CITY WILL BUY 412 ACRES PURCHASE MAY HELP COUNCIL FIGHT MINE.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Santa Clarita City Council has agreed to spend $1.27 million to buy 412 acres of undeveloped land not far from a proposed 56.1 million-ton mine in Canyon Country.

The purchase, which will deplete the council's reserve accounts, could aid the council's efforts to block the mining proposal and future housing developments along the Antelope Valley Freeway, council members agreed before the vote late Tuesday.

``This is an extremely small amount of money for the benefit that the city will get,'' said Councilman Bob Kellar.

Councilman Frank Ferry cast the lone dissenting vote against the purchase, which was made with very little debate.

``While I support the purchase of open space, I just don't think we have the money to do this,'' Ferry said. ``I would rather spend it in the city on roads or active park space.''

The money for the purchase will come from the city's public-facilities replacement fund, which would be reduced to just over $4 million.

``We, as a city, have been very cautious, and this is a special opportunity,'' Kellar said.

The City Council's reserves would be reduced to less than 10 percent of the budget, although City Manager Ken Pulskamp pledged earlier this year to increase them to 15 percent.

``The reason we have reserves is for opportunities like this, which is once in a lifetime,'' Pulskamp said. ``It's not just for emergencies.''

Councilwoman Marsha McLean called on the council to restart the community-services grant program, which was cut out of this year's budget entirely because of the massive state budget crisis.

The land purchase will fill in a gap in the rim around the valley that the council has been working very hard to preserve, according to Pulskamp.

Ownership could also give the city added leverage in its effort to scale back mining company Cemex Inc.'s plans to mine the Soledad Canyon hillside, officials said.

Santa Clarita officials have spent about $2.5 million with mixed results over the past three years in an effort to derail plans for the mine. While the county Board of Supervisors rejected a permit for the mine last year, a federal judge has indicated that he might reverse that decision.

Efforts by U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, to pass legislation to reduce the size of the mine have not been successful thus far, although the congressman met with Cemex's president several weeks ago to try to negotiate a compromise.

Heather MacDonald, [phone]

heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com