Measure BB Issues Keep School Board Members Occupied

• Infrastructure Necessities Funded

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Measure BB improvement plan projects at Malibu High and Middle School continue to evolve. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education, at its April 2 meeting, voted to allocate additional Measure BB funds for electrical upgrades and onsite wastewater treatment system improvements at Malibu High School and Middle School. Funding for preliminary geologic investigation and reports for MHS Measure BB improvement projects was also on the agenda, along with funding for MHS CEQA environmental documents
The board was asked to approve $108,690, for a total contract amount of $169,072 to Topanga Underground for “septic system surveys and investigations services studies” at MHS, to provide “additional septic system review and analysis, as well as a comprehensive plan to pump each system, measure the inflow of sewage into the systems and measure the outflow and percolation, in preparation for the permit application to the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The board also agreed to a contract amendment for the firm of HMC Architects to provide “architectural services for the preliminary design of improvements to the wastewater treatment system for Malibu MS/HS, in an amount not to exceed $62,037.”
HMC will evaluate a secondary treatment system based on percolation tests and groundwater monitoring, and study the of volume of existing and future loads per building and to each system and prepare an initial evaluation report, as well as design a secondary treatment system to process a projected load of less than 20,000 GPD (gallons per day) load.
According to district staff, HMC will also provide “Preliminary design recommendations for the repair/improvements for 10 septic systems, as well as “Preliminary design for piping and pumping system from each septic tank to the treatment system and back to seepage pits.” Critics of the plan have stated that the City of Malibu does not currently permit reinjection of wastewater. In the preparation of the City of Malibu LCP, Coastal Development Permit (CDP), the district must meet the requirements of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) for ground water monitoring wells to determine the water quality resulting from septic systems at the Malibu Middle/High School and Cabrillo Elementary School sites.
The board was also asked to approve a contract amendment “to provide the ability of GeoConcepts to perform the drilling operations for nine of the eleven monitoring wells closest to the classroom areas on Saturdays, as the noise from the drill rigs would be prohibitive to conducting school classes concurrently.” Geo Concepts is a Van Nuys based company that specializes in geology and geotechnical services.
A contract amendment requesting for “Biologist Study Report Services—Malibu High School Athletic Field Lighting Project,” from the consulting firm of Glenn Lukos Associates was amended shortly before the meeting. The amendment, which provides consultant services “to perform a nesting raptor survey, according to the requirements of the California Coastal Commission, as well as the performance of surveys for special-status plants,” was changed to remove the reference to the lighting project. The board is scheduled to vote on whether to continue with the controversial lighting plan at its May 7 meeting in Malibu.
Critics of the lighting plan, which is an “add alternative” project that can only be built if funding remains once “core” projects are completed, charge that the change in language does not change the intent, since only the athletic field improvements, which include permanent concrete bleachers at the football field in addition to the four to six 70-to-80-foot tall lighting structures, have the potential to negatively impact either raptors or native plants.
“The district is playing a transparent ‘hide the consultant’ shell game,” Malibu Park resident Marshall Thompson told the Malibu Surfside News. “Who do they think they are kidding by cloaking their intent to do an expensive biological diversity study for the already in place sports fields unless the real purpose of the study is to ascertain the impact of nighttime lighting on local fauna and flora. How stupid do they think Malibu residents are?”
Another area resident concurred. “This really makes me mad,” Carol Gable told the News. “All the money they are spending to continue the studies for lighting.”
Opponents of the lighting plan have previously questioned whether the campus has the electrical infrastructure to accommodate the field lights requirements, even if all other concerns were adequately addressed. The answer may be no. According to the staff report, “As part of the District-wide technology upgrades, each Measure BB school site has been evaluated to determine if adequate electrical power is available to accommodate the new technology equipment standards for classroom and non-classroom environments. HMC has surveyed the existing electrical panels at the Malibu MS/HS site and determined that electrical infrastructure upgrades are required. HMC will receive $34,428 for “the architectural services for design and documentation of the electrical infrastructure upgrades required for Malibu MS/HS,” for a revised contract total of $5,180,501.