Dear Editor,

After reviewing the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Water Utility Enterprise Report for 2008, I was surprised to see that the cost for the South County-Coyote Valley Programs Requirements increased by 35 percent over the 2007-2008 budget. There is no way that it can cost an additional $3,583,000 to manage the 17 different programs listed in this report.

It appears that many of these programs have been back filled to cover the annual repayment for the Central Valley Water Project cost of $14,933,733.58 along with increasing the salaries and benefits.

This report states that raising the water rates to $275 an acre foot is only a 7.8% increase. Well, it's a lot higher than that when measured against the Bay Area inflation rate of 3.3%, as used by the water district. It is actually 136% higher than the current inflation rate. In Exhibit 5 of their Operations Cost Projections, they show a 2.8% increase for 2009. Three of the eight line items for 2009 are salaries, benefits and overhead. These three items are much higher than 2.8%. Since the cost of the other five items are flat to no cost at all, they tend to mask the total column projection. The true projected increase cost for salaries is 11.5%, benefits is 19.6% and for overhead is 12.2%. Do you know anyone receiving these kind of salary and benefit increases?

During my working career, I spent 36 years with Hewlett-Packard. In the year of 1972, the economic conditions were poor. We were not selling enough products to support the total business operations. So, Mr. Hewlett asked all of the employees to take a 10% pay cut during that year, we all did and were able to keep our jobs while working through that tough time. Today, we are all going through a rough economic time period. Many people have lost their jobs and many have lost their homes. The water district appears to be oblivious to the tough economic conditions that we all face today. They have the ability to tax the ratepayer at will to support their ever large state of employment. The water district needs to make a permanent 15% reduction in the work force now. That would reduce the current employment by 120 and have an annual savings of $15,600,000. This does not mean eliminating job vacancies that have never been filled. This reduction is for people that are currently employed with the water district.

In a recent newspaper article, "Chairman Kamei stated that she welcomes ideas people have to keep prices low. She also said that for the first time in a long time, the board is looking at cutting costs in one place the community won't mind, they're looking at eliminating top level positions." About three years ago, I went before the Board of Directors with a suggestion on reducing some management positions. The response from the board chairman at that time was, thank you for your ideas, but we need ideas on how we can make money.

In a letter to the Board Members, that is at the front of the 2008 Report, by the current Chief Executive Officer, as stated in her closing paragraph, "We also need to continue to maximize efficiencies in management of water, financial and human resources, in our quest to operate and maintain a sustainable Water Utility Enterprise for many decades ahead."

I agree 100% with these thoughts. Now is the time to bite the bullet and put a meaningful plan into action. Something that all rate payers will see, starting with the 2008-2009 proposed budget.

Robert J. Cerruti, San Martin

Plan for a quarry gravel pit in west Gilroy a disaster for the entire area

Dear Editor,

We do not need another gravel pit in or near Gilroy. There is movement at this time apparently to install a large quarry operation at the junction of the Watsonville Road and the Redwood Retreat Road.This will encompass more than 300 and will ultimately involve a massive deep hole in the Uvas Creek and surrounding environments.

This property used to be owned by the Bickel family and the Colt family.They raised fruit trees and other agricultural products.This area was at that time "green" and now may be slated for brown, mud, muck, sediment, noise and air pollution.There's talk about new "green" industry coming to Gilroy - well, this would certainly be going the other way.

Uvas Creek is a pleasant meandering source of fresh water that is flushed out each winter when the rains come. As such it is a conduit or highway for the endangered steelhead trout who run up to the Bodfish and Little Arthur creeks to do their spawning. My children use to swim in the stream, fish in the stream, and sometimes in the winter would ride tubes downstream when the water was high.That type of activity will be obliterated if the quarry goes into operation. The Uvas is a treasure not to be destroyed. 

I am sure that the homeowners who have this watercourse through their backyards will be most unhappy with the new development.

The projected gravel pit will be spewing out gigantic double trailer trucks every few minutes daily, that will need to go down Burchell Road through that pleasant residential area, or they will go down Watsonville Road to Highway 152, the scenic highway, or go north on Watsonville Road. All of these byways are already becoming overused and are in need of repair and upkeep.

Imagine what will happen when these multi-ton behemoth trucks start rolling along every 10 to 12 minutes every day. The traffic at the entrance to the Gilroy Gardens will be a true problem, even worse than it is, as the trucks try to get by that turn off.

The rest of the way into Gilroy where these loads will have to go is already crowded with cars that are going into the golf course, the Elks Club and Goldsmith Seeds.

And then when the trucks turn south down Santa Teresa, they surely will impact the traffic for the middle school and Eagle Ridge, as well as all the traffic for Gavilan College and the residential areas in that region. If they have to through town to U.S. 101,or north on Santa Teresa, that will be most unpleasant.

Not only will the Quarry make noise all day long but it will send clouds of dust into the air and with the prevailing breeze from the northwest, this will bring  a huge amount of dirt and general air pollution to the residences downstream and that will include the Gilroy Gardens and the Goldsmith Seed operations. Another unwanted effect of the pit will be the general lowering of real estate values in the surrounding neighborhood, which now is a quiet, peaceful,relaxing and desirable place in which one can live in a certain degree of serenity. All of that will be shattered.

I hope that all of the citizens of Gilroy, will do as I will and that is to contact the county supervisors and let them know that this is an undertaking that will greatly and adversely affect the whole area of the Uvas Creek watershed and the Hecker Pass Canyon, which in turn will have consequences for the whole area of Gilroy. 

David Barton, Gilroy