Mark Wisterman's Paradise & Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

It’s been a while since I provided any updates to the issue which arose from the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District’s  (LOAPUD)efforts to reduce uneccessary flows into the local sewer treatment plant.

If you are new to this blog you may have no idea what I am talking about. To help bring you up to speed I have assembled the links below to the past opinion pieces I have written regarding this subject. 

Don’t Let This Happen To You     Local Sewer District Stops Real Estate Transactions 

  Sewer Districts Say “No Sale”     Let Me Clarify  Full Steam Ahead   

Be Ready To Roll Up Your Sleeves    We Can’t Hearrrr Youuuuu!!

35 Years To Address Imminent Crisis?    Sewer Lateral Update

Here is the latest information that I have. After much prodding from this Lake Oroville Real Estate blog, and in cooperation with the Oroville Association of REALTORS®,  LOAPUD agreed to look at a revised proposal that was drafted by the consultant hired by the REALTORS, who has worked with other government agencies to assist them in accomplishing their goals without putting a stop to a real estate transaction, through onerous Point Of Sale mandates.

The latest proposal contains many of the same solutions I mention in my previous blog posts. What we, as REALTORS® have submitted eliminates the requirement that sewer lateras must be inspected, and repaired if necessary, before a real estate transaction is completed. The proposal also does exactly what LOAPUD needs it to do to keep the State of California off its back. It provides a firm timeframe for when the entire district has been inspected and brought up to standard.

I applaud the sewer district for it’s willingness to listen and be open minded enough to entertain other solutions to this issue. It is good, in this day and age of intrusive government policies and attitudes, to see that the they understand that two heads are better than one and that working TOGETHER is far more in the public’s interest than going it alone

The REALTORS proposal is now in the hands of the LOAPUD management staff and Board of Directors.  I urge you all to contact the district and voice you support for the proposed solution.  Be sure to watch for more news on this as it develops.

The working group of the Oroville Association REALTORS®  met with officials of the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD) yesterday to continue discussions aimed at crafting a fair and balanced solution to the issue of faulty sewer laterals in the district and throughout the greater Oroville real estate market.

You recall that the district, under pressure from the State of California to do something to avoid  possible contamination of ground water,  intended to implement the onerous and unfair program of requiring sewer laterals to be tested and repaired before allowing the sale of a home within the district to close escrow.  This point of sale requirement is bad on nearly every level and I have adamantly voiced my opposition to this since becoming aware of the requirement in July. If you would like to refresh your memory on the issue please click on the link below to see my previous blog posts about this.

History of LOAPUD Posts

In addition to LOAPUD officials, REALTORS®,  title company representatives and myself, the meeting was also attended by representatives from the other two sewer districts in town, (City of Oroville and Thermalito Irrigation District), as they too are looking to implement a sewer lateral repair program.

The result of this latest meeting was very encouraging as all parties not only expressed a willingness to work together to come with a workable solution but also actually discussed alternatives to the existing plan.

The idea that seemed to garner the most positive response by all is a variation of what I suggested in my blog post of August 27th when I said: Read the rest of this entry »

The saga continues with the Lake Oroville PUD.

District management continues to make plans to implement Ordinance 01-09 which will halt the sales of many Oroville homes in the district while requiring testing of sewer laterals and any repairs they deem necessary.  Repeated meetings with the district by members of the Oroville Association of REALTORS® have resulted in nearly no progress in having  the Point of Sale provisions of the ordinance repealed. In fact the only progress that has been made is that LOAPUD has pushed back the implementation of the point of sale provisions to January 1, 2010. Not because they are looking at alternatives that actually address their problems, but to, according to the official minutes of their board meetings, ”provide a window for the effected parties (REALTORS® and title companies) to develop the District’s policy into their  business plans,” so that the “program could be implemented by the first of January, 2010.”

It has carried no weight with District officials that their policy will result in a time frame of over 35 years to fix a problem in the Oroville real estate market that I feel they have characterized as a perilous problem with inflows to the undersized sewage treatment plant.

The fact that many other sewer districts have agreed that the point of sale approach is the least effective way of maintaining the integrity of their sewer systems, and protecting the environment, has also been of no assistance in trying to educate our district officials that their policy, while noble in its attempt, will take far too long to affect any change in unnecessary sewage plant inflows, and will continue to threaten the environment.

Even knowing that many sewer districts, that have  implemented point of sale mandates, have subsequently rescinded these same mandates because of their ineffectiveness and burdensome drag on the housing market, and the economy in general, has not swayed LOAPUD.

The Oroville Association of REALTORS® is continuing to talk with LOAPUD to get this provision repealed. But, I must say,  having set in on these meeting with the District, I see no indication that they have any intention of changing course.

This is why I am calling on each of you to get involved in this issue. At this time this the only public forum where this issue will be continuously discussed until LOAPUD sees the error they are about to make and backs away from the point of sale mandates.  This blog however will not get the job done on its own. It is now your turn to let your voice be heard. Contact the District’s office by phone, e-mail, letter, or in person at their next board meeting and let them know that this policy is not a good idea.

 To some of my fellow REALTORS®, and probably to LOAPUD too, I am seen as a “loose cannon” in this debate; choosing to go directly to the public instead of keeping things “private” so as not to create any “bad blood.”

Once again I want to be PERFECTLY CLEAR. My intention is not to impugn the integrity of anyone at LOAPUD. I have no reason to doubt that they are trying to do the best they can with what they have to work with. The simple fact is that the point of sale is not a solution, it actually causes more problems.

And if stating one’s opinion publicly about an issue that directly affects the public is being a “loose cannon”, then maybe we need more loose cannons in this world.

Did you say “Can’t” or “Won’t?” 

The latest meeting between representatives of the Oroville Association of REALTORS® and representatives of the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD) took place earlier this week and the results of the meeting were, to put it mildly, A HUGE WASTE OF TIME.

From my vantage point, as I observed the interaction of  meeting participants, it was clear that LOAPUD has absolutely no intention of backing away from their point of sale mandate regarding inspection of sewer lateral.

It was also abundantly clear that they have not a clue about how the escrow process will be affected by their misguided approach to fixing a problem that they have known about for YEARS. Simply put they don’t want to hear it.

To refresh your memory on this topic, LOAPUD’s intention, beginning Jan 1, 2010, is to inject themselves into the free market by requiring that the home you are selling or buying have an inspection of your sewer lateral, as well as have any repairs performed, before they will grant permission to allow the sale or purchase to close. The sewer lateral is the pipe that runs from your house to the main sewer line. For those who do not know, the homeowner is responsible for the maintenance of that line. So, to be clear about this, LOAPUD has a right to expect that your sewer lateral is properly maintained.

Before this latest meeting that I attended, I thought LOAPUD officials simply did not understand how negatively their ordinance would impact the homes in their district. But I also speculated as to what their true motivation was in enacting this ordinace (See my blog post of September 21). Well, lo and behold, I believe that my speculation was right on the money.

LOAPUD acknowledged that it could take 30+ years to resolve the issues using the point of sale mandate. But, they said, we must understand the the State of California is expecting a “plan” from the district showing that the district is dealing with their problems. 

So I WAS RIGHT!!! The point of sale mandate is just a way to placate the State so that they stay off LOAPUD”S back. Your your real estate transaction has now become a  pawn in an effort to reduce the political heat on LOAPUD.

District officials claimed at the meeting that they are exploring additional avenues to address their issues, but when pressed for details they had NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZIPPO. I felt like we were being treated like the little kid that W.C. Fields was patting on the head, and at the same time saying  in his familiar voice, “Stay away from me kid, you bother me, you bother me.”

I know that this blog site has the attention of LOAPUD officials so I want to make a few things clear to them so that there is no misunderstanding as to my postion on this ENTIRE issue. To my regular readers this is going to be redundant.

I under no circumstances question your integrity, honest or concern for this community. I know that you think what you are about to impose on your customers is a solution to your problems. But it is not!

The ordinance if encated as it stands:

• Discriminates in that enforcement applies almost solely to home sellers and those who desire to remodel their homes.
• Is ineffective as it could take over 30 years to fix a problem that the district claims is an imminet threat to the health and safety of it’s citizens.
• Places real estate professionals in the inappropriate postion as the “Sewer Police.”
• Will result in the cancellation of many real estate transactions.
• Invokes further govermental interference into the free market.

LOAOPUD’s insistence on enforcing this ordinance should not be acceptable to home sellers, home buyers, those who care about our environment, or anyone else.

So now, as I said a of couple blogs posts ago, it is time to roll up our sleeves. I need you to contact LOAPUD and voice your opposition to this ordinance. Place a call to them today (530-533-2000) and tell them that we can’t run the risk of polluting our ground water and other waterways for the next 30-40 years waiting to fully address the problem; e-mail them to tell them that a VIABLE and timely solution is more important that placating state and federal officials with a totally unworkable plan; and please make time to attend the next LOAPUD Board of Directors  meeting on October 13, 2009 at 2:00pm at 1360 Elgin Street to tell them face to face that they are not allowed to infringe on your right to buy or sell a home in the FREE market.  I need all you TEA PARTY patriots to stand up against another over-reaching governmental agency and all environmental groups to insist on a plan of action that ensures the health and safety of our community now, not 30 years from now. 

If this albatross of an ordinace is enforced we will NEVER be able to reverse course. PLEASE ACT NOW!!

 OROVILLE REAL ESTATE HOMES FOR SALE CHICO HOMES PARADISE LISTINGS GRIDLEY PROPERTIES BUTTE COUNTY REAL ESTATE

With the controversy over the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District’s (LOAPUD) decision to unfairly place nearly the entire burden of repairing a major portion of the sewer system infrastructure solely on the backs of home sellers who have their Oroville homes in escrow still brewing, I want to be sure that you have the most up to date information available to you in the event LOAPUD fails to see the light and insists on moving forward with their program in its current state. It will be at that time that I will be calling ALL customers of the district to show up at the district’s next Board of Directors meeting. 

For now though, here is what is happening:

The Oroville Association of REALTORS® (OAR) is actively involved in the struggle to make LOAPUD understand that, while we agree on the need to have a properly functioning sewer system, we highly disagree with the district’s repair plan as it will ABSOLUTELY NOT address what they seem to be saying is an imminent threat to public safety. Depending on how you calculate the numbers it could take between 30 and 50 years to correct the deficiencies in the system that the district is attempting to correct with requiring repairs at the Point of Sale.

If this sounds a tad inefficient that’s because IT IS. Even if sales of homes in the District DOUBLED it would still take 15-25 years to address the problem, assuming all homes in the district sell at least once in this time frame, which they won’t.

If there is such an urgent need to get these repairs made, why is the district willing to wait over 30 years to get it done. This simply makes no sense, or does it? Could this actually be political maneuvering on the part of the district?

Everyone put on your speculation cap now and follow this logic:

Not that long ago the sewage treatment plant became overrun with sewage inflows. It was apparently so bad that there came the possibility that untreated sewage would spill from the plant, creating a potential for contamination of the local waterways. (Here’s the speculation part) Upon hearing of this, the State of California threatens LOAPUD with possible sanctions or fines if they don’t submit some sort of plan to mitigate the potential of a spill at the undersized treatment plant. The State doesn’t much care what the plan is, or even if it will be effective. They just want a plan that they can file away in case the EPA or some other FEDERAL agency wants to check up on the State’s waste water treatment plans.

Again, speculation on my part. But, if true, it explains why LOAPUD is bent on pushing this ordinance through.  Why else would otherwise intelligent people be so willing to brush aside the facts. 

Your Association of REALTORS® is going to do anything and everything that it can to stop this ordinance from being implemented in its current form. Resources from OAR, neighboring Realtor Associations, the California Association of REALTORS®, and the National Association of REALTORS® have either been pledged, or soon will be pledged, in order  to fight this; and will be used if necessary. We will not stand silently by and watch your property rights being trampled upon.

We now need you, the citizens, to be prepared to mobilize in the event diplomacy does not work. A working committee of REALTORS® will be meeting with LOAPUD officials this week to once again state our case on your behalf. If that does not work, it is going to be up to you to roll up your sleeves, with help from your REALTOR® friends, to get it stopped.

OROVILLE REAL ESTATE OROVILLE HOME FOR SALE CHICO HOMES PARADISE HOMES GRIDLEY HOMES OROVILLE LISTINGS OROVILLE PROPERTIES BUTTE HOMES

It appears from reading the minutes of the most recent board meeting of the Lake Oroville Public Utility District (LOAPUD) that the the manager of the district, as well as the Board of Directors, are continuing preparations to launch their assault upon home sellers and home improvers by requiring ONLY these people to test their sewer laterals, while allowing everyone else to continue potentially polluting the ground with raw sewage.

To some this may sound like harsh rhetoric, but to me this is exactly what will happen if LOAPUD is allowed to implement their testing program in its present form. 

As I have repeatedly said, I do not question that the district has capacity issues at the sewer plant which may dictate a need to look at repairing broken laterals.  I also do not question claims by the district that in the just the past year or two the sewer plant came dangerously close to spilling over due to their capacity problems.

It is for these reasons that their testing program, in its present form will not work. The need for repairs to the infrastructure is immediate.  A check of home sales within the district last year shows that just over 100 homes were sold. At this pace it will take the district 30 -40 years to inspect all the laterals. And this assumes that every home in the district sells at least once during in this 30 year time frame, something that simply will not happen.

If we all agree that there is an urgent need to address this issue, don’t you think a time frame a little shorter than 30-40 years might be a good idea.  I sure do.

I ask you to join me in objecting to the implementation of the district’s ordinance in its current form by demanding that they reconsider the means in which they intend to enforce it. Killing off an already fragile Oroville real estate market is not the solution.

READ THE MINUTES HERE

An important part of becoming a trusted source of information and advice for folks in the Oroville real estate market, and others far and wide across the world wide web, is being able to face the fact that it may be necessary to clarify my position or opinion on a certain subject about which I have written.

In this case, I want to clarify my position on the proposed implementation of Ordinance 1-09 of the Comprehensive Sewer Rules and Regulations being considered by the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD), as well as similar ordinances being considered by the City of Oroville and the Thermalito Irrigation District.

Let me be perfectly clear that I am TOTALLY in favor of having our sewage disposal infrastructure in tip top condition. To the extent that this ordinance is intended to keep our groundwater, rivers and streams free of the pollutants generated by raw sewage entering into them, I support it wholeheartedly, as everyone should.

My objection stems from how LOAPUD is currently planning to enforce the ordinance.  As I have strenuously stated before, placing the burden only upon home sellers and those homeowners who are making repairs or improvements to their homes, while allowing the rest of the homes to go untested, is absolutely discriminatory, and unacceptable.

Here is something else unacceptable. LOAPUD’s main lines may be leaking as much as the laterals are. My position: You fix yours, we’ll fix ours. They say they don’t have the funds to repair their lines. What makes them think home sellers have the money? Have they not seen the recent home values reports?

Hopefully, you have a more complete view of my position. Until I received a nice comment from the manager of the North Tahoe Public Utility District, I did not realize that my previous comments may be misconstrued as being opposed to upgrading our sewer system. I appreciate his comments. By the way, you may find his comments of interest as his district decided to take a very proactive approach to their sewer lateral testing.  An approach that apparently does not place the burden on home sellers, yet gets the job done.

To kick-off their campaign to implement their plan to require homeowners to ask permission to sell their homes, the local sewer districts spoke publicly for the first time to our local newspaper in an effort to spin public opinion to their way of thinking.

While the story was well written by Oroville Mercury-Register reporter Mary Weston, it is quite obvious from its content that the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD) was less than forthcoming about what their true intentions are.

Take a look at the article and see for yourself ,and then be sure to read the rest of my commentary.

Click here to read story
What LOAPUD failed to tell reporter Weston is that they in fact have no program in place to provide assistance to homeowners to fix leaky laterals. They also failed to mention that leaky laterals may be less than half the problem with sewer capacity as they readily admit that half the problem may be with their own main line. Yet they claim they have no money to fulfill their duty to maintain their OWN lines. Which by the way, is the reason we pay our sewer fees.

They also failed to disclose that they intend to interfere in the sale of any home in the district by not allowing the sale to happen until the seller pays to have costly lateral testing done at the homeowners expense, which could result in some homes not being able to be sold at all.

They also failed to say that a homeowner will have to pay for the same costly lateral test whenever a permit is issued for any repairs or improvement being done on the home. For example, replacing a $600 water heater could end up costing thousands of dollar due to lateral test and potential repair costs.

Once again, they failed to mention that Ordinance 1-09 of the Comprehensive Sewer Rules and Regulations, which mandates these onerous and archaic rules is set to be implemented in the coming days.

Mr. Brown and his board also don’t tell you that this ordinance creates undue discrimination against home sellers and those homeowners who keep their homes maintained while potentially allowing major polluters to continue to pollute.

This ordinance does nothing to address the issue they are trying to resolve. It simply creates more problems. It is quite frankly a big smoke screen (pardon the pun) designed to place the burden created by their own lack of maintenance and poor planning upon homeowners who are already footing the bill for the district’s incompetence.

This type of ordinance has had devastating financial consequences in nearly every place that hit has been tried. For each of the two districts that are touted in the article as ‘models’ for what is being forced upon us here, there are many more sewers districts across this country that have abandoned the program after seeing is negative impact.

Even the districts in the Lake Tahoe Basin, one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the country, have opted out of such ordinances because it have been proven that it DOES NOT WORK.

Homeowners in the all three sewer districts of the Oroville real estate market need to make their voices heard and stop enactment of this ordinance and all ordinances like it.

Scary headline isn’t it.  But it will be a reality if the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD) has it’s way.

The rulers of the district are just days away from implementing a policy of stopping sales of homes that lie within the district’s boundaries until those homes have had their sewer lines tested, at the owners expense. Apparently the comrades at the district feel that the only way they can get the sewer system upgraded is to hold your real estate transaction hostage until somebody caves in and pays for the test and any repairs that THEY deem necessary.

To make things even more outrageous, the district is also invoking their mafia style tactics onto homeowners that apply for permits to do any renovations on their homes. Want a permit? Then test your sewer lines!

Oh, and one more thing,  your test is only good for 6 years then you will be on the hook to do it all over again.

What’s wrong with having the line from your house, in the Oroville real estate market,  to the mainline tested? Absolutely nothing. I feel very strongly that our infrastructure needs to be maintained. And of course proper sewage disposal is vital.

What I oppose is the approach that is being taken to address the issue. Placing this requirement on the back of an Oroville  real estate transaction will not only cost  buyers & sellers time, money, and maybe their transaction, it will do virtually nothing to accomplish what the district is trying to do, which is to bring the sewer system up to date. On top of that, by singling out home sellers, the policy if  forced upon its customers in its current form, is discriminatory by its very nature by singling out home sellers while letting any other home owners with leaky lines escape the scrutiny of the policy.

Even at the frenzied sales pace of  recent real estate sales boom in the middle part of this decade, the policy would not make a dent in improving the system. There are simply not enough homes changing hands to force every home  to be tested every 6 years for compliance.

A better approach is to divide the district into 6 sections and each year have one section tested for compliance.  Any home out of compliance would be given 6 months to make any repairs. In 6 1/2 years you would have all homes in compliance..Problem solved.

Another, less attractive option, would be to create a special assessment district where funds would be collected from all sewer customers to be used specifically for repairs.

The other thing the district can do is smoke test the entire system and when finding non-compliant homes require the homeowner to make the fix. Trouble is, according to LOAPUD, they can do that but it would require them to get the District Attorney involved. And of course they don’t want to do this. They prefer to have local REALTORS be their enforcement arm. I, for one, don’t feel like being their hit man.

As a homeowner in the district myself,  I am calling on all other homeowners in the district to make your voices heard at the next LOAPUD board meeting. Don’t stand idly by and let them walk all over us with their dictatorial policies.

If we don’t get this repealed it will affect EVERYONE!!!!!

Today would be my normal day to report weekly Oroville real estate market stats to you. That will have to wait until tomorrrow because I want all of you to be aware of the newest “trend” among government agencies with regards to buying a home. It is called Point-of-Sale and it is coming from the federal, state and local governments to a home near you. Below is the first example of this to hit Oroville homeowners.

At our most recent  monthly Oroville Board of REALTORS® membership meeting, two representatives from the Lake Oroville Public Utility District (LOAPUD) came to announce that before any home within their district would be allowed to be transferred to a new owner it had to have a sewer line pressure test performed and that they would not allow any escrow to close until a clearance has been issued.  In addition, you would not be able to get a final clearance on any building permits until a sewer line test has been performed. It seems that there is currently problem with excessive discharges in to the sewer plant during the rainy season indicating that ground water is seeping into cracked pipes and carrying non-sewer water into the plant.

While I am certainly in favor of a properly functioning sewer system, I am very much opposed to LOAPUD’s remedy.  Here’s why:

Testing those homes that are in the middle of a sales transaction slows down the sales process, increases the cost of the transaction, but most importantly fails to adequately address the problem.  Likewise, the testing requirement upon the pulling of a permit will also fall miserably short of LOAPUD’s goal.  On the first point, even in busy market you are not going to sell enough homes within the district in a short enough time to make a dent in the problem over a 5 or 10 year period. In fact, at our meeting the LOAPUD representatives agreed that it may take 30 years or longer to have all homes tested (and repaired)  using the escrow process. As far as the building permit policy is concerned, the district is only discouraging the proper pulling of permits when they are required.  Adding to the cost of obtaining a permit, as this policy will in its current form, will result in fewer permits being pulled. If the problem is so urgent, and I do not argue that is is not, let’s get it done as quickly as possible.

My solution would be to divide the district into 10 areas and each year over the next 10 a  portion of the district would be required to be inspected. We accomplish a number of things this way.

1. The entire district would be inspected ( and repaired) within 10 years.

2. The burden of the inspection is lifted from the real estate transaction. 

 3. Since all homes would be required to have an inspection done, home sellers, and those who abide by the law and get proper building permits, would not be discriminated against and would not be carrying the burden alone. Problem solved!!

As I said, this is the first example of this happening in Oroville. It is very important that you attend the next LOAPUD meeting and voice your disapproval over this plan as this is another case of  government out of control. You can also e-mail the mamager of the District. His name is Alan Brown and his e-mail address is manager@loapud.com

This will not be the end of the matter, it is only the beginning. The cap and trade bill now before the Senate will require energy inspections and upgrades to your homes adding significant costs to selling or buying a home.

Let your voices be heard!!