The Santa Clarita City Council will hold special and regular meetings at City Hall on Tuesday, August 25, and hear public comments from citizens virtually via Zoom.

The special meeting, set to begin at 5 p.m., will begin with public participation.

Councilmembers will then confer in closed session with legal counsel about anticipated litigation related to the long-proposed Porta Bella residential-commercial development on the Whittaker-Bermite property in the center of the city.

According to an August 19 interoffice memo from City Manager Ken Striplin, he participated in a phone conference on Monday, August 17, with Bart Shea and David Lunn of Remediation Financial Inc., insurer of Whittaker Corp., the company responsible for the cleanup of toxic soil on the Whittaker-Bermite site. The cleanup was completed in spring 2020, after nearly two decades.

“During this discussion, Mr. Shea and Mr. Lunn indicated that they believed the City had breached its obligations under the 1996 Development Agreement, in terms of force majeure site cleanup issues and alleged misrepresentations of the status of entitlements by City staff to third parties interfering with potential site financing,” Striplin wrote in the memo.

“They also indicated they were contemplating sending a notice of default to the City as a precursor to litigation,” he wrote.

See the complete Special Meeting agenda here.

Councilmembers will reconvene in an open session for an announcement by the City Attorney before the special meeting adjourns.

In the regular meeting scheduled to start at 6 p.m., Councilmembers will consider extending the current evictions moratorium; approval of a staff recommendation to purchase the Ice Station Valencia ice rink; choosing voting delegates for the upcoming 2020 California League of Cities Conference; and a discussion of memorializing the victims of the November 14, 2019 shootings at Saugus High School.

See the complete regular meeting agenda here.

Details for Public Participation
To maximize public safety while still maintaining transparency and public access, members of the public can observe and participate in the meeting remotely using Zoom.

For those wishing to provide written comments on an item as listed on the agenda, please submit an electronic written comment form at https://www.santa-clarita.com/writtencomment at least 30 minutes before the start time. Comments will be made part of the meeting record, but not read into the record.

For those wishing to speak on an item as listed on the agenda, please submit an electronic speaker form at
https://www.santa-clarita.com/speakersignup at least 30 minutes before the start of the meeting with your name and the phone number you will be using to call into the meeting.

Special Meeting:
To participate in the Special Meeting using Zoom use Webinar ID: 989 9906 8863 and Password: 19346

Zoom Webinar direct link: https://santaclarita.zoom.us/j/98999068863

Regular Meeting:
To participate in the Regular Meeting using Zoom use Webinar ID: 914 6333 0179 and Password: 434020

Zoom Webinar direct link: https://santaclarita.zoom.us/j/91463330179

Both Meetings:
Telephone (both Special and Regular Meetings):
US:
+1 669 900 9128 or
+1 253 215 8782 or
+1 346 248 7799 or
+1 312 626 6799 or
+1 646 558 8656 or
+1 301 715 8592

Note: You will not be visible to any of the meeting participants during the meeting, and your phone will not be unmuted until your name has been announced when it is your time to speak. You will have three minutes to speak, with double the time allotted for non-English speakers using a translator, unless that time is adjusted by the Mayor.