Coronado City Council Reviews Wastewater Amendment & Climate Action Plan
Two of the items discussed at the Coronado City Council meeting on November 18 were the Second Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement with the Metro Wastewater System of San Diego and Coronado’s Climate Action Plan.
Before reviewing those items, the City Manager gave a brief update where she stated her appreciation for City staff’s diligence during the recent rain storms and their commitment to responding quickly to issues such as the traffic light and trees that feel in town, and assisting the Navy with stranded boats at Zuniga Jetty.
The City Council members also shared updates on their agency assignments, beginning with Councilmember Mark Fleming sharing appreciation for the recent Take Your Veteran to School Day in Coronado, and mentioning his and Mayor John Duncan’s recent visit with Caltrans to view the bridge in regards to the ongoing suicide prevention project. Construction for the project is currently expected to start in 2026.
Councilmember Kelly Purvis noted her appreciation for the City’s partnership with the military as was highlighted within the latest Military Impact Report by the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC). She also thanked City staff for their work on the new equipment at the Cays Park playground and ribbon cutting ceremony they put together to re-open the playground.
Councilmember Carrie Downey echoed Purvis’ comments regarding SDMAC, noting that Coronado is recognized as the only city in the county that currently financially contributes to the Military Impact Report. She mentioned the important impact military spending can have on the surrounding communities. Additionally, she mentioned that the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Subcommittee recently met and that they now have comprehensive answers to the previous inquiries from the last council discussion on the topic. The subcommittee is getting a few more details from the CCAs but they expect to begin doing some public outreach with that information soon.
Councilmember Amy Steward brought up the Cal Cities Coastal Leadership Working Group, mentioning they are currently looking at their goals for next year and accepting input on those focuses. She also attended a San Diego County Green Building Incentive program to learn about incentives that may be viable for Coronado, and thanked the community for the recent Veteran’s Day celebrations. Additionally, in regards to the recently passed Historic Context Statement, she expects to bring some Tier 3 listed homes for a secondary review by the Council in December.
Mayor John Duncan also noted his appreciation for the recent meeting and updates with Caltrans, adding that Caltrans is also looking into a seismic retrofit project for the bridge. He also noted that the next quarterly update on the cross-border sewage issue is expected to be discussed at the next council meeting for a larger update, but mentioned that they are working with a US Trade representative to advocate for what the City would like to have included in the USCCA in regards to accountability provisions for ensuring the water stays clean once it is clean.
The Council then received a presentation regarding the update to the Metro Wastewater System Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Agreement. City Manager Tina Friend explained how the City is responsible for the collection of Coronado’s wastewater and maintaining the City’s local infrastructure, but that our wastewater then goes through a pipeline underneath the bay to Point Loma, where it is treated by the City of San Diego. Coronado has been part of an agreement with San Diego and other municipalities in the region (the JPA) that has allowed for the collective management of wastewater in the County for that past few decades.
Formerly City Councilmembers Marvin Heinze, Duncan, and now Purvis have all represented Coronado on the JPA Board and contributed to the Second Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement (SARA) for the operation, cost evaluations, and management of this wastewater system. City staff have also reviewed and provided input on the new amendment.
Representatives from the JPA also spoke during the presentation, adding that the original agreement establishing the commission occurred in 1998, with the Metro JPA formed in 2000. Originally the Agreement was updated in 2021 (the Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement “ARA”) to address out of date calculations, but the ARA was not able to address everything in lieu of the Pure Water project at that time. That led to SARA, to address the remaining updates, which will be a 40 year agreement expiring in 2065 (but includes “Administrative Agreements” clause to provide flexibility to address anything that may come up during that time).
SARA will establish a cost-sharing approach for the Pure Water Program, a new billing formula that more accurately reflects costs based on use, an outline for capital cost calculations for any future regional water reuse projects, a sample formula for calculation revenue from the Pure Water Project, and more. With the update, the City of San Diego would handle Coronado’s wastewater pretreatment ahead of going to the Pure Water facility. SARA also includes new language that would allow for a majority vote (which was previously unanimous vote) to enforce the Agreement should that ever be required.
There was unanimous support by the Council to approve the amendment.
They then discussed the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), which was adopted by the City in 2022 as an incentive-based, aspirational document that includes 17 quantifiable measures and 28 non-quantifiable measures to reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of Coronado’s emissions come from on-road transportation vehicles (43%), followed by building energy and electricity use (23%), building energy sourced through natural gas (20%), and then to smaller extents, solid waste, off-road vehicles and equipment use, and water use and wastewater treatment.
The CAP set a goal in 2022 for emission reductions of 40% below the baseline of emission as measured in 2016 by 2030. California has further set a target for carbon neutrality and an 85% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 emission levels by 2045, however Coronado has not previously established a target along that guideline for 2045 on the basis that there is no legal requirement to do so and that the City and previous Council determined such a target to be very challenging for small cities to meet.
The City has made some progress in laying the groundwork for some facets of the CAP, including streamlining the permitting process for rooftop solar panels, EV charging stations, and a Green Energy Incentive Program, as well as making assessments for CCAs, an electric mini-shuttle program, rooftop solar for City buildings, and replacing City vehicles with electric or hybrid vehicles. Programs such as the annual free tree event on Arbor Day have seen success, and other projects such as new electric ferries and increased bike parking are also currently in progress.
The Council had the option to consider whether or not to pursue hiring a consultant to review the current state of the plan and level of impact the City has made since 2022, as well as provide any additional direction around the topic at this time.
Steward began the discussion and suggested looking to other local cities such as La Mesa whose work on their CAP has received positive recognition for additional focuses that might make sense for Coronado to pursue. She would like the City to prioritize CAP items that will make the biggest impact first, where possible. To help with that goal, Steward proposed looking into creating a new commission within the City that would focus on sustainability and coastal resiliency and could help provide research, studies, and recommendations to the Council.
Steward also felt that it would make more sense to hold off on hiring a consultant to review and analyze the current plan and impact at this time, until the City has had the opportunity to move forward with some larger impact items.
Councilmembers Downey and Purvis felt similarly with both wanting to wait on hiring and the expense of a consultant, to learn more about creating a potential Sustainability and Coastal Resiliency Commission, and to focus on big impact items and other projects the City is already researching, such as the potential benefit of creating more EV charging stations. Downey specifically mentioned getting solar panels on City buildings as one of the high impact items she would like to see the City focus more heavily on.
Both Downey and Purvis, who have been working on the CCA Subcommittee, also noted that they felt it would be prudent to have their upcoming discussion and potential decision on moving to a CCA (another potentially big impact item for reducing emissions) before hiring a consultant.
Downey also made note that there are actionable items within the CAP that may seem like easy targets for the City, but carry complications around them (such as solar heat pumps for buildings) and that perhaps there could be additional communication with the public around those types of items. Purvis added that the City has been taking meaningful steps in regards to the CAP, but agreed with Steward and Downey that more could be done sooner, rather than later.
Friend did make a note that the City will be including solar panels as part of the new roof project for the Coronado Public Library.
Duncan applauded the City and past Council’s work on the CAP and while he stated he would be open to pursuing additional projects, he would want to be practical around spending for any projects. Duncan had concerns that adding too many priority projects at once might take away from other projects in the works, and in that same vein was not fully supportive of forming a new commission at this time.
Fleming agreed with Duncan’s statements and said his biggest concerns around prioritizing additional CAP projects were around potential costs and creating additional work for City staff. He would want to do cost-benefit studies on things like EV charging stations before moving forward with that type of project and felt no project should be pursued simply for the sake of the CAP.
Duncan and Fleming also noted they would be supportive of hiring a consultant to move forward with a CAP review and impact assessment at this time.
In response to some of the comments around not wanting to lose priority for other infrastructure projects if more CAP projects are pursued, Steward felt such projects are not necessarily mutually exclusive where doing one fully precludes doing anything for the other. She noted that infrastructure projects around flooding concerns may tie into shoreline preservation work to address erosion that could prevent worse flooding, for instance. In that sense, Steward added that she felt addressing and mitigating climate concerns with CAP projects ties directly with potential economic costs to the City in the future, and what level of economic and environmental burden may be put on future generations of Coronadans.
Duncan felt strongly that the City’s current work on the CAP should be commended and asked Steward to state two items she would take from La Mesa’s CAP that Coronado isn’t doing that she would like to see the City pursue. Steward responded that solar panels on City infrastructure and potentially joining a CCA are the two most impactful options available to City at this time.
The City will not be moving forward to hire a consultant at this time, given there was no majority consensus by the Council to do so.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 2, at 4 p.m. at City Hall. For more information on upcoming meetings, please visit the City’s website at https://www.coronado.ca.us/449/Agendas-Minutes.
VOL. 115, NO. 48 — Nov. 26, 2025