By Doug Miller
The City Council will vote to go forward with or reject the controversial Army Corps of Engineers' Storm Damage Reduction Project at a special meeting May 4 at 8 p.m. in the sixth-floor meeting room at City Hall.
The vote will bring to a close two-decade-long negotiations between the city and the federal government over a $97 million project that would pump more than 6 million cubic yards of sand onto the beach from Nevada Avenue in the West End to Point Lookout; rebuild or rehabilitate 18 groins and build another seven; construct a dune under the Long Beach boardwalk and replace the wooden deck with a synthetic one; and revisit the city every five years for renourishment on an as-needed basis.
The city's share of the project would be about $6 million.
No project of this scope can please everyone, and its opponents have been vocal and ubiquitous, with the Surfrider Foundation rallying opposition on environmental grounds. They have been joined in the battle by residents of Point Lookout, who would also participate in the plan and who stand to gain the most from its implementation. Point Lookout's beaches, on the barrier island's eastern shore, have eroded so extensively that high tides often wash up within a few yards of private houses.
None of the members of the council were willing to tip their hands as to how they would vote. Several expressed frustration with the process. "Recently there has been more public participation, both in terms of information being given to the public and members of the public doing work on their own," said council President Leonard Remo. "I believe that the public is now as informed as it's ever been. I don't want to say the public's well informed, because there is still a lot of he-said-she-said and people leaving salient points out of conversations for their own agendas. But there will always be that."
For Remo's fellow Democrat on the council, Rob Tepper, there is still a lot that needs to be mulled over. "The financial aspects of this project are troubling," Tepper said. "We do not have the federal and state money. So if we were to commit $6 million, we don't have the other $93 million locked in, so it's a very real thing that somebody could yank an appropriation and we're left with a half-finished project."
Also seeping into the debate is animosity amongst council members, with Tom Sofield, a member of the Republican minority, questioning Remo's leadership in failing to bring the council together for a round-table discussion.
But Sofield said that the bulk of the problem was not local. Representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers came to Long Beach in March for an informal discussion of the project that drew more than 400 people and lasted long into the night. During the meeting, they were frequently criticized by members of the public and government officials for their standoffish attitude and curt, even patronizing answers.
"I'm not happy with the Army Corps," Sofield said. "I think their attitude is horrible. If this is going to be a project in conjunction with one another, their attitude should have been, 'Let's work together.'
"But another issue I have is the lack of communication between me and [fellow Republican Councilman] Jimmy [Hennessy] and the rest of the council. We're supposed to have been discussing this and figuring out where it's going, and they aren't giving us anything."
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