City Officials Seek $5 Million Grant for Legacy Park Work

• Push to Settle Baykeeper Suit Is On

BY BILL KOENEKER

Now that Malibu city officials have chosen a contactor for proposed building improvements at Legacy Park, they are now seeking a $5 million grant to pay for the project.
Municipal officials are attempting to get the money from federal stimulus funds administered by the State Water Resources Control Board, according to Mayor Andy Stern, who made the announcement last week.
“This $5 million grant is essential to the construction of Legacy Park, the centerpiece of the city’s more than $50 million commitment to clean water, and we are optimistic this application will be funded,” the mayor said in a press release.
Stern said, given the call by many environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, for better controls on stormwater, Legacy Park will “answer the NRDC’s call to prevent beach water pollution by creating an environmental cleaning machine for more than two million gallons a day of stormwater and urban runoff.”
Malibu municipal officials insist Legacy Park “will transform 15 acres in the heart of Malibu into a central park that will capture stormwater and urban runoff flows from the surrounding watershed so it can be cleaned, disinfected and recycled.”
However, some environmental groups don’t agree and are litigating the matter. The Santa Monica Baykeeper filed suit against the city arguing that a different approach is required.
City officials insist they have to start somewhere and the park is the best place to handle the stormwater component of the problem.
“Legacy Park definitely qualified as a ‘shovel-ready stormwater’ project,” said City Manager Jim Thorsen in the same press release. “The Malibu City Council already awarded the construction contact, and the groundbreaking is scheduled for September. We are hoping to resolve the Legacy Park lawsuit filed by Santa Monica Baykeeper so it won’t interfere with the city’s ability to secure essential funding for a vital project to improve ocean water quality and help restore the environment.”
City officials, who say they want to finish the project by October 2010, noted they still have significant support from the Annenberg Foundation, Santa Monica College, U.S. Representative Henry Waxman, State Senator Fran Pavley and State Assemblymember Julia Brownley.
Malibu municipal officials indicated they are preparing plans for a centralized wastewater system for its Civic Center area and authorized $2.6 million in January 2009 for design and engineering. There are no estimates on construction costs.