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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem Mt _ i AGENDA REPORT DATE: June 11, 2001 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council THRU: John B. Bahorski, City Manager FROM: Lee Whittenberg, Director of Development Services SUBJECT: Comment Letter Re: Demolition Of Water Tower — Naval Weapons Station SUMMARY OF REOUEST: Authorize Mayor to sign proposed comment letter, with any amendments determined appropriate. Instruct staff to forward to the Archaeological Advisory Committee and Environmental Quality Control Board for information purposes. Receive and File Staff Report BACKGROUND: The Naval Weapons Station is proposing to demolish the 140 -foot water tower adjacent to Seal Beach Boulevard. The Navy has determined the tower to be unsafe due to: ❑ corrosion of the towers anchor bolts; ❑ substantially below state seismic requirements; and ❑ located within Newport- Inglewood Fault zone. The water tank facility is located within archaeological site CA- ORA- 322/1,118, and as such is required to complete a Section 106 compliance review pursuant to federal regulations. The City has received a. copy of the letter submitted to the State Historic Preservation Officer to complete the required consultation and review process (Please refer to Attachment 2 for a copy of the letter). The Navy indicates the water tower has previously been determined to not be eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.I The proposed method of demolition of the water tower has been designed to eliminate any impacts to the archaeological site at this time. However, the final removal of the concrete pad removals of the support columns will be incorporated into a future " "Revised Final Historic Properties Overview and Evaluation on the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach ", Ogden Environmrntal, 1997 Agenda Item CAMy nocumew AVWPSTA \Water Towtt Dc�.CC Staff Re ft.do LWW6ll6 41 Water Tank Removal — Naval Weapons Stations City Council StafjReport June 11, 2001 installation restoration remediation activity on the same site. At this time there will be no impacts to cultural resources. Although the water tower is not potentially eligible for historic status, the tower has become a local landmark within the community. Staff is recommending the City Council authorize sending a letter to the Navy indicating that if sufficient community comments are received regarding the proposed demolition, then the Navy may wish to consider a reconstruction of a similar facility designed to accommodate the co-location of cellular communication antennas. This would provide a long -term funding source to the Navy to justify reconstruction of such a facility if there seems to be community opposition to the removal of the existing tower facility. FISCAL IMPACT: None RECOMMENDATION: Authorize Mayor to sign proposed comment letter, with any amendments determined appropriate. Instruct staff to forward to the Archaeological Advisory Committee and Environmental Quality Control Board for information purposes. Receive and File Staff Report. NOTED AND e Whittenberg John B ahorski, C Director of Development Servic Attachments: (2) Attachment 1: Draft Comment Letter to Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station re: Demolition of Water Tower Attachment 2: Letter to State Historic Preservation Officer from Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station re: Demolition of Water Tower, letter dated May 8, 2001 Water Tower De m.CC StaRRepon Water Tank Removal — Nava/ Weapons Stations City Council Staff Report June 11, 2001 ATTACHMENT 1 DRAFT COMMENT LETTER TO SEAL BEACH NAVAL WEAPONS STATION RE: DEMOLITION OF WATER TOWER Water TOwer Demo.CC Staff Report Water Tank Removal —Naval Weapons Stations City Council Staff Report June 11, 2001 June 11, 2001 Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach 800 Seal Beach Boulevard Attn: David Baillie, Environmental Director Seal Beach, CA 90740 -5000 SUBJECT: Proposed Water Tower Demolition U2�Ti�t�:;•.SiliC The City of Seal Beach has reviewed the request from the Department of the Navy relative to a proposal to demolish the 140 -foot water tower adjacent to Seal Beach Boulevard. The City is aware that this facility is not eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The City appreciates the site- sensitive demolition program proposed to eliminate impacts on potential cultural resources at CA -ORA- 322/1,118 and concurs with your determination of "conditional no adverse affect" on historic properties. In addition, the City understands that the final removal of the concrete pads of the support columns will be incorporated into a future installation restoration remediation activity on the same site, and additional consultation will occur at that time. At this time there will be no impacts to cultural resources. Although the water tower is not potentially eligible for historic status, the tower has become a local landmark within the community. The City Council would suggest the Navy consider a reconstruction of a similar facility designed to accommodate the co- location of cellular communication antennas if sufficient community comments are received regarding the proposed demolition. This would provide a long -term funding source to the Navy to justify reconstruction of such a facility if there seems to be community opposition to the removal of the existing tower facility. Such a facility would retain the local landmark while providing a long -term revenue source to the Weapons Station from the leases for cellular communication antennas The City Council considered and discussed this matter on June 11, 2001. The City Council authorized the Mayor to sign this letter indicating the official comments of the City of Seal Beach. Watn Tower DCno.CC Staff Re n Water Tank Removal —Naval Weapons Stations City Council StaffRepon June 11, 2001 Thank you for your consideration of the comments of the City of Seal Beach. Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Lee Whittenberg, Director of Development Services, City Hall, 211 Eighth Street, Seal Beach, 90740, telephone (562) 431 -2527, extension 313, if you have any questions regarding this,matter. Sincerely, William J. Doane Mayor, City of Seal Beach Distribution: Environmental Quality Control Board Archaeological Advisory Committee Water Town .CC Staff Report Water Tank Removal —Naval Weapons Stations City Council StaffReparc June 11, 2001 ATTACHMENT 2 LETTER TO STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER FROM SEAL BEACH NAVAL WEAPONS STATION RE: DEMOLITION OF WATER TOWER, LETTER DATED MAY 8, 2001 Water Tower Nmo.CC Staff Report F �. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY NAVAL WEAPONS STATION. SEAL SUCH NO SEAL SUCH SLVO _ SEAL BEACH. CA 907404000 j IN REPLY REFER 5758 Ser N45W /0080 May 8, 2001 Mr. W. Knox Mellon State Historic Preservation Officer CITY OF BEAL BEACH P.O. Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296 -0001 MAY 1 0 2001 Attention: Mr. Charles Whatford Ladies and Gentlemen: The Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach in Orange County has proposed to demolish a 140 foot water tower (structure 207) in our administrative area. This tower was determined unsafe due to corrosion of the towers anchor bolts and its condition of being grossly below state seismic requirements. The tower is located within the Newport - Inglewood fault zone, which make these two deficiencies together an extremely hazardous situation. The demolition shall be accomplished by "soft kneeling" the tank into the parking lot of building 206. This process includes cutting portions of the legs and pulling the tower over with a crane to control the speed at which it falls. A pillow -like structure consisting of layers of large tires and planks shall be placed in the location where the top tank portion of the tower shall intercept the ground. The four legs of the tower shall be cut from the top tank and all portions moved onto the parking lot area. The residual leg portions shall be unbolted from the concrete pad. Crane use from the parking lot shall minimize the access necessary on the grass area. When on the grass area, planks shall be used underneath the vehicles to distribute equipment weight and ground disturbance. The lay -down area shall be within the parking lot of building 206. The concrete pad removal shall be accomplished under the Installation Restoration Program, (which deals with past contamination sites) and consultation with your agency on the entire contamination remediation plan shall be initiated at that time. The remediation plan development is expected within the next year. i We are proposing the area of potential effect (APE) to be limited to the area we have identified in enclosure (1). This 5758 Ser N45W /0080 APE includes access to the water tower, area to maneuver equipment, and temporary storage space for equipment and material. We are requesting consultation under 36 CFR Part 800.3(g). The Revised Final Historic Properties Overview and Evaluation on the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach prepared by Ogden Environmental, J. Clevenger & K. Crawford, 1997, evaluated the water storage tank tower. The Navy determined, in consultation with your agency that the tower was not eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) on March 9, 1999, (USN99012B). Enclosure (2) overlay identifies .a small portion of archeological site CA -ORA- 322/1,118 within the APE of this project, which was confirmed eligible in consultation with your agency for the National Register on November 18, 1999, (USN990920A). We believe the scope of the project, and the development of site impact minimization strategies limits potential impacts to this site. We are not proposing monitoring due to the fact that no ground disturbance shall occur, which could detect artifacts. We are notifying interested parties and Native American groups of this project by copy of this letter per 36 CFR Part 800.4(d). We are of the opinion the conditions we are adhering to during the demolition shall protect the archeological site and we are proposing a determination of conditional no adverse affect on historic properties. We request your concurrence with our proposed determination. 2 5758 Ser N45W /0080 Please contact Lisa Ellen Bosalet, Cultural Resources Coordinator, at (562) 626 -7637, or e -mail bosalet.lisa @sbeach.navv.mil, if further information is required. `incer ' DAVID BAILLIE Environmental Director By direction of the Commanding Officer Enclosures: 1. APE for Water Tower Demolition 2. Archeological Site Overlay of APE Copy to: City of Seal Beach Attn: Lee Whittenberg 211 Eight Street Seal Beach, CA 90740 -6376 U.S. Coast Guard, MSO Group LA -LB Attn: Waterways Management 1001 South Seaside Ave, Bld 20 San Pedro, CA 90731 -0208 Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council P.O. Box 693 San Gabriel, CA 91778 -0693 Coalition of the Gabrielino / Tongva People 5450 S. Slauson Ave., Suite 151 Culver City, CA 92030 -6000 Coastal Gabrielenos 5776 42n° Street Riverside, CA 92509 -6605 Juaneno Band of Mission Indians P.O. Box 25628 Santa Ana, CA 92799 -5628 3 5758 Ser N45W /0080 Moira Hahn 1732 Harbor Way Seal Beach, CA 90740 -5730 Seal Beach Historical and Cultural Society P.O. Box 152 Seal Beach, CA 90740 -0152 Seal Beach Yacht Club P.O. Box 2725 Seal Beach, CA 90740 -1725 Sunset Aquatic Yacht Club 2901A Edinger Huntington Beach, CA 92649 4 i Water a Naval m ICI ov l City of Seal Bead Water Tanks 24 ij 300 0 300 600 Feet Water Storage Tower f" Roads, Buildings, & Structures _ ; 1 Area of Potential Effect ns Wall. , Seal Beach ov.rvl.,v Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California Water Storage Tower A Demolition Protect Enclosure (1) Water Storage a Naval Project Locatiork t �55 na Station, leal each w.mew 200 0 200 400 Feet Water Storage Tower Roads, Buildings, & Structures Area of Potential Effect '. Archeological Site CA- ORA- 32211,1 Naval Weapons Station N A Seal Beach, California Storage Tower Demolition Project with APE lay -Over Archeological Site M: =w Enclosure (2)