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0 0 <br />Mr. Steve Worrall <br />January 13, 2012 <br />Page 14 <br />Regents of University of California (1988) 47 Ca1.3d 376, <br />401 -402. <br />So it is here. If the existence of mitigation for a project cannot be used to dismiss <br />alternatives analysis altogether, it also cannot be used when comparing a project to an <br />alternative once that alternative is selected. To do so, as the City does here, would lead to <br />the very conclusion rejected by the California Supreme Court in Laurel Heights. <br />VII. A SUBSTANTIALLY LESS EXPENSIVE AND SUPERIOR PROJECT <br />CAN BE CONSTRUCTED AT THE EXISTING SEGERSTROM SITE. <br />The City's response to a California Public Records Act request in 2010 indicated <br />that the estimated Project cost was a minimum of $3,500,000 to $4,000,000. Mindful of <br />the City's current and near term fiscal problems,4 it would make sense to further <br />investigate other feasible and less expensive alternatives. <br />One such alternative would be a submersible pump station at the existing <br />Segerstrom site, using the existing 8 -feet diameter wet well. This alternative project is <br />detailed in Mr. Dickson's report. This alternative would have the benefit of providing the <br />City with a new pump station that reduced substantially the impacts of the Project, <br />including those to traffic, air quality, hazards and hazardous materials, noise and water <br />quality. <br />The construction time of a submersible pump station is significantly less than that <br />estimated for the Project. The cost of a submersible pump station is also significantly <br />less than that of the Project. Mr. Dickson estimates the cost at $748,000 — less than one- <br />fourth the cost of the Project. The pumps can be fitted with grit -flush valves that could <br />also reduce maintenance costs associated with pumping grit from the bottom of the wet <br />well. <br />Such an alternative would address most of the legitimate needs of the City. <br />Failure to analyze such an alternative results in a failure of the RFEIR to analyze a <br />reasonable range of potentially feasible alternatives. <br />4 Recent news reports indicate that the City's General Fund balance dipped to as <br />low as $161,000 this past summer, and faces a potential $30 million budget deficit for <br />fiscal year 2012 -13. (Exhibit 5.) <br />55A -147 <br />