Wildlife Area Project to Be Focus of Meeting

An update on the wildlife area expansion project will be discussed at the Sepulveda Basin Users Committee meeting Thursday in Encino.

“We’re in the midst of putting in additional trails and building several bridges over Haskell Creek, observation areas for wildlife habitats, an outdoor teaching facility and a restroom building,” said James Ward, a Los Angeles Recreation and Parks supervisor.

The project is slated for completion in January and the wildlife area will be reopened next spring, Ward said. When completed, the wildlife area will be expanded from its current 103 acres to 225 acres.

The East Valley Water Recycling Project is also on the agenda. The recycling project will connect water pipes from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in the Sepulveda Basin to the Hansen spreading grounds near Sun Valley, Ward said.

Currently, a half-mile portion of the southbound lanes on Woodley Avenue in Van Nuys--from Victory Boulevard to Woodley Avenue Park--has been closed off to connect 54-inch-diameter pipes at Tillman to the water pipes running along Woodley, said Hoover Ng, manager of the Department of Water and Power’s recycling program.

An additional 15,000 feet of piping will be installed in sections in Panorama City, Van Nuys and Sun Valley along Saticoy Street, Ng said. The project is slated for completion in January, he added.

Other topics include the proposed construction of a $2-million clubhouse at Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Van Nuys and plans to upgrade the security in the parking lot of the Encino-Balboa Golf Course in Encino, Ward said.

The public meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room No. 3 of the Balboa Park Community Building, 17014 Burbank Blvd., Encino. For more information, call (818) 756-8189.