Foothills Sentry February 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 6 February 2022 California's congressional districts have been redrawn to reflect the population shifts recorded in the 2020 census. North Tustin, the can- yons, Villa Park and the City of Orange, east of Glassell, are now part of District 40. The area was formerly represented by Irvine resident Katie Porter, who now resides in District 47 and will likely run for that seat in November. The new District 40 is home to Yorba Linda’s Young Kim, who represented the former District 39. She will likely run as well. One of OC's first PFAS treatment facilities begins operation in Villa Park The Orange County Water Dis- trict (OCWD) and the Serrano Water District (Serrano) began operating one of the county’s first treatment plants to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from local well water. PFAS are a group of manmade chemicals that are prevalent in the environment and are com- monly used in consumer products to repel water, grease and oil. Due to their prolonged use, PFAS are being detected in water sources throughout the U.S, including the Orange County Groundwater Basin. Water providers must find ways to remove it from their local water supplies. The Serrano facility is among 35 PFAS treatment facilities be- ing designed and constructed in OC over the next two years. Ser- rano is one of the first in the coun- ty to go online. OCWD is funding 100% of the design and construc- tion costs and 50% of operation and maintenance costs. Serrano, one of 19 water pro- viders that pump water from the groundwater basin, had two of its groundwater wells impacted by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), prompting it to tem- porarily shut down those wells and transition to purchasing im- ported water from the Colorado River and Northern California. Those wells are among dozens of wells throughout Orange County that were removed from service in 2020 after the state lowered the response level advisories of PFOA and PFOS, two legacy PFAS compounds. Using a treatment system made of highly porous resin that acts like powerful magnets to absorb contaminants, the facility can treat up to 4.6 million gallons of water per day. “We are proud to have acted quickly to ensure that our custom- ers are getting safe, reliable water that continues to meet all state and federal drinking water stan- dards,” said Serrano President Greg Mills. “Having this facility online means that we can again utilize our groundwater, which is less expensive and more reliable than imported water.” OCWD and 10 Orange County public water agencies filed a law- suit against the manufacturers of PFAS, seeking to protect ratepay- ers and ensure that costs are borne by the companies that developed and manufactured PFAS. The completed PFAS treatment center is located at the Serrano Water District office in Villa Park. See "OUSD" continued from page 1 Housing a hot topic in VP At the remotely held Villa Park City Council meeting, Jan. 25, it was announced that the Hous- ing Element proposal submitted to the state to accommodate 296 additional units in the city was neither denied nor accepted, but returned for clarification. That result, said consultant Jon Douglas, was unsurprising, as only approximately three of 200 have been approved thus far by the state. City Manager Steve Franks noted that the city is ahead in its projections regarding ADUs, as 18 permits have been submitted, as opposed to the estimated 12. The consulting firm will continue to work with the city to provide the contingency plans requested, should developments at Smith Basin, Town Center and ADUs not be feasible. The city put forth an ordinance to amend the city municipal code in response to the increased den- sity mandates imposed by SB9. The first reading was approved by Mayor Chad Zimmerman, Mayor Pro Tem Vince Rossini, Councilmen Robert Collacott and Crystal Miles; Councilman Rob- bie Pitts was absent. The second reading will be at the Feb. 22 city council meeting. To review the ordinance, see villapark.org. Councilman Collacott recom- mended a public meeting to fully explain the ramifications of SB9 to city residents. Mayor Zimmer- man and Councilwoman Miles are actively working to gather signatures to rescind SB9. amend the amended resolution with some language changes. His motion to amend the wording superseded Erickson’s motion. What followed was a demonstra- tion of the fine points of parlia- mentary procedure conducted by OUSD attorney Tony DeMarco. Each change was considered a separate amendment, DeMar- co explained, with each taken through the motion, discussion and vote process one by one. Ledesma specifically wanted a sentence referring to a parent’s right to obtain a vaccine to in- clude “or not obtain.” During the discussion phase on that amend- ment, Ortega said he wanted to add “and staff” after “parents.” “That, Demarco said, would have to be a separate motion. “You first have to vote on “or not obtain.” He was asked several times to remind the board where they were, as the amending the amendment process continued with three 7-0 votes following each revision. “We haven’t discussed the strikeouts,” Ortega noted, and advised that the federal, state and education code statutes cited in the original resolution needed to be there. The citations in ques- tion dealt with the emergency au- thorization of medical products, the prohibition to enroll children in clinical trials and the use of physical restraints to control stu- dent behavior. Limited authority “We don’t have the authority to determine whether something is legal or not, Erickson said. “Your resolution is a wish list of what you think the law should be. The paragraphs set forth some sort of legal argument. It’s an argument, not a law that’s been accepted by any court.” “The statute referred to,” De- Marco told Ortega, “is not re- flected in full. There are a lot of conditions cited in the statute that could be subject to misinterpreta- tion. It’s a very truncated version and it’s not accurate.” “I can’t hear with somebody disrupting the meeting,” Board President Andrea Yamasaki said at one point. It was the bullhorn. The amplified parking lot narrator had been broadcasting his opin- ion after every comment made by a board member. “I will ask that person to refrain from using his bullhorn,” Yamasaki advised, “if he does it will more time I will ask that he be removed.” Trust, but clarify The discussion resumed with Ortega restating his opinion that the resolution should “fol- low the law,” that OUSD should get “ahead of any mandate” and a message should be sent to the governor. He also said he was surprised to learn that Erickson, Yamasaki, Moffat and Superin- tendent Gunn Marie Hansen had met with DeMarco prior to the board meeting. “It may be legal,” he said, “but the optics aren’t good. You shouldn’t have con- sulted with the attorney outside of this board meeting.” “Or,” Ledesma added, "you could have invited one of us." “This is your resolution,” Er- ickson countered. “You suppos- edly read the law, why would you need to consult with anyone. I was trying to figure out what you were saying here. It didn’t make any sense.” Three board members had, in- deed, met with the attorney at the request of President Yamasaki, which is allowed in the bylaws. She wanted to ask about parlia- mentary procedures, she said, “to get things right.” Because the meeting was not a quorum, it did not violate the Brown Act. A motion to reinstate the stricken portions of the resolu- tion failed four (Yamasaki, Mof- fat, Erickson, Ana Page) to three (Ortega, Ledesma, Rumsey). A subsequent vote on Erickson’s original motion to approve the amended resolution passed by the same 4-3 vote. Because the sentence in the original resolution stating it would be delivered to the gov- ernor was stricken, it is not clear what will happen with the amend- ed version.