The Beverly Hills City Council unanimously approved spending a maximum of $11 million to plug 19 oil and gas wells at Beverly Hills High School during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

The three-part item that went before council was to approve Amendment No. 3 to the agreement between the city, ARB Inc. and the Beverly Hills Unified School District for the capping and abandonment of the wells, as well as the approval of $8 million from the general fund to go toward the increased purchase order to ARB Inc. for $26 million for the abandonment services.

The city of Beverly Hills funded the whole project up front and is negotiating with the BHUSD, as the school district will pay its amount via an escrow account as part of a cost-sharing agreement, according to city staff. The council agreed to spend a maximum of $11 million, depending on the final cost of the project, and BHUSD will pay at least $17 million by using funds from Measure BH, a $385 million construction bond measure. Consultants say the costs could go as high as $35 million to complete the project.

“I think it’s an important issue,” said Councilman Robert Wunderlich. “It’s a large amount of money.”

The project is to properly secure and plug 19 oil and gas wells at Beverly Hills High School. City staff said the 13th well should be capped this week with the entire project completed next spring.

“We are pleased to work collaboratively with the school district to ensure this project is completed safely and in the near future,” said Keith Sterling, city of Beverly Hills spokesman.

The City Council previously approved a three-party agreement on Feb. 20, 2018, for the project in an amount not to exceed $7 million. During the Dec. 18 meeting, the council approved the first amendment of the agreement in the amount of $5 million to provide time for the city and BHUSD to complete the review and implementation of cost-saving changes to the project.

In March, the BHUSD rejected a previous offer from the city that would limit the city’s costs to $8 million. The city offered the amount after the school district presented an estimated amount of between $21-26 million for the project.

At the April 16 meeting, the council approved the second amendment in the amount of $7 million, and on May 7, the council approved the second amendment between the city and BHUSD. The BHUSD approved the amendment during its May 28 meeting.