Simi Quake Plan Would Use Bulk of County Grant : Recovery: Of $5 million to be awarded, the council approves a proposal to spend $4 million within the city limits. Fillmore wants $3 million.

Vying for the lion’s share of a $5-million Ventura County earthquake recovery grant, the Simi Valley City Council on Monday endorsed a proposal to spend nearly $4 million in their town.

Under that plan, the funds would help pay for six quake-related projects, including street repairs, water-tank reinforcement, a new bridge over the Arroyo Simi, and a backup power generator for the city’s sewage plant.

The grant was awarded in February to the county by the U. S. Department of Commerce for major reconstruction projects.

“We have some problems that are rather severe,” Councilman Bill Davis said. “If you look at our size, and how many people we serve, I think it’s only fair that the bulk of the money go to Simi Valley.”

But Simi Valley is not the only town with plans for the cash.

Fillmore is requesting about $3 million to improve roads, repair two reservoirs and buy backup generators for the city’s water pumps. And Piru residents plan to ask for an undetermined sum to repair the area’s water system and restore an old citrus ranch.

“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of good projects here,” said Alan Bandoli, county grant administrator. “There are always needs greater than resources.”

The grant, part of an Earthquake Infrastructure Fund program, must be matched with local dollars.

Once all the funding applications have been submitted, a seven-member panel composed of a county employee and two members each from Simi Valley, Fillmore and Piru, will tussle over who should get how much. The panel will start considering applications April 20, and it will make a recommendation to the County Board of Supervisors, which has final approval.

Under the Simi Valley proposal, sewage-related improvements would take about $2 million.

Half of that $2 million would help pay for a backup power generator and half would go toward the cost of a high-tech ultraviolet disinfection system. The absence of a backup generator after last year’s earthquake nearly led to contamination of the city’s water supply, according to a city report.

Another $550,000 would be spent to reinforce water tanks, several of which burst during and after the quake.

About $400,000 would help pay for improvements to roads damaged in the earthquake, while $230,000 would be spent on a computerized system that maps the city’s streets with its sewer and water systems.

Another $465,000 would pay half the cost of building a bridge over the Arroyo Simi at Tapo Street. The bridge would act as a second road into and out of a growing industrial area north of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.

Councilman Paul Miller said that if the city receives just a portion of the funding it has requested the bridge project is the most likely candidate for postponement.

“That is something we would like to see happen,” he said. “But unlike some of these other projects, we don’t need it right away.”