Council approves sewer improvement plan

The City Council unanimously agreed to pour more money down the drains.

Phase II of the city’s Sewer System Strategic Plan was approved at the Jan. 27 council meeting with an increased budget for fiscal year 2008-09, focused on rehabilitating the aging sewer system.

“We have 25 lift stations, five of them, including the one at Main Beach, 76 years old and six of them more than 50 years old,” Water Quality Director David Shissler said.

Twenty-three of the lift stations transport wastewater to either the Laguna lift station near City Hall or the Bluebird lift station, which then flows to the South Orange County Wastewater Authority treatment plant at Aliso Beach.

“The end goal is to be able to maintain everything in the system,” Shissler said.

“We are not there yet.”

Toward that end, the council approved six staff recommendations:

 Appropriate available funds projects proposed for 2008-09 fiscal year of the sewer system’s 10-year capital improvement program — $1,207,900 more than the $3,065,000 previously earmarked for sewer projects

 Direct the city manager to recommend an engineering design firm to prepare plans and specifications for the replacement of the Main Beach lift station — one of the oldest in the city and the water quality department’s top priority

 Direct the city manager to recommend an engineering concept plan to that may provide more cost-effective options for the North Coast Interceptor — the line that runs through the city to the SOCWA treatment plant.

 Request SOCWA to develop a 20-year capital improvement program to identify revenue needs past the city’s 10-year horizon, to which Shissler said the agency has already agreed.

 Direct the city manager to initiate modifications to the city’s existing ordinances related to the disposal of grease and the maintenance of private lateral lines connected to the city’s system.

 Direct the city manager to prepare options for augmenting the revenue to the Sewer Fund need to pay for the projects in the sewer system’s 10-year improvement plan and prioritize the projects for implementation.

Lifeguard HQ lowering

The council will be asked to consider relocating the Main Beach lift station, which now sits under the Lifeguard Headquarters. The proposal has the benefit of reducing the height of the proposed new headquarters, which has drawn some opposition because of its size and visibility on the Window to the Sea.

“We are going to build a new lifeguard station anyway and the [relocation] would lower the project two or three feet,” Assistant City Manager John Pietig said.

Staff will be presenting the headquarters design to the council in March.

Another bit of good news: Improvements to the North Coast Interceptor have provided an opportunity to evaluate its condition, which is in better shape than feared.

“Based on the results of the material analysis, the condition and the remedial treatment of the NCI can be approached with more confidence,” Shissler said.

Funding for sewer projects proposed for the next decade will take a hit in the next six years, when 80% of the Sewer Fund will be used to pay for the city’s share of improvements at the coastal and regional treatment plants.

Shissler said the reduced funds will adversely affect the city’s ability to invest in wastewater collection system improvements. About $30 million in improvements have been identified as unfunded and the list continues to grow, Shissler said. .

Although spills have decreased since 2002, the two major disasters occurred in 2008 underscore the need to continue to implement improvements, Shissler said.

Shissler pointed out that tree roots are the major cause of sewer spills, and the root-bound pipes that cause most of the problems are the private laterals linking private properties to the city’s system.

Root-related spills account for 24% of all spills.

Grease-related spills also have decreased.

New technology may further reduce grease- and root-related spills, Shissler said. His department is working on some revisions to the two ordinances, based on lessons learned during Phase I of the strategic plan approved by the council in 2002.

For the full text of Phase II of the Strategic Plan, visit www.clbwq.net. For the condensed version, visit www.lagunabeachcity.net and click on the Jan. 27 agenda, Item 6.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 380-4321 or coastlinepilot@latimes.com.