City votes to invest in better sewers

It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and it costs money.

The City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday Water Quality Department recommendations for the city’s sewer system improvement.

Water Quality Director David Shissler proposed on Tuesday an estimated $10.3 million budget for the next 10 years, citing construction cost increases and new projects.

Shissler’s recommendation to reduce the city’s $11 million low-interest state loan for sewer improvements by $1 million was rejected by the council.

“You never turn down 2.7-percent-interest money,” said Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman, a certified public accountant.

The $1 million will be set aside as a reserve fund until needed.

Shissler said changes implemented by the council in the past four years have reduced spill damage, which is determined by the amount of the spill, not the number of spills..

“We measure even a gallon spill and we have made huge strides in the volume of the spills,” Shissler said.

The city has spent millions to improve its 95 miles of sewers, after being slapped in 2000 with a $60,000 fine by the Regional Water Quality Control Board for fouling local waters.

In 2002, the state Environmental Protection Agency ordered the city to repair the leaky sewer system or face huge fines. The order was lifted in May, after improvements had reduced the number of spills by half.

A strategic plan, adopted in 2002 by the council, included a capital improvement plan developed by Boyle Engineering. The plan has been the guide until this year for the 10-year improvement and financial plans.

Federal funding for sewage repairs is no longer available, as sewage control is no longer the city’s stated number one priority, which affects its funding.

The capital improvement program proposed this year by South Orange County Wastewater Authority, of which Laguna is member, will increase the city’s share of the costs by about $5.5 million over the next decade, Shissler said.

And no one knows, at this point, the condition of the aging North Coast Interceptor, which carries the city’s waste water to the treatment plant, and what, if anything, will need to be done with it in the future.

“If the North Coast Interceptor goes, we will have a problem that will paralyze the community,” said Councilwoman Iseman, the city’s representative on the wastewater authority.

Funding for a complete overhaul of the interceptor is not available at this time, Shissler said. Instead, he is recommending cleaning, testing and lining the 1,000-foot section of sewer at Nyes Place that is known to have problems. The testing, Shissler said, will be the first time a portion of the interceptor has been internally inspected since it was constructed.

The tests will be evaluated and future action will be proposed, based on the results.