“The city flooded in 2004 - we had a severe rain event,” said Sean Crumby, Director of Public Works, City of Seal Beach. “So, they formed an ad hoc committee in response to that flood.” Six years later, the City has received Coastal Commission approval to begin construction on a major storm drain improvement on the east side of Old Town. The city said in a statement “Work will commence after the Labor Day weekend and will take approximately 6 months to complete.”

The Los Alamitos City Council on Monday voted to establish an Ad Hoc Subcommittee “to consider issues regarding the Sphere of Influence, potential service delivery concepts and potential annexation issues related to Rossmoor.” The committee members are Mayor Marilyn Poe and Councilmember Troy Edgar.

The cities of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos will not likely be the next Orange County cities to jump on the “rule of law city” bandwagon. Costa Mesa and the City of Orange recently passed similar motions and Seal Beach Councilmember Charles Antos requested a measured be considered at the council meeting on Monday of this week.

Until now, the City of Los Alamitos has never sent its trash hauling contract out to bid, so when it did this year, it hired a consulting firm to help with the process. As required by ordinance, the city sent out a request for proposals, RFP, to potential trash haulers. After reviewing the responses to the RFP, the City Council selected the second highest bidder to get the 10 year, $25 million contract.

Last night, the Seal Beach City Council Chambers were packed with a crowd anxious about the fate of the McGaugh pools. Since it was just one meeting ago that the city council seriously considered demolishing the much loved pools, and determining what to do about the old and badly leaking pools was again on the City Council’s agenda, the swimmers came out in force. They were not disappointed by their city government.

Amid current year budget cutbacks, a spending deficit, and expected “draconian” cuts in services next year, the Los Alamitos City Council voted last night to cancel the Fourth of July fireworks show unless the community donates the $15,000 needed to cover the costs of the event. Even though the net costs represent only about $0.75 for each of the approximately 20,000 people who attend the show, there is no way for the city to recover those costs from the attendees because the show is on the Joint Forces Training Base, JTFB.

The battle to develop, or not, depending on your point of view, the last large beachfront property in Seal Beach is moving into a new phase tomorrow. The City of Seal Beach will hold the initial meeting of the “DWP Specific Plan Advisory Committee” on Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 6:00 pm, in the Council Chambers. The city is labeling this an “organizational kick-off meeting”. At stake is the future of approximately 10 acres of prime beachfront land on the West end of Seal Beach.

A long standing, but not entirely public, feud between a popular Seal Beach City Councilman and the City Manager burst into the public view at last night’s council meeting. Councilman Gary A. Miller, for the record, accused City Manager David N. Carmany of a conflict of interest, misrepresentation, and concealing important information regarding the city’s decision to tear down and replace a fire station. Although there were several accusations which were presented at the meeting, the most specific revelation was about the identity of an architectural consultant who was paid $585,000 by the city.

Last night the City of Los Alamitos held its annual city council organizational meeting, bringing to a close a turbulent council year which brought the glare of the national news spotlight to this small Orange County city. In council action entirely devoid of the controversies which dominated council meetings earlier in 2009, veteran council member Marilynn Poe, previously the Mayor Pro Tem, was elected the new mayor.

After months of conflict simmering just below the surface, at last night’s Seal Beach City Council meeting, Councilmember Gary Miller openly and unequivocally called for the termination of City Manager David Carmany’s employment. In bringing to an end an emotional monologue of about 10-15 minutes, Miller said “I am calling for a new direction and a new city manager.”

There are not many opportunities for new homes in Old Town Seal Beach—and even fewer for a development of up to 43 detached single family homes. In fact, the much debated former power plant site, locally known as the DWP property, is about the only beach front choice. But, development on this nearly 11 acres has been held up because the property owners and the city could not agree on how to proceed. That might be changing.

With revenues coming in below budget and the end of this fiscal year less than three months away, the Los Alamitos City Council last night rejected the city staff’s revenue forecast, but approved spending reductions. In rejecting the forecast, council avoided the politically unpleasant task of authorizing use of reserves to cover what the staff believes will be an even larger revenue shortfall.

In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Seal Beach City Manager David Carmany told www.OC180NEWS.com “In a number of these operating enterprise funds, I’m going to be proposing reductions.” He said the water rates are the first on his list, followed by the sewer rates. He expects to present lower water rates at the March 22, 2010 City Council meeting.

At Monday’s Seal Beach City Council meeting a parade of speakers testified about last week’s flooding--known as Lake Bridgeport—and the adequacy of the city’s pumping/flood control system. Resident Joan Lyon Was “devastated” at the loss of her prized Corvette, which was totaled by the flooding. City engineer Michael Ho confirmed to www.OC180NEWS.com the storm water system was not built to the specifications in the city’s general plan.

At what would normally be an uneventful annual passing of the chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, open warfare erupted between Supervisor John Moorlach and Supervisor Janet Nguyen. The first volley came during the vote for the slate of incoming chair and vice chair. Without specifically naming Nguyen, who was the nominee for chair, Moorlach expressed concerns about the management style of the incoming chair and voted against her election. With no further discussion or dissention, The slate was elected 4/1. Moorlach’s little salvo could have been the end of it, but Nguyen fired back a broadside at the end of the meeting.

At last night’s city council meeting, the City of Los Alamitos presented its financial results for the fiscal year ending 6/30/09 and for the first quarter of the current year. Although revenues continue to fall, the general fund had a surplus last year and is expected to be balanced for the year ending 6/30/10. But, reflecting the recession, sales taxes are 17.3% less than the previous year and the drop off is expected to continue.