ORANGE

The City Council this week approved spending up to $50,000 to continue 24-hour security for the Vista Royale and Peralta Pointe areas, where 15 homes--in danger of slipping down an unstable hillside--were ordered evacuated in May. “To the naked eye, the homes look the same. If anything [the slippage] has slowed,” said Assistant City Atty. Wayne Winthers. “But we know that it is cyclical and [the slippage] should speed up again soon.”

Winthers said homeowners are still seeking a settlement with developer 396 Investment Co. The Vista Royale homeowners, he said, “have at least had a meeting of minds” with the developer, while negotiations with the five homes in Peralta Pointe are “much further apart.” According to Winthers, the city’s current tab for security services is estimated at $12,000. The city will seek reimbursement through the courts, he said, for security costs and other related emergency expenses.