Aerial Photos of Sunset Beach Fire

What’s Up In Seal Beach has exclusive aerial photo’s of Friday’s Sunset Beach fire that consumed one home entirely and heavily damaged two others.

Fire Ravaged Homes (photos by Jerry Rootlieb)

Fire Chief Kris Concepion said that first estimates are that the fire was caused by an overturned charcoal Bar-B-Que.

The occupants had just finished preparing the food and took it inside to cut it up before serving.  Apparently the wind blew over the charcoal burner and the conflagration erupted quickly and burned for almost 24 hours.  Fire workers stayed overnight putting out hot spots and it was still burning Saturday afternoon.

Estimates are that  repairs for the three damaged homes could exceed $10 million dollars.

Mark Atkinson, a renter the home that was totally destroyed said that he lost everything.  He stoically said, “Everything except what I’m wearing.”

District 1 News from Deaton

Budget:
The City Council and the staff have worked together for the last couple months to cut expenses and balance the budget while including citizen requests for expenditures and suggestions on savings. Jill Ingram, the Acting City Manager and her staff are to be commended for their hard work, long hours, and thoughtful approach to budgeting so that we have been able to keep our services at the same high levels to maintain our quality of life as the budget was reduced over last year’s by $2.2 million.  The budget is scheduled to be put before the City Council for approval at the City Council meeting of June 13th. (Editor’s Note:  Jill Ingram was made City Manager at last Monday’s meeting.)

Now it will be up to the Department Heads to live within the established budget and up to the Council not to authorize non-emergency budget amendments.  We will be reviewing the budget again in February to be sure we are living within our means and to make adjustments as needed.


DWP Proposed Project:
In other news, the DWP Property is now beginning the public process of review on the proposed open space/residential project.  Two dates you may want to put on your calendar:  June 13th and June 20th.  At the June 13th Council meeting, the Planning Director, Mark Persico, will be discussing the Settlement Agreement.  It will be televised.  June 20th will be a scoping meeting with the consultants doing the EIR (Environmental Impact Report.)  At this meeting all who are interested in this project will be given the opportunity to speak to what they believe should be included in the study of the proposed project.  The EIR will evaluate traffic, noise, soil quality, etc. from the project.  Please attend June 20th if you would like to participate in the beginning of the EIR process on the DWP Property.


Freeway Construction Traffic:
As you know the traffic on Seal Beach Blvd., Studebaker and the surrounding areas is heavily impacted by the freeway construction projects.  Sean Crumby, our Public Works Director is working diligently on getting the signals timed for good traffic flow.  Unfortunately, it seems to be a moving target as the traffic is erratic due to so much freeway traffic being routed onto our streets.  But, Public Works will continue to monitor the situation and are doing the best they can in a difficult situation.


New Red Curbs/Reduced Parking:
In order to facilitate emergency services by Fire Engines to the east side of Old Town, red curbs have been painted at the corners of the north east side of Old Town.  Soon red curbs will be painted at the corners of Dolphin and Marine on the south east side also.  In addition to those red curbs, the new storm drains require red curbing as well.  This has created a loss of parking in areas already hurting from parking shortages.  The city will be holding a public hearing(s) about ways to help ease the parking problems created by the removal of so many parking spaces in these neighborhoods.  I’m aware of the problem and will let you know as soon as I know the date for the public meetings.  In the meantime, if you would talk among your neighbors and be ready to attend the meeting(s) with some ideas to remedy the situation, that would help us work together toward a solution.

New Pier Restrooms:
The Eisenhower Restrooms renovation is now complete.  There is a new ventilation system, new lighting, plumbing fixtures and doors.  And they were given a thorough cleaning.  What an improvement! (Editor’s Note- Whoopee!)

Marina Park Improvements:
Have you been down to Marina Park lately?  The improvements to the Basketball Courts have been completed.  There are now new backboards, improved lighting and resurfaced courts.

City Manager:
The City Council has spent many hours interviewing and working on hiring a new city manager.  We hope to have a city manager in place very soon.  As soon as one is appointed, I’ll send out a special newsletter (and a Tweet.)

This newsletter was authored by Councilmember Ellery Deaton at sealbeachdistrict1@gmail.com.

NEW Navy Radio System May Disrupt your Garage Door Openers?

Seal Beach, Calif. A new radio system operating at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach may interfere with nearby garage door openers in the surrounding community.

Called Enterprise Land Mobile Radio (ELMR), the system is being fielded at most U.S. military installations.  ELMR uses radio frequencies between 380-399.9 megahertz that have long been reserved for use by the Department of Defense, but had been underutilized until now.

Some radio-controlled garage door openers operate, on an unlicensed basis, on these same frequencies.  Such devices operate legally under Part 15 of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, at very low power, with the requirement that they do not interfere with government communication systems.

Because garage door openers are unlicensed devices, they are not offered any protection from interference by licensed users in the same frequency band, and in fact are required by federal law to accept interference from licensed users.

The Department of Defense was required to move into these underutilized frequency bands to meet its own 21st century communications needs, at the same time that the explosive growth of wireless communications networks has dramatically decreased available free bandwidth.

Base commanding officers do not have the authority to modify their ELMR systems because of local complaints, or to offer compensation to unlicensed users affected by the new system, however, many garage door opener manufacturers offer replacement transmitters and receivers that operate on frequency bands not used by the ELMR system.  Affected homeowners should contact their garage door manufacturer or installer for more information.

Car Show is on RIGHT NOW!

It is 8 a.m. and the Seal Beach car show is in progress! Where are you?

This year you can go to the pier and get a fine breakfast of  pancakes and bratwurst by the Seal Beach Lions.

More cars than ever this year and we’ll have photos up on our site in a few hours.

Call your pals and tell them to get their kids and get down there.

A  FREE Big Red Bus Shuttle with parking at Alamitos Bay Landing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Don’t miss Kim Masoner’s “Creative Reuse Class” at 1st and Ocean.  Kim is the creator of  “Save Our Beach” and one of the hardest working women in a town filled with hard working women!

Whoops…. Seems like something happened “on the way to the church” with Bay City/Seal Beach deal?

We were a little  premature in our congratulations to the City and the partners (owners) on the settlement of the DWP land adjoining First street.

We forgot the old adage”…if it sounds too good to be true….It probably is!”

When we heard this ever festering civic problem was finally solved…it was a little disappointing that the city had given in to the demands of Bay City Partners, but  understood that sometimes its best to bite the bullet when you are in litigation and settle.  Especially in times like these when the city is ill equipped for lengthy litigation with some well heeled millionaires.

It was disappointing because we believed that Bay City had known what the parameters surrounding the future development of the project would be when they bought it “way back when?” and assumed that would work to the benefit of Seal Beach.

It was also disappointing to find out that instead of being a 70/30 division; 70% open space and 30% housing is was going to be 60/40.

Well folks…it looks like its going to be a lot worse than that….. if it ever gets done.

Last week we saw the ‘Settlement Papers’ and here’s what the settlement shows:

1-Instead of a small boutique hotel on 30% of the land…we’re going to get large homes on 50% of the land. That’s right …not the 70% / 30% we were promised by 50%!

2-We’re going to pay Bay City a NON-REFUNDABLE $900,000 . . .whether or not the project is approved by the City OR THE COASTAL COMMISSION!  That $900,000 is to be considered a four year lease for the Driveway Parcel and Bike Trail at 1^st and Ocean.

3-The City staff “shall use each of his or her best efforts to secure consideration of the proposed project”  (No public input. No Rezoning input!) Further the staff should recommend ‘IN GOOD FAITH ..”  that they approved the plan.  (At least that’s how we read it.  However you can get a copy and read it for yourselves and tell us if we’re wrong.) Our staff HAS to testify that they are happy with the deal!

4-Additionally the city agreed that Bay City Partners would not have to pay any Park Fees, any Park Improvement Obligations or furnish an Affordable Housing requirements (either in lieu fees or on-site improvements.  They pay none of these fees.  Who does?  (One would guess we, the citizens do.)

5-It gets better …or worse depending on your viewpoint.  The City agreed to reduce our overhead charges on the  project from 17.5% to 8%. We would also waive Transportation Facilities Fees . That  means they could be getting  a 50% reduction in normal charges.

6-And the council agreed to testify for them…..before the Coastal Commission!   We don’t even know if the agreement is legal and our City Council is  promising to testify on behalf of the project!

7-The city agreed to pay $1,100,000 for a piece of the land….and that’s AFTER the land was changed from a 70/30 split to a 50/50 split.

8-THINK THAT’S ALL –no it isn’t. The city agreed that Bay City can take a “Donation Tax Credit” of $2,000,000. (That won’t make the tax man very happy!)

9-The city agreed to give them 7,000 feet of city owned property that will mean another four lots for Bay City Partners.  Since they are planning on a sales price of $900,000 per lot that almost another $4million.

We hear all the time about the consuming  greed of some rich Americans ….. usually its pro-athletes or movie stars.  Well it looks like Seal Beach has some of its own.

So what can we do now?

Well, I’m not a lawyer but it seems like the whole deal is now in the hands of the Coastal Commission. (Except my guess is we’ve lost the $900,000.  We’re probably stuck to pay that off.)

Tonight, Monday, go to the council meeting at 7 p.m.  Tell the City Council what you think.  Tell them what you want them to do.   If they don’t do it….then you’ll have to wait until the next election BUT and this is an important “BUT”..we can still go to the Coastal Commission and fight this miscarriage of what those Council members and City employees gave away.

Remember good old Thomas Jefferson. He did his best to make sure that the country was always going to be in the hands of the people.  He felt if it was – it would always be around; and if it wasn’t then – it wouldn’t.

So what we’re asking the citizens of Seal Beach what do you want to do?

Let us know if you want to fight….or lay down!  We’ve got your back!

Email <whatsupinsealbeach.com> Write to: WUSB, Box 90279, Long Beach,CA 90809

Save the Beach AND the Laker Girls!

If you’re looking for something fun to do today – noon to 5 p.m. (on Good Friday)  come join us at the Earth Day Fair by ESPN & LA Live !

It’s free and going to be a ton of fun including live performances by “Coco Jones” as well as “Jacob Latimore” at Nokia Plaza in LA with the following booths showing off their goods:

Laker Girls Silent Auction
ESPN Collection Area
Aquarium of the Pacific
Long Beach Depot for Creative ReUse
Green Youth Movement
Waste Management
Coalition For Clean Air
City of LA Sanitation
LA Conservation Corps
Seafood of the Future
LA Galaxy
Inner City Arts
Habitat for Humanity
Santa Monica Bay Keeper
Tree People
Bike Nation
People for the Parks

Heal The Bay

Inside the Outdoors
Save the Beach

And  Save Our Beach will be there with our brand new gorgeous dispay and Kim will be demonstrating how she’s crocheting grocery bags into bedrolls for the homeless and it won’t hurt that we’ll be right next to the Laker Girls (don’t know how we managed that but we love it!)

See you there, I hope – Kim Masoner
Save Our Beach –  www.saveourbeach,org

Would YOU take 2 laps in the Grand Prix – Free

Kyle Mohan takes Bill Lovelace on a 2 lap screamer in the Grand Prix Pace car.

Quite a ride….even a dedicated member of the Long Beach Police Association get a little shivver when he flying into those 180 degrees turns at speed.

This is a great video…especially when you realize the guy holding the camera is also holding his breakfast in!

Bill tried to get in Danica Patrick’s car….but that didn’t work out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2N-Voz1oM

Ken Applegate was 80 years old yesterday…. Wow!

Ken, of course, waas once a famous guy in his own right.  Now he is known as Libby Applegate ‘s husband.   Libby is one of the origninators of Seal Beach Founder’s Day  celebration last year.  Go to  http://sbfoundersday.wordpress.com/author/sbfoundersday/ or http://sbfoundersday.wordpress.com/

I remember when I first met Kenny.  In the late 50’s. I bought my first MG TC from his pal Don McNab.  I dropped Don off at a local Naples watering hole called “The Sail Inn.” (Now known as the Naples Rib Company- where Libby and Ken went for his Birthday Dinner last night.)

They returned home to find 20 friends waiting for them.  A little surprise for Mr. Applegate.

Ken had a summer job behind the bar. I was so happy with that TC …. And knew next to nothing about MG’s.  Ken looked at McNab and said,  “So you finally found someone to take it off your hands..”   He looked at me and said “Here you go pal,  I’ll give you a beer so it won’t be a total loss!”

Ken was my introduction to what turned out to be a wonderful group of guys in Belmont Shore and Seal Beach.  Mike Murray, Bob ‘Ole’ Olson, Ken Able, Russ Jordan, Chi Kredell, Joe Riddick,  Del Smith, Steeve Tucker , Mickey Munoz and , of course, his brother Robin.

Ken was a great beach volleyball player.  Russ Jordan would set and Applegate would disprove the old adage that ‘white men can’t jump.’  He was a gazelle.  Also a pretty good ping-pong player.  He and Able both beat me playing with a pie tin….and I had a paddle.

Now he’s entered the beginning of the Golden Years…the 80’s along with his buddies, Able and Ole. Ole still surfs the reef in Maui EVERY DAY and Able can still beat me in ping pong with a pie tin!

Is this a great life  we live in Seal Beach or what?

Happy Birthday Kenny!

A secret spot before the Long Beach Grand Prix

Every year the Long Beach Grand Prix for 3 days draws hundreds of thousands of people..but not too many stop by the Loew’s parking lot on Bellflower Blvd.

Some are totally into “Open Wheel Racing”; some are just here to participate in the pageant that is part of every open wheel race in the world  and some just to see Danica Patrick win again. (She’s the only woman to ever win an open wheel contest)  Rumors are this will be her last open wheel race.  After Sunday she may spend all her time on the NASCAR circuit after this weekend.

However for the  past several years there has been a sort of secret meeting place for those very special group of drivers who can afford to drive  those beautiful pieces of art known as Lamborghini’s.

Its not a car show, per se, but what else can you call it when 40 or 50 owners of 1/2 million dollar vehicles meet in  a quiet out of the way mall parking lot for a few hour before one of the most exciting auto race days in the U.S.

And you can trust me on this….when you look over these autos, all in pristine condition you would most likely not trade any one of them for one of those open wheel racers.

They gather at the parking lot on Bellflower Blvd in Long Beach, just north of the 405 freeway.  They start getting there about 9 a.m.   There is no charge because they don’t consider it a show…they are just meeting fellow Lamborghini owners from all over the continent who have driven here to see their brethern.

I don’t know for sure they’ll be there again this year.  They don’t invite me but I’ve been attending for the last three years and I encourage you to drop by also.

Don’t worry…you’ll see the cars off by  themselves near the Lowe’s Hardware store. One doesn’t park a car like this in an 8 foot parking space.

Who knows Mark Sanchez (Jets QB) may show up again?

The 2011 Yacht Race to Ensenada is off and running

Dennis Connor,  formerly  the captain of the Stars and Stripes (America’s Cup winner)  is on that boat for the Ensendada race.  Also in with the big boats was Taxi Dancer…who won the race in 2010.

The starting breeze was not strong but it is expected to pick up later in the day.Entries have dropped from a high of over 650 but that’s to be expected with the criminal threats going on in Baja California.

The early boats should reach Ensenada…..and Hussong’s before midnight.

For  the complete story go to: http://www.ocregister.com/news/race-296576-ensenada-newport.html

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