HUNTINGTON BEACH : Farm’s Demolition Funds Pier Buildup

While workers continue dismantling the pier, some of the cost of that project has been raised during the demolition of a mushroom farm about 2 miles away.

Of the $400,000 the city will pay Pomona Valley Equipment for leveling the mushroom farm on a Redevelopment Agency site, about $17,000 will be refunded for the pier. That $17,000 will come from recycling.

As part of the city’s agreement with Pomona Valley, the Chino-based company is to pay the city $1 for every ton of concrete and wood debris from the site that has been sold for reuse. The firm sold about 17,000 tons of shredded wood and crushed concrete for such uses as mulch and gravel base for new streets, according to a city staff report.

That contribution to the pier project follows a $20,000 pledge made by representatives from Anjo, Japan, Huntington Beach’s sister city, officials said this week.

The city bought the land at Golden West Street near Ellis Avenue and ordered the mushroom farm removed to relocate 225 mobile homes as part of a redevelopment project agreement. However, with only 25 residences moved to their new location, the project has stalled because of high levels of methane gas discovered beneath land next to the site.

City officials have yet to determine where the remaining mobile homes will be relocated or how it might develop the former mushroom farm site.

Anjo business leaders, while visiting their U.S. sister city last month, promised to raise $20,000 to help rebuild the pier, which officials estimate will cost $11.7 million.

The new pier is scheduled to be completed in spring, 1992, which will also mark the 10th anniversary of Huntington Beach’s sister-city relationship with Anjo.