The Trinidad Rancheria recently presented its revised concept of a 100-room hotel on the bluffs of Scenic Drive but it aroused little enthusiasm from the residents of Trinidad.
David Tyson, CEO of the Trinidad Rancheria Economic Development Corporation (TREDC), gave the presentation during the March 13 meeting of the Trinidad City Council to an audience of about 40 people. Tyson said the Rancheria had reviewed the hundreds of comments received last October about the planned five-story Hyatt hotel and tried to address the concerns expressed. TREDC has hired a new developer, architect and hotel operator. Nonetheless, the plans still depict a five-story building, which is considerably larger than any other structure on the Trinidad coast.
The height of the building was reduced by about 20 feet, and the exterior now displays exposed timber and rock, which Tyson said is typical of northwestern architecture.
Proposed water usage, which had been one of the most contentious issues, will be reduced to 3,500 gallons per day or less, Tyson said, because laundry will not be done onsite. This should also reduce the amount of wastewater entering the leachfield. The Rancheria also plans to use recycled graywater in the toilets, to help reduce water use.
City Manager Dan Berman described the inherent uncertainties in studying the city's water supply. He described it as a puzzle consisting of three pieces. The first is how much water would be needed when all the land within the city limits is built out. The second is the capacity of the water treatment plant.
"Even if the creek was infinite, how much water can we really pump and clean and produce on an ongoing basis out of our treatment plant? ... If we try to turn everything up 20 percent at our plant, does it still work right?"
The third and most difficult piece of the puzzle is asking how much the entire watershed could support, especially considering climate change and drought.
A government-to-government meeting between the Trinidad City Council and the Trinidad Rancheria Tribal Council was planned for the next day. It was not open to the public.
