Will voters foot slide bill?

Barbara Diamond

Laguna Beach residents will be polled to determine if, how much and

by what means they are willing to fund restoration of the Bluebird

Canyon area that slid on June 1.

The City Council voted unanimously at a special Monday meeting to

test community support for financing the permanent fix of the slide.

The council also voted unanimously to move forward with the slide

area “winterization” -- a variety of interim protective measures to

prevent further damage from rainstorms.

“We need the poll, but it should be done in such a way that it

doesn’t cause a city panic,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said.

Permanent repairs will be in excess of $10 million, City Manager

Ken Frank said.

“Even if the council didn’t want to restore the private property

[one of the mayor’s stated goals is a building pad for every

displaced family], we need to restore a secondary access to Bluebird

Canyon on private property and public streets,” Frank said. “We can’t

have 350 families relying on a two-lane road susceptible to mudslides

and fire.

“We threw up everything we could think of as a source of funding.”

Proposals include increases in sales, business license, bed and

parcel taxes; a special citywide tax; tax and revenue anticipation

notes; neighborhood or geologic hazard abatement special assessment

districts; general obligation or revenue bonds; certificates of

participation secured by a future revenue stream; and increases in

franchise fees and parking meter rates.

Other possible alternatives are to gut the capital improvement

projects for the next few years and divert the freed-up funds --

about $3 million a year -- to slide restoration or create a citywide

disaster fund, similar in concept but much larger than the $500,000

contingency fund the city reserves for unexpected expenses.

Some of the proposals would require a two-thirds majority vote,

which would be difficult to obtain.

Frank said the city also needs federal and state participation.

Even as he spoke, he said, a package of data was being delivered to

UPS for conveyance to the appropriate agencies to support the theory

that winter rains caused the June 1 landslide.

But government funding will not pay to put the dirt back in place,

recompacted and stable, or to put in a new storm drain -- desperately

needed to move water out of the canyon and restore the feeder line

from the reservoir, which is now dysfunctional.

Nor is it likely that displaced families will get significant

government assistance, which to date has come from the Red Cross and

community contributions to the Laguna Relief Fund, allocated by the

Laguna Relief and Resource Center board of directors.

“The best we can hope for in private assistance is $10,000 or

$15,000,” Frank said. The big thing [FEMA] would provide is some

funding to rebuild the hill, sewer lines and streets.”

Federal funding at its current best will not approach the

financial assistance given the city to repair the 1978 Bluebird

Canyon slide.

“FEMA changed its rules in 1978 and 1980,” Frank said. “We are not

going to get a huge amount of state and federal help. If something is

going to be done, it will have to be done locally.”

Frank said Monday that the city doesn’t yet have sufficient data

about costs of the ultimate restoration to make an informed decision

-- even if the council could do so, without voter approval.

The council will hold a special meeting at 3:30 p.m. July 19 at

City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., to consider costs and specifics about the

winterization and restoration of the canyon.

QUESTION

Should taxes be raised in Laguna to fund restoration of Bluebird

Canyon? Write us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail us

at [email protected] or fax us at 494-8979. Please give your

name and tell us your home address and phone number for verification

purposes only.