At the end of a marathon meeting lasting until after midnight, the Malibu City Council voted unanimously to oppose the California State Parks Malibu Lagoon Restoration project set to begin on June 1.
The way the council approached its decision was to vote separately on each of the five courses of action opposing the lagoon that councilmember Pamela Conley-Ulich had placed on the agenda. They voted unanimously to take action on the first four items:
Mayor Laura Rosenthal will write a letter to Governor Jerry Brown opposing the state’s lagoon restoration project based on the response received by the city from State Parks on April 5. In that response, councilmembers said the state failed to adequately respond to some of the city’s requests for ongoing water, soil and air testing to ensure there would be no risks to public health as the project progressed. In addition, the state failed to indemnify the City of Malibu in the event of any lawsuits arising from the lagoon restoration project.
The city decided to spend $2,500 to $5,000 to file an amicus brief with the court that will hear the appeal on stopping this project, even though City Attorney Christi Hogan said an amicus brief would be “useful but not necessary.” She explained that an amicus brief is a legal document that brings a larger perspective to the court, showing a third party’s viewpoint on a case. In this instance, the document would detail the City of Malibu’s concern about water quality during the project.
The City Council will uphold the $25,000 it set aside in January to have an objective scientific organization review the available science related to the lagoon project and make a recommendation to city council. Most likely the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) will be chosen to conduct that study, even though its selection had previously been stonewalled by the Wetlands Defense Fund nonprofit group.
Mayor Rosenthal will appoint an ad-hoc committee of two members of the City Council to work in collaboration with State Parks and other stakeholders in the project. The appointments will not be made until after the City Council elections.
The fifth element of the plan, which entailed setting aside $50,000 for legal fees related to fighting the lagoon project, did not pass. Councilmembers Lou LaMonte and Jefferson Wagner both said they didn’t have enough information on how the money would be spent to vote “yes.”
The City Council votes occurred after nearly four hours of public testimony on the subject of the Malibu Lagoon project from 95 individuals – both pro and con.