Tidelands Fund Transfer to L.B. Harbor Proposed
Mayor Ernie Kell proposed Tuesday that the Harbor Department manage the city’s tidelands fund next year to help restore the area’s eroding beaches.
Kell said the Harbor Department has both the expertise and the money to improve the beaches.
“I think this is an opportunity to ask the harbor to help the city,” he said. Several other members of the council agreed that the department is better prepared than the city to care for the Long Beach coastline.
Councilman Warren Harwood disagreed and accused Kell of trying to transfer control of tidelands maintenance from the council to the harbor commissioners, who are political appointees.
“He’s suggesting we take the control and operation away from elected representatives and the community and transfer control of Belmont Pier . . . and the boat ramps to appointed commissioners,” Harwood said.
City officials estimate that it would cost at least $51 million to repair such things as stairways to the beach and eroding bluffs.
The council will discuss the proposal again Tuesday. Both the city and the Harbor Department must hold public hearings on the plan before the council may vote on it.
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