Woodland Hills fails to secure waterline grant; committee debates well generator design and fuel storage

Woodland Hills officials told the Public Works Committee the city’s recent funding application to replace 2.5 miles of waterline was not selected for award and staff described the city’s options for the well backup generator and fuel storage.

Staff said the grant application submitted through Rep. Burgess Owens’ office was not funded and that reviewers suggested the city reapply next year. Staff described a very short application window (about 24 hours) and a large competitive pool. "They said, make sure you do it again next year," a staff member said.

Committee discussion then turned to the Maple Canyon well project, which staff described as under construction: three‑phase conduit is installed, electrical equipment has been ordered, and pipe is being fabricated. The contractor’s completion deadline was described as the end of March.

A major unresolved design item is the well’s backup fuel arrangement. The original design includes multiple small diesel tanks inside a basement area; staff warned that making the basement tanks operational would require complex pumping manifolds, frequent manual switching between tanks during emergency use, and more fill infrastructure for fuel trucks. As one staff member summarized: "It’s kind of archaic... heavy operational intense system."

Staff offered a simpler alternative: locate a single, above‑ground, double‑walled day tank near the generator. The above‑ground option was estimated to add approximately $30,000–$35,000 to the project, offset somewhat by eliminating pumps and a day‑tank included in the current bid (staff estimated roughly $10,000–$12,000 of contract items that would be removed). Staff said the manufacturer’s typical above‑ground tank price cited to the committee was about $18,000 plus pad and hookup costs.

Other details discussed: - The automatic generator is exercised monthly and is designed to provide 48 hours of operation on fuel in standard designs; operational runtime varies by season and system use. - The generator on site has not been run regularly for several years; staff said they expect start‑up testing could reveal additional repair needs. - The basement tanks contain roughly 5,000 gallons of fuel; staff expressed concerns about storing large quantities of diesel above a water source and warned diesel stability (shelf life) is limited (staff estimated about two years of safe storage without active cycling). - Staff proposed integrating tank level monitoring into SCADA so fuel could be observed remotely.

Staff also said the city has a large deferred capital backlog: roughly $8 million–$12 million of water‑ and road‑related work was cited, and the city’s total annual budget was described as about $2 million, which complicates financing. The committee discussed how federal/state funding eligibility calculations use median adjusted gross income (MAGI) measures. Staff suggested the community’s MAGI (discussed at roughly 1.7–1.75 percent of income metric in this conversation) and median AGI (members referenced roughly $83,000–$86,000) negatively affected competitiveness for some grant programs, because programs assume higher local ability to pay.

No formal design change was approved; committee members asked staff to present cost comparisons and to consider buying an above‑ground tank and supplying it to the contractor as a city‑provided item if that reduces overall cost.

Why it matters: the city is facing near‑term well and distribution reliability questions and must choose between a lower‑cost but operationally complex basement pumping arrangement and a more expensive above‑ground tank that staff said would simplify refueling, reduce manual operations, and lessen the risk of fuel contamination near the well.