We've followed the Gold Rush Ranch project for many years. Now that it's getting closer to when the City Council will consider the project, we think it's important that we revisit why this project even came about nine years ago.

Gold Rush Ranch was originally envisioned as a way of addressing the city's wastewater treatment problems. The current water treatment plant is old, provides only secondary treatment of sewage and provides no mechanism for distributing effluent to the Gold Rush site (for which the city has received an easement from the developer). In time, state law will require massive improvements to our old and outdated system, costing the rate payers thousands of dollars, whether or not Gold Rush is ever built.

The city council recently referred a new wastewater management plan to staff, which was extensively explained at the council meeting on August 3rd. The mandated improvements to the wastewater plant are hugely beneficial to our current residents. They provide for the installation of an updated, tertiary plant, utilizing our current wastewater site. The scope of the developer's funding for these improvements was explained at the council meeting and will be detailed in the development agreement before the council when they consider the merits of the Gold Rush project.

The wastewater problems we face are very real. Our city leaders and the city manager should be applauded for coming up with a way to make Gold Rush Ranch a common-sense solution to one of our most difficult and potentially costly problems.