Council forms Sunset committee

The Huntington Beach City Council formed a committee Monday specifically tasked with dealing with the Sunset Beach community during the complicated annexation process.

The council unanimously approved the formation of the Sunset Beach Area Council Committee. Mayor Pro-Tem Jill Hardy and Councilmen Joe Carchio and Devin Dwyer were appointed as council liaisons to the committee by Mayor Cathy Green.

The council approved moving forward with the annexation of Sunset Beach on Aug. 2 after the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission put the small beach-side community under Huntington's sphere of influence a little more than a year ago.

Councilman Keith Bohr recommended the first couple meetings be less structured and more like a town hall meeting to give everyone a chance to talk.

The eclectic community with 105 years of history had been working for the better part of a year toward becoming its own city, but was stopped in its tracks by Huntington Beach.

The community had been on the brink of turning in the $100,000 deposit to start the incorporation process when the Huntington City Council voted to complete the annexation process, trumping the community's incorporation application.

The Sunset Beach Community Assn. voted Aug. 5 to return more than $115,000 in donations collected for the incorporation process.

The Sunset Beach Area Council Committee will be in charge of communications with the community of nearly 1,300 and advising the council through the annexation process.

The official annexation is expected to happen as soon as January.

The committee is expected to meet with the community for the first time next week, Hardy said.