• The City Council is expected to approve the 2026-27 budget on Monday, June 8.
• An individual on Nextdoor social media recently asked how it works financially and legally for a farming operation to take place on government property such as NWS Seal Beach.
The Sun asked Gregg Smith, public affairs officer for Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, for an explanation.
Smith wrote:
“The Navy has a security and fire safety requirement to keep the weeds and plant growth down around our munitions storage bunkers. In order to accomplish this in the most cost-efficient way for the taxpayer, we rent out the land to local farmers. This is done through a standard government solicitation process, whereby farming companies are given the opportunity to bid on the contract, and the Navy chooses the best bidder. Up to 1,800 acres of base property are involved in these contracts. Using this method, the Navy saves on landscape maintenance costs and also receives an income for the use of the property. Total income and savings to the government is normally well over a quarter of a million dollars each year, and this money is put back into the Navy’s environmental program. The Navy land is also put to its best possible use, supporting food production and local urban farming along with the Navy mission.”
• Speaking of Gregg Smith. He’s schedued to retire this month. I’m going on record here that he’s the best public affairs (information) officer I’ve worked with since 2005. Fair winds and following seas.
• The Seal Beach Citizen-Council Olympic Advisory Ad Hoc Committee recently elected Catherine Showalter as its chair and Christine Bird as its vice chair.
• The Surfside Colony Community Services District board of directors will hold a hearing on the annual report at 6:30 p.m., Monday, June 22, in the Surfside Colony Office. The report has established fees, according to a legal notice published in the May 21 edition of the Sun Newspapers. Lots with buildings will have an annual user fee of $150. Undeveloped lots will have an annual user fee of $80. Property owners will have to pay the fees. Protests must be mailed to the Surfside office at B-89 Surfside by June 15 or made in person at the public hearing.
• The city attorney has confirmed that a lawsuit has been filed against Seal Beach related to the trees on Main Street. “The City Clerk’s office informed me that a lawsuit regarding ficus trees on Main Street was delivered to their office on Thursday, May 28th,” wrote Nicholas Ghirelli in a June 1 email. “A total of three (3) lawsuits has been filed against the City this calendar year. These lawsuits have been tendered to the City’s insurer for defense,” Ghirelli wrote.
He was apparently referring to three different lawsuits. Only one is related to ficus trees. On June 1 the Sun filed a California Public Records Act request for a copy of the complaint. I should have more information when I receive the document.
