MISSION VIEJO : City Will Take Over Casta Del Sol’s Sewage System

The city has agreed to maintain three miles of sewage drainage pipe in a private retirement community.

The cost of repairing the sewage system in Casta Del Sol will be about $300,000, with the homeowners’ association contributing about $50,000.

The City Council approved the action by a 5-0 vote Monday.

Council member Sherri M. Butterfield said the association’s request “makes sense because they are part of the [storm drain] system. It’s all connected and we need to maintain them to our standards.”

Casta Del Sol homeowners said needed repairs would have put a strain on their association budget.

“We’re relieved, there’s no doubt about it,” said Casta Del Sol Homeowners Assn. President Jim Holmes. “We thought it was fair because we’ve been paying taxes to the city for storm drain maintenance all along.”

The 1,927-home gated community received a jolt in 1992 when residents discovered that the drains had never been dedicated to the county after the housing tract was built.

“We were shocked,” Holmes said. “We had always assumed that the county was responsible for it.”

When Mission Viejo incorporated in 1989, taking over maintenance of public facilities formerly maintained by the county, the storm drain system in Casta Del Sol was excluded.

The association asked the city to take over the storm drains in 1993, but city officials waited until a citywide survey of the pipe system was completed.

“On balance, it was in about the same shape as the rest of the city,” Assistant City Manager Dennis Wilberg said.