Delta Greens! Someday a Reality?

By Dan Pillsbury

• Why Doesn't Everyone Want This?
• A Small Group Of Activists?

• Good Question! I Don't Know!

It was once supported by the City Council, and it was almost approved in 1997 by LAFCO. In the mid 1990's, the project was much larger, and called by a different name, but LAFCO, was ready to let the project move forward. There were some problems with environmentalist groups, and guess what? A couple of council members flip-flopped and tried to kill the project. Sound familiar?

So, the project went idle in the public view for a few years. Behind the scenes, agreements were reached with different groups, and by 1998, when I was elected, it had been renamed, "Delta Greens," and there wasn't much opposition. In fact, the only opposition I knew of was from a couple of council members. And those objections were based on personal reasons alone.

Early in 1999, I was taken on a tour of a few "Senior Projects, and I was impressed. That is when I first learned about the City's pending waste water problems.

I got to see first hand, how nice "Senior Communities are built very near or next to treatment facilities. I met one plant manager at Rancho Murietta, and he explained the new technologies to me. He even offered to come down to Galt, and show us which direction we should go, before we got into trouble with the Regional Water Board.

• Catch the date? 1998.
• I was told then what was coming!

I was shut down, before I could get all the words out. Later I found out why. If we took care of our problem then, the other council members would have to risk Delta Greens starting up. And it made sense to them not to deal with either issue.

I started hearing members of the community rumbling about why Delta Greens couldn't get started. I told them it wasn't me, I have backed it from the beginning. I told them to talk to the rest of the council, they didn't have to waste time with me.

I also got to meet the group at the Nature Conservancy. I asked them if they were agreeable to the project. I was told that they do not support growth, but they would no longer oppose the project. Sounded good to me, environmentalists happy, everyone is happy then.

But, now the council was worried about an odor problem. They feared that the city would be forced to move the plant, once Delta Greens started filling up. I was puzzled, because I have been to the plant, and I have never smell a foul odor at the site. Later I found out, that this was just a scare tactic used by a few, to stop the project. A study was done, and at the worst there might be 30 days in a year that he wind would blow West towards the community.

For three and a half years, not a word was mentioned at the council level, but the town was full of rumors. And then, with an election coming soon, the developer was challenged to give the council a presentation. It seemed that one member that had originally supported the massive project had a memory failure. He didn't know or remember anything about the project he had supported four years earlier. He wanted to learn first hand what all the talk in town was about.

A few meetings back, the developer made a presentation to the council. Delta Greens appeared to have a negative impact to the council, so they said. But most of the members never took the time to see that it had been cut back to a much smaller project. They kept referring to items that were not part of the now proposed Delta Greens.

Every negative question they asked, was about the old project. And the developer kept telling them that this would solve our treated waste water problem. And I couldn't understand why they ignored the help we needed to upgrade our wastewater facility.

Delta Greens will be a restricted Senior Community, fifty five and over. There is no impact to the schools, but they will receive their share of revenue. The developer impact fees would more than upgrade our present sewer capacity, and there will be a two hundred acre golf course that the city could sell recycled water to. About a million gallons a day.

But, the council still threw out every negative thought they possibly could. It's a burden on our struggling infrasture. People who buy homes that live in Galt will sell their homes to families with school children. We can't afford 25 million dollars for a new treatment plant, and on and on.

Even the staff members were fighting it, because three council votes equals big problems if you fight them. And the audience loved it, and I still thought it was great, but there was some concern. The three slow growth members couldn't support a project of this size! How would it look? They wanted to proceed with caution. Which means, unless it costs them reelection, it isn't going to happen!

When I added up the revenue for the project that the city, and the fire and school districts would receive, I was amazed. It was a win - win situation. The cost of upgrading the plant would be offset by development impact fees. The sewer connection fees alone will be $10,000,000.00. Total impact fees to the city will be over $60,000.00. Plus more that are upfront costs.

• That buys a lot of improvements!
• Sewer Hookup Fees Paid To City of Galt: $10,000,000.00
• Upgrading to "Tertiary " treatment is about $8,500,000.00.
• You Do The Math!

In order to do this study, at a cost of $40,000.00, you have to identify the future city boundaries. At the meeting, staff recommended that this be done with our General Plan Update. The problem there is, I have been asking to start that for over three years, and guess what? Election year rolls around, and we had one meeting. I knew that it would be another three years before we had another.

• Which brings to the present status of Delta Greens.

Then the Church told us they would lease property to the City until we resolved our present problems. What to do, what to do. To make it short, they were all ignored, and the developer was told that the council needed to go with staff's idea and work on this with the general plan update. They estimated two years, which by Galt time means four to five.

So, the true colors came out. The presentation, the increased Sphere of Influence was just a campaign ploy to make everyone happy. This council intends on taking the Church property, and ignoring all of the other options. Because, it would mean growth, the bad six letter word..

• Delta Greens Status?
• Galt City Council LIMBO!

But, it could become a county project, and all of the impact fees would go to the county instead of the city, and who will pay the costs for the upgrades we need? The citizens will. One way or another, If you have any questions about this article, call me.

• Dan Pillsbury
• (209) 745-3517 or e-mail me at:

• danpills@inreach.com