STAFF REPORT Meeting
Date: 04/09/04 Agenda
Item: 7 To: BEACON Board of Directors From: Technical Advisor Date 03/31/04 Subject: Section 227 Project – Oil Piers Reef REQUIRED
ACTION: DISCUSSION: The Army Corps of Engineers’ Section 227 program
authorizes the Army and its contractors to design and construct innovative
shore protection projects at several sites around the country. The former Mobil Oil Pier site in
Ventura County was selected as Southern California’s project site. After a competitive selection process,
the Army chose a team headed by ASR Ltd of New Zealand to design,
fabricate, and install an artificial reef at the site. The purpose of the reef is two-fold: to
enhance the width of the beach behind the reef and to create a surfing
break across the top of the reef. The reef will be fabricated from eleven
geotextile (woven plastic) containers that will be stretched out across the
bottom and pumped full of sand. The
wedge-shaped reef will stretch about 400 feet along the beach and will be
located offshore in about 18 feet of water. The top of the reef will just about reach the water surface
at extreme low tide. ASR gave a
PowerPoint presentation of the project at your last Board meeting. As the local sponsor, BEACON is being asked by the
Army to sign a Memorandum of Agreement setting forth project
responsibilities for the two entities.
Attached is a draft MOA; the final MOA will be handed out at the
Board meeting. The MOA stipulates
that the Army will be responsible for the design, fabrication,
installation, adaptive management, and monitoring of the reef. When installation is complete, the Army
will officially turn the reef over to BEACON and BEACON will be responsible
for the maintenance, repair, replacement, and removal of the reef, should
they prove necessary. The Army
currently has the funds to fabricate and install the reef, but the Section
227 program is currently slated to terminate in 2005. Pending WRDA legislation will extend the
program beyond 2005 should it be signed into law.
A
California Joint Powers Agency
Member Agencies
City
of Carpinteria
City
of Oxnard
City
of Port Hueneme
City
of San Buenaventura
City
of Santa Barbara
County
of Santa Barbara
County
of Ventura
Santa Barbara Address:
105
East Anapamu, Suite 201
Santa
Barbara, CA 93101
Ventura Address:
800
South Victoria Avenue
Room
L1050
Ventura,
CA 93009
Telephone:
(805)
662-6890
Facsimile:
(805)
568-2982
Email:
Office@beacon.dst.ca.us
Internet:
http://www.beacon.dst.ca.us