Ventura considering $13.3M design deal for water purification plant
The Ventura City Council could approve a $13.3 million agreement with an environmental engineering firm on Tuesday to design a specialized water treatment facility.
The so-called Advanced Water Purification Facility is the cornerstone of the city's VenturaWaterPure program. The overall effort will recover and treat wastewater for reuse, reducing discharges of effluent into the Santa Clara River estuary and creating a reliable new supply.
The council will consider staff’s recommendation to hire Hazen and Sawyer, a New York-based firm that specializes in water projects, to start designing the purification plant. The agreement is for just over $12 million plus an additional $1.2 million for contingencies, totaling about $13.3 million in all.
In November, city officials estimated the cost of the VenturaWaterPure program had risen at least $182 million more than previously budgeted. The price increased from $374.4 million during the 2022 fiscal year to $556.9 million. Inflation, bids and project design costs all went up, officials said.
Ventura water commissioner George Amandola, who opposed the city’s support of the project, resigned in February.
The program is a result of a 2012 legal settlement with Wishtoyo Foundation’s Ventura Coastkeeper Program and Heal the Bay over discharges into the Santa Clara River estuary. Under terms of the settlement, construction of the water purification facility should be completed by the end of 2027, according to a staff report.
The new facility, which will treat water to potable quality, will be built on a 10-acre parcel at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Olivas Park Drive. The city plans to annex the site. A system of pipelines will connect the treatment plant with the rest of the project, which includes an ocean outfall and other components.
In other news, the council on Tuesday will also consider paying an additional $90,000, for a total of $150,000, to the law firm of Rutan & Tucker, who represent the city in a lawsuit involving a Ventura community group.
Livable Ventura is suing the city over its approval of a six-story downtown apartment project with some affordable units. The lawsuit, filed in September in Ventura County Superior Court, alleges the city's Planning Division and the council violated state laws on housing density and environmental review in approving the project. A court trial is set for 8 a.m. Friday, court records show.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the council's first regular session since council members fired former City Attorney Andrew Heglund during a special closed-session meeting on April 13. Heglund, 51, is being investigated for an alleged indecent exposure incident reported on April 10 inside a Ventura Chick-fil-A restaurant.
Miles Hogan, senior assistant city attorney, was appointed as acting city attorney. Hogan will give a report about the actions taken during the closed session meeting, Mayor Joe Schroeder said last week.
The meeting starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 501 Poli St.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura eyeing $13.3 million design deal for water purification plant
