MAC Meeting: Harsh Words for EBMUD
The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) had harsh words for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) at their meeting Monday night, as the MAC took the unusual step of making a motion to curb a long-term soil moving project.
EBMUD has a trench soil stockpile site on Miller Road, off Redwood Road and since the 1970s, they’ve stored excavated materials from pipeline construction and maintenance activities there. The site also is used to store rock and sand for backfill. Previously, soil removal projects were completed in 2005, 2012, and 2019.
The MAC called into question the environmental impact of these materials, the degradation of Castro Valley roads that trucks use to move the materials, the inefficacy of the moving, dirt and created by the project, soil testing, and more.
They also admonished the attitude and corporation of the utility throughout the years-- EBMUD had previously presented to the MAC on the subject, but the MAC felt the utility essentially sat through the meetings and left to do whatever they wanted despite the wishes of the Council.
The also {pointed out the lack of an Environmental Impact Report.
“I’m really surprised a public utility like you guys wouldn’t be doing that (having an EIR),” said MAC Chair Chuck Moore.
Frank Mellon, who served on the EBMUD Board of Director from 1994 through 2022, was similarly critical, calling on the utility to recycle their spoils.
“There is something East Bay MUD has consistently not done, and that is recycle,” said Mellon.
Marc Crawford, who Chaired the MAC during some of EBMUD’s previous Miller Road/ Redwood Road work, called the project a “debacle” and reminded the MAC that they “sicced the CHP” on the trucks who were violating laws while moving spoils through town.
“We got the same song and dance from them (back then) as we did tonight,” said Crawford, who suggested the MAC make EBMUD haul out spoils daily just as EBMUD makes their own subcontractors do.
MAC member Tojo Thomas said the EBMUD needs to be responsible for any damage to roads caused by heavy trucks. MAC Vice Chair Bill Mulgrew decried the “credibility gap” between what EBMUD promised and their actions.
MAC Chair Moore called the previous 2019 project “deplorable” and said anyone else attempting a similar project would be forced to get a Conditional Use Permit.
“Seeing this has really soured me on the situation and it really irritates me to see what you’ve done,” said Moore.” I want folks form East Bay MUD, when they leave the room, to understand where we are at.”
In return, EBMUD has invited the MAC to tour the Miller Road site.
In the end, the MAC made and unanimously approved a motion to recommend the closure of the Miller Road site for off hauling both the material that’s currently there and anything else imported to the site. Whether the EBMUD heeds the motion remains to be seen.
In other MAC news, the Council was similarly terse regarding a proposal from the Bay Gospel Halls Church to modify an existing parcel map for a property at 4779 Heyer Avenue.
The church wanted to modify the map with a second cutout for a driveway instead of a shared driveway off the stem of a rear lot. This would eliminate a street parking space and the MAC said the second cutout was unnecessary and not common practice.
Crawford again reminded the MAC of previous actions from when he was on the Council, saying the church had been a repeated issue for the MAC.
Crawford said for the past 40 years, the policy has one curb cut for subdivisions and no exception should be made in this case.
“I’ll be honest with you-- this church, everything they touch is a problem,” said Crawford. He said a previous project had them tear down a small home and build one three times its size on the same lot and that they’ve built and graded without permits in the past. He alleged that the church would continue to bring projects before the MAC every few years, despite receiving denials, in the hope that there would be enough turnover on the Council to get a different outcome.
“To reward that type of behavior would be a monumental mistake,” said Crawford.
Unusually, the MAC members themselves chose not to make any comments, but did vote to unanimously deny the application.
Finaly, the MAC approved an application to operate “the School of Rock,” a franchised music school at 202242/20444 Redwood Road.
There were some concerns about parking and possible overflow onto Redwood Road, but ultimately the MAC approved the project with the stipulation from six spaces be earmarked for employee parking.