The Citizen-Council Stormwater Advisory Ad Hoc Committee met for the first time Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Public Works Director Iris Lee, summing up the discussion, said she heard the key priorities were to study the four drainage lines into Old Range Country Club, a comprehensive drainage plan update, as well as maintenance of drain lines into the country club.
She also said committee recommendations that require financial commitments will require City Council approval.
First, the organization of the committee. Then, a look at the discussion.
Chair selection
The group unanimously voted to make Member James Biery the committee chair. He was the only person nominated. Birey was appointed to the committee by District Four Councilwoman/Mayor Schelly Sustarsic. He is a civil engineer.
The group then unanimously voted to make Member Lorette Murphree the vice chair. She also ran unopposed.
Following a review of the city’s stormwater system and the city’s Emergency Operations, the committee discussed priorities.
Public Works Director Iris Lee said the city owns the sewer station on Electric Avenue but Orange County owns the stormwater station next to the sewer system. In response to a question from District Four Councilwoman Lisa Landau, Lee said the county had recently done upgrading in the area.
Discussion
The following is only a summary of the discussion.
Biery said water falls in College Park East, then goes into the golf course (he apparently meant the Old Ranch Country Club), then comes back under Lampson Avenue and eventually ends up in the San Gabriel River. He said that was a “scheme” created by home-builder SNS and the city because there was no place to put the water when College Park East was developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
Biery proposed looking at how the four storm drains in the College Park East operate and figure out what works and what doesn’t work.
“I think a priority should be to maximize the drains that we have now,” he said.
Member Warren Stewart (appointed by District One Council Member Joe Kalmick) asked if any hydrology studies had been done.
Lee said a 2019 study of the College Park East area modeled the drainage and hydrology of the area. She said she would be happy to provide Stewart with the details of the specific reports.
Lee said three options came out of the 2019 report. She described them as a lower version, a cheaper version, all the way to a $60 million version.
Landau suggested that not everyone knew about the Ironwood property.
Lee said the 4197 Ironwood property was a residence that Seal Beach bought years ago. She said it was intended to be a place holder in case the city was one day able to build a pump station there.
“This property happens to align with one of the lines that feeds directly into Old Ranch Country Club,” Lee said.
(The City Council voted in February 2024 to sell the Ironwood property. See “Seal Beach to sell Ironwood property,” at sunnews.org.)
Sustarsic said the city had two potential developments in that area. (She was apparently referring to the Lampson Avenue project in the city of Los Alamitos and proposed development on the Old Ranch Country Club property.)
Lee said staff was looking at various opportunities.
In response to a question from a committee member about whether the city had discussed drainage work with the developers, Lee said the details had not been finalized and was not public information at this time. She also said Seal Beach was having conversations with the developers about what she called “collaborative opportunities.”
Patty Senecal, who was appointed to the committee by District Five Councilman Nathan Steele, raised concerns about short-term drainage needs. Senecal is running unopposed to succeed Sustarsic in the Fourth District.
“We’re in September. The rains are coming. “Is there something we can do to prepare for the rainy season?” Senecal asked.
“It’s going to be upon us very soon,” Senecal said.
Biery wanted to know the status of the four College Park East drainage lines.
Lee recommended Sencal pay attention to press releases and social media posts coming out of Seal Beach Police Sgt. Brian Gray’s office. Gray is the SBPD emergency services coordinator.
