CITY RENEWS BID TO EXPAND INFLUENCE OUTSIDE BORDERS.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The City Council on Tuesday discussed separate donations to the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and county animal shelters, water quality in the Santa Clara River and the city's renewed efforts to expand its sphere of influence.

Here are the highlights:

A unanimous City Council vote authorized city staff to file an application to the Local Agency Formation Commission to expand its sphere of influence beyond city boundaries.

The application excludes the community of Castaic, but includes Stevenson Ranch west of the Golden State Freeway. It also covers other projects that pose concerns to city planners, including Soledad and Elsmere canyons, and proposed annexations for Whitney Canyon and Golden Valley Ranch, a 866-home development, according to City Planner Jeff Lambert in a memo to council members.

The application - which seeks to give the city greater input in county planning matters that occur just outside city boundaries - would be the third filing to LAFCO, city officials said. Similar applications in 1989 and 1991 were denied, after businesses within the proposed sphere extensions opposed the city.

Council members unanimously authorized a financial contribution up to $200,000 to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. The donation would match $2 per every $1 raised by the hospital for planned trauma center expansions.

The measure - which authorized the transfer of funds from city contingency reserves and city staff to process legal documents - passed on a 5-0 vote following a brief discussion, officials said. Councilwomen Jill Klajic and Jan Heidt said they wanted assurances that the city contribution would be used solely for the trauma center expansion.

The council voted 5-0 to endorse a proposal before the Regional Water Quality Control Board that would allow local county sanitation districts to operate two wastewater treatment facilities along the Santa Clara River under higher chloride limits, officials said. The proposal would require the county to closely monitor ground and surface water to ensure the river is not harmed by the higher limits.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board in the next two months must decide whether to maintain a temporary limit for chloride on the river near the wastewater treatment plants, or lower it to 100 milligrams per liter, a previous level set in 1972.

Sanitation districts 26 and 32 are pushing the water control board to continue operating the two plants under higher, temporary standards for chloride, or salt content, at 143 milligrams per liter.

Sanitation district officials have argued that lowering the limit to historical levels would force the districts to spend an unnecessary $80 million in desalinization technology upgrades to reduce the plants' salt discharge into the Santa Clara River.

City Council officials in recent discussions worried that the upgrades would be costly to homeowners and directed the planning staff to study the proposed limits. After reviewing the county proposal, city planning engineer Amelia Rietzel advised the council that the higher limits would not threaten the river's water quality.

The City Council voted 5-0 to donate $5,000 to county animal shelters, for the new Save-Adopt-Vaccinate-Educate program that aims to increase pet adoptions and reduce the population of homeless animals.

The county Department of Animal Care and Control is seeking to raise $400,000 through nonprofit organizations and cities to fund SAVE in its first year. In exchange for the city's donation, spaying and neutering fees would be waived for Santa Clarita residents if they adopt dogs and cats from county animal shelters.

Council members in a 5-0 vote authorized Blue Barrel Disposal to lease 21,000 square feet of vacant city property on Drayton Street at $893.41 per month.

The two-year lease allows the waste hauler to use the property for employee parking and to store empty residential waste and recycling containers. Collected bulky residential waste also would be stored there on a temporary basis, council members said.