Santa Clarita is set to discuss whether it will authorize a land sale in support of Cemex legislation to prevent a sand-and-gravel mine from moving in next to the city.

“The item thats on the agenda is for the council to consider whether or not at some point in the future, it might make sense to convey that property to the federal government,” said Mike Murphy, intergovernmental relations officer for Santa Clarita. “It’s part of the overall discussion related to the Cemex issue.”

The city of Santa Clarita and Cemex, an international mining company, have been working cooperatively for more than a decade to compensate Cemex for its Soledad Canyon mining contracts while avoiding a large-scale, multi-decade mining operation near the city’s eastern border.

The city of Santa Clarita and Cemex, an international mining company, have been working cooperatively for more than a decade to compensate Cemex for its Soledad Canyon mining contracts while avoiding a large-scale, multi-decade mining operation near the city’s eastern border.

Related: Santa Clarita Mining Could Be Issue For 50 Years If Cemex Bill Fails

Because the item is on the closed session agenda and linked to a property negotiation, city officials are not commenting further on the nature of the deal.

The land under discussion Tuesday is a 176-acre vacant plot about a half-mile east of Agua Dulce Canyon Road in Agua Dulce.

City officials purchased from Canyon Country Enterprises, owned by Ben Curtis, back in 2004.

The city purchased the land for $293,010. The tract number was changed subsequently, and the land is currently valued at more than $356,000, according to officials with the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office.

Over the summer, Santa Clarita officials, including Councilman Bob Kellar, testified on Senate Bill 771, about the city’s commitment to achieving a zero score for the Cemex mining bill.

Related: UPDATE: Santa Clarita Officials Take Part In Hearing On Cemex Bill

A “zero score” means the Congressional Budget Office determined the bill will have no cost to taxpayers.

Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced legislation last week with language that earned a zero score, however, the mechanism for how that score is reached is not published, Murphy said.

“My understanding is that (the CBO) does not go into excruciating detail on how they calculate the score,” Murphy said, “so someone does not come in to manipulate the system.”

There’s no calculation or spreadsheet released, he said. “They just say overall, with respect to the language that Sen. Boxer asked them to score, they have come back and said to her, this will score at zero.”

The most current iteration of Boxer’s bill, which has been introduced into the House by Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, would stop an aggregate mine from coming to the Santa Clarita Valley.

The bill calls for the cancellation of two mining contracts that Cemex, a Mexico-based, international building materials company, owns on land just east of the city of Santa Clarita.

In exchange, the Bureau of Land Management would be called upon to sell about 10,000 acres in San Bernardino County, the value of which would be used to compensate Cemex for the value of their land.

The value of those lands is an important component, and would determine, what if any amount, the city would be required to pay in order to make sure there is no cost to the federal government in cancelling the contract.

Kellar said the city was committed to making sure of that, but that he also believed the value of the lands in Victorville will negate the value of the contract.