Road west of Santa Paula in the early morning hours of November 18, 2014 dozens of people were injured including three Santa Paula Firefighters who were assured that there was no hazardous materials involved. 

Within hours hundreds of people were evacuated, hoards treated at Ventura County Medical Center and other hospitals where medical personnel also started to experience chemical exposure symptoms and Highway 126 was shut down due tonfurther explosions and fires.

Within hours the District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation that included a three-week Grand Jury hearing with dozens of people questioned. Criminal indictments were filed in August 2015 against nine SCWW officials and managers as well as SCWW and Green Compass on 71 criminal and misdemeanor counts.

While prosecutors and defense attorneys continue court appearances on behalf of seven defendants, all initially released on bail, the week of the first anniversary of the incident saw two employees do a surprise turn and plead guilty to some charges as well as the release of  new information about chemicals found at the site earlier in November.

According to warrants, the chemicals discovered could cause “severe burns” and should be restricted to professional users with corrosive-resistant protective equipment. The chemicals were stored in mostly unmarked totes in a metal Conex type trailer, materials according to DA Investigator Jeff Barry that had not been inventoried after the initial incident even by the companies retained by SCWW for the cleanup and site testing.

One of the companies, Patriot Environmental Service later announced it was purchasing SCWW for an unknown disclosed sum, a deal that apparently had been in the works for about a year and when interrupted by the explosion brought down the initially reported $95 million price tag.

Two top SCWW officials were arrested on new charges related to the 5,000 gallons of chemicals found in the Conex box, which according to informants had been concealed on site long before — and since — the November 2014 incident.

Also during the anniversary week the three Santa Paula Firefighters and a Ventura County Firefighter filed a lawsuit against the company; one SPFD, Captain Milo Bustillos, retired last month reportedly due to health problems created by exposure to the chemicals released during the explosion that caught the boots of those on scene on fire after the material had dried and crystalized. 

The defense attorneys for SCWW officials and managers as well as the corporate entities have claimed the incident was an industrial accident.

#2 The City of Santa Paula finally purchased its wastewater treatment plant, a deal that took almost exactly seven years that will save the city millions…but there still has been no hard discussion on consumer rate savings.

In April the City Council authorized issuing $72 million in bonds to buy the long-controversial wastewater treatment plant from the private entity that owned and operated it. 

The original 2008 deal to use the Design-Build-Operate-Finance model for the facility according to the city’s bond consultant resulted in “A very complex and obtuse contract,” with Santa Paula Water LLC.

The bonds were in place by April 30, the same day the $70.8 million purchase deal closed on the plant.

Initially approved in February, the purchase with bonds — at a rate slightly higher than 4 percent — was seen as Nirvana after the $62 million plant had required users to cover the 8.21 percent variable rate the facility was initially financed for by the builder and financer. Also gone is the potential $600,000 annual tax the city could have been accessed for the improvement on its property located southwest of Corporation Road. 

Santa Paula households, among the lowest income in the county, are now paying a base rate of $77 and change for sewer services as well as a $1.12 sewer processing surcharge for every 100 cubic feet of water (about 748 gallons) used, whether it is processed or not.

Initial savings to residents were estimated at just over $20 a month, a figure that could go higher with a new operating agreement.

The DBOF for the Santa Paula wastewater plant was the first — and likely the last — in California. Design-Build-Operate-Finance was a business model that did not catch on due to the rates that would have to be borne by ratepayers. The Santa Paula facility — approved in April 2008 and online by 2010 — was Alinda Capital Partners last remaining water asset after the investment company announced its departure from that line of business in 2012.

Only Mayor John Procter was on the council when the controversial deal was struck in 2008; the council split 3-2 on the contract after repeated urgings of city staff to stick to conventional financing. The council majority also rejected the staff’s recommendation to contract with a company offering to build the plant for about $22 million less, a reduction in cost later matched by Santa Paula Water.

When the vote on the $72 million in bonds to finalize the wastewater treatment plant purchase was asked for Procter said, “Absolutely yes…I waited a long time for this, it’s a great feeling for me.”

#3 — America in Bloom Santa Paula Chapter wins a national award.

When the news was good it was very good with the local chapter of America in Bloom (AIB) garnering a top prize at the national America in Bloom competition in October when Santa Paula received the top prize for Historical Preservation.

Dianne Davis, the founder of the local chapter and her husband Dudley were on hand to accept the award in the competition that included 41 cities large and small across the nation. It was only the second year that the America in Bloom Santa Paula Chapter has entered the competition and it again earned an overall Four Bloom ranking out of five.

Dianne Davis said the credit for the prize should go to property owners, the Santa Paula Historical Society and the community for treasuring and preserving its cultural heritage but others noted AIB should share in the glory due to ambitious landscape projects that beautify the city and show off Santa Paula’s beautiful vintage residential areas and historic Downtown to its best advantage.

#4 Former Blanchard Community Library financial officer arrested for suspicion of embezzling funds.

After a two-year-plus investigation BCL’s former bookkeeper and financial officer Tammy Ferguson, 55, was arrested October 22 on suspicion of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public, independent library. 

More than $750,000 is unaccounted for according to a forensic audit but the investigation was hampered by the passage of time and missing documents. 

Ferguson was arrested for allegedly embezzling more than $200,000 of library funds — the amount is a legal benchmark for a higher level of theft — over at least a decade.

Board trustees a month after the termination of longtime Librarian Dan Robles, who had been employed by BCL for more than three decades, fired Ferguson, who worked at BCL from 1993 to 2013. In January trustees agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Robles for $35,000. The library has received more than $450,000 from its insurance carrier and BCL’s former longtime auditor.

#5 Santa Paula Police get body cameras, female officer hired