Charting Comeback From Rains : Rebuilding: San Clemente council members view massive damage to public facilities, plan course to repair storm drains, bluffs and roads.

Just down the highway from where a massive landslide destroyed five homes in February, all that remains of Ernesto’s Italian Villa restaurant are two statues of Roman soldiers and a couple of pillars.

Over at the San Clemente animal shelter, several pens have been abandoned and part of a block wall has been destroyed since the hillside started moving toward a drainage channel below. And throughout the seaside community of 43,000, plastic tarps continue to cover many hillsides and bluffs.

Such were the scenes that City Council members saw Saturday before meeting during a special half-day session to discuss policies and projects needed to deal with the massive damage throughout the city caused by a series of torrential rainstorms this winter.

Already in recent weeks, the city has authorized about $519,000 in municipal funds for emergency repairs to public facilities, such as storm drains.

“Things have been moving quickly,” City Manager Michael W. Parness said Saturday. “We’ve had to make a lot of decisions and we’ve had to make up a lot of projects from scratch.”

After the meeting, the council approved the following actions, all of which are eligible for federal disaster funds in various forms:

* To begin work with the county to rebuild and expand capacity of a 1928 storm drain channel at El Camino Real, near Avenida Pico. The drain ruptured in mid-January, causing the flood that destroyed Ernesto’s Italian Villa and an adjacent motel. Construction estimates were not available.

* To conduct a study aimed at stabilizing coastal bluffs at Colony Cove overlooking Pacific Coast Highway. That work could cost up to $4 million. In January, debris from the bluffs tumbled onto the highway below, causing a monthlong closure.

* To develop an engineering plan to rebuild part of Trafalgar Lane and stabilize the canyon area. Future reconstruction is estimated at $1.4 million.

* To rebuild Camino de los Mares at Avenida Vaquero at a cost of $94,945.

None of the funds have been distributed, but city officials believe that much of the money needed for reconstruction would be eligible for federal reimbursement.

The City Council also voted to hire an outside project engineer to oversee the many public repair projects that would be eligible for funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In cases where neighborhood groups are willing to work as partners with government, council members said the city would be willing to help create special homeowner assessment districts that could help fund bluff improvements to prevent future slides.

A group of residents living near the site of the massive Feb. 22 landslide that destroyed five homes have already proposed a bluff improvement district.