LA HABRA HEIGHTS – When Matrix Oil Co. proposed to drill for oil in Whittier, the city had plenty of staff to oversee the environmental review process.

But La Habra Heights – where Matrix also has made a similar proposal – does not.

In fact, while Whittier’s Community Development Department, which oversaw the environmental review, has 20 employees, the entire city of La Habra Heights has a total of six employees. And one is on maternity leave.

It’s part of the difference in budgets. Whittier’s general fund budget is $56 million, while La Habra Heights’ is $2.8 million.

“I do think that’s an extremely valid question and we’ll have to face that,” said La Habra Heights City Manager Shauna Clark when asked how the city will handle the expected Matrix oil proposal.

But Clark said it’s too soon to talk about it because Matrix hasn’t even submitted a plan yet.

“In La Habra Heights, we can’t spend time thinking about what’s going to happen,” she said. “We get the application; then we go to work.”

The comparisons in city staff aren’t the only differences between the two projects.

Money is one.

Whittier could receive between $7.5 million and $40 million annually should the project get court approval and a deal reached with Los Angeles County.

La Habra Heights might get as much as $136,000 a year through its oil resource extraction tax and maybe as much as $1 million in sales tax revenue.

City officials are considering increasing the tax. The issue is likely to be considered at a special meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

The difference is that Whittier owns the mineral rights and La Habra Heights doesn’t.

Another difference is the two sites. Whittier’s was in the hills that are considered protected land and was purchased with the use of a 1992 parcel tax.

Matrix wants to drill on a 70-acre parcel owned by Southern California Gas Co. since the 1950s. It has mostly been used for storage of natural gas but there are nine wells on the site.

But a key difference is staff.

Even Whittier with its multitude of employees was hard pressed and had to hire consultants, said City Manager Jeff Collier, who was community development director at the time the project was under review.

“We’re staffed to handle the current work load but when you add a project, you need to bring in somebody else to oversee it and give it the due attention it requires,” Collier said.

The city hired Joanne Lombardo to manage the conditional use permit and environmental processing.

Matrix Oil Co. paid those costs and for other consultants who prepared the environmental impact report and did other work. The same would happen in La Habra Heights.

But it didn’t pay for the time that Collier and Jeff Adams, planning services manager, spent in overseeing Lombardo’s work.

“For the most part it was her on top of the environmental consideration and prompting myself or Jeff to make a decision on important matters as we were going forward,” Collier said.

“She kept the ball rolling at all times and made sure decisions were made in a timely manner,” he said.

While La Habra Heights can hire consultants, it only has a half-time contract planning manager and possibly Clark to oversee the environmental review.

“It’s really hard,” Clark said of not having much staff. “I deal with it every single day. Once we do anything out of our daily schedule, everybody has to pitch in.”

La Habra Heights used to have more employees. When Clark was hired in November 2007, it had 12 full-time employees.

It now has Clark, an assistant city manager who is on leave, a deputy city clerk, an accountant, a community development manager and a customer service representative.

Its fire chief is part-time.

“Our general fund is mostly reliant on property tax and that has fallen with the economy,” she said. “This is a city that has cut services, including law enforcement. We have so few sources of revenue.”

But Clark said when Matrix submits its plan – expected sometime next month – the city will do what’s needed.

“I am going to sit down with Kathryn (Laufenburger),” she said, referring to the planning manager for La Habra Heights.

Mayor Brian Bergman said the city will handle the expected Matrix project.

“We’re going to do what we have to do,” Bergman said. “We’ll have to take a look at it and take appropriate action to do whatever is needed.”

mike.sprague@sgvn.com

562-698-0955, ext. 3022