Paintball league aims for new location

A popular and often controversial paintball tournament is moving to a lower profile location along the beach.

The National Paintball League’s competition will shift from Huntington Beach pier to the parking lot and beach area in front of the Hilton and Pacific City. The Super 7 World Series will take place March 23 to 26, running all day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The contest has been the subject of controversy for years. Former mayor Pam Houchen was criticized for approving the project after it was revealed that her husband had done some remodeling work for the league. City Councilwoman Debbie Cook frequently criticizes the event as inappropriate for city beaches, while residents living near the contest complain about loud noises during the competition.

To protect the city’s beaches, the floor for the competition will be made of Astroturf, and high netting will surround the playing area so that no paintballs will escape. The participants play a more challenging version of a combination of “tag” and “hide and seek.”

During the paintball tournament, the beach parking lot on Pacific Coast Highway across from Pacific City and the Hilton will be closed, so there will be no overnight RV parking from March 20 to 28. Admission for the event will be between $5-$10. For more information, visit www.nppl.tv.

Prospective lifeguards take the plunge

The Huntington Beach Marine Safety Operation will hold tryouts for new ocean lifeguards at 8 a.m. March 19. The tryouts will be held at lifeguard headquarters, 103 Pacific Coast Highway, one block south of the Huntington Beach Municipal Pier.

The starting pay is $15.13 per hour and all applicants must be 17 years or older by June 1.

The tryouts consist of three physical events: a 1,000-yard ocean swim; a 500-yard ocean swim; and a 1,500-yard run-swim-run. All events are conducted in prevailing conditions around and through the Huntington Beach Pier.

Applicants must complete all tryout events to be eligible for further consideration. Up to 36 qualifiers will be allowed to register for the lifeguard candidate training program held April 8 to 15, and April 22 to 23. Applications are available at lifeguard headquarters or online at www.surfcity-hb.org/jobs.

For more information, call (714) 374-1752.

Huntington Harbour cleans up act

The city recently completed the installation of 119 trash and debris collection gates inside 87 catch basins in the Huntington Harbour watershed. These gates will prevent trash and debris from entering into the harbor. Instead of being cleaned by hand, the gates allow the street sweepers to collect the trash through the regular sweeping route.

This was the final project funded by a $4-million State Clean Water Act grant. Additional funding was received from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

Over the last two years, the city has installed pollutant-separator devices at the 12 storm-drain outlets that discharge onto the city’s beaches and one outlet that discharges into the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Devices were also installed during the South Beach reconstruction.

Other units were placed at discharge outlets to Central Park and the Wintersburg Channel. City leaders hope the combined impact of these upgrades will improve the surface water quality discharged into the ocean, harbor and channels of Huntington Beach.

Pipeline construction set to resume

Construction of the Orange County Sanitation District’s Bushard trunk line is set to resume this month. Sanitation officials will also begin construction work at the intersection of Bushard Street and Ellis Avenue, cutting off one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares in and out of the city. Sanitation District officials say the intersection will likely be closed for nine months.

The Sanitation District will host a series of community meetings to provide information and answer questions regarding the project.

The public is invited to attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sowers Middle School, 9300 Indianapolis Ave. In addition, there will be weekly updates posted on their website at www.ocsd.com, under, “Information Center” and then, “Construction.” For more information, contact Daisy Covarrubias or Jennifer Cabral on their Construction Hotline at (714)378-2965.