City races to bulldoze Malibu Creek before rains hit Play

Malibu Creek is clogged with debris from the Franklin Fire two years ago. It's guaranteed to overflow with the first major rainstorm, and the water will flow into houses east of the creek and businesses along Cross Creek Road.

Tuesday city officials will meet with two state agencies — California State Parks and California Fish and Wildlife — to get final sign-off on plans to bulldoze the creek bed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Monday gave federal permission to do that. The problem is a half-dozen private landowners that own the property under the creek. They do want it bulldozed as well, so the city is going to meet with everyone to get the permission.

City Building Chief Yolanda Bundy Monday night: "So it is a coordination. If any work is being done on those six or seven parcels on Serra Retreat, it's going to affect the flow through the state parks.

"So it's a coordination effort also. The goal is to talk to state parks, then we provide you feedback."

But now comes the problem: who's going to pay to bulldoze the creek? City Councilmember Haylynn Conrad asked Assistant City Manager Jesse Mays if the city could pay for bulldozing on private land.

"It sounds like they're asking the city to pay for the repairs or the sediment removal," he said last night.

"Is there a precedent where we pay for private property owners? I don't believe we have paid for improvements on private property in the past.

"And the second part is, everyone is well aware we're just still on the recovery of the Palisades fire, and we're still waiting for $28 million from FEMA reimbursement," Mays continued.

"So the city is in a financial situation that I would recommend causes us to pause before we entertain any potential agreement like that."

City officials hope that California State Parks will pay for at least some of the debris removal. They're planning to bulldoze the creek anyway, as part of the Rindge Dam removal project, but that's probably three to four years away.

Serra Retreat homeowner Jeff Pollard urged the city council Monday night to adopt a state of emergency to bring in federal resources. "Federal support under the Stafford Act — FEMA and, if needed, the Department of Defense — can assist with debris removal and protection of life and property where local capabilities are insufficient.

"And I urge you, many of you council people and staff and so forth have been there. You need to go look. This is not a little job, it's a big job."