Robert Chacon
La Canada Flintridge wants to send its sewage to La Crescenta.
The city is awaiting a response from the Crescenta Valley Water
District about an engineering report that proposes connecting about
600 homes in Sewer District No. 3a to the district's main line.
The city has been in negotiations for about a year with the
district, but costs to use its system still have to be discussed. The
ongoing talks include issues such as the amount of sewage the water
district will incur and upgrades necessary so its system can handle
the added flow.
Critical issues for the city include how much it will pay the
district for use of its system, connection and maintenance fees, and
upgrades to the system, said Steve Castellanos, the city's director
of public works.
The water district charges customers more than $2,100 to connect
to its main sewage line, and that figure is a starting point for
negotiating a price it would charge the city, said Ron Mitchell, the
district's secretary and treasurer.
"The cost could be much different than that," Mitchell said.
Connection fees for Sewer District No. 1's nearly 900 homes are
about $1,100 and still have to be determined for the 1,430 homes in
Sewer District No. 2, but could be about $1,240. Both districts run
into Los Angeles County's sewer lines.
Because the district slopes westward, it would be less expensive
to contract with the Crescenta Valley Water District for sewage
disposal, Castellanos said. Tying into Los Angeles County's
sanitation district sewer lines would run up the costs by millions of
dollars. The construction cost of district, which includes all homes
west of Palm Avenue and north of Foothill Boulevard, is estimated at
about $8 million, and will be assessed on residents' tax bills.
Existing sewage lines, and the rest of the city's sewage will
eventually flow into the county's sanitation district.
Wastewater from the Crescenta Valley Water District flows into
Glendale and then undergoes treatment at the Los Angeles-Glendale
Water Reclamation Plant, where portions of the discharge flow into
the Los Angeles River, and are pumped into a recycled water system in
Glendale or are transported to the Los Angeles Hyperion Plant in El
Segundo.
Though the district received the finalized engineering report last
week, top officials, including General Manager Mike Sovich, have not
reviewed the report, Mitchell said.
Castellanos said he would like the city and the water district to
reach a final agreement in about a month. Construction of Sewer
District No. 3a is scheduled to begin in September.
