Council corks intercity pipeline plan

By a 3-2 vote, Costa Mesa leaders dash a developer’s hopes of burying piping under O.C. Fair, golf course.Developers of a seawater desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach want to connect a pipeline from their plant to existing lines in Costa Mesa, but Costa Mesa is saying no.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday voted, 3-2, to bar the developers of the Poseidon desalination plant from running six miles of pipe under Costa Mesa streets and properties.

The $250 million plant would be able to convert 50 million gallons of seawater into drinking water each day. The 10-mile pipeline would run from the plant at Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street in Huntington Beach to an existing water line at Del Mar and Elden avenues in Costa Mesa.

Huntington Beach’s council has certified an environmental report on the project, but Costa Mesa almost certainly will require its own report on the project’s local effects if the plant goes ahead. For now, though, Costa Mesa council members seem dead set against any encroachment into their city.

“They can get all the approvals they want in Huntington Beach, but at this point, given the information provided to us to date, they’re going to have to find another route through a different city,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley said Wednesday.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon and Councilman Gary Monahan cast the two minority votes. Monahan said he thinks it’s premature to take a position on a project that’s so far down the road and may not go forward for years, if at all. Dixon expressed similar concerns.

The plant is still awaiting approval from the Huntington Beach City Council and the California Coastal Commission and other public agencies.

Poseidon Vice President Billy Owens told the council he felt like he was being “tried without a jury” and that his company eventually planned to make a formal application to install the pipeline, but likely not for another year.

“It’s fair to say we normally would propose the city have all the details and know exactly what is on the table,” he said. “We believe their action was premature.”

Costa Mesa council members said they’re concerned about noise and traffic that construction of the pipeline will cause, and they don’t see any benefits to the city from the project. The pipeline route would use public right-of-way along Adams and Placentia avenues and Harbor Boulevard and Fair Drive, and it would cross the Orange County Fairgrounds and the Costa Mesa Country Club properties.

“Right now, based on the information we have, I see only negatives for Costa Mesa if our streets are dug up,” Mayor Allan Mansoor said.

He might reconsider if the project’s developers offered the city some compensation, he said, “but it would have to be such a huge benefit to offset the huge inconvenience, and I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Huntington Beach Planner Ricky Ramos said Costa Mesa’s decision could have consequences for Poseidon as it tries to win an approval from the Huntington Beach City Council. A final vote on Poseidon by the Huntington Beach City Council is scheduled for Nov. 21.

“It’s pretty critical because if the pipeline they identified is not going to happen, they will have to modify their route in Huntington Beach,” he said.

Costa Mesa officials and residents will be watching Huntington’s decision closely. While some details of the project are still unknown, Foley said it’s to Costa Mesa’s disadvantage to wait until the desalination plant is approved before getting involved.

“This is one where they’re actually coming into our city and digging up our city,” she said. “I just am shocked that we are having the first public meeting on this in our city this late in the game.”