The city of San Clemente is being asked to contribute $2.6 million toward the cost of resuming a project to add sand to the beach around the pier area that was halted after a dredger hired by the US Army Corps of Engineers pumped out more rocky material than expected.
City and congressional leaders are asking the Army Corps to waive the additional cost, arguing the original borrow site off Oceanside was studied and selected by the federal agency and it hired the dredging company, Manson Construction, to do the work.
“We have a contract and agreement with the Army Corps, but they are saying they are having to pay more, so they want us to cover the cost,” Mayor Victor Cabral said. “They haven’t delivered one cubic yard of sand to us to date. It’s a big concern for us.”
Shortly after the replenishment project got underway in January, officials and residents became concerned when rocks and cobble, not fluffy sand, were being pumped on shore. City officials sent a letter to the Army Corps asking it to halt the project until a better sand source was found.
The proposal is now to pull sand from offshore of Surfside Beach in north Orange County for delivery to the San Clemente beach.
It will cost $7.7 million to complete the San Clemente project because of the additional distance to a new borrow site and there are still the costs incurred from the first part of the project, Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Dena O’Dell said in an email.
The agreement previously reached is for the federal government to pay 65% of the project’s costs and for 35% to come from non-federal sources, making San Clemente’s portion of the additional bill $2.6 million.
The project, which took more than two decades to get through the extensive approval, permitting and federal funding process, would now cost a total of $23.7 million.
Much of San Clemente’s portion already paid – about $5 million – came from a grant from the state’s Department of Boating and Waterways, said Cabral, who said the city wouldn’t be able to pay the $2.6 million.
“We’re negotiating with them right now,” he said. “We’re trying to work out something amicably, and we hope we’ll be able to do so.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) and Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) also sent a letter to Army Corps of Engineers leaders to express their concerns over potential financial burdens and extra costs to San Clemente, calling the substantial increase in the city’s fiscal obligation “objectionable.”
“As you know, this project has encountered major obstacles involving the sourcing of appropriate beach-quality sand from the originally identified offshore borrow site,” they said. The city “should not be liable for the additional costs stemming from the unsuccessful attempts to utilize the original borrow site.”
Manson Construction is based out of Seattle and touts bringing “innovative solutions and engineering expertise” for high-profile infrastructure and energy projects. Project manager Jim McNally did not respond to a call for comment.
The sand replenishment project began in late December, but had some immediate delays when the dredger had mechanical issues and winter storms caused even more complications.
When the dredger resumed work in January, officials and residents became quickly concerned when more rocks were deposited on the shore than the expected sand.
After the city asked that the project be paused to see why more sand was not being produced from the borrow site, the dredger went on to San Diego for two previously scheduled replenishment projects serving Solana Beach and Encinitas. It was expected to come back to San Clemente by the end of April to finish bringing 251,000 cubic yards of sand to the beach from the new borrow site.
But with the new price tag, the project’s status is unclear.
Cabral noted in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers that the project has obvious recreational benefits, but also protects critical infrastructure, including a coastal rail line and vital water and sewer facilities.
He appreciated the Army Corps’ work to collaborate with multiple agencies and to get through red tape to get the go-ahead for the project, he said, but the additional cost “seems out of line given that, to date, no sand has been delivered to the beach.”
Related Articles
Road repair for San Onofre Surf Beach kicks off, surfers eagerly await reopening
Metrolink, Amtrak passenger trains resume full service through San Clemente
New museum exhibit ‘Duke’s Dream’ spotlights Hawaiian surfer’s Olympic vision
Pelican on the mend after more than 500 stitches to repair slashed pouch
Locals plea to use sand, not rocks and walls, to protect the railroad in San Clemente
Leave a Reply