Council to Revisit Waste Plant Issue

Hoping to begin resolving one of the longest political stalemates in city history, the Thousand Oaks City Council tonight will again discuss plans to upgrade the Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant.

One of the sticking points in the bitter two-year impasse has been whether the aging sewer plant needs to be expanded from 10-million to 14-million gallons per day, as Public Works Director Don Nelson recommended.

Councilwomen Elois Zeanah and Linda Parks disputed that recommendation, maintaining that Thousand Oaks could take care of its future sewage needs with a 12-million-gallon plant. They argued a larger plant could open the floodgates of growth.

To get an independent view, the City Council earlier this year hired a group of consultants to analyze the city’s existing data on sewage flows and determine what the plant’s capacity should be.

In a report released last month, the consultants concluded that Nelson was on target, and recommended that the facility be expanded to 14.4-million gallons a day. Parks and Zeanah said when the report was issued that they would support its findings, and tonight, the council will revisit the issue.

However, capacity is only one of the issues behind the stalemate. The larger difference of opinion--over who should pay for the expansion, which could cost as much as $75 million--remains unresolved.

Parks and Zeanah contend that developers can--and should--be forced to pay for the expansion. But Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilmen Andy Fox and Mike Markey side with city officials, who say that, under state law, developers can only be charged for a portion of the improvements.

The council will have to reach some resolution, because the sewer fee that city officials are recommending to upgrade the plant requires a four-fifths vote.