CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP

City officials urged residents of the Huntington-by-the-Sea mobile

home park, whose homes may have been damaged by months of shaking from

tractors hauling dirt behind their homes, to file damage claims.

Park residents have been upset for more than three months over an

earthmoving operation connected to the city’s plans for a new beach

maintenance facility near the AES Corp. power plant on Newland Street.

Earthmovers have piled dirt up to 30 feet high behind mobile homes,

before spreading it out to dry on land behind the park enclave and then

hauling it back to the construction site, residents said.

Repeated use of large earthmover vehicles have damaged nearby homes,

and some residents have complained of the dirt entering their homes and

of the noise cased by the work, they added.

City Engineer David Webb said the city has only received three damage

claims that it can take action on, but C.W. Poss Inc., the subcontractor

in charge of the earthmoving project, needs all damage claim forms before

dealing with the matter.

Any photos, estimates or other records associated with the claim

should be included with the form, he added.

Sandra Cole, a park resident who organized public meetings between

mobile home owners, the city and the contractor in charge of the

earthmoving, said she has collected more than 50 claim forms meant to be

filed en masse.

Resident Guy Fortin was the first mobile home owner to file a

complaint against the earthmovers, and said he has suffered a

stress-related heart attack as a result of the problem.

Officials for C.W. Poss, Inc., the subcontractor in charge of the

earthmoving operation, did not return phone calls Tuesday.

Claim forms can be obtained from the City Clerk’s office on the second

floor of City Hall at 2000 Main St. Information: (714) 536-5227.

Council to hold meeting with representatives

The City Council will hold a special meeting today to discuss a number

of issues with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and

Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) in a live videoconference at

the Huntington Beach Central Library.

City officials said they plan to review federal funding sources with

Rohrabacher, as well as a proposed bill that could, if passed, provide a

chance to residents living in a flood plain to comment on or appeal

changes to flood plain maps that could affect their insurance costs.

Stateside, Harman and council members are slated to discuss the state

budget, efforts to change property tax assessments in order to protect

city revenue and the restructuring of the Orange County Transportation

Authority board of directors, they added.

The city may also receive an update on Harman’s proposed bill to ban

the import, sale, possession or disposal of the salt water seaweed

Caulerpa taxifola, or “killer seaweed” because of its invasive effect on

natural seabeds and vegetation, as well as fish nurseries.

Rohrabacher will be communicating from Washington D.C., while Harman

will speak from Sacramento.

A grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District allowed

the city to purchase the video and phone equipment necessary to host

videoconferences in most of the library’s meeting rooms on a rental fee

basis.

The first such conference was held on Jan. 22, and the equipment has

generated about $4,940 in revenue.

The video conference is set for today at 10 a.m. in Room D of the

Huntington Beach Central Library at 7111 Talbert Ave. Information: (714)

536-5227.

Sister City delegates visit for holiday

A delegation of residents and officials from Anjo, Japan, a sister

city of Huntington Beach, will arrive Monday in time for the Fourth of

July celebration.

The adult group, consisting of council members, community leaders,

housewives and a nurse, will tour the significant sites in Surf City,

including Pier Plaza, the Bolsa Chica nature preserve, the Huntington

Beach Police Department and the Gothard Fire Station.

Students from Anjo, as well as the Huntington Beach’s other sister

city Waitakere, New Zealand, will join their local counterparts on a

special Sister City float in the Fourth of July parade.