HUNTINGTON BEACH : City to Research Ways to Pay for Pier

The City Council has directed City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga and the city staff to research ways to pay for a new $11-million pier.

The study will include the possibility of a city bond issue to pay for part of the cost of the new pier, which is scheduled to be under construction by Nov. 1. The city’s old pier, built in 1914, has been closed since July, 1988, because of storm and wave damage.

So far, only $7.5 million of the $11-million cost has been raised from state and federal funds and private donations. The City Council is considering hiring a professional fund-raiser, but some city officials question whether even a professional firm could raise the $3.5 million by the end of this year. Former Mayor Ron Shenkman, who heads the city’s volunteer fund-raising committee, told the City Council that the shortfall on the pier might even exceed $3.5 million.

“We’d better not look into just raising $3.5 million because we may need more,” Shenkman said, possibly as much as $5 million.

The city will not know the exact cost of a new pier until bids are sought later this year.

Mayor Thomas J. Mays has said he does not think that the city should seek a pier bond issue “except as a last resort.” Mays said residents of the city need assurances that “all other avenues have been tried” before the city proposes a bond issue.

But Councilman John Erskine has said he thinks that a bond issue is needed and must soon be considered. Erskine said he favors having both a professional fund-raiser and a bond issue to pay for the pier and for a $2.5-million plaza at the head of the pier.

The City Council will receive a report in early May on proposals for funding the pier.