TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to amend Feasibility Cost Share Agreement No. 34155 with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, for the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study; and, increase the City contributions by $560,500, for a revised total agreement amount not to exceed $2,860,500. (Districts 2,3)
DISCUSSION
The East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study (Study) was launched in 2005 at the request of the City Council. A reconnaissance study was conducted to determine next steps and assess federal interest in the reconfiguration of the Long Beach breakwater. The reconnaissance study was completed in 2009 and identified alternatives to improve the local ecosystem.
On June 22, 2010, the City Council approved a Feasibility Cost Share Agreement (FCSA) between the City of Long Beach (City) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps). The goal of the FCSA is to determine viable options for ecosystem restoration and recreation improvements, while protecting existing infrastructure, navigation channels, and maritime capacity. In January 2016, the FCSA was amended to align with the Army Corps’ new model of delivering feasibility studies, and to allow the City to accelerate its share and provide additional contributed funds.
Over the course of the Study, additional alternatives and modeling efforts outside the original scope of the Study have been conducted. Throughout the Study, the City has requested inclusion of two local plans within the preliminary array of alternatives. These plans include modifications to the Long Beach breakwater, required additional coordination, data collection, and analysis to determine impacts to operations and navigation. Including these additional components in the Study are critical for advancing the City’s interests to review alternatives that address breakwater configuration. The City has long had an interest in studying these alternatives...
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