The Hermosa Beach City Council voted in favor of imposing an annual sewer fee on residents and businesses to fix the city’s dilapidated sewer system, even after hearing the impassioned protests of sewer fee opponents.
On a 4-1 vote, with recently-appointed Mayor Nanette Barragan the sole vote of opposition, the council approved charging residential homes and condos $115 a year, and charging businesses based on their water usage.
Protesters had hoped to block the fee by casting 3,500 protest ballots by yesterday’s meeting, however, only 607 of the ballots were cast. In a last effort to persuade council members, protesters expressed concerns that the city had sneakily passed the fee on to residents, that the city had mismanaged other money that could have been used on sewers and that the council had rushed the fee-approval.
The four council members in favor of the fee defended the process as transparent. All of the council members agreed that the sewers were in dire need of repair.
“We have the obligation to maintain your infrastructure,” said Councilman Michael DiVirgilio.
The sewer rehabilitation will cost about $11 million, with the initial $3 million coming from the city. The other $8 million will come through loans paid back by the sewer fee.
In her opposition, Mayor Barragan agreed with protesters who said the city has mismanaged money. She said too much has been spent policing the downtown area, for example, and as a result, the city must make residents pay for critical infrastructure projects.
“If we were spending the money right we wouldn’t have to raise the fee,” Barragan said. “I see this as a subsidy to downtown.”
