City Forges Ahead With Canal-Dredging Tax

Despite complaints from more than a dozen speakers at a public hearing late Monday, the Ventura City Council is moving ahead with plans to tax homeowners in the exclusive Ventura Keys neighborhood for the cost of dredging canals.

But if the first of two public hearings was any indication, residents are likely to again express their disapproval next month.

Speaker after speaker complained that the council should not impose the annual assessments, which are just under $2,000 per homeowner. Another public hearing is legally required and has been scheduled for June 19.

Residents said the city should move the Arundell Barranca, which each year dumps tons of silt into the waterways that wind behind the homes in the Ventura Keys community.

“We’re being forced to pay for the drainage of the greater part of the city,” said Keys resident Robert Therrien. “The barranca causes 90% of the silt.”

Council members, however, contend that the dredging fees should be paid by Keys landowners. No action was taken Monday, but the council has approved the annual fees each year since 1991.

Residents who sued the city and three other public agencies after the assessments were adopted complained Monday that the city should wait until a judge rules on the lawsuit. A hearing is scheduled June 9.

But a settlement offer made last month would lower the assessments to $813 a year, with annual increases of $64. Most of the residents, however, have so far rejected the offer, although they have until Friday to sign the document.

“I’ve spent 2 1/2 years negotiating a settlement so we could do what’s fair and right,” Councilman Gregory L. Carson said before Monday’s meeting. “We have nothing to be ashamed of.”