MEINERS OAKS : Board Rejects Costly Sealant for New Lot
After spending $77,350 for a new concrete driveway and parking lot, the Ojai Valley Sanitary District board has rejected a $5,776 chemical coat to protect it from oil stains.
The board voted 4 to 3 Monday against applying the high-gloss sealant after Stan Greene, a new board member and environmental activist, said oil and grease stains can be absorbed by clamshells and kitty litter.
“I’m more concerned about spending district money for something that is purely aesthetic than any environmental concerns,” Greene said after the meeting.
Greene, 61, president of the 700-member Citizens to Preserve the Ojai environmental group, joined the board after winning his first bid for political office in the November election.
Eric Oltmann, the sanitary district’s general manager, had recommended the acrylic-urethane sealant for 18,000 square feet of new concrete driveway and parking area around the district’s Tico Road headquarters in Meiners Oaks. Oltmann said he feared that spreading absorbent materials by hand could be too time-consuming for the small district’s operations.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
