VENTURA : Council Takes Step Toward Cleanup Tax
The Ventura City Council defined the boundaries of the Ventura Keys neighborhood just after midnight Tuesday in its first step toward taxing nearly 300 waterfront households $1,680 a year each to keep their back-yard waterways clear of debris.
The council voted 6 to 1 to state its intent to set up a special assessment district, through which the city can tax Keys residents to raise 75% of the cost of dredging and repairing the channels. The city would pay the other 25%.
The council also voted 6 to 1 to give preliminary approval to the contents of an engineering report on dredging, which was loudly criticized by Keys residents who packed the meeting and turned it into an impromptu hearing.
Councilman James M. Monahan voted against both proposals.
As the meeting stretched from Monday night into Tuesday morning, many residents scoffed at the report, which says they are responsible for keeping debris out of the man-made waterways bordering their property.
The report says the developer who built the Keys in 1964 knew the waterways would get clogged with silt and agreed to an assessment district to charge residents for regular dredging.
However, parts of that agreement were invalidated by Proposition 13.
Also early on Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to have the water and sediment in the Keys tested for biological and chemical pollutants.
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