Sanitary district rejects merger study, calling Mesa Water ‘disrespectful’

Costa Mesa Sanitary District board members declined Thursday evening to participate in a merger study with the Mesa Water District, taking that agency to task for what they described as disrespectful and disappointing behavior.

The board’s unanimous vote means the sanitary district won’t take part in the study or help cover its cost, which is pegged at nearly $30,000.

“I don’t think any of us are opposed to looking at ways to benefit our ratepayers and provide more efficiencies for our ratepayers, but we need a stake in that,” said sanitary district board President Mike Scheafer. “We need to have a stake in getting the information to make those decisions.”

The vote came one week after Mesa Water’s board awarded a $29,960 contract to Arcadis U.S. Inc. for the study.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Even without the sanitary district’s participation, Mesa Water “is proceeding with this project and studying options to ensure our ratepayers are being served as economically, effectively and efficiently as possible by their water and sanitary districts,” water district board President Shawn Dewane said Friday.

“Our door remains open should our friends at CMSD reconsider their position in the future and choose to join Mesa Water in this effort,” he said.

Sanitary district board members have repeatedly raised concerns with how fast the process seems to be moving — Mesa Water sent its first letter proposing a merger study on April 22 — and with the level of input they’ve had in shaping what the consultant will look at.

“I am really disappointed in the Mesa Water District, because we have worked well with them, we’ve had liaison meetings with them, everything’s been fine, then all of a sudden this pops up,” said board member Arlene Schafer.

“I think it’s been handled really poorly by them,” she added. “Shoving it down our throats, that’s wrong. It’s very disrespectful.”

Board member James Ferryman said: “They don’t respect us, obviously, and they couldn’t try to alienate us any more than they have. As far as I’m concerned, it’s an insult.”

Mesa Water officials have said the study is preliminary and is aimed at seeing whether ratepayers could save money if the agencies consolidated.

“I am supportive of this preliminary study because that’s what it is — an early study to look at whether there’s merit to pursuing this any further or not,” Mesa Water board member Jim Atkinson said during a board meeting last week.

Without the sanitary district’s participation, the consultant will use “publicly available operational and financial information” to proceed with the study, Dewane said.

The sanitary district provides sewer and curbside trash collection services to about 116,700 ratepayers in Costa Mesa, parts of Newport Beach and unincorporated sections of Orange County.

Mesa Water provides service to about 110,000 people in an area that is similar, though not identical.

--

Luke Money, [email protected]

Twitter: @LukeMMoney