By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos taxpayers will pick up the tab for extensive environmental studies that a superior court judge ordered the city to conduct on the community pool project slated for Rosita Park.

The Los Altos City Council last week agreed to take $68,365 from the city’s unreserved Capital Improvements Fund to hire a consultant to conduct a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) rather than require SPLASH, the non-profit group funding the project’s construction, to pay for the study.

“The neighborhood wanted to have this EIR happen. They followed the legal process, sued, and won, and I congratulate them on that,” said Councilman King Lear. “The fact is that they’re costing the taxpayers $50,000 in attorney fees, $70,000 for the EIR … and lots of staff time that adds up to a whole lot of money. That’s fine, we’re not whining. We’re moving forward. The fact is if all of this is coming from the taxpayers, it’s totally appropriate they should pay. This is a city pool.”

SPLASH co-chairwoman Kathy Englar said the group had the money available and was prepared to pay for the studies as part of its informal agreement with the city to fund the planning, design work and construction of the approximately $3.5 million complex in exchange for a space to put the pools. Los Altos Masters swim group would operate the pool. The city would own the complex.

“I was surprised,” Englar said. “The city has often been accused of catering to a special interest group, and I think that by paying for the EIR, the city is showing that this is their project, not a half-baked idea being pushed by a special interest group.”

Englar said over the past two years, the city has requested funding for each project milestone, including hiring the architect and conducting studies under the California Environmental Quality Act. Once the architectural design is complete and working schematics are available, SPLASH’s next step would be to hire a contractor to build the pool complex, she said.

Until last week, the project had not cost the city a cent in planning or design work, besides staff time, said Public Works Director Jim Porter.

Consultant group David J. Powers & Associates is scheduled to conduct the approximately eight-month environmental study that will determine whether the project should go forward as planned, be scaled down or be moved to another site.

State requirements will make it difficult to compress the study into a shorter time frame, city officials said. The projected time line will allow public input on the draft EIR about five months into the study.

A lawsuit that a group of Rosita neighbors filed last year to stop the project pending further environmental studies has already stalled the pool complex one year. A judge last May ruled in favor of the neighborhood group, forcing the city to conduct more studies and reimburse the group $51,143 in legal costs.

Neighbors say they are concerned about the noise and traffic the proposed 35,235-square-foot, three-pool complex could generate on their dead-end street.

A handful of residents asked the city to drop the project last week.

“For all logical reasons, the city should cancel the project … Don’t spend any more money here. The legal department hasn’t won its case,” said resident Tim Forell.

“I can only tell you that the media and court opinions will continue to go against you … It will erode public opinon of your wise handling of Los Altos monies. “