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RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2001 @ 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY ROOM, CITY HALL, 30940 HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: FLAG SALUTE: APPROVAL OF AGENDA: AUDIENCE COMMENTS: ITEMS: 1. Presentation of the Draft Two Year City Budget for FY 2001-2001 & FY 2002-2003 Recommendation: Review the draft two year City budget and provide staff with direction. 2. Presentation of the Draft Two Year Redevelopment Budget for FY 2001-2002 & FY 2002-2003 Recommendation: Review the draft two year Redevelopment Agency budget and provide staff with direction. 3 Presentation of the Draft Two Year Improvement Authority Budget for FY 2001-2002 & FY 2002-2003 Recommendation: Review the draft two year Improvement Authority budget and provide staff with direction. 4. Oral Report on Outstanding Budget Issues Recommendation: Provide staff with direction. 5. Abalone Cove Sanitary Sewer Maintenance Fee Recommendation: Authorize staff to mail notices of assessment to affected property owners. TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS DATE: MAY 23, 2001 SUBJECT: ABALONE COVE SEWER MAINTENANCE FEE RECOMMENDATION Authorize staff to send notices of assessment to property owners in Abalone Cove. BACKGROUND Funding for the construction of the Abalone Cove Sewer System was provided by the Landslide Settlement Agreement. Under the terms of that agreement, however, proceeds may not be used for maintenance purposes. Staff proposes to fund the maintenance of the Abalone Cove Sewer system with sewer maintenance fees. To establish fees a public hearing must be conducted, and an ordinance must be adopted. Forty-five days prior to that public hearing property owners must be given written notice of the proposed assessment. To determine assessment amounts an engineer’s report was prepared to determine total operating costs, and the corresponding fee for each property. This report presents the results of that engineering study, and requests City Council approval to send out notices, and to establishes the following schedule for the placements of assessments:
DISCUSSION The California Constitution, as modified by Proposition 218 requires that:
The engineering study determined the annual maintenance cost of the district is as follows:
The study also identifies several categories of properties, or zones, based upon the sewer configuration:
Based on costs to maintain the pipelines, and pump stations, and grinder pumps, as well as the number of properties in each zone the annual sewer fees are as follows:
The calculated fees for Zones B and D are significantly greater than the fee amount estimated by staff in discussions with property owners in the design phase of the project. In those discussions, staff estimated that the annual cost for sewer maintenance would be approximately $ 200 per year; a Sanitation District fee of $75 per year, and a City fee of $125 per year. Those discussions were held at the time that only a grinder pump system was being contemplated and were accurate for a grinder pump system In this same timeframe, however, property owners requested that the City revise the design of the project to construct a system that provided gravity connections to the greatest number of properties. The City agrreed to the request and redesigned the system. The re-design required the construction of in-street pump stations were added due to the number . The principal reason for the high costs of maintenance in Zones B and D is the cost to maintain the in-street pump stations, which require weekly inspections. This high cost of maintenance, and few number of parcel over which cost are spread results in the high per-parcel annual maintenance fee. In an effort to bring more uniformity to the annual maintenance fees, staff is proposing that the City subsidize sewer maintenance, and principally for Zones B and D. Staff proposes that the City subsidize maintenance costs a total of $19,775. This reduces the annual assessments to the following:
The proposed fees will be in effect for one year and will escalate annual based upon the Consumer Price Index. CONCLUSION Adopting the staff recommendation will establish annual assessments for the maintenance of the Abalone Cove Sewer System, authorize staff to send out notices of assessments, and establish a Public Hearing on July 17, 2001. ALTERNATIVE ACTION Provide staff with direction to revise the amount City contribution to the sewer system, which will result in higher annual assessments for property owners. FISCAL IMPACT Adopting the staff recommendation will result in the annual expenditure of $19,775 toward the cost to maintain the Abalone Cove Sewer Project. The funding source is the General Fund. Submitted by, Reviewed by, Attachments: ADJOURNMENT: |