Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pipeline Franchise topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Norwalk council introduces ordinance to grant 15-year pipeline franchise to metal processor
Summary
The council introduced Ordinance 26-1767 to grant a 15-year nonpublic utility pipeline franchise to Horizon Metal Processing Incorporated (HMPI), with a $7,500 base granting fee and annual payments set by state formula; no public speakers opposed the proposal and the council moved to introduce the ordinance by title.
Norwalk City Council introduced Ordinance 26-1767 on Feb. 17, 2026, to grant a 15-year nonpublic utility pipeline franchise to Horizon Metal Processing Incorporated, a metals-processing firm staff identified as HMPI.
Albert Mendoza, a city staff presenter, told the council HMPI operates about 13,550 lineal feet of 6-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline along Alondra Boulevard from Shoemaker Avenue to Studebaker Road to convey treated wastewater from the HMPI facility in Santa Fe Springs to an LA County Sanitation District trunk line. Mendoza said state law and the Norwalk Municipal Code require a franchise when a private entity uses public streets to convey petroleum or other products and set the fee structure. The staff report cited a one-time base granting fee of $7,500 and an annual base payment calculated by a statutory formula tied to pipe diameter, length and a per-foot fee adjusted by the consumer price index. Staff recommended introducing the ordinance by title only and scheduling adoption.
No members of the public registered to speak for or against the franchise during the public hearing. The council moved to introduce the ordinance; the clerk recorded votes of 'Aye' from Vice Mayor Rios and Mayor Perez. (The record does not capture Council Member Ramirez's roll-call response for the ordinance vote.)
The staff report and presentation referenced Resolution 26-11 (setting the public hearing) and noted the previously granted pipeline franchise to the firm in 2006 had expired. Mendoza recommended the council approve a franchise term ending March 3, 2041. The ordinance, if adopted as scheduled, would allow the company to continue operating its existing wastewater conveyance pipeline subject to franchise conditions and the fee schedule established under state law and Norwalk Municipal Code Title 13.
Next steps: the council introduced the ordinance by title. The record indicates the item was scheduled for adoption at a future meeting as described in the staff recommendation.
