Things Looking Up for Surfside’s Beach

City officials are expressing renewed hopes for the perilously eroded Surfside beach.

The elimination of sand-replenishment funds from the current state budget last month affects only the public beach south of the pier, Seal Beach Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings said this week, and beach replenishment funds for the gated community of Surfside have not been cut.

The Army Corps of Engineers rebuilds the Surfside beach every five years, but the federal agency refused to replenish the sand as scheduled last year after the state failed to provide its share of the funding.

State legislators withheld funding for the project because of concerns over Orange County’s bankruptcy, Hastings said.

With state funding in place, the corps has indicated that the $10-million Surfside beach replenishment project may be resurrected this year.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that the Army Corps will be able to come through for us by late spring,” Hastings said.

But oceanfront homeowners in Surfside are still concerned about the threat of damage from fierce winter storms.

Some of the community’s oceanfront homes are only a few hundred feet from the surf, and the highest tides of the year are expected to hit Jan. 19 and 20.

The city has built a barrier of 5,500 sandbags and reinforced the sea wall with five-ton boulders, which withstood high tides late last month.

If the corps project goes forward, City Manager Keith Till said, Seal Beach will try to negotiate the use of the corps’ dredging equipment to fortify the public beach south of the pier.

YORBA LINDA: Decision on Widening Highway Postponed

Amid contention over the possible widening of Imperial Highway, the City Council has voted to delay action until late March, when design work and a local survey are completed.

The proposal to extend the highway from one lane in both directions to two or three lanes in some locations has drawn heated opposition from some residents, who say that it would increase traffic and require construction of more sound walls in the city.

LA PALMA: Birthday Celebration a Financial Success

The city’s celebration of its 40th birthday was both a civic and financial success, the City Council learned from the final report on the October event.

Former Mayor Keith Nelson, chairman of the 40th anniversary committee, said that thousands of La Palmans turned out for the various festivities.

Nelson also reported that the birthday bash operated safely in the black, even ending with a $1,771.90 surplus that will go into the city’s general fund.

Nelson said the surplus will keep growing as sales of 40th anniversary T-shirts continue.

Compiled by RUSS LOAR, SARAH KLEIN AND BILL BILLITER