DANA POINT : Extra Spending OKd on Coast Highway Job
The City Council has approved spending an additional $159,000 to rebuild a bluff that collapsed onto Pacific Coast Highway during heavy rains two years ago.
The council voted 4 to 0 last week to spend the money, which is needed because of a cost miscalculation by a city-hired engineering firm, according to Morton August, director of public works and engineering services.
Councilwoman Toni Gallagher abstained from the vote because she was not on the council when members approved the original contract.
The council also approved spending $43,000 for construction management on the project because it has gone past its intended January completion date.
The $3.3-million project, which began last July, is expected to be finished by mid-March. Recent rain and other trouble have caused the delay.
The portion of highway connecting Dana Point and San Clemente has been closed since the bluff collapsed in February, 1993, sending down 44,000 tons of dirt and debris. Four San Clemente houses on La Ventana were lost in the landslide and a fifth suffered major damage.
August said the city will probably be reimbursed for the additional money by the Federal Highway Administration and state Office of Highway Administration.
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