Work at Boeing causes strife

Noise, dust and traffic from construction at the Huntington Beach

Boeing site has sparked complaints from hundreds of Westminster

Village residents.

Boeing is in the process of selling parcels at the northern end of

its property to other businesses. Most of the construction work

involves knocking down buildings and preparing parcels of the land

for sale.

Larry Fairman, former president of the Westminster Village

Homeowners Assn. says that sounds of grading and noisy trucks make it

difficult for him to sleep late in the morning.

“Some mornings I hear that equipment operating and it wakes me,”

he said.

Noise isn’t the only concern. Residents also complain about dust,

traffic and the area’s aesthetics, which they feel was compromised

when a row of eucalyptus trees that line the Boeing property were

taken down and replaced by a chain link fence, now spotted with

graffiti, Fairman said.

“We are working to try and bring it to Boeing’s attention and all

we get is rhetoric and denial,” Fairman said.

Boeing officials say they’re working to help resolve residents’

complaints.

“We’re working with all the parties involved to come to a fair

resolution,” Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva said. “We always do

our best to be a good corporate neighbor in the community.”

Residents want Boeing to replant trees, build a wall to control

dust kicked up from construction and repave the street.

Westminster Village residents, city officials and Boeing have had

several meetings to discuss the problems, one of which drew more than

100 people.

Westminster Mayor Margie Rice feels confident that the parties are

close to reaching a resolution, though she said it’s too early to

comment on negotiations.

“Boeing has done its part in trying to cooperate with the city,”

Rice said. “There’s not going to be a big us fighting them and them

fighting us.”

Boeing has agreed to halt work before 7 a.m. and on Sundays, to

control dust and has agreed to eventually plant trees, Westminster

Public Works Director Brad Fowler said.

“They will watch construction activities so they won’t adversely

impact traffic flow and dust,” he said.

In the meantime, the Westminster City Council approved $100,000 in

funds to widen Rancho Road and plant some trees.

“We feel very strongly that we’re going to resolve this,” Rice

said.

State agency to vote on funding for wetlands plan

The California Coastal Conservancy will vote today on a proposal

that could direct $300,000 in state funding to the Huntington Beach

Wetlands Conservancy.

The money, if approved, will be used to craft a plan for

restoration of a strip of degraded wetlands stretching from Beach

Boulevard to the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

The conservancy’s mission is to restore the degraded wetlands to

their natural state as a thriving habitat for plants and endangered

wildlife. The land is a nesting habitat for the endangered Belding’s

Savannah sparrow and a foraging area for least terns, brown pelicans,

snowy egrets and herons.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already contributed $50,000

for the plan, conservancy project manager Gary Gorman said.

The conservancy already owns 93 acres on the wetlands and is

looking to acquire an additional 66 acres. The three major wetlands

parcels are the Talbert Marsh; the Brookhurst Marsh, between

Brookhurst Street and Magnolia Street and the Magnolia Marsh, between

Magnolia Street and the AES power plant.

The plan will be overseen by a committee that includes

representatives from the conservancy, the city of Huntington Beach,

the County of Orange, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

National Marine Fisheries Service, the Army Corps of Engineers,

Caltrans and the University of California.

Gorman is hoping to start drafting the plan within the next week

or two.

“This has been a long time coming,” he said. “We started actively

trying to save this stuff over 20 years ago. We’ve come a long ways.”

The California Coastal Conservancy will meet at 10 a.m. today at Laguna Beach City Hall, located at 505 Forest Ave., in Laguna Beach.

Four women to be awarded by Soroptimists

A handful of Huntington Beach residents who have worked to inspire

the lives of local women will be honored April 1.

The Soroptimist International of Huntington Beach organization

will announce the recipients of its Making a Difference for Women

Awards at its annual awards luncheon.

The driving force of the Soroptimist organization is to help women

through volunteer service to the community.

Residents Barbara Huss and Jacqueline Cherewick will receive the

Women of Distinction award. Huss has made significant contributions

to both child and adult education and has worked to raise funds for

substance abuse programs in local schools. She also volunteers with

the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Cherewick is the chief executive for the nonprofit Huntington

Beach Community Clinic. Cherewick has also worked with the March of

Dimes, the Family Choice Health Network and the Family Resource

Center.

The Woman Helping Women award will go to Ilona Miller, an active

member of Project Self Sufficiency, which assists low-income, single

parents in achieving economic independence from governmental

assistance through a network of community and county services.

President and chief executive of Pacific Liberty Bank Rick Ganulin

will leave with the Advancing Status of Women award. He is being

recognized as an advocate for women in executive banking positions

throughout his 34-year career. Two of the companies’ three founding

executive vice presidents, its chief financial officer and its small

business administration and lending officers are women, making seven

of the top 10 administrators women.

The event will be held at 11:30 a.m. April 1 at the Hilton

Waterfront Beach Resort. Tickets are $40. For information, call Nouha

Hreish at (714) 840-5558.

The Soroptimist International Club of Huntington Beach meets the

second Thursday at noon and the fourth Thursday at 6 p.m. at the

Huntington Terrace Clubhouse, 18800 Florida St.

Meeting will inform about water outfall

A meeting will be held at City Hall on Wednesday to inform

residents of a pipeline that would increase wastewater treatment

options and help protect the area’s groundwater from salt

contamination.

The project, which is being developed by the Santa Ana Watershed

Project Authority, would involve separating salt from domestic

wastewater and sending it through a “brine only” pipeline that would

deposit into the ocean.

Benefits of segregating the salt are twofold, said Rich Haller,

program manager with the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority.

“The ultimate goal is to preserve groundwater quality,” Haller

said. “Salt has been accumulating in the watershed and in the

groundwater basins. Salt has been affecting the groundwater quality,

which is the water everybody consumes in the watershed.”

Wastewater is more reusable when drained of salt, he added.

“We want to properly dispose of [wastewater] and by separating it,

we can more effectively reuse and handle it,” Haller said.

The purpose of the meeting is to seek public input on the project,

which is in initial planning stages.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Room B-8 at

Huntington Beach City Hall.