DWP Takes Over Final Site Selection

G.M. Ronald Nichols Sends Letter to Task Force

The Palisadian-Post obtained a letter Tuesday that was sent to the 15-member task force made up of community members who were assigned in June to find a location for a new L.A. Department of Water and Power (DWP) distribution station in western Pacific Palisades.
The task force was agreed upon after a meeting between Los Angeles Unified School Board Member Steve Zimmer, DWP General Manager Ron Nichols and Councilman Bill Rosendahl that was prompted by local opposition to build an electric distribution station (DS-104) on an empty parcel adjacent to Marquez Charter Elementary School.
Beginning last September, the task force worked alongside DWP staff in meetings closed to the public to narrow down possible locations. In mid-January, DWP officials revealed four top-tier locations at a public meeting at Palisades Charter High School.

The top-tier locations included a 1.10-acre parcel at 16931 Pacific Coast Hwy; a 4.04-acre parcel at 16970 and 16948 Sunset Blvd. (Bernheimer Gardens); a 0.99-acre lot at 300 Via Nicolas; and a 4.72-acre parcel at 370 Paseo Miramar, which is owned by State Parks.
Subsequently, several residents who live around the top-tier sites were outraged by the task force’s selection process and threatened legal action against its members. As result of these threats and because of DWP’s refusal to indemnify the 15-member group, the task force has not met since February 6. There had been no other update on the work of the task force or DWP’s efforts to settle on a location for DS-104 until early this week, when a letter dated April 4 was received by task force members, and subsequently obtained by the Post.

The letter, which was signed by DWP General Manager Ronald Nichols, reads as follows:
“I want to thank you for your contribution and input into helping us find a location for the Distribution Station-104. This remains a crucial project for the L.A. Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to maintain reliable service to the Palisades area. The Task Force has undertaken significant, valuable effort in the evaluation of potential sites. Decisions like this are challenging and I want to commend you for your hard word and the commitment you made to help your community and LADWP on this important project.
“As we prepare for the forthcoming environmental review process, LADWP staff is currently performing added technical analysis on the top-tier sites, to combine with the completed review efforts of the Task Force, to determine their sustainability for the proposed distribution station. By this summer, this analysis is expected to be complete. LADWP will then be able to prepare an initial study under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and continue our community outreach as part of the CEQA environmental impact review process.
While the Task Force effort will be valuable input to the CEQA process, the final site selection, comparison of alternatives, and CEQA process will be performed and managed by LADWP.”