Garden Grove Sanitary District

With a $5.4-million note coming due in May, the Garden Grove Sanitary District is considering turning to a private bank for help. A prospective loan from Bank of America would be contingent on the special district raising trash collection rates for residents and business owners. Residential trash rates, currently $13.20 a month, would increase by about 65 cents, and commercial rates could rise by 3%, according to General Manager Ronald D. Cates.

City Manager George Tindall will retire May 7, city officials announced Monday. Tindall, 60, is credited with promoting the Harbor Corridor commercial expansion, updating the city's general plan, reorganizing the Garden Grove Sanitary District and improving infrastructure such as storm drains and traffic signals. Tindall took the job in 1988 after serving as the city's assistant city manager and public works director. The Anaheim native said he plans to spend more time with his family and on hobbies and will reestablish a consulting business.

When he carries out his trash each week, retiree Robert Spier doesn't care who picks it up, just so the job gets done on time. He doesn't give much thought, either, to who controls the sewer lines that carry away the water that goes down the drains of his Garden Grove home.

The City Council will meet in a study session today to discuss the financial implications of a Garden Grove Sanitary District study. The district is responsible for maintaining sewers, collecting trash, monitoring landfills and recycling. Consultant R.W. Beck will present plans for funding future projects. Other issues include long-range objectives focusing on sewer operation and management and a refuse plan. There will be time for public comments at the session, which starts at 6 p.m.

Garden Grove's City Council members met for the first time as directors of the Garden Grove Sanitary District this week, culminating a three-year battle to meld independent trash and sewer services into city operations. As part of its takeover, about 20,000 residents will have trash-collection days changed to coincide with street sweeping.

The city's bid to absorb the Garden Grove Sanitary District is on hold until next year, frustrated City Council members have learned. The council was told this week that the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees restructuring of local government, will not hear the city's proposal until February or March, Mayor Bruce A. Broadwater announced. "They really don't have their act together," Broadwater said at Tuesday's council meeting. "We've had our application in for 21 months."

The City Council has acted to take over two sanitary districts that serve the city. Council members voted last week to apply to the Local Agency Formation Commission of Orange County to take control of the Garden Grove Sanitary District and a portion of the Midway City Sanitary District that serves residents of west Garden Grove. City officials said they hope the change will keep nearly $1 million in property tax revenue from being shifted to the state and away from the community.

The City Council will meet in a study session today to discuss the financial implications of a Garden Grove Sanitary District study. The district is responsible for maintaining sewers, collecting trash, monitoring landfills and recycling. Consultant R.W. Beck will present plans for funding future projects. Other issues include long-range objectives focusing on sewer operation and management and a refuse plan. There will be time for public comments at the session, which starts at 6 p.m.

City Manager George Tindall will retire May 7, city officials announced Monday. Tindall, 60, is credited with promoting the Harbor Corridor commercial expansion, updating the city's general plan, reorganizing the Garden Grove Sanitary District and improving infrastructure such as storm drains and traffic signals. Tindall took the job in 1988 after serving as the city's assistant city manager and public works director. The Anaheim native said he plans to spend more time with his family and on hobbies and will reestablish a consulting business.

An agreement allowing the city to take over the Garden Grove Sanitary District will force residents of an unincorporated county island to be annexed--a move the residents don't like. Mary Solomon, owner of one of the 350 homes near Dale Street and Lampson Avenue that soon will become part of Garden Grove, said that she and many of her neighbors bought there to avoid living in an incorporated city. "The people are upset because they feel their vote has been taken away from them," she said.

Garden Grove's City Council members met for the first time as directors of the Garden Grove Sanitary District this week, culminating a three-year battle to meld independent trash and sewer services into city operations. As part of its takeover, about 20,000 residents will have trash-collection days changed to coincide with street sweeping.

A controversial takeover of the Garden Grove Sanitary District is expected to be completed by this summer--more than three years after the city began efforts to fold the district's services into its own operations. The Orange County Board of Supervisors granted formal approval of the takeover last week, and Garden Grove officials must now meet 22 terms and conditions before providing trash and sewer services to thousands of customers.

An agreement allowing the city to take over the Garden Grove Sanitary District will force residents of an unincorporated county island to be annexed--a move the residents don't like. Mary Solomon, owner of one of the 350 homes near Dale Street and Lampson Avenue that soon will become part of Garden Grove, said that she and many of her neighbors bought there to avoid living in an incorporated city. "The people are upset because they feel their vote has been taken away from them," she said.

Despite opposition from some residents, a county agency this week gave the city permission to take over the Garden Grove Sanitary District. Beginning in July, the district that operates sewers and collects trash will become a department of the city. The county's Local Agency Formation Commission approved the city's request to take control of the district, now governed by a five-member elected board.

A county agency could decide tonight the fate of the Garden Grove Sanitary District, which is wrestling with the city over who will be in charge of trash collection and sewage systems. City officials are proposing to take over the 72-year-old sanitary district, arguing that it is inefficient and an unnecessary layer of government.

The county Local Agency Formation Commission plans to decide in August the fate of the Garden Grove Sanitary District, which is in the middle of a fight over who will control sewers and trash in Garden Grove. Some city officials are proposing to take over the district, calling it "inefficient" and an "unnecessary layer of government."

A controversial takeover of the Garden Grove Sanitary District is expected to be completed by this summer--more than three years after the city began efforts to fold the district's services into its own operations. The Orange County Board of Supervisors granted formal approval of the takeover last week, and Garden Grove officials must now meet 22 terms and conditions before providing trash and sewer services to thousands of customers.

Despite opposition from some residents, a county agency this week gave the city permission to take over the Garden Grove Sanitary District. Beginning in July, the district that operates sewers and collects trash will become a department of the city. The county's Local Agency Formation Commission approved the city's request to take control of the district, now governed by a five-member elected board.

The city's bid to absorb the Garden Grove Sanitary District is on hold until next year, frustrated City Council members have learned. The council was told this week that the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees restructuring of local government, will not hear the city's proposal until February or March, Mayor Bruce A. Broadwater announced. "They really don't have their act together," Broadwater said at Tuesday's council meeting. "We've had our application in for 21 months."

Officials built a baseball field on a landfill here two decades ago, but the unstable ground kept shifting, so much that eventually the batters could barely see the brim of the left fielder's cap and the trip from home to first was an uphill climb. Now the city and developer Rick Hanson think they have found a better use for the site: a $1.5-million golf practice center that opened this month, complete with a driving range, sand bunkers, putting greens, a pro shop and professional instructors.