The Redondo Beach City Council voted Tuesday to approve a $2.4 million agreement to allow Chevron Oil temporary use of Mole B in King Harbor for offloading six coking drums, which the oil company will transport to its El Segundo refinery. However, members of the boating community expressed concern that the agreement might jeopardize funding for an educational boating center, which the city had previously approved.
The agreement specifies that Chevron’s money will be used “exclusively for the design and construction of the City portion of the Mole B Master Plan.”
Mark Hansen from the King Harbor Boater’s Advisory Panel and King Harbor Marina owner Sean Guthrie questioned the agreement’s restriction of the funds to the “city” portion of Mole B.
The Mole B plan calls for the boating center to be built, not on city property, but on a portion of Guthrie’s leasehold, adjacent to mole B, in exchange for which Guthrie would be allotted parking spaces on Mole B.
The boating center is estimated to cost $1 million. Hansen said the city had told him the center would be included in the Mole B plan if he found private funding to build it.
“No sooner had we said that and Chevron came with this gift from heaven,” said Hansen.
Hansen said he is still hopeful Chevron funds will be available for the boating center even though the plans call for it to built on the King Harbor leasehold.
“I may be over reading this, but that reference to the city portion seems inconsistent to the boating plan,” sand Hansen. “We all have to work together on this thing. Saying ‘the city portion’ makes no sense at this point.”
“It’s not so much the concern the $2.4 million is being spent on the sailing center,” said Guthrie. “But more to do with the logistics, and if there is no collaboration it will be impossible to build the center.”
City Attorney Mike Webb responded to Hansen that the issue he was raising was inappropriate for Tuesday night’s meeting
“Its clear Chevron’s intent was to fund the boating and recreation center,” said Hansen. “Once they hand the money off to the city they don’t have their say anymore.”
Guthrie said that it was clear that the city hadn’t changed their position on the boating center, but the mistakes in the staff report needed to be documented and said on record.
“It’s still up in the air I guess that the city’s going to work with us in terms of actually realizing this sailing and boating center,” said Guthrie. “Everybody’s for it but when it comes down to actually making it happen, that’s a different story.” ER
