Sutter Creek's wastewater system is in near collapse. According to the statements of some public officials, the system is strung together with baling wire, bubble gum and duct tape.

Our wastewater system is so close to ruin that the State of California has repeatedly encouraged Sutter Creek to revamp the way it handles its waste. If Sutter Creek's wastewater system fails and spills untreated sewage into our water sources, the state could hit our city with a fine as high as $30,000 per day.

The state means what it says. The state has fined many local communities and entities for polluting local waterways. Last year, the Donner Summit Public Utility District was fined $49,000. In 2007, Mule Creek State Prison was fined $50,000.

The proposed $750,000 bond spotlights the seriousness of this issue for local taxpayers. Many local residents oppose the $750,000 bond. Yet the State of California is ready, willing and able to levy enormous fines, just as they have done in other local cities.

With the threat of fines looming the Sutter Creek City Council recently considered taking out a $750,000 bond to raise the money needed for emergency maintenance to the wastewater system. We should all realize that it's the local taxpayers who will be paying the $750,000 plus interest over many years. The $750,000 is just to maintain the system. The potential cost to taxpayers to build a new system will make the bond look like small potatoes. New plants built to service populations the size of Sutter Creek have cost well over ten times this amount.

The City Council delayed making a final decision on burdening local families with this debt because a new solution could be right around the corner - the Gold Rush Ranch project can solve the city's wastewater problem. Gold Rush will make significant new investment in wastewater treatment facilities.

It is a solution that has been in the works for many years, with input from local residents, city staff and elected officials. It is the original reason that Gold Rush Ranch was conceived. The State of California has not ordered Sutter Creek to build a new treatment facility - at the cost of millions of dollars - because of the prospect that the city is on track to take care of the problem with Gold Rush Ranch.

If you are a resident of Sutter Creek, you have already begun to feel the financial pain associated with this infrastructure problem.

Sutter Creek will either have to build a new wastewater treatment plant or risk facing dire consequences at the hands of the State of California. If Gold Rush Ranch is built, the project will help to stop future tax hikes and keep state government where it belongs - in Sacramento.

The Sutter Creek City Council acted correctly by delaying its decision on the bond. But this is just a drop in the bucket of the future taxes we can all expect to pay if the city does not come up with a timely solution. The best long-term solution is the one the city identified more than nine years ago: build the Gold Rush Ranch project and let its new wastewater treatment facility solve our entire wastewater problem. The $750,000 is a glimpse at a not-too-pleasant future, and it gives Sutter Creek 750,000 good reason to get behind Gold Rush Ranch.