Seal Beach will fix the restrooms first
Second in a series.
Seal Beach officials plan to renovate the pier restrooms before moving on to the other pier related projects. Mayor/District One Councilman Joe Kalmick has said he’s received nothing but negative comments about the pier restrooms.
That was the city manager’s recommendation to the council and that was the council’s direction to staff at the recent strategic planning session held last month.
Staff will then work on repairing the pier base and improving the parking lot.
Meanwhile, staff is looking at arranging community outreach to the public to discuss the feasibility of building a restaurant at the end of the pier.
As previously reported, staff plans to shift from financing projects with General Fund reserves and instead finance projects with revenues.
City Manager Jill Ingram told the council that the financial considerations are the driver of what is realistic. She said the city has to be able to afford payments on debt financing.
Pier restrooms
According to the staff presentation, it would cost an estimated $250,000 to repair the pier restrooms. Ingram said staff is budgeting the project for Fiscal Year 2021-22. (That starts July 1.)
Ingram recommended renovating the restrooms in advance of other pier projects.
All five council members raised virtual “hands” in agreement.
The city has a contract with Golden Touch Cleaning Solutions, Inc., to clean the restrooms and other city facilities. According to page 25 of the contract, pier restrooms to be cleaned Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 17 to May 15. The restrooms are to be cleaned seven days a week from May 16 to Sept. 16.
However, Kalmick said cleaning and disinfecting the restrooms was no longer effective in removing odors.
Kalmick said he considered the pier restrooms part of the Main Street corridor.
Public Works Director Steve Myrter spelled out the scope of work for the restroom project in a recent email.
“• New epoxy paint coating on all restroom interior concrete surfaces
“• New flooring
“• New internal plumbing
“• New restroom fixtures
“• New/enhanced ventilation
“• New electrical / lighting,” he wrote.
Pier base and parking lots
City staff also plans to restore the base of the pier and resurfacing the Eighth Street and 10th Street parking lots.
The estimated cost: $900,000.
Kalmick wanted staff to be aware that the potholes in the parking lots keep getting worse. He asked staff to monitor the condition of the lots and make temporary repairs as the city can.
Ingram said staff would budget regular monitoring of the lots and perform repairs as necessary.
As to the pier base, Myrter said the base was in such bad shape that you would have to dig down to the dirt.
District Five Councilwoman Sandra Massa-Lavitt asked if $900,000 was enough.
All five council members supported the project.
Restaurant space
The end of the Seal Beach pier was destroyed by a fire in 2016. The fire damaged building that once house Ruby’s.
The building was ultimately demolished.
The space has been empty ever since.
Some residents want another restaurant there. Others call for leaving the space open.
City Manager Jill Ingram recently said she wanted staff to start the outreach even if that means using a virtual format.
Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos said the city was picking up the outreach project again with the consultant and they were looking at a hybrid pubic/virtual outreach.
(Staff had originally planned the outreach last year. The pandemic forced staff to delay the restaurant feasibility outreach.)
The city has $1.4 million in insurance money available. Treasurer/Finance Director Kelly Telford said the $1.4 million is unrestricted, so the money can be used for other purposes than replacing the restaurant building.
A past Sun News Poll asked if the public would like to see something at the end of the pier.
The results:
Yes—59.26%
No—40.74%
Don’t know/No opinion—0.00%
Next installment: City steps back on community pool project.
