Board of Supervisors OKs Pacts for Trash Collection : Local control: The action comes one week before cityhood votes for Laguna Hills and El Toro. Residents wanted a say on the issue if the referendums are passed.

SANTA ANA —  The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a set of long-term trash-collection contracts, despite concerns of residents in El Toro and Laguna Hills who wanted a say on the issue if their separate cityhood referendums are approved next week.

By a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder abstaining, five of the seven contracts for residential trash collection were awarded to Waste Management Inc. and its subsidiaries, Great Western Reclamation Inc. and Dewey’s Rubbish Service. The two other contracts were awarded to Briggeman Disposal Services Inc. and Solag Disposal Services Inc.

Most of the neighborhoods to be served are in unincorporated areas of South County.

In a separate, unanimous vote, Laguna Hills residents were handed another setback when the supervisors ignored their pleas for a delay and gave the city of Mission Viejo a 4-acre parcel of land inside the proposed incorporation boundary of Laguna Hills.

The land-ownership transfer was needed by the Mission Viejo Co. to develop an adjoining 49-acre tract just inside the city of Mission Viejo.

“It all comes down to local control--county control vs. local control,” Ellen Martin, chairwoman of Citizens to Save Laguna Hills, said after the board’s actions. “We need to move forward and get this city in place so that we will be able to exercise our rights of review.”

Laguna Hills residents said they are opposed to the Mission Viejo Co. proposal because they, and not citizens of Mission Viejo, will be affected by any increased traffic or other environmental consequences of the project west of Interstate 5 at the foot of the Nellie Gail Ranch community.

The developer has not yet disclosed what type of project will be on the larger tract, which is zoned for “highway commercial” development.

“Given the fact that the last time anything was constructed on the Laguna Hills side of the freeway in the city of Mission Viejo it was a sewer plant, I have grave concerns over what actually will be developed,” Martin told the board.

Laguna Hills Community Assn. board member Bill Kogerman called the land transfer a “covert land grab” and a “ fait accompli, back-room deal,” rushed by the supervisors just one week before the cityhood election.

“We have been told by elected officials--in private, of course--that this issue is being ramrodded through at this time because the people of Laguna Hills are focused on the election and probably won’t notice,” Kogerman told the supervisors. Laguna Hills, he added, “may be a bedroom community, but we are all not asleep.”

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, Mission Viejo Mayor Robert A. Curtis, and Mission Viejo Co. Division Vice President Dave Celestin offered assurances that Laguna Hills residents would be invited to give their input before final development plans are approved.

“I am aware that in the height of sensitivity concerning election and electioneering, that there are persons that might be concerned that there might be a land grab prior to incorporation,” Curtis said. “I want to emphasize this is not the case.”

Concerning the trash collection contracts, Riley said the county was only trying to ensure continued service until the proposed cities are in a position to take over.

“You will have your hands full for a while,” Riley said, “and if you look at Dana Point and some of the other (recently incorporated) cities, they were several years in getting around to changing trash contracts.”

Residents in El Toro and Laguna Hills had questioned the agreements because they were awarded without competitive bids and might be difficult to cancel if the proposed cities incorporate.