Public invited to Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust meeting

The public is invited to attend the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust General Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Belmont Shores Mobile Estates Community Center.
The special guest speaker will be Long Beach Councilmember Patrick O'Donnell.
O'Donnell will talk about the importance of protecting the Los Cerritos wetlands and the role that theLo San Gabriel River plays in the health and well being of our local wetlands.
The state budget crisis has thwarted any new construction or restoration efforts at the wetlands that were recently proposed by several potential purchases.
Negotiations to acquire the wetlands, which encompass three landmasses that fall on both Long Beach and Seal Beach territories, have stalled since the state Department of Finance ordered all state agencies stop work on grants and contracts funded with state bonds, according to the Long Beach Gazette newspaper.
“Essentially all our funds are frozen,” said Belinda Faustinos, executive director for both agencies. “We had hoped to look at a comprehensive restoration plan this year, and there will be no money.… It has definitely impacted our negotiations for the Hellman property (in Seal Beach). We won’t be able to complete that now. We have no money.”
In November, the City of Long Beach announced a deal that could move a portion of wetlands into public domain, according to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, a joint powers agreement, adopted among several agencies and cities to purchase and protect the land.
The deal would include Long Beach swapping city properties for the 175 acre piece of land formerly owned by the Bixby Company, now owned by developer Tom Dean, the authority states.
That deal, according to Councilman Gary Delong will not be affected by the state’s freeze on funds, the Gazette reports.
Long Beach City Hall would sell the wetlands property to the LCWA for a sum currently estimated at $25 million, the authority states.
City management plans to use the money from that sale to support efforts to acquire, restore and develop the 19-acre Wrigley Heights "oil operators" property as open space and develop 18 acres of open space at the “Hilltop Property.”