Commercial Civic Center Land Owners OK Special Tax to Fund Sewer Design

A group of commercial land owners in Malibu's Civic Center unanimously approved a special tax that will be used to fund the design of the first phase of a sewer.

All 10 voters who returned ballots from the Community Facilities District voted yes on the special tax and bond issuance, known as Measure W, which needed two-thirds of the vote to pass, according to Malibu City Clerk Lisa Pope.

The votes were counted at 5 p.m. Tuesday by Pope, who released the unofficial results just after 5:30 p.m.

The election will be certified at the Monday, Nov. 26 Malibu City Council meeting at Malibu City Hall. A second reading is set for the Dec. 10 meeting. Up to $6.5 million in bonds are expected to be sold at the end of January.

The special tax will fund the design of the first phase of the Malibu Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The city voted to form the district in August in order to finance the design of the proposed Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Facility. The city has already spent $2.6 million on the plans, with up to $4 million more needed for the final designs.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional Water Quality Board, the city is required to meet strict timelines to ensure that progress is being made on the design and construction of the sewer. The MOU requires commercial properties in the Civic Center Prohibition Area be connected to a centralized wastewater treatment facility by November 15, 2015.