“The city flooded in 2004 - we had a severe rain event,” said Sean Crumby, Director of Public Works, City of Seal Beach. “So, they formed an ad hoc committee in response to that flood.” Six years later, the City has received Coastal Commission approval to begin construction on a major storm drain improvement on the east side of Old Town. The city said in a statement “Work will commence after the Labor Day weekend and will take approximately 6 months to complete.”
But the most recent Seal Beach flood victims are in the Bridgeport neighborhood, which experienced severe flooding in January 2010 (see related article below). Bridgeport is on the west side of Old Town and, draining into the San Gabriel River, is a separate watershed from the area where the current improvements will be constructed.
According to the City’s statement, The current project, located in the east side of Old Town, involves “installation of a new 66-in. storm drain to work along side the existing 54-in. storm drain pipe and 25 new catch basins on Electric Avenue between 14th Street and Seal Beach Boulevard.”
Both areas – west Old Town and east Old Town have experience flooding in recent years. “When we had the flood in the winter of 2004, they flooded down there {east Old Town},” said community activist and Bridgeport resident Robert Goldberg. “Bridgeport flooded at that time, but they flooded too, so they’re at risk.”
Why did it take 6 years, not to mention another major flood, to make substantial improvements? “Anything in Old Town is within the coastal zone,” Public Works Director Crumby told OC180NEWS. “This Electric Avenue project has been years in the making. We’ve been trying to get a coastal development permit for two years now.”
Not only do city council approval and Coastal Commission permits take years to nail down, the city has more projects than money. “In 2008, we updated our {storm drain} master plan and the master plan factored in the recommendations from the ad hoc committee,” said Crumby. “It listed approximately $89 million in needed improvements and we’re very, very fortunate to be able to put in $5 million of our own money."
The next storm drain project has not been decided on, so it will go through the same steps as the Electric Avenue project. Depending on how that project goes, Crumby thinks his department might be able to bring a recommendation to the city council before the end of this year. Then, the council must prioritize it against all the other projects, find the money, and then city staff can start the
Coastal Commission permit process all over again.
“Now we’re going down the list – looking at some of the other recommendations made by the ad hoc committee,” said Crumby. “We’re trying to build this project that we have now, then we’re going to assess where we are with the money we have left over. Then we’re going to tackle our next project.”
Even though the storm drain master plan has Not been updated since the January 2010 flooding in Bridgeport, Crumby told OC180NEWS “we’re looking at where to go next and Bridgeport is a likely candidate, but I can’t really commit to anything yet.”
The City said of the Electric Avenue project,”different phases of construction will result in road closures, detours set up and parking restrictions. To avoid the construction zone, those wishing to access the beach are encouraged to use either 12th Street or Main Street off of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) rather than Seal Beach Boulevard. Please avoid 13th Street through Seal Beach Boulevard south of PCH.”
“I know everyone over there in Old Town is very excited about getting this project done,” said Robert Goldberg. “They’ve been waiting on it a long time.”
