Malibu : Storm-Drain Loan OKd

The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday tentatively approved a $710,000-loan from the county general fund to pay for improvements to a storm-drain system designed to prevent another devastating landslide on Big Rock Mesa.

The board declared its intention to forward the money to the account of a special drainage district whose bills must be paid by the owners of 331 homes and lots on the mesa. A hearing and final vote were set for June 22.

Several mesa homeowners said in March that they were furious with the county, which oversees the drainage project, for approving in concept the large-scale expansion without estimating its cost. The $710,000 is expected to pay for part of the expanded system.

The property owners must repay nearly $4.1 million that the county has spent since a 1983 landslide damaged or destroyed 250 homes on the mesa.

County officials said they have had no reliable cost figures for the expanded project because the area’s shifting geology has redefined the problem in recent months. But a figure should be available for a community meeting tentatively set for June 12, said Roger Burger, deputy director of public works.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Smothers Theater at Pepperdine University.