Hello Everyone,
 
As summer comes to an end, families are preparing to return to school, most of us are taking those last vacation days and planning Labor Day BBQs. Marinas and Beaches staff is preparing for the new fiscal year. The FY 23 budget was adopted on August 24, 2021 and with it came one time funding of slightly over $1,000,000 for the replacement of the power pedestals in Basin 8, purchase of an Omni-Cat Trash Skimmer for Alamitos Bay Marina, Mobility Mats for beach access, a new CALSENSE irrigation system, and replacement doors for 30 single stall restrooms. In addition, we are making plans to submit an amendment to the ABM Rebuild CA Coastal Commission permit to begin the rebuilding of our restrooms.
 
October 8th is National Harbormaster Appreciation Day. This national recognition day was created by US Harbors in August 2019 to recognize and celebrate local harbormasters around the country.
 
Unlike most local and regional marinas, Long Beach Marinas is municipally managed therefore structured differently. So, who really is the Harbormaster in Long Beach? By definition, a harbormaster is an individual who executes the rules and regulations governing a harbor. While both Todd and I provide managerial oversight of our harbors, Kimarie Vestre and Eric Skelly provide day-to-day stewardship. They are your Harbormasters. Collectively they have more than 50 years of experience. Each is extremely dedicated to our customers and can regularly be seen at their respective marinas on their days off. They make themselves available to their support staff 7-days a week, which translates to being available to all of you.
 
Some duties such as issuing permits, assignment of slips, and collecting insurance are obvious. However, their day can easily take an unexpected turn. From responding to fuel/oil spills, fires, sinking vessels, abandoned vessels, mitigating boater disputes, educating boaters, assisting in police investigations, and responding to natural emergencies, Kimarie and Eric regularly engage with local, state and federal officials including Animal Services, the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Boating and Waterways, US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Homeland Security, and Army Corps of Engineers just to name a few.
 
However, each will tell you that the most important duty they perform is serving as a reliable and friendly point of contact for boaters, yacht clubs, commercial operators, and visitors. Please take the time to show them some appreciation, I for one can sleep easier knowing we are on the same team! Thank you Kimarie and Eric, these last 8-years would have been significantly more challenging and stressful, had you not been on this journey with me, you have ridden all the changes beautifully and gracefully. You are a blessing to the City of Long Beach and our marinas.
 
Way to Go!
 
Elvira Hallinan
Manager, Marinas and Beaches
Marina Offices are open and accepting new vessel permit applications. To keep you and our
staff safe from COVID-19 we are continuing window service at ABM and Shoreline offices.
Note – Many requests can be readily handled by phone or email.
 
As Long Beach opens to full capacity please continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 by adhering to CDC recommended COVID-19 guidelines. For more info on CDC COVID-19 recommendations click here. Signage is City property – Destruction or removal can adversely affect your slip permit status.
 
Unauthorized commercial activity is ILLEGAL IN LONG BEACH – Please do not engage in unauthorized commercial activity at, on or near Long Beach Marinas property. Violators can and will be cited and punished to the full extent of applicable law. Reminder – Unauthorized Commercial activity will put your slip permit in jeopardy of cancellation.
 
Marina Parking Lots – The following is a list of vehicles which are not allowed in the marina parking lots without a specialized permit issued by the Marine Bureau; such vehicles will not be issued boat owner parking passes and will
be cited if parked in marina lots:
 
  • A bus - a vehicle, including a trailer bus, designed, used or maintained for carrying more than 15 persons including the driver, for hire, or for carrying more than 10 persons, including the driver, by any non-profit organization (CVC 233).
  • A camper - structure designed to be mounted to a vehicle which is designed for human habitation or camping (CVC 243).
  • A camper trailer - vehicle under 16 feet in length designed to be used on a highway capable of human habitation for camping or recreational purposes (CVC 242).
  • A fifth wheel - a vehicle designed for recreational purposes to carry persons or property on its own structure and so constructed as to be drawn by a motor vehicle by means of a kingpin connecting device (CVC 432).
  • A housecar - a motor vehicle originally designed, or permanently altered, and equipped for human habitation, or to which a camper has been permanently attached (CVC 362).
  • A motorhome - a vehicle designed to provide temporary living quarters, built as an integral part of, or permanently attached to, a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van.
  • A trailer bus - motor truck or track tractor pulling a trailer or semitrailer designed, used, or maintained for the transportation of more than 1- persons, including the driver (CVC 636).
  • A trailer coach - vehicle, other than a motor vehicle, designed for human habitation or human occupancy for industrial, professional, or commercial purposes, for carrying property on its own structure, and for being drawn by a motor vehicle. Includes “park” trailer (CVC 635).
  • A boat trailer - a trailer designed to launch, carry, retrieve or store a vessel.
 
Vessel Security – As we enter the Fall season remember to tightly secure all entry points to your vessel after use. We
continue to see volume crowds in the Long Beach Marinas and an open vessel is an easy target for opportunistic criminal activity.
 
DID YOU KNOW – The first newspaper to ever be put into print in the US was published on September 25, 1690. The
paper was called Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick and was published in Boston.
 
The beer-centric Bavarian festival Oktoberfest happens every year in Munich, Germany. The festival usually runs for 16 days from mid-September until the Sunday of the first weekend in October. The event originated in 1810 when
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria celebrated his marriage to Therese, the princess of Saxony-Hildburghausen.
This October you will see a difference in your monthly billing for slip fees. As many of you may recall, the sale of the Marina Revenue Bonds requires that the City maintain a ratio of revenue/ expenditures of 1.25 times the debt service coverage. To ensure this coverage, City Council adopted a policy which states that the annual slip fee increase will be at minimal 2% going into effect each October. Since the issuance of the bonds in 2015, the annual rate increase has been 2%. We have been working closely with the City’s Treasurer’s Office to ensure that the Marina Fund remains solvent. This fee increase will ensure that all our debt obligations continue to be met. Please see below for FY21 fees, the new FY22 fees and the amount of increase for each slip size. This annual slip fee increase will also generate an October 2021 charge to your account to bring your slip deposit into alignment with the new slip fee for FY22. This is demonstrated in the chart below as the “Increased Amount” for each slip size.
The July Boat Auction was a great success. We were able to sell a number of vessels and other marine-related items to lucky bidders while clearing a good chunk of impound inventory. However, a healthy amount of vessel and other marine-related item inventory still remains. We are pleased to announce that we will be conducting our second live boat auction of 2021 in October.
 
The Marine Bureau will be auctioning our remaining inventory of power and sail vessels as well as dinghies and other small watercraft. We will also have an assortment of marine accessory items going up for bid.
 
October date is still to be determined. Standard auction format will be in effect. An inventory list will be available the week before the auction event. For more information please contact the Alamitos Bay Marina Office or visit our Boat Auction information page at Boat Auction (longbeach.gov).
Our Marina community will be happy to know that the four Brisbane Box trees planted this July are taking to their new home and doing well. Jeff King, Landscape Maintenance Supervisor for Beach Maintenance worked diligently to place the four trees at Basin 1 in Alamitos Bay to replace the two Myrtle trees that were poisoned in an egregious act of vandalism.
 
In an effort to promote open green space and encourage quality environmental stewardship the California Coastal Commission requires the replacement of removed trees at a ratio of two to one. With the planting of these four Brisbane Box trees the Marine Bureau met the state requirement standard. The plantings also enhanced the quality of natural habitat and green space along Marina Drive in Basin 1 at the Harbormasters’ office.
This summer proved to be especially busy for the Marine Patrol Detail. Our officers are routinely utilized to staff many of the special events that occur in or near the marina footprint. These events are staffed in addition to our regular daily staffing and run the gamut from the Big Bang on the Bay through permitted film shoots on the beach.
 
During the month of July, Marine Patrol officers were dispatched to 175 calls for service and assisted other officers on calls over 340 times. They initiated over 3,000 targeted patrols which include directed patrols of a specific area, dock-walks, and field investigations. Officers also took enforcement action and assisted LBPD on eight instances where an arrest was made with five of those resulting in felony charges.
 
We would also like to welcome the newest member of our Marine Patrol Detail, Officer Joseph Bruno. Officer Bruno is no stranger to the City as he comes to us with 19 years of service. His previous assignments include parking enforcement, public safety building front desk clerk, custody assistant within the jail, and he was most recently serving as a Special Services Officer - Field Training Officer at Long Beach City College. Needless to say, he has a wealth of experience and we are lucky to have him aboard.