The State Water Resources Control Board has made available, for review and comment, the Assembly Bill 885 (AB 885) Draft Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (Septic System) proposed regulations, proposed statewide conditional waiver of waste discharge requirements, and draft environmental impact report. The full texts of the proposed regulations, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and the Initial Statement of Reasons are posted on the State Water Resources Control Board’s website. The proposed waiver and draft environmental impact report are posted and are also available for review.

All interested persons can download and review this documentation. In addition, the State has placed a copy of the draft environmental impact report at the San Luis Obispo County Library in San Luis Obispo. The State of California will be accepting comments on the proposed regulations prior to its Board Meeting on February 9, 2009, in Sacramento. In addition, the state will be holding public meetings around the state to solicit public input. Please refer to the Information on the State Water Resources Control Board’s website for meeting times and places

In April, the City Council launched a process to update the City’s economic development strategy. The Council hired Applied Development Economics (ADE) of Walnut Creek to conduct the process. ADE has held a series of community forums, public workshops and individual interviews to gather important data and information. As part of the strategy, consultants mailed written survey forms to all Atascadero residents regarding their current shopping habits and the location of current shopping destinations. Information gathered through the survey is one of the factors used by ADE in updating the City’s economic-development strategy. In order to gather additional input, a public workshop was held on Saturday November 22, at the Colony Park Community Center. The information presented by ADE at this workshop is posted below. A link will be available on the ADE website (see panel at right) for public input through mid-December for those who were unable to attend the workshop but would still like to contribute their suggestions and ideas.

As directed by the City Council, staff is currently working with the project applicants to prepare a scope of work and request for proposals by qualified planning and environmental consultants for the proposed projects. The applicants are currently re-evaluating and a report to City Council on the current status of the proposals is expected to be presented by staff in August. Issues regarding the project scope, draft request for proposals, consultant selection process, community workshops, and project study area will be discussed at this meeting.