Petaluma's M-Group Planning Principal Utilized Spouse's Department With California Fish & Wildlife to Help Approve the City's Request for Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility Expansion
The City recently elected to be a carbon neutral city by the end of this decade yet the Facility received millions from the CEC to produce 150,000 gasoline gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas
The City of Petaluma experienced serious budgetary constraints in Fiscal Year 2008 – 2009 and abolished its Community Development Department. Several functions were cut back, public counter hours were restricted, and programs were curtailed. The City selected M-Group through an RFP process to provide all current planning services to the City of Petaluma.
For the past 13 years, M-Group has provided Petaluma with the full range of services required of an in-house Planning Division. M-Group took over projects previously managed by outside contractors, completing several significant projects for the City. M-Group was awarded an initial one-year contract in July 2009. The contract has since been extended multiple times by the City Council.
According to her resume, Ms. Olivia Ervin has served as an Environmental Planner for M-Group since 2013. Their website indicates that she has since been promoted to Principal.
In 2016, Ms. Ervin submitted an application to Napa County’s Watershed Information and Conservation Council in which she indicated that her spouse, Mr. Craig J. Weightman was employed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
As of 2023, Transparent California indicated that Mr. Weightman was actively employed as Environmental Program Manager I (Supervisory) for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In 2017, he served as the Acting Regional Manager for the California Department of Fish Wildlife’s Bay Delta Region. The Region includes: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento (west of I-5), San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Joaquin (west of I-5), Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo (south of I-80) counties.
As of 2015, Mr. Weightman was designated by the State Department as a point of contact for water rights.
The City is required to present any requests for lake or streambed alterations, permits, EIR approvals and CEQA exemptions to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
On March 21, 2016 Biomass Magazine issued the following press release:
The California Energy Commission approved $4.3 million in grants this month for projects to increase the efficiency of natural gas technology used in industrial, agriculture and water processes. Amongst the projects receiving grants was an anaerobic digestion (AD) project in the city of Petaluma. The $3 million grant is for the design, construction and operation of an AD system at the Ellis Water Recycling Facility to produce 150,000 gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of renewable natural gas (RNG) made from food and beverage waste. The RNG will be used as a fuel replacement in up to 19 diesel waste hauling trucks, displacing the consumption of approximately 21,200 gallons of diesel annually associated with hauling wastes.
The funding is provided by the energy commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. In addition to the $3 million contribution, the city of Petaluma will provide over $12 million in match funding. Besides the digester, the project will include a biogas purification unit, a compressed natural gas fueling station and waste treatment facility.
Per the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and Regional Climate Protection Authority’s July 12, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes:
To accelerate the shift from fossil fuel to electric vehicles, local jurisdictions are considering regulations to prohibit new gas station land uses. On March 1, 2021, the City of Petaluma became the first jurisdiction in the country to adopt a ban on new gas stations.
On August 8, 2022, the City passed:
Resolution Accepting Completion of the Biomass to Biofuel Project at the Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility Contract with Myers and Sons Construction, Approving a Final Contract Change Order and Authorizing the City Manager to Sign on Behalf of the City a Settlement Agreement with Myers and Sons Construction Resolving the Claims of the Parties
The final construction contract cost is $9,449,992.53, which included 16 change orders.
On January 4, 2016, the City Council, by Resolution No. 2016-007 N.C.S. certified the Water Recycling Facility and River Access Improvements EIR January 2016 Addendum, which evaluated the Biomass to Biofuel (B2B) project. The off-site fueling operation was included in the description of the project in the EIR Addendum. A subsequent review to review the compliance of CEQA requirements was completed by an engineering consulting firm, GHD, in June 2017 and verified no substantial changes to the project description as evaluated in the approved EIR Addendum.
On September 11, 2023, the City passed: Resolution Adopting the Petaluma Transit Zero Emission Fleet Transition Plan.
The potential funding sources segment stated:
The Petaluma City Council has made a commitment towards being 100% carbon neutral (i.e. zero emission) by 2030. Following the awarded and projected funding that is shown in Table 7, this goal would be achieved by as early as 2030 for the Petaluma Transit fleet. Based on 2023 prices, about $17 million is needed to purchase 14 battery-electric buses and 10 battery-electric paratransit vans. Due to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) defining the bus service life as 15 years and paratransit van service life as 8 years until federal funds can be used to replace the vehicle, it is not feasible to use federal funds to reach the 100% zero-emission goal by 2030. About $9 million would be needed from non-federal funding sources to reach this goal by 2030.
This appears counterintuitive regarding the original purpose of the state funding allocated by the CEC to the City of Petaluma to expand the Ellis Water Recycling Facility.
On June 3, 2016, the City of Petaluma’s Senior Project Manager, GHD issued a Petition for Change request to the State Water Resources Control Board and San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board for their proposed Urban Recycled Water Expansion Project.
On June 30, 2016, Randi Adair, Senior Environmental Scientist Supervisor, South Coast and Timberland Conservation Unit, Bay Delta Region California Department of Fish and Wildlife, sent the following response to Pat Collins. Mr. Weightman was copied on the email thread while away on vacation.
On March 6, 2023, the City of Petaluma passed the following Resolution:
RATIFYING AWARD OF CONTRACT, ACCEPTING COMPLETION OF THE EMERGENCY RESTORATION OF THE ELLIS CREEK WATER RECYCLING FACILITY OUTFALL RELOCATION PROJECT AS PERFORMED BY COASTSIDE CONCRETE & CONSTRUCTION, INC., AND AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF THE 10% RETENTION AND FINDING THIS ITEM HAS BEEN ADDRESSED IN A PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT AND NO SEPARATE, SUBSEQUENT, OR SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEW IS WARRANTED
The resolution stated:
The condition of the site on October 26, 2022, did not meet the requirements of the various permits for the project, San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board - Section 401 Water Quality Certification, California Department of Fish and Wildlife - Streambed Alteration Agreement, Army Corps of Engineers - Section 404 Nationwide Permit and Bay Conservation and Development Commission - Regionwide Permit 2; and…
As of December 15, 2023, Mr. Weightman was appointed to the Governing Board of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority’s Advisory Committee for a term ending on February 12, 2025.
His bio for the Advisory Committee indicates that he contributed to the Cutting the Green Tape initiative to accelerate the permitting of restoration projects.
Simultaneously, Mr. Weightman has served as the Chair of the The Bay Restoration Regulatory Integration Team (BRRIT) Policy and Management Committee.
The work of the BRRIT and PMC [then called the Policy and Management Team (PMT)] are outlined in the 2018 "San Francisco Bay Coordinated Permitting and Approach, Agency Agreements, and Performance Measures" document.
As of April 2023, the City of Petaluma produced the Oyster Cove Mixed Use Neighborhood Study. The study stated:
The project would utilize public water and sewer from existing mains in D Street, Copeland, and Hopper Street. Potable water would be accommodated via the installation of new water lines within the project site that would connect to existing water mains. Wastewater would be conveyed from the project site through new sanitary sewer pipes, to the existing sanitary sewer main within Hopper Street, and ultimately to the Ellis Creek water recycling facility.
Prior to issuance of grading permit, the project applicant shall provide documentation to the City of Petaluma that the required permits for installation of culvert outfalls from regulatory agencies have been obtained. The permit authorization process shall include, if needed and at the discretion of the regulatory agencies involved, consultation with National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and/or California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to determine if avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures beyond those described below are necessary.
On May 18, 2022, Congressman Jared Huffman’s Office issued the following press release:
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 today, including key North Coast and environmental priorities authored by Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), a member of the committee. This legislation provides authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to carry out water resources development projects and studies, as well as reforms and policy direction to the Corps for implementation of its civil works missions.
$13.7M was disbursed to the City of Petaluma for The Recycled Water Expansion project would include Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility (ECWRF) Treatment Capacity Increase, Maria Drive Urban Pipeline Expansion, and Adobe Road Agriculture Pipeline Expansion.
Was an additional $13.7M necessary to expand the recycling facility being that nearly $10M was just wasted on finalizing the Biomass to Biofuel Project?
Presently, Ms. Iliana Madrigal-Hooper is employed as a Research & Policy Associate for the North Bay Labor Council, AFL-CIO. She has been in that role since May of 2023. She simultaneously worked for Friends of the Petaluma River as a part-time Communications Director through December 2023 while UrbanMix Development’s Oyster Cove Multi-Use Neighborhood Project was being approved. Additionally, she serves on the City or Petaluma’s General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC).
The North Bay Labor Council is one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils acting as an arm of the AFL-CIO. Labor Councils are the heart of the labor movement. NBLC represents over 70 thousand working people and some 70 union affiliates in Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, and Marin Counties. Congressman Huffman is endorsed by the Labor Council.
Previously, she was employed as district scheduler/office manager for Congressman Jared Huffman. Her colleague, Ms. Elizabeth Howland, Treasurer of the Friends of the Petaluma River, is the Event Fundraising Director for U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman who is the current Chair of the Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife.
In 2020, the City of Petaluma kicked off initial outreach efforts as part of its General Plan and Housing Element Update. The current General Plan was adopted in 2008. The City planned to develop its new General Plan and Housing Element concurrently, with a completion date that adheres to the State’s deadline for Housing Element and environmental review submission: January 2023.
The Oyster Cove project development application stated:
Community engagement began in 2021 with stakeholder meetings and is ongoing. The first public presentation was made through the Know Before You Grow organization in February 2022. Feedback has helped shape the proposed plan. We anticipate continuing public outreach during the application process.
Friends of the Petaluma River were included as stakeholder reps.
Ms. Madrigal Hooper’s spouse, City of Petaluma Planning Commissioner and current council candidate Blake Hooper, drove the discussion and votes for preliminary Oyster Cove Mixed Use Neighborhood Project study sessions leading up to the May 9, 2023 resolution approval for entitlements.
Mr. Hooper is a current Legislative Consultant at California State Senate and former staffer for Rep. Jared Huffman.
Are local, state and federal representatives being driven by personal financial motives when establishing contracts with local contractors and developers which utilize our tax monies?
Congressman Huffman is the only Congressional representative who is openly a ‘humanist’, he does not believe in God nor Jesus Christ.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
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