It ain't over till it's over, but the end might be near in the Saratoga Creek case. Coming out of a closed session at its regular City Council meeting Feb. 17, Saratoga Mayor Jim Shaw announced that the city has reached an agreement with Friends of the Santa Clara County Creeks and BayKeepers, the two plaintiffs in the case.
If the settlement is finalized, it means an end to more than four years of legal wrangling since the two environmental groups sued the city alleging it violated clean-water laws. In the suit, the two groups said the city was responsible for heightened levels of coliform bacteria that were polluting Saratoga Creek.
But before residents start splashing through the water, there's still some work that needs to be done, and the plaintiffs' attorney hasn't signed the final paperwork yet.
"The terms of the settlement will not be disclosed until all the documents are formally executed," Shaw said, reading from a prepared statement.
That still might be a while. According to the plaintiffs' attorney, Claudia Polsky, she knew the council was going to consider the latest settlement offer, but hasn't seen anything signed yet. Until they can sign the final papers and file it in court, nothing's settled, she said.
City Attorney Mike Riback also said that the settlement is tentative, and said it was "odd" for the mayor to have made the announcement because the agreement is still not final. He did acknowledge, however, that details of the settlement will be finished soon.
He also declined to give details of the agreement's terms.
According to Riback and Shaw, the city is still covering its bases with the Association of Bay Area Governments, which provides insurance to the city. Before the city can finalize a legal agreement and release the terms of the settlement, the city needs formal word from ABAG that its insurance policy will cover potential costs to the city spelled out in the settlement, including legal fees.
Riback said he'll probably receive word in about two weeks, and then the settlement can be finalized.
In his announcement, Shaw said "The hard work of [Vice Mayor] Stan Bogosian and [Councilman] Nick Streit were instrumental in what we hope will be a positive solution for the city and the plaintiffs."
After the meeting, Shaw said that Bogosian and Streit served on a subcommittee that dealt with the plaintiffs to hammer out the potential agreement.
"They worked well as a team, along with the plaintiffs," Shaw said.
At the meeting, Saratogan Jeff Schwartz, who is a member of Friends, was elated at the news of the case's completion.
"We're delighted to see it end honorably. It's a win for the city," Schwartz said. "My thanks goes out to the council. Without it being open to new ideas, this case wouldn't have been solved."
When asked if the settlement now means that the creek is clean, Shaw said, "It means we have our commitments to do our part to find the source and try and correct it."
Water tests as recent as last August still showed that bacteria levels in the creek were too high. At the time, Friends member Don Whetstone blamed leaking septic systems upstream for most of the dirty water.
City Manager Larry Perlin said that the effects of passing the new city sewer ordinance (see full story) might be one way to help keep the creek clean, although it's not a cure-all solution.
Perlin added that so far, what would have been obvious sources have been ruled out.
Saratoga, California Since 1975
