Signs of Change in Sewer Standoff

THOUSAND OAKS — To Linda Parks, fellow council member Andy Fox’s offhand remark that he would consider a $40-million sewer plant upgrade seemed like a miracle--a potential concession after an 18-month stalemate over a proposed $75-million expansion project.

“I felt as though the clouds opened up and a ray of sunshine hit the council,” Parks said Wednesday. “It was really weird. That doesn’t happen too often. It seemed like a change in the way we have discussed this.”

To Fox, however, the remark at Tuesday’s council meeting was simply semantics.

“I’m tired of hearing that the City Council majority is trying to force a $75-million sewer plant [upgrade] down the community’s throat,” Fox said. “My point was that I’m willing to start out with that $40-million figure to try and get some of the improvements going.”

In other words, Fox said, he has not conceded that Parks and Councilwoman Elois Zeanah are right when they say that Thousand Oaks only needs to spend $40 million to improve its aging sewer plant at Hill Canyon. Parks and Zeanah offered last week to support a more modest sewer plant expansion.

All he was trying to say is that he will approve a raise in monthly sewer fees to cover $40 million in upgrades to move the issue forward, Fox said Wednesday. He believes that such an expenditure would not cover all the city’s needs, and the council would probably have to consider raising more money for another expansion in the near future.

Built in the 1960s, the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant is operating at about 83% of its 10 million-gallon daily capacity, and state law requires that the city take action to ensure that its capacity will not be exceeded. Much of its equipment is also outdated or badly worn, and in numerous areas the sewer plant no longer meets state health and safety requirements.

The two biggest points of contention have continued to be: How much money is needed to meet state mandates and take care of local needs? And how should those costs be distributed among developers and residents?

City officials, along with the City Council majority of Fox, Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Mike Markey, have argued that the costs need to be distributed so that existing residents pay for about 31% of the program in the form of higher monthly sewer fees.

Zeanah and Parks have argued that the $75-million plan is excessive and that residents would be unfairly burdened with high sewer bills. State law requires a four-fifths vote to raise sewer fees.

Fox said Wednesday that his position has always been that the $75-million plan was always intended to be subjected to a cost analysis by engineers to find potential savings.

Markey said Wednesday that he would consider backing a $40-million expansion, but also expressed doubts that it would cover the city’s needs. Lazar could not be reached for comment.

In Fox’s opinion, his suggestion was similar to one made by Price Waterhouse, the accounting firm that conducted an audit of the sewer upgrade last year. It concluded that Thousand Oaks should take a two-step approach to the sewer impasse, first approving an interim sewer fee to cover immediate needs, then discussing the fees needed to take care of the other issues later.

Council members tried that approach last month, but Parks and Zeanah refused to approve the necessary $2.50 increase.

“The point where we may have broken the stalemate is that Mrs. Zeanah and Mrs. Parks are admitting we need to raise sewer fees,” Fox said, referring to their offer of last week.

But Parks says she has never been opposed in principle to raising sewer fees.