Los Angeles County Waterworks District 29 is mailing out one-page notices to its customers announcing a nearly 30 percent increase in water rates on consumers to be phased in over the next five years, beginning January 2013. If all goes according to the water district’s plan, rates will increase 5.4 percent in the 2012-2013 fiscal year; another 5.4 percent in 2013-2014, and 5.2 percent in each of the three succeeding fiscal years—2014, 2015 and 2016.
The majority of Malibu residents and businesses, as well as those in Topanga Canyon, get their water from District 29 (some residents west of Trancas Canyon Road or in the mountains are with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District). District 29 has more than 7,500 meters and serves more than 20,000 residents with an infrastructure that includes 53 storage tanks, 200 miles of pipeline and 32 pump stations. It is one of five water districts operated by Los Angeles County.
Dan Lafferty, assistant division engineer, and Greg Even, senior civil engineer with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said that after the notices are sent, customers have 45 days to write a letter of protest about the rate increases. If more than 50 percent of customers protest the increase, “It won’t pass,” they said. Otherwise, “the new rate becomes effective January 1.”
Both engineers emphasized that District 29 is a nonprofit government organization and said that if the rate increases don’t pass, the district would go bankrupt and “customers would turn on their water spigots and nothing would come out.”
At last week’s Malibu Public Works Commission meeting, the District 29 officials said the initial goal of the rate increases is to reverse the net loss of nearly $400,000 they experienced last year and build a 90-day cash reserve. Future increases are necessary to update the aging infrastructure of the water delivery system, pay more for power needed to run pumps and offset increases in the cost of water from its sole supplier—the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Lafferty and Even explained that District 29 has not had a general rate increase since 2006. Its revenues began decreasing in 2008, which ironically came as a result of customers following the advice of public service messages asking them to conserve water; revenue fell 27 percent, they said. The engineers said the utility “should’ve asked for an increase back in 2008, but postponed because of the economy.”
To compensate for the loss, more than a quarter of the utility’s open positions have gone unfilled, accounting and billing changes were made, and only the most critical construction projects and equipment purchases were completed. However, after doing as much internal belt tightening as possible over the past four years, District 29 has determined it has no choice but to raise rates.
District 29’s largest current improvement project is the Sepulveda Feeder Interconnection, which began last February and involves installing 1,100 linear feet of 30-inch diameter water main, a pressure reducing station and an upgraded metering facility at the Metropolitan Water District pipeline junction at the intersection of Venice and Sawtelle Blvds. The upgrade will raise and stabilize water pressure for Malibu/Topanga customers and be completed by March 2013.
An additional public presentation of District 29’s five-year rate plan will be held on Oct. 11 at 8:00 p.m. at the Topanga Town Council Meeting, Topanga Library Community Room, 122 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga.
Fiscal year 2012-13 street maintenance
Six bids were received for this year’s street maintenance projects by the Sept. 12 deadline; with the lowest apparent bid coming from Sully Miller Contracting Co. at $652,716 – almost $60,000 less than the next lowest bidder. The City Council is expected to award the bid to that company at its Oct. 8 meeting, with work starting by the end of October. Because the total project was budgeted at $975,000 and the bids came in so much lower, staff will most likely add additional street maintenance projects to the list, including some originally scheduled for next year.
Update on Civic Center wastewater treatment facility project
More than a year ago, the city and Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) agreed that commercial properties in the Civic Center area had to be connected to a centralized wastewater treatment facility by November 15, 2015 and certain residential areas by November 2019. So far, the city has spent $2.5 million plus on the design of the plant, which will operate by injecting treated water into the aquifer. The city anticipates another $4 million will have to be spent for the final design, environmental impact report, construction documents and permits, but hasn’t yet allocated the additional money. Council voted to postpone appropriating those funds, and last month adopted resolutions to let the community proceed with forming an assessment district that will allow funding up to $5 million, with $1 million going toward reimbursing the city for money already spent. Legally, the property owners cannot hold the election by mail for the new Community Facilities District (CFD) until November 20. The funding delays will cause the city to miss certain project deadlines.
Trancas Highlands utility district
Trancas Highlands, a neighborhood of about two dozen homes near Trancas Canyon Rd., petitioned the City Council to form an assessment district for bringing in city water. Although some homes in the district were built as far back as the 1980s, the neighborhood is still off the grid with the exception of electricity – residents have propane tanks, septic systems and satellite TV; and water comes from water wells or a water delivery service. Because of fire concerns, residents now want to build a pipeline to bring in District 29 water. Along with water lines, the district may elect to add cable TV, natural gas, and underground electrical and telephone lines. The homeowner’s association paid the city more than $86,000 earlier this year for engineering and consulting services related to the project. As soon as certain cost estimates come in, the city will meet with the homeowners group about holding the special vote and moving forward.