The City Council adopted an agreement that allows residents building homes or retail facilities to get the permits from City Hall rather than the Regional Water Quality Board in Downtown Los Angeles.
By Susan Reines/Special to The Malibu Times
After 18 months of negotiations, city staff reached an agreement with the Regional Water Quality Control Board that allows Malibu residents to obtain waste discharge permits for new development through the city. The deal was finalized with City Council approval at its meeting Monday.
Malibu currently issues the permits, but its jurisdiction was set to expire this summer unless a new deal was reached. According to the new five-year agreement, residents building facilities that would yield 20,000 gallons of water per day or less, such as non-restaurant businesses and single-family homes, can obtain permits for $350 from the city. The alternative would be applying to the Regional Water Quality Board for a $1,800 permit. Environmental Building Safety Manager Craig George said obtaining regional permits could take up to a year, while the city processes them in a matter of weeks.
Norm Haynie, chair of the Waste Water Advisory Committee, said the committee was “in full support of the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding].”
Mayor Sharon Barovsky called the agreement “terrific” and said, “I never thought I’d see the day when the regional water board would vote unanimously with Malibu to do anything.”
The power line debate
The council directed city staff to prepare engineering reports assessing the feasibility of under-gounding utility lines along Malibu Road and the east end of Pacific Coast Highway in the Carbon Beach area. The council direction came at the request of residents from those areas. The under-grounding would be privately funded.
Once the engineering reports are prepared, public hearings will take place on the issue. There was an indication at Monday’s meeting that the pro-under-grounding residents will face some opposition from their neighbors when those hearings occur.
“I’m not interested in paying that kind of money [thousands of dollars] for a beautification program,” said Malibu Road resident Joan Lavine, an attorney who said she was also representing another resident.
But David Shaheen, another Malibu Road resident, said he spoke on behalf of a group of about 17 residents who “are willing to pay the cost.”
“We’re willing to help Malibu be as beautiful a place as it can be,” Shaheen said.
In 2002, the power lines between Carbon Canyon Road and the Malibu Pier were undergrounded. The move was paid for by a small fee collected by Edison, Charter Communications and Verizon customers and money from the county.
More money for council-
members?
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich proposed raising the councilmembers’ salaries or providing them with health benefits as a way to entice more people to run for council. She said at the meeting that she thought more candidates might have run in the last election if councilmembers were better compensated for the long hours they work.
“I don’t think you’re going to run for this position because you want to be well-paid,” she said. “You’re going to do it because you love it.” But she said a small bump in compensation could make elected office “more attractive.”
City Manager Katie Lichtig said the councilmembers have never raised their salaries since the city’s incorporation, even though government code allows for a 5 percent yearly increase. The council has stuck with the original $300 per month salary despite a 2.4 percent increase in cost of living.
Lichtig said providing the council members with health benefits would cost about $400 per month for one person and $1,000 for a family.
Mayor Pro Tem Andy Stern said he felt “very uncomfortable” discussing an increase in compensation, but Barovsky called it a “reasonable question.” The council voted 4-1 to direct staff to research possible scenarios of salary and benefit increases.
Library investigation underway
The council directed staff to investigate the finances of the Malibu Library. County Librarian Margaret Donnellan Todd said at a July meeting hosted by Conley Ulich that Malibu was paying more to county library funds in property taxes than it was receiving in services. The gap is approximately $500,000.