Residents would lose in Poseidon plan

Regarding “Poseidon goes for another permit,” May 20:

Poseidon should be soundly denied by the City Council. Here’s why:

1. Poseidon Resources is a private, for-profit, foreign-owned company. The council is voting on whether to allow the company to privatize water, which is a necessity for life.

2. The council was told Poseidon was self-financed and that there would be no cost to Huntington Beach if the company failed. This is blatantly false. They are being subsidized by the Metropolitan Water District to the tune of $350 million a year for 25 years. They are floating a bond, which is hardly self-funding.

3. “Once-through cooling” is being phased out at all 19 coastal utilities companies, and it is not “the best possible method available” for cleaning ocean water. Poseidon says it will take over if the AES plant closes down. Poseidon officials have taken no responsibility for marine mortality when AES was providing their water, so they’ll need an environmental-impact report of their own, and it won’t be allowed with that method.

4. Tourism is the life blood of Huntington Beach’s economy, and the city is getting none of the water (except in an emergency). The process is returning the effluent back into the ocean of more than 100 million gallons of ocean water daily that’s twice as salty as it was originally after it has been cleaned for Poseidon’s drinkable water. The water will then be piped out of Huntington Beach to be sold someplace else

The maddening price of parking

Has anyone noticed the beach parking situation is out of control? The city raised the rates to $15 to park at the beach even if for only a couple hours. And now the flat-rate $150 parking pass? How greedy can the city get? Who can afford to park at the beach anymore?

The new plan to not pro-rate parking passes is going to backfire. Our family won’t buy one this year, and why would anyone get a $150 parking pass in July when it’s good for only six months? Shouldn’t it cost $75?

This plan isn’t going to increase revenue, because instead of getting some money trickling in throughout the year, they’re not going to get anything when nobody buys a pass after April. If the price is a flat $150, then make it good for a full year, no matter when you buy it. And do away with the sticker. Make a little hanging pass that my wife can use in her car or I can use in mine. All these parking costs are just another tax.