The Los Altos City Council at its June 26 meeting unanimously authorized the advertisement for bids for both the annual Sewer Main Video Inspection project and the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, which includes a tree-root foaming project for 2007.

The video inspection should identify potential problems from sewer line blockages, which left unaddressed can cause subsequent sewage overflows. Inspection of the videos will enable city staff to prioritize problems for maintenance or repair. The project will televise all remaining sewer lines that have not previously been viewed.

Two self-appointed sentinels of the sewers, Dr. Tom Burns and Gerry Madea, returned again to the podium for discussion. But the rhetoric had changed.

“Hallelujah!” said Burns of the video inspection. “After one-and-a-half years begging for it, how relieved I am. I appreciate it. It needs to be done.”

The root-foaming project will apply a chemical root control agent to the sanitary sewer lines to kill root growth and inhibit regrowth without damaging the underlying vegetation. This phase of the project includes 56 miles of sewer lines beginning at the south end of town and complements the April approval for additional sewer lines as recommended by the Sanitary Sewer System Master Plan.

“It’s a joyful day today,” Madea said. But he warned that the root-foaming is not a panacea. “The vendors (of the foaming) make no guarantees … only that they will do it again if roots return.” He suggested that flushing some of the foaming back up lateral lines might avoid residents’ problems that the city indirectly funds when they pay courtesy calls.