City Expects to Get Land for Footbridge

City officials may finally get rights to a chunk of land for a footbridge across the Arroyo Simi on Wednesday and could select a construction company that evening for the project.

Or they may have to wait another few days, possibly longer, before taking either step.

City Council members are scheduled to discuss the project at their meeting Wednesday night and may choose a contractor to build the 161-foot bridge, which would cross the stream near the spot where an 11-year-old boy drowned in January.

The action, however, depends on whether the city has received, in court, rights to some of the needed property by meeting time.

The council voted in November to condemn access rights to a strip of property, owned by Southern California Edison, on the arroyo’s southern bank across from Liberty Bell Road. Edison and Moorpark officials have worked since then to iron out details of the access rights.

Public Works Director Ken Gilbert said all issues between the city and company appear settled. “I believe everything’s resolved,” he said.

Moorpark’s city attorney held off filing the condemnation request in court, hoping to work out all details in advance. Had city officials simply filed a lawsuit without negotiation, Gilbert said, the earliest they could have won access to the land would be 90 days after a court ruled on their request.

With Edison’s cooperation, the city should file its request in court Wednesday and may be able to get a court order granting the city immediate access to the property, he said.

If the city has not received the court order before the council meeting, Gilbert recommends discussing the issue at the next regularly scheduled council meeting or at a special meeting called specifically to deal with the bridge project.

The city has received bids from seven companies interested in building the bridge. Gerstenberger Construction submitted the lowest: $507,894. That price is $42,000 less than the city’s own $550,000 estimate of the project’s cost.