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ARTICLE. From Gregg Dieguez’, InPerspective, on August 20th, 2025.
With all the recent news about the SAM lawsuit and the millions wasted in unjustified litigation, it seems timely to consider some good financial news.
When I was on the MCC in 2021, something called the LHMP, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, came up for renewal. This is a County-wide effort to categorize and plan for various natural hazards and risks in our County’s infrastructure. Having longstanding documented concerns about our water and sewer infrastructure (and later, the 270 page MCC stormwater report), I did my best to coordinate with Ann Ludwig, the County’s LHMP coordinator, and to get every Coastside agency to write up and file a report on its vulnerabilities, in the event something went wrong and we needed a justification for FEMA assistance.
Several agencies did so file. However I was told the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside could not – only the 3 “owner” agencies: Half Moon Bay, Granada Community Services District, and Montara Water and Sanitary District (MWSD) had standing to file. I can’t speak to the reasons all those agencies did not make the effort to file in the LHMP, but one agency board member told me words to the effect: “It’s a waste of money. We’d have to pay a consultant, and we’d never get any money back.” However, MWSD DID file; MWSD paid a contract engineer who wrote an excellent explanation of the water and sewer infrastructure for the LHMP, and thus registered SAM for coverage in the event of damage to disclosed vulnerabilities.
And, of course, on Jan. 1, 2023 something DID happen. The storm that rushed Ray Mueller into office 2 days early, blocked Hwy 1 with water and trees and mudslides, crushed homes, and overflowed Pilarcitos Creek, also caused the SAM plant to exceed its maximum capacity for days, and flooded lower level pump rooms – doing a lot of damage to the plant and other SAM assets.
The Good News is that MWSD’s efforts in timely filing with the LHMP have now resulted in disaster recovery funding from FEMA and CalOES of $1,579,894 in reimbursement for repairs to SAM ($80,443 still pending receipt). Those funds are received by MWSD and passed on to SAM by Board resolutions. I’m pleased to say that sometimes a little planning, initiative and collaboration pays dividends.
Let’s hope that unjustified, expensive lawsuit is over, and that we see more collaborative results like MWSD’s FEMA effort with SAM.
More on Granada Community Services District on Coastside Buzz
More on Montara Water and Sanitary District on Coastside Buzz
Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM) Meetings ~ 2nd & 4th Mondays @ 7:00pm
SAM Agendas and Zoom Links
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SAM Meeting Videos via Pacific Coast TV
Where Does Your Poop Go ~ Virtual Video Tour!
Interactive “Story Map” Tour
Contact Us
Our regular office hours are 7:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The Authority can be reached 24-hours a day at: (650) 726-0124.
Our Address is:
Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside
1000 Cabrillo Hwy N.
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
SAM Board from left. Paul Nagengast (HMB), Nancy Marsh (GCSD), Scott Boyd (MWSD), Debbie Ruddock (HMB), Barbara Dye (GCSD), Kathryn Slater-Carter (MWSD).
The Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM) provides wastewater treatment services and contract collection maintenance services for a population of approximately 24,000 in the following areas:
- City of Half Moon Bay
- El Granada
- Miramar
- Montara
- Moss Beach
- Princeton by the Sea
SAM Directors
SAM is a joint powers authority (JPA) created by its three member agencies: City of Half Moon Bay (City), Granada Community Services District (GCSD), and the Montara Water and Sanitary District (MWSD).
The JPA is a separate, independent, public agency created by the member agencies to perform functions and share powers common to the member agencies. Those powers are outlined in a joint exercise of powers agreement (Agreement). The Agreement creating SAM can be found on the Documents page.
Each Agreement identifies how the independent agency will be governed. In the case of SAM, each member agency appoints two members from its governing board to represent it on the SAM Board of Directors, for a total of six directors.
The Agreement also establishes the weight of each director’s vote. The vote by each representatives from the City is given the weight of two votes. The vote by each representative from GCSD and MWSD is given the weight of one vote. The total number of possible votes is eight. A quorum is a minimum of five votes and resolutions require at least six votes to pass.
2025 SAM Directors
Deborah Ruddock ~ Chair, Representing the City of Half Moon Bay
Kathryn Slater-Carter ~ Vice Chair, Representing the Montara Water & Sanitary District
Nancy Marsh ~ Secretary/Treasurer, Representing the Granada Community Services District
Barbara Dye ~ Director, Representing the Granada Community Services District
Paul Nagengast ~ Director, Representing the City of Half Moon Bay
Scott Boyd ~ Director, Representing the Montara Water & Sanitary District
Author: mdrag
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