In flooded Seal Beach, residents accuse the city of not being prepared

Residents accused Seal Beach of failing to take care of them after learning during a City Council meeting Monday that two large pumps designed to help avoid flooding began malfunctioning last year.

The revelation comes during a period of persistent rainstorms that have led to downed trees, power outages and flooding in many areas of Orange County. In Seal Beach, occasionally intense downpours, combined with high tides, flooded waterfront houses and streets and damaged cars.

On Jan. 17, Jim Basham, director of public works, called for an emergency meeting, after which three portable pumps were rented and placed at Seal Beach’s West End Storm Water Pump Station, replacing the original two large pumps with more than double the horsepower, it was revealed at the council meeting.

The station, constructed in 1959, is meant to help divert runoff from the Old Town, Bridgeport and Marina Hill North neighborhoods to the San Gabriel River.

David Spitz, the city’s associate engineer, told the council that the department received the first alert of a malfunction in December and another this month. He said alerts were viewed as similar to a car’s service engine light in that a quick and definitive solution is not always obvious.

“There hasn’t been that many hours in run time in about a decade or so,” said Spitz, alluding to the years of drought conditions. “Without a lot of rain, they don’t run much.”

Even so, Spitz said, that shouldn’t have been a factor in the pumps’ poor performance.

Spitz said the city called Flo-Services Inc. but that the company was unable to pinpoint the problem and later recommended that the pumps be sent to Cascade Inc., the manufacturer, for further examination.

According to a staff report, Flo-Services said about $150,000 may be needed to repair the two large pumps. The rental pumps added $10,000 more to expenses, the report said. It said adjustments will be made to the 2016-2017 fiscal budget; $440,500 was set aside for improving storm drains and the West End Pump.

Many residents criticized the council for choosing pumps lacking the power to help avoid flooding, especially after some presented research detailing which machines would work best. Some even urged the council to create an oversight committee.

“It’s totally irrational to expect anything less than what we got,” said Paul Yost, former mayor. “It’s not that hard to look at the Doppler radar and see heavy rain that is coming…. You gambled with our property and our lives and we lost.”

Robert Goldberg noted that flooding had already threatened the west side of the city earlier this month.

“I’m hearing tonight the first pump failed in December,” Goldberg said. “We should’ve had an emergency meeting then…. We’ve had more of a reaction approach instead of a proactive approach, and that’s just not acceptable.”

A report will be presented to the City Council once all emergency repairs are complete, Spitz said.