Author: wendy

Santa Ynez Community Services District
PO Box 667
1070 Faraday St.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460
805-688-3008

What can you do to help: (FOG)
Never pour grease or oil down the sink or toilet
Scrape grease material and food scraps from all cookware into trash
Use strainers in sink drains to catch food scraps and empty the drain strainer into the trash
Do not put grease or greasy food in your home garbage disposal
Wipe cookware and dishes before washing
Clean kitchen exhaust system filters routinely’

Stay Informed:
Visit our Website for meeting agendas and news and sign up for notify me at
www.sycsd.com
Office hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-5:00 closed for lunch
Updates of District Business go to:
www.sycsd.com
Questions:
Contact
Jose, General Manager at jose@sycsd.com
or Wendy, Secretary/Treasurer at
wendy@sycsd.com

Santa Ynez Community Services District
Board of Directors Regular Board Meetings - Third Wednesday of the Month 5:30 p.m.

April 2021

Even though the wipe packages say “flushable”, when flushed, the wipes plug up your pipes and plug up the wastewater treatment plant. Please put your wipes in the trash

Special Sewer Rate Surprise— see back page

Horizon Drive Project Update
Horizon Drive Sewer Mainline Extension Project is still moving forward. This project will allow the Horizon Drive residents to connect to sewer if their
septic tanks fail. To follow the progress visit the Horizon Drive project page on the District’s website at http://www.sycsd.com/2219/Horizon-Drive-Mainline-Extension

SYCSD has sand and sand bags
available for its
residents

Santa Ynez Community Services District
Board of Directors Regular Board Meetings - Third Wednesday of the Month 5:30 p.m.

Fats, oil and grease (FOG) are the leading cause of clogged sewer lines. Whenever any of these substances are poured down the kitchen drain, they can accumulate and harden to eventually clog a sewer line and cause overflows, costly repairs, and require removal. The clogged sewer line is often the customer’s lateral before it enters the main sewer line. When a lateral becomes clogged, a plumber must be called to unclog the line and allow wastewater to again flow to the District’s main sewer line. Sewer lateral maintenance is the responsibility of the customer.

When the FOG reaches the main sewer line it can harden and restrict the flow of wastewater for the entire street causing major problems and requiring emergency repairs by District crews. All main sewer lines in the street are hydro-jetted quarterly to breakup FOG before it causes major problems. The hydro-jetting is performed by the District crews with specialized equipment that blasts the inside of the sewer lines with high pressure water at a rate of 4,000 pounds per square inch. Combined with flushing, the high-pressure water spray dissolves all FOG and allows it to flow into the lift stations. Once in the lift station, the FOG can again harden along the walls of the wet wells causing diminished capacity. District crews periodically go into these confined spaces to manually remove the hardened grease and vacuum out all the material.

Traditionally commercial business such as restaurants pose the biggest problem with FOG into the sewer system. The District requires pre-treatment devices such as grease traps installed at commercial food service businesses. As the name implies, a grease trap separates the majority of the grease from the wastewater before it enters the sewer system. We urge all residential and commercial customers to not pour fats, oil or grease down the sewer drainage system. These items will clog and cause problems to both your sewer lateral and the main sewer system. Separation of fats, oil and grease is easily accomplished by simply pouring cooking remains into an old can or glass jar and disposal to the regular garbage when it hardens. Proper disposal of FOG will save you money in the long run.

Sewer Rate Information
On March 17, 2021, your SYCSD Board of Directors voted 5-0 to not implement a rate increase for this coming fiscal year 2021-2022. Based on several factors, inclusive of the constituents within the SYCSD facing tough economic times during this global pandemic, and the SYCSDS’s ability to remain financially stable, this decision was rendered by the Board of Directors. With the proper planning and collaborative fiduciary efforts, the SYCSD can defer a rate increase. As a reminder the public is always welcome to attend the Board meetings, which are held the third Wednesday of each month at 5:30 PM. Please visit our website at www.sycsd.com for more information. For more information on the approved five year rate study, visit our website at www.sycsd.com.

Employee Profile
This is the second one in a series of articles that profile the staff of your Community Services District.

Kevin McKennon, Chief Plant Operator
Kevin was born into a military family at Camp Roberts in 1952 and lived with his family in England, Turkey and Thailand. Kevin joined the military and become a Weapon’s mechanic on B-52’s in 1971-1975. After the military, Kevin received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geology and earned his teaching credentials to teach Physical Sciences at Cal Poly for a year. Life lead him to Grand Island Nebraska where he earned his Grade IV Wastewater Operator Certificate and began working as a Senior Operator at the Grand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. To further his career, in 2002 he became the Manager at the City of Grand Island Nebraska Solid Waste Department. The wastewater industry is experiencing a huge shortage of higher grade certified operators and luckily, in 2004, life lead Kevin back to California where he began as the Santa Ynez CSD Chief Plant Operator for the Chumash Casino and has been an asset to the District ever since. During his operation Kevin has overseen a Wastewater plant upgrade to include water reuse. He is a master of wastewater and has many fascinating stories to tell especially from working on B52’a. As you can see by his picture, Kevin is fun loving and there is never a dull moment when Kevin is around. The District has been very fortunate to have Kevin as an employee all these years.