Ross Valley Sanitary District Drops Lawsuit Against Central Marin Sanitation Agency

Ross Valley Sanitary District officials agreed Wednesday night to drop one of the two lawsuits the agency has against the Central Marin Sanitation Agency. 

The RVSD board unanimously agreed to withdraw arbitration and settle a dispute over the treatment services billing (which was changed last year with a 3-2 vote by the CMSA board). The settlement will raise the Ross Valley districts’ costs $327,000 this fiscal year, according to RVSD officials. 

The board is working to settle another lawsuit it has against CMSA, which revolves around the contract CMSA signed with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to manage sewer services for San Quentin State Prison, according to RVSD Board President Frank Egger. The contract ended RVSD’s longtime deal with the state to provide the San Quentin services and made the RVSD lose $1 million in revenue this year, according a RVSD release on the matter. The lawsuit has moved to a Sonoma County Court.

Egger told Patch Thursday that the sanitary board is trying to forge a new relationship with the CMSA, which the district had been at odds with for years.

“This new board has vowed to end all [the fighting] and start working together with everybody,” Egger said. “There certainly are a few issues that are important to us that we will try to work out, but I think it will be a completely different atmosphere at the CMSA board meetings.”

The RVSD recently approached CMSA with a request for a $2 million bailout, according to an article in the Marin Independent Journal.

The district asked CMSA to wait until December to collect the $2 million RVSD owes the agency, according to the IJ. But CMSA officials said they don’t want to grant the short-term loan to the district until the lawsuits were dropped.

The Ross Valley Sanitary District serves San Anselmo, Fairfax, Kentfield, Ross, Greenbrae, Larkspur and Sleepy Hollow.

CMSA treats the sewage of the Ross Valley Sanitary District, the Corte Madera’s Sanitary District No. 2 and the San Rafael Sanitation District.

Council members from Larkspur, San Rafael and Corte Madera serve on the CMSA board.