Levee squabbles hit Live Oak general plan

Some Live Oak-area development stakeholders want to hold off on committing to fund the city’s general plan update until studies on the structural integrity of nearby levees are completed.

But other developers claim that’s not necessary, and city staff members are expressing their doubts about the benefit of such a move as well.

The suggestion for the delay due to levee concerns came Wednesday during a meeting about the levees, the latest in a series of about the general plan update. Development interests in areas near the city limits are funding the update in exchange for future annexation into the city.

Attorney Seth Merewitz, representing development interests in the southwest annexation area, said having the studies, which will show results of core samplings done on area levees by the state Department of Water Resources, will allow the developers’ engineers to get a better idea of the financial impact of the levees.

Kevin Walker, project manager for the northwest and southwest regions, said that would be another 60 to 90 days away. In October, the City Council set a Dec. 17 deadline for developers to say whether they would continue funding the general plan update or pull out of the project.

“We would like to know if what we’re funding is workable,” Walker said.

But Denis Cook, representing northeast area development, said the plan shouldn’t be delayed because of levee issues.

City Manager Tom Lando also wondered why that would be necessary. The levee issues don’t affect the update itself in the short term but will have an impact on construction costs in the area, he said, because residents will likely need to either fund a share of levee improvement costs or begin to pay mandatory flood insurance.

The City Council did not announce if it would change the Dec. 17 deadline.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Robert LaHue can be reached at 749-4713. You may e-mail him at rlahue@appealdemocrat.com