The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday approved accepting several state grants and contracts totaling about $6.9 million for infrastructure projects, after city officials described extensive flooding and storm damage from a recent nor'easter.
City Manager Dan Creighton told the council crews had responded to flooding, downed trees, fire alarms and utility issues, calling conditions the worst in recent memory. He said the pump station at Riverside and a new outfall at Monroe are expected to be finished before the end of the year, and that an entrance ramp and part of the dune system near the Azores were swept away, with Army Corps discussions planned this month.
The council held a public hearing on an ordinance amending towing and vehicle adjudication procedures. Corporation Counsel Kalnitsky said the change moves cases to an independent hearing officer at the same $150 flat fee.
In a block vote, the council approved a $28,200 state traffic safety grant for police enforcement at Long Beach Boulevard and Park Avenue, which officials called the city's most accident-prone intersection. It also approved a $6,142,000 Green Resilience grant, with a 10% local match, to replace more than 250,000 square feet of asphalt at the Park Avenue Center parking lot with permeable pavement, which officials said is expected to avert about 400,000 gallons of stormwater annually. An official told the council the city could not have afforded porous pavement without the grant, since a standard repaving would cost over $1 million.
The council also approved a $180,000 state parks grant, with a $20,000 local match, to resurface the outdoor basketball court at the recreation complex, with officials reconsidering an asphalt-type finish instead of sport-court tile due to past slipperiness and drainage problems. It approved a $97,900 design contract with NV5 for full reconstruction of East Pine Street from Long Beach Boulevard to Franklin, with construction targeted around September 2027, and a $63,000 contract with LK McLean Associates to design boardwalk "bump-out" extensions for shade structures and exercise equipment, which will require Army Corps and state permits.
Also approved were a contract with H2M to design fixes for a collapsed storm pipe on Riverside Boulevard and a suspected sewer and stormwater cross-connection near Monroe and Park Avenue, a $396,500 contract with Gemstar of Staten Island to bring the water treatment plant's alum tank storage back into compliance, and the purchase of 70 to 100 trees for planting citywide, partly reimbursable through a USDA grant.
During public comment, a resident described flooding from storm drains, not bulkheads, on Carrigan Street during high tides in 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025, with one to two feet of water lasting hours, and asked the city to check why tide-flex valves are missing or not working. "Those storm drains should empty water into the bay but not push water up the streets," the resident said.
A vendor named Craig told the council he was the sole bidder twice on a project to replace high-speed overhead doors at the city garage and firehouse and objected to the possibility of a third rebid, saying it would disadvantage him now that his price is public. "These are high-speed doors that will last millions of cycles, not the doors that you presently put up that are rated to last 10, 15, 20,000 cycles," he said. An official told him no vote was taken that night and the matter remains under review.
A resident, Jacob Spielberg, presented a list of more than 50 non-brick-and-mortar businesses, including exterminators, landscapers and groomers, that he said are operating in Long Beach without required mercantile licenses, and called for enforcement. "This is about equity. This is about tax dollars, you know, the tax base," he said.
Another resident complained that private ambulance and medical transport companies are running lights and sirens through residential streets at night, saying "this is a quality of life that we enjoy in Long Beach... they do not allow us to live peacefully in the community." An official said the city has contacted the companies, named as RCA, Senior Care and Trans Care, multiple times, and that officers will begin ticketing them for traffic violations when their use of lights and sirens is not for an emergency.
The council also authorized publication of a hearing notice on an ordinance amending rules on animals and fowl in parks, with a hearing scheduled for Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.