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malibusurfsidenews.com NEWS<br />
Malibu surfside news | April 25, 2019 | 7<br />
Malibu city council<br />
City to sue SCE for possible fire involvement<br />
Wildfire reportedly<br />
began on Boeing<br />
property just after<br />
circuit malfunction<br />
Michele Willer-Allred<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Malibu’s battles with<br />
Southern California Edison<br />
was a focus at the<br />
City Council’s Monday,<br />
April 22 meeting, when a<br />
new lawsuit regarding the<br />
Woolsey Fire by the city<br />
was announced against the<br />
utility company.<br />
City Attorney Christi Hogin<br />
said that during closed<br />
session the council unanimously<br />
authorized the filing<br />
of a lawsuit against<br />
SCE, Edison International,<br />
and any related entities, defendants<br />
and parties “that<br />
may have liability arising<br />
from the Woolsey Fire of<br />
November 2018.”<br />
Neither Hogin nor the<br />
council discussed the decision<br />
further during the<br />
meeting.<br />
The city’s lawsuit comes<br />
after the Feb. 5 filing in Los<br />
Angeles Superior Court by<br />
six attorneys, some based<br />
in Malibu, on behalf of 105<br />
people impacted by the fire,<br />
who placed the blame for<br />
the Woolsey Fire with SCE<br />
and The Boeing Company.<br />
The fire, which began<br />
in Woolsey Canyon at the<br />
Boeing-owned Santa Susana<br />
Field Lab near Simi<br />
Valley, destroyed about 750<br />
homes and structures in<br />
Malibu.<br />
Just a few days after the<br />
fire began, news began to<br />
spread about SCE’s possible<br />
involvement in the<br />
fire’s initiation.<br />
According to previous<br />
Surfside News reporting<br />
the power company sent<br />
out an incident notice Nov.<br />
8 — the day the fire began<br />
— detailing a circuit that<br />
malfunctioned two minutes<br />
before and in the same<br />
location as the start of the<br />
Woolsey Fire.<br />
Discussions at the Council<br />
meeting also centered<br />
on concerns about SCE’s<br />
controversial plans to trim<br />
more than 5,000 trees in an<br />
effort to mitigate fire risk<br />
next to transmission lines.<br />
Several residents spoke<br />
during public comment<br />
regarding their concerns<br />
about SCE’s tree trimming<br />
plan, which includes clearing<br />
a recommended 12-foot<br />
radius around trees to protect<br />
the transmission lines.<br />
Planning Director Bonnie<br />
Blue said that she spoke<br />
with SCE representatives<br />
prior to the meeting and<br />
that they have not started<br />
trimming the trees, which<br />
is part of their usual annual<br />
tree trimming activity. She<br />
did say that SCE did begin<br />
trimming trees in relation<br />
to transmission line work.<br />
Blue said that during<br />
the week, she will be discussing<br />
the issue further<br />
with SCE and Los Angeles<br />
County officials to try to<br />
come up with a program<br />
“that is safe for the community,<br />
respectful to the<br />
environment and follows<br />
our Local Coastal Plan.”<br />
She said that SCE representatives<br />
acknowledged<br />
trees in the city that are native<br />
or in environmentally<br />
sensitive habitat areas and<br />
Round it Up<br />
A recap of other action at the April 22 meeting of<br />
the City Council<br />
• The council unanimously voted to terminate the<br />
state of local emergency declared in the city<br />
as a result of the Woolsey Fire. City Manager<br />
Reva Feldman said that “the situation has now<br />
stabilized and there are no longer conditions of<br />
extreme peril that would interfere with the city’s<br />
ability to conduct business.”<br />
• A unanimous decision was made to table an<br />
ordinance amending the city’s price gouging<br />
ordinance. The council’s previous action of<br />
terminating the state of local emergency made<br />
the action unnecessary and moot.<br />
“they would not trim anything<br />
in those areas without<br />
contacting us in advance.”<br />
Following the tree trimming<br />
discussion, the council<br />
unanimously authorized<br />
Mayor Jefferson Wagner<br />
to send a letter of support<br />
for Senate Bill 70, which<br />
would require the California<br />
Public Utilities Commission<br />
on and after Jan. 1,<br />
2021 to require each electrical<br />
corporation to replace<br />
overhead electrical distribution<br />
infrastracture that<br />
were destroyed in high-fire<br />
risk areas with underground<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Councilmember Karen<br />
Farrer requested the letter<br />
be sent.<br />
While he did support the<br />
letter, Councilmember Skylar<br />
Peak said he did have a<br />
concern that “our electrical<br />
costs are going to start<br />
to greatly increase because<br />
the cost of doing this kind<br />
of work becomes very expensive.”<br />
“It’s not to take away<br />
from the cost of a fire,<br />
which is far more expensive<br />
than if this would’ve<br />
been done a long time ago,”<br />
Peak added.<br />
Discussion on splitting,<br />
selling cookoff site tabled<br />
Also at the meeting,<br />
the council unanimously<br />
agreed to direct staff to<br />
coordinate a joint meeting<br />
between the city’s public<br />
safety, parks and arts<br />
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commissions to hold an<br />
upcoming public meeting<br />
regarding the use of the<br />
Loki parcel at 23575 Civic<br />
Center Way/23789 Stuart<br />
Ranch Road.<br />
The council was tasked at<br />
the meeting to discuss the<br />
potential sale of two acres<br />
of the 9.65-acre Loki parcel<br />
to the Los Angeles County<br />
Fire Department and direct<br />
staff to develop a proposed<br />
purchase agreement.<br />
Sale of the two acres at<br />
the appraised value is expected<br />
to reduce the annual<br />
amount of the city’s debt<br />
service by approximately<br />
$300,000 a year from $1.2<br />
million to $900,000.<br />
After listening to several<br />
public speakers, the<br />
council decided to hold off<br />
with making a decision and<br />
tasked the commissions<br />
with coming up with a recommendation.<br />
“We’re at the point now<br />
where we have a blank slate<br />
[on the property], and we<br />
have to be very careful with<br />
what we do,” Councilmember<br />
Rick Mullen said.<br />
Even though there is<br />
a financial advantage to<br />
sell the property, Mullen<br />
thought there should<br />
be “robust public input on<br />
this, and I don’t feel like we<br />
should rush into it.”<br />
Mullen, who is a fire<br />
chief in the city, said it does<br />
make sense though for the<br />
fire department to have<br />
their headquarters in the<br />
center of town.<br />
“We’re not here to solve<br />
the fire department’s problems,<br />
but it would be foolish<br />
for us not to consider<br />
that in the long term because<br />
public safety as evidenced<br />
by recent events is<br />
a very big part of what goes<br />
on in Malibu,” added Mullen.<br />
Wagner was not in favor<br />
of selling the property.<br />
“We did talk about it,<br />
but with [City Manager<br />
Reva Feldman’s] capabilities<br />
keeping the city in financially<br />
good standing, I<br />
don’t think we need to sell<br />
it,” he said.<br />
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