Good morning, Long Beach. It’s Monday, March 16. Here’s what you need to know to start your day. Get this in your inbox each week by signing up at LBPost.com/newsletters.
City meetings
California storms do a lot of good. They replenish the state’s water supply by filling its reservoirs and lower the risk of wildfires.
But the rainwater runoff also comes with problems, most notably downstream on the Los Angeles River. Carried along it are heavy pollutants and debris that often skirt the river’s trash blockade and wash directly onto shore, creating a toxic crust that’s unsavory for beachgoers.
For years, a solution has largely escaped the city. Hopefully, one might still be floating downstream.
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday is expected to enter into an agreement with Los Angeles County and Ocean Cleanup, an international conservation group, to forge a plan for stewarding a new trash collection system at the mouth of the river.
With this agreement, Ocean Cleanup could help design and pay for a new system. The County, which approves the waterside permits needed, could also help with the cost and management of a collector once it’s installed.
This comes weeks after the nonprofit announced a similar agreement with nearby Seal Beach to design a trash interceptor at the exit of the San Gabriel River. Officials say the nonprofit has toured the portion of the L.A. River in Long Beach and will likely rule out an interceptor, citing dangerous river speeds that could carry the vessel onshore.
Ocean Cleanup designed the Ballona Creek Interceptor, which has collected 156 tons of trash since 2022, as well as one in Newport Beach.
Officials say the agreement is simply a formal announcement to the public that some change is coming, most likely in some combination of another boom system, nets and gates that will divert and collect trash floating downstream. The city and county currently manage a three-boom system set up at the mouth of the river and between Ocean Boulevard and Queensway Bridge that is meant to divert trash from the harbor.
The plans, detailed at a city meeting in November, were said to cost between $4.3 million and $7.7 million. The city has about $4.3 million.
But any budget will factor in the cost savings from not having to clean an unprecedented amount of trash that ends up along the Long Beach shoreline.
The 834-mile river, which cuts through 44 cities that account for some five million people, sends thousands of pounds of debris downstream. The city and county together remove about 4,000 tons of trash each year, at staggering costs.
“I remember cleaning up needles during Junior Guard, wafting through trash when trying to enjoy the water in the summer with my friends, and walking by the waterline to see what seemed like an endless amount of styrofoam, plastic, and other arrays of trash littered everywhere,” one resident, Luke Dobie, wrote to the City Council.
Other things to watch for this week:
- The Utilities Commission is expected to approve a contract for GTI Energy to conduct a study on decommissioning natural gas pipelines in Long Beach.
- The Long Beach City Council will review a $1.7 million lease agreement for housing the homeless at Colonial Motel for one year. The money comes from an $11 million state encampment resolution fund.
- The city wants to buy a commercial property at 1827 E. Spring St. for $9.9 million, in an agreement not to exceed $14.4 million. The 68,000-square-foot building would be used, according to the city, to store forensic evidence and other inventory for the police department.
- Ahead of the 2028 Olympics, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors wants to take inventory of all their buildings or land that could be used for the Games, either as hospitality houses, training facilities, sponsorship events or broadcast locations.
Business events and information
- The city is hosting a “Doing Business with the City Expo” on April 2, starting at 1 p.m. at Wardlow Park Social Hall (3457 Stanbridge Ave.). The event will focus on businesses and vendors interested in selling their products and services to Long Beach, as well as getting their businesses involved in planning ahead of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games. For more information, RSVP here.
- The Women’s Business Council is hosting its next Sisterhood Social on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Wicked Wolf. The event is free to attend. Click here for more information.
ICYMI — California and national news
- Firefighters union, renter advocates launch tax initiative to fund road repairs, new stations, housing production (Long Beach Post)
- California passed a law to curb spikes in gas prices. Why isn’t it using those powers now? (CalMatters)
- Defense and spacecraft manufacturer Voyager opens facility in Long Beach (Long Beach Post)
- Anduril set to acquire Orange County space surveillance company (Los Angeles Times)
- This $100,000 EV from Sony and Honda is a big gamble and only available in California (Los Angeles Times)