By Gary Warth | [email protected] | The San Diego Union-Tribune

A sinkhole and failed storm-drain pipe next to an El Cajon home will cost about $700,000 to repair, the City Council learned Tuesday.

The pipe break in a side yard of a house in the 800 block of Brockton Street was discovered at about 10 a.m. March 17 when city public works staff received a report of a sinkhole about 5 feet deep and 3 feet by 4 feet across.

An inspection found damage to a city-owned and maintained 24-inch corrugated metal pipe that runs through the property and moves stormwater from the street to a natural stormwater channel behind the property.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to to declare an emergency and approved the immediate expenditure of funds to make repairs.

"The conditions require immediate repairs to protect adjacent public improvements, maintain critical street thoroughfares, and preserve life and safety," according to the staff report that went before the council.

The staff report said there were failures at both ends of the pipe, and up to 250 feet of it will need to be replaced. Because of potential rainfall, city staff recommended moving forward with repairs quickly to prevent additional sinkholes and the possible collapse of existing utilities, the street and sidewalk.

The El Cajon City Council meets every two weeks and the agenda had already been published for the Tuesday meeting when the need for the emergency declaration was discovered, so a special council meeting was called.

To meet legal requirements, the City Council adjourned its regular Tuesday meeting at 5:30 p.m., called the special meeting to order and voted on the funding repairs, adjourned, then immediately resumed the regular meeting.