City Has To Find $4 Million Quick For Phase 2 Sewer
Written by 991KBU on October 26, 2018
Residents from houses and condos in the Civic Center Area were pretty calm last night … but the city of Malibu has a very tight deadline to construct a $42 million set of sewer lines in their neighborhoods.
The scene was a public meeting with residents and city manager Reva Feldman … over the State water boards order that the residents stopped using septic tanks by the year 2024.
The 445 or so properties in Serra Estates … the condominiums along Civic Center Way … and in the Malibu colony are under a building freeze right now.
The state water board will not allow them to add any square footage or bathrooms until they find a connection to a sewer plant.
Commercial buildings in the civic center already our hooked up to the new sixty million Dollar sewage plant that just opened.
But the residents in the phase 2 area we’ll have to bear the cost of the $42 million dollar extension.
And the big question … how much will it cost each individual homeowner??
City manager Reva Feldman says she can’t tell them yet … she doesn’t know.
And she faces a state deadline to begin paying engineers and architects to design the system in two months.
Feldman told the neighbors she doesn’t have that money yet … and until the design is done … she can’t tell them how much it will cost them.
But the worst-case estimate is $119,000 per house and condo.
But huge questions remain … including how to fairly slice up that cost … and what to do if some of the 445 property owners refused to allow sewer lines to cross their property.
Residents commonly asked questions about those issues last night … and appeared to be resigned to the fact that the city and they already are in a very hard place.
Resident Bill Winokur [PHONETIC]:
NEWSCUT 77884 WINOKUR [PHONETIC] SEWER QQQ CONTRIBUTE TO THE SYSTEM.
“Nobody that I know in my neighborhood wants to contribute to the pollution of their environment including the creek/
“I think we’re all environmentally sensitive people and I we all want to do the best to clean up whatever pollutants we are putting out, if we are.
“And if it’s determined that we are, then we want to contribute to the system.”
Feldman said the immediate need is to come up with $4 million somehow to start the design of the sewer extension.
The city cannot front the money under state law … it may have to set up a special taxing district .. .but that will take time.
And the first deadline is coming up.
Feldman said Malibu is in constant communication with the state water board … to keep them up-to-date on the efforts and problems.
