City closer to sewer strategy
The City Council is asking for more time to come up with a plan to
deal with the maintenance of private sewer lines.
The city already has a plan for maintaining the sewer system as a
whole, which it will submit to the Environmental Protection Agency on
March 1.
“We’re on target,” Assistant City Manager John Pietig said. The
only exception is that the city will request an extension of the EPA
deadline for a plan focusing on private sewer laterals to Sept. 2003.
“When I verbally suggested this to EPA officials, they didn’t feel
that an extension would be a problem,” he told the council.
The Wastewater Advisory Committee held a workshop on Saturday to
brainstorm possible solutions to the problem of roots being cleaned
out of private laterals into city sewer lines. Roots have been blamed
for the majority of the city’s sewer spills.
“One of the themes of the meeting is that the public needs to be
educational,” Pietig said in a phone interview. “There is was no
clear direction of what the next course of action should be.”
Out of the meeting, attended by about 80 residents and chaired by
Mayor Toni Iseman and Councilman Wayne Baglin, arose three policy
questions that the Wastewater Advisory Committee will review before
it makes a recommendation to the City Council in late spring.
Those questions are: Should maintenance be voluntary or mandatory?
Who should pay for the cost of maintenance and repairs? How will the
coordination work between repair people and the city?
“If everybody in town goes out and starts cleaning private
laterals without coordinating with the city, they’ll push roots into
sewer lines, and we’ll start having sewer spills all over the city,”
Pietig said.
At the council meeting, Baglin said that the EPA order issued last
September was a shot in the arm that the city needed.
“I think it’s better for us and better for the community,” he
said. “I don’t see this as a slap on the wrist.”
He commended city staff for cooperating with the EPA.
-- Mary A. Castillo
Former ambassador to speak on war issues
The Laguna Beach Peace Vigil has organized a free public meeting
featuring former U.S. Ambassador Joseph E. Wilson.
Wilson will speak on the uncertainties and perils of a possible
war with Iraq. He served as chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in
Baghdad from 1988 to 1991 and was acting ambassador during Operation
Desert Shield. He is also an adjunct scholar at the Middle East
Institute in Washington, D.C.
Attendees are encouraged to participate after the talk in an open
discussion on possible peace strategies.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship Hall, 429 Cypress Drive. Information:
400-3190 or www.lagunapeace.org.
PTA Coffee Break will focus on drug issues
The topic of PTA Coffee Break will be “Get to Know What’s Really
Going on with Drug and Alcohol Use in Laguna.”
A panel of local experts will speak including Laguna Beach police
chief Jim Spreine; Jenny Salberg, assistant principal at Laguna Beach
High School; Gretchen Ernsdorf, guidance counselor at Laguna Beach
High School; Cheryl Kinsman, Laguna Beach councilwoman; and Brian
Haney, who runs the new drug testing program.
The meeting will take place from 8:15 to 9:30 a.m. Feb. 26 at the
Surf and Sand Hotel, 1555 S. Coast Highway. Admission is $5.
Information: (949) 497-4105.
Faith healer will be back in Laguna Beach
Faith healer Ron Roth will visit the Neighborhood Church.
From 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 21, Roth will lead a healing therapy
session. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 22, he will lead a healing
workshop.
Admission is $35 for the therapy session, $125 for the all-day
workshop or $150 for both. The church is at 340 St. Ann’s Drive.
Information: 494-8333.
Jim Law recognized as honored veteran
Former Commander of Laguna Beach American Legion Post 222 Jim Law,
USMC Retired, will be the first recipient of the Sid Goldstein
Memorial Service Award.
The award is in recognition of Law as the most honored Orange
County veteran.
The award will be presented by Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson
at a ceremony breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Home Town
Buffet, 23481 El Toro Road in Laguna Woods.
For reservations, call (714) 567-7450.
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