Tentative Deal May Help Replenish Beach

Port Hueneme and Oxnard Harbor District leaders have struck a tentative deal that should help Port Hueneme collect the sand it needs to replenish its eroded beach, and allow the port district to move onto surplus military land to expand its deep-water harbor.

The two often-dueling governmental agencies reached the general agreement Wednesday at an occasionally heated, yet productive meeting, said Tom Figg, the city’s community development director.

“We don’t have a done deal yet,” he said. “It’s one thing to talk concept, it’s another thing to agree on actual mechanics.”

The three-pronged preliminary deal calls for the district to help the city lobby for federally subsidized sand needed every two years to shore up its municipal beach. The port’s construction decades ago disrupted the usual flow of sand, jeopardizing a road and adjacent condominiums with beach erosion.

The port district also promised to help the city finance repairs to an adjacent sea wall if sand continues to erode.

In return, the city agreed to support dredging plans to widen and deepen the port’s channel so it can accommodate larger vessels. Most of the sand dredged from the harbor, Figg said, could be used to build up the beach.

The city has also agreed to approve the transfer of the 33-acre former Navy site. The port district has contended that the city’s delay has cost it clients for the site--an allegation Figg refutes.