Council Certifies Election Results to Secure Funding for Sewer Design

The Malibu City Council on Monday voted to certify the results of an election by a group of select Civic Center land owners who approved a special tax to fund the design of a sewer.

Without any discussion, the council unanimously certified the election results on Monday night at Malibu City Hall.

All 10 voters who returned ballots from the Community Facilities District voted yes on the special tax and bond issuance, known as Measure W, which needed two-thirds of the vote to pass, according to Malibu City Clerk Lisa Pope. Only two land owners, the Mariposa Land Co. and KW Malibu Colony, LLC, did not return ballots.

The special tax will fund the design of the first phase of the Malibu Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Plant. The city voted to form the Community Facilities District in August in order to finance the design of the sewer.

The $6.5 million bond will be used to fund the final design, an environmental impact report, construction documents and permits. The bond will likely be issued in early February.

The council voted in July to not dedicate any more city resources to the design. The council had already allocated more than $2.6 million to the plans, and the city get reimbursed up to $1 million, according to city documents.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional Water Quality Board, the city is required to meet strict timelines to ensure that progress is being made on the design and construction of the sewer. The MOU requires commercial properties in the Civic Center Prohibition Area be connected to a centralized wastewater treatment facility by Nov. 15, 2015.

City Manager Jim Thorsen said he has kept the RWQB in the loop about the council's decision to rely on the Community Facilities District to pay for the design. The nine-month delay means that the city has fallen slightly behind schedule, he said.

"We were already on a very, very tight schedule that was going to be hard to meet in the first place," Thorsen said, adding that the city will be trying to find ways to catch up to meet the 2015 deadline.

"We want to comply with that date. We want to get it done," Thorsen said.

Once the design and environmental impact report are complete, the city will look to form an assessment district to pay for the construction costs.

The city is currently looking at placing the treatment plant on the same property as the Colony Plaza Shopping Center's wastewater treatment plant, which is located across from the condos on Civic Center Way near Winter Canyon Road. Other locations are also being considered, according to Thorsen.

In December, the council will adopt a second reading of the ordinance authorizing the special tax on the group of commercial land owners in the Civic Center.