LOS ALAMITOS : Sewer Services May Pass to City Control

The City Council today will consider whether the city should take over sewer services from the Los Alamitos Water District for households within city boundaries.

The water district, formed in 1952, eight years before Los Alamitos was incorporated, provides sewage collection services to about 8,000 households in Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, and portions of Seal Beach and Cypress.

Residents have recently proposed that the city take over the sewer services to cut cost and improve services, although water district officials have maintained that rates would probably go up if another agency assumes its role.

Residents pay about $1 a month for the service, according to Jack Rosenthal, the president of the five-member board that runs the water district.

But in a report that the council will consider today, City Manager Robert C. Dunek said that the water district “did not appear to have adequate revenue sources to maintain and rehabilitate the sewer system in the long run.”

He said that the water district’s expenses have exceeded income, and the reserves have dipped to less than $1 million for the past four fiscal years.

Dunek said that it might be prudent for the city to explore the possibility of taking over sewer services, probably in coordination with the other cities that the water district currently serves.

A resident, Carolyn T. Sylvia, wife of Councilman Charles E. Sylvia, suggested last month that the water district be dissolved and for Los Alamitos to take over sewer services.

In his report, Dunek also said that a 1982 Grand Jury Report on Special Districts in Orange County has identified the Los Alamitos Water District as one of those that may be considered for consolidation with the city.

The Grand Jury report said that cities are in a position to reduce sewer services because of their manpower and ability to provide other municipal services.

In 1990, Los Alamitos and the Rossmoor Community Services District conducted a financial study to determine if either or both agencies could take over the sewer services, Dunek said. The study concluded that a comprehensive financial plan was needed to assess the future cost of the sewer system.

But because of more pressing matters, the plan was shelved, until Sylvia brought it up at a council meeting last month.