City Council: Emilio Martinez Legal Claim, UCSC Water Research Project

With budget hearings almost in the books, the Watsonville City Council will tackle new business at its Tuesday night meeting.

First, the council will meet in a closed-door session to discuss litigation and anticipated litigation against the city, among them an allegation made by former Watsonville City Councilman Emilio Martinez and his wife, Kathleen Morgan-Martinez, that their civil rights were violated by staff and elected officials.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported the claim alleged harassment and threats during Martinez's four-year council term, which ended last year. 

Martinez didn't comment in the Sentinel story and has yet to mention the legal claim on his blog, Watsonville Fishing Report.

Following the closed session, the City Council will be asked to approve a lease for UC Santa Cruz at the city's Water Resource Center. The University has been planning the WaterLab, an experimental wastewater treatment project, for several years and plans to use the Water Resource Center as a home base for the educational endeavor.

"WaterLab takes secondary and tertiary-treated water from Watsonville’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, treats it to very high quality (including potable), and then returns effluent and treated water to the headworks of the Treatment Plant," according to an update on the WaterLab project on UCSC's Center for Integrated Water Research homepage. 

Read more about the vison for WaterLab here.