Minutes - Board - 2002-04-24(40-�,
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIAL MEETING
APRIL 24, 2002
The Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District attended a duly noticed
Special Meeting on April 24, 2002 at 12:00 p.m., in Conference Room 5A at the Civic
Center, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.
Directors Present: Arlene Schafer, Arthur Perry, Greg Woodside, James
Ferryman, Dan Worthington
Staff Present: Robin Hamers, Manager /Engineer; Tom Fauth, Assistant
Manager; Joan Revak, Clerk of the District; Marc Puckett,
District Treasurer; Alan Burns, Legal Counsel
Others Present: Yefim Tsalyuk, Robin B. Hamers & Associates, Inc.
Paul Guzman, Robin B. Hamers & Associates, Inc.
Sewer Lateral Ownership and Maintenance
Mr. Burns, Legal Counsel for the District, addressed the liability and damage issue
related to sewer laterals. The laterals are private property, owned by the property
owner they serve, and maintenance obligations are the property owner's responsibility.
This applies for the entire lateral from the building to its point of connection with the
sewer main in the street. Additionally, the trees are owned either by the city or by
private owners who are near the sewer lateral and the District does not own any trees
and cannot be liable for tree root intrusion in laterals it does not own or control. CMSD
neither owns nor controls the laterals and should resist any liability imposed because of
defects in the laterals, including defective construction, failure to maintain the lateral
(tree roots) or failure to repair the lateral as it ages. The District has statutory immunity
for negligent inspections or for failure to inspect. Mr. Burns further stated if the District
sewer main causes damage to a lateral because it backs up or was not properly
maintained, or if our contractor damages the lateral, the District should accept liability.
In cases in which there may be issues of causation by both the lateral and the sewer
main, the District should attempt to negotiate a proportional settlement.
Mr. Guzman presented a demonstration of various sewer pipes