Officials at the Port of Long Beach Monday released a report detailing future law enforcement and protection needs, beginning a lengthy process that will eventually result in two new security campuses for the growing port.
The report, presented to the Harbor Board of Commissioners Monday by the Port’s Security Director Randy Parsons and Acting Chief Harbor Engineer Sean Gamette, outlines a list of must-haves for the $106 million proposed security campus program and is the culmination of a year of research spurred by the massive infrastructure changes being brought by in-process projects like the new Gerald Desmond Bridge and Middle Harbor.
Together with their partners the Long Beach Police Department and the Long Beach Fire Department, Port security officials say that in addition to moving or rebuilding both of the Port’s fire-boat houses, two new structures are needed to facilitate a division of assets and improve deployment efficiency.
“The $4.5 billion in capital investment that has been made is adding infrastructure to our port at a very impressive pace,” said Parsons. “All these efforts increase productivity as well as the diversity and complexity of our infrastructure. It’s a formidable challenge and one that this assessment is attempting to address. We believe these are the best answers to having a unified security front.”
At the center of the proposed security campus program is a large operations campus that would sit adjacent to the current Joint Command and Control Center on Pier F. This structure would expand the facilities currently in place to include office space for personnel from all security agencies, a dive locker, a fixed breakwater and a new boat bay for Fire Station 15, upgrades needed to accommodate the new fire boats that are due for arrival early next year.
A support campus to be located somewhere in the inner harbor would also need to be built to provide integrated facilities for law enforcement and emergency response activities, according to the report. This support campus will also be home to a new Fire Station 20, which is currently in a temporary location after being moved to make way for the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement. Currently, there are no security services located inside of the port beyond Pier D.
“Should a major event occur, not having a single point of failure–if one facility were to not be operational–is crucial,” said Parsons. “Two campuses are a requirement for a port of this size.”
Last year, Westside community members stepped up to save the fish market and small businesses located at Berth 55 after the Port gave them a notice to vacate so that a fire station and security complex could be built on the site. In September, the eviction was rescinded so that an environmental impact report could be completed on the proposed project and many see this week’s needs assessment report, which did not include potential locations for the support campus, as another opportunity to find alternative locations and stave off the closure of Berth 55 businesses.
After reviewing the report, Harbor Commissioner Rich Dines expressed concern about the fact that Berth 55 was originally presented as the only available location for the proposed fire station and security campus. The wake zone speed limit, he argued, is not conducive to emergency response activities.
“Since we haven’t built it or broken ground, what I would like to see is that the Board be presented with any other information on potential sites,” Dines said. “I believe there could be four, five or six different locations that we could relocate to that would be a better fit. Right now is the right time to bring this up, I really believe we really need to continue and study more alternative sites for Fire Station 20.”
Reconstruction of Fire Boat Station 15 on Pier F was approved as part of the Middle Harbor Expansion Project and is able to begin as soon as designs are drawn up. The support campus and new Fire Station 20, however, will require its own separate environmental reporting process. Harbor engineers are currently reviewing potential sites for the inner harbor facility and will return this fall with a siting study and recommendation.
“You may ask, ‘Why are we doing this? Are we not safe today?'” said Parsons. “We are as safe as we possibly can be today. The assets are spread out and that’s never a good thing. With great partnerships, we must improve and these are some features that can improve us greatly.”
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