City OKS change to spending plan, water factory terms
Santa Clarita City Council members approved funding for water factory operations for an 1,100-home development in Canyon Country and a substantial amendment to its spending plan for the city’s federal funds at Tuesday’s meeting.
The water factory takeover was part of the city’s original agreement with the developer of Vista Canyon, a so-called “transitfriendly, net-zero” development on the east side that was planned to be next to the newest Metro station in Santa Clarita, off Lost Canyon Road.
The contract for operations of the facility over the next five years was approved at an amount not to exceed $3.49 million, in addition to about $820,000 in one-time costs identified in a city staff report.
The item was on the consent calendar for the meeting, which was approved unanimously.
The net-zero designation comes from the fact that the facility the city is taking responsibility for in the agreement approved Tuesday is expected to produce more nonpotable water than its total water consumption, including potable (drinking) and nonpotable water.
One-third of the recycled or nonpotable water the facility uses is for the development, according to Jim Backer, president of JSB Development, which developed Vista Canyon. The other twothirds are expected to be sold to the SCV Water Agency.
The development has about two-thirds of its residential units spoken for, Backer said in a phone interview prior to Tuesday’s meeting. The project also includes approximately 940,000 square feet of commercial development.
The new Metro station is slated to open in the fall, according to officials.
Homeless shelter
Approved by the City Council in 2020, the spending plan the city was required to create as a term for receiving Community Block Grant Development funding allocated $1.8 million to the city’s year-round homeless shelter, according to Tracy Sullivan, community preservation officer for the city of Santa Clarita.
“The city specifically intended to provide funding for off-site improvements related to the shelter, which include installation of new sidewalk, curb and gutter along Drayton Street,” Sullivan said in her presentation to the council.
Because the National Environmental Protection Act was not followed in the shelter’s construction, city officials were notified they could not use CDBG funds for any aspect of the project, Sullivan reported Tuesday.
City staff members are planning to bring forth a request for the $2 million from the general fund in the 2023-24 budget, Sullivan said.