Saturday, October 05, 2002 Scherer station delayed   By Jason Gewirtz, Staff writer L.B.: Construction on police facility in park put back until January at earliest. LONG BEACH Construction on a new police station in Scherer Park won't begin until at least January, city officials say, because of court delays and an incomplete environmental assessment required by the National Park Service. In addition, a city prosecutor's plan to dissolve an environmental trust to release roughly $400,000 for work related to the Scherer Park project is drawing criticism from environmentalists, who question the motives behind the move. The would-be headquarters for the Police Department's North Division has attracted controversy and delays from its inception. The City Council approved plans for the 20,000-square- foot building in July 2001, rejecting pleas from some residents who decried the loss of park space from the project. The police department has maintained a cinder block and trailer complex on 0.8 acres of the park near Del Amo Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue for 20 years. The new station would sit on roughly 2.5 acres. Two environmental groups challenged the project in court after the city's approval, claiming city officials did not properly study alternative sites for the station. A Superior Court judge sided with the city on the case in January, but an appeal hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23. Until a decision on that appeal is reached, the city will not begin construction on the station, said Mike Mais, principal deputy city attorney. "A lot of times, it's better Regardless of the outcome, city officials have another hurdle to overcome before they can break ground. The National Park Service has requested a full environmental assessment on the property, a process that requires a report and a 30-day public comment period. Ruth Shikada, property services bureau manager, said the city hopes to complete the assessment in two to three weeks and have a public hearing in early November. The 30-day review period will allow public comment, after which time, the National Park Service will be asked to sign off on the report. That delay will push construction back until at least January, she said. Trust dispute While the city prepares itself for the court appeal and the environmental work, another aspect of the project is drawing scrutiny from local environmentalists. When the council approved plans for the station, it required that twice as much alternative park space be built elsewhere in the city to compensate for the lost land at Scherer Park. That land must be "under development" before the police will be allowed to move into a new station at Scherer Park. The city intends to use a roughly 5-acre parcel near 55th Way and Paramount Boulevard as that new park land. The site, a former landfill, requires environmental study and remediation before it could be turned into a park. Shikada said initial tests have shown that with some work, the site can accommodate uses such as a soccer field, a tot lot, a basketball court or a skateboard park. But more work will be required in coming months for an assessment of potential risks to park users based on what's underneath the ground. Efforts to pay for that assessment could receive a boost from a recent court petition filed by City Prosecutor Tom Reeves. Reeves is proposing to dissolve a trust established in 1996 as part of a settlement in a case brought against McDonnell Douglas Corp. That case, which began after a fuel spill near Long Beach Airport polluted storm drains, established the trust to collect money from settlements or judgments in future pollution-related cases. The money is made available to applicants for projects "for the benefit of fish and wildlife resources of the state of California," according to its bylaws. Money has been awarded in the past for such uses as wetlands restoration and educational grants for the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. Trustees representing the city, the state and the public make decisions on allocating money from the trust, but the Center for Natural Lands Management provides an administrative role, overseeing the trust's finances. Since 1996, the trust has collected about $600,000. Reeves is proposing to dissolve the trust and send roughly two-thirds of the money about $400,000 to the city's Redevelopment Agency for work at the 55th Way site. Wildlife project? Reeves' motion, however, is being challenged by Long Beach attorney Melvin Nutter, who represents the public on the trust. Environmental work at the 55th Way site, he said, would not have qualified for trust money if the Redevelopment Agency had applied. "Certainly there's no nexus between building soccer fields and protecting fish, wildlife or habitat," he said. Don May, president of California Earth Corps, said Reeves' move will have a negative impact for environmental projects that would otherwise have access to the trust's money. May's group is one of the challengers in the Scherer Park appeal case. "They're going to pick our pocket for $600,000 and use it to subsidize the police station," he said. But Reeves and other city officials say there's no connection between Reeves' action and the Scherer Park project. "I'm having a hard time drawing a parallel between the two," said Councilman Rob Webb, whose 8th District includes the park. Reeves said he selected the site because he knew the city was considering it as a park, regardless of whether it is eventually tapped as compensation for land used at Scherer Park for the police station. He also considered requesting that the money go toward a proposed sports complex on a larger polluted site near Signal Hill, but decided on 55th Way instead. "For the purposes of administration, we picked a single project," he said. "This one seemed to be appropriate." Reeves said his move was driven by a desire to streamline the finances of the trust. It will cost the trust $50,000 in administrative fees over the next several years to have the Center for Natural Lands Management oversee the trust's activities, he said. "We took a look at that and said, 'Can we do this more efficiently?' and the answer is, 'Yes,'" Reeves said. Under his proposal, the city prosecutor's office would be responsible for allocating any future judgments that might have otherwise gone to the trust. Reeves has hired an outside law firm to represent the city in the trust issue. The firm will be paid roughly $30,000 for its work, he said. In addition, a consultant was paid about $5,000 to study the cost-effectiveness of the trust's management, he said. Nutter counters that the Center for Natural Lands Management was doing a cost-effective job of handling the trust's accounts since trustees themselves are not paid. The group's work includes assessing grant proposals and maintaining progress reports of the trust's activities. Reeves' office, he said, will still have overhead costs if it takes over control of any future payments. "I don't think he's got a clue about overhead," Nutter said. A court hearing on the issue is set for Oct. 16.