South Bay cities and nonprofits to benefit from $11 million in federal funds

South Bay cities and nonprofits will benefit from $11 million in federal funds secured by Rep. Ted Lieu’s office, according to a recent announcement.

The money comes from an appropriations bill President Joe Biden signed into law on March 9, with more than a dozen projects in Lieu’s 36th Congressional District benefiting, according to a press release from the representative’s office.

“This money will go directly back into our community,” Lieu said in a statement this week, “for projects like making pedestrian sidewalks safer, protecting communities from landslides and helping vulnerable neighbors secure housing.”

Rolling Hills, which sits on one of four landslide complexes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula — dubbed the Flying Triangle — will receive $1 million. That money will help fund the first phase of an 8-inch sanitary sewer main along Portuguese Bend Road and Rolling Hills Road, City Manager Karina Bañales said in a Friday, Mach 15, interview.

The sewer project, according to a staff report, connects lines near Rolling Hills City Hall with the upstream lines of several other cities, including Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance.

As soil saturation is an issue with landslides, Bañales said, updating the city’s sewers will help reduce any further soil moisture.

“This project is an important piece of the overall infrastructure needed on the Peninsula,” Bañales said. “This is a small, little piece that we hope is going to be the start of mitigating the landslide problem.”

Nearby Hermosa Beach, meanwhile, will receive $963,000 for a “Real Time Crime Center Project.”

The multiyear crime project, according to a city press release, will assess the policing needs of the community and establish a system for collecting and analyzing real-time data.

“(The project) will provide first responders with critical information about specific incidents in real time,” the press release said, “provide situational awareness ahead of officer arrival and enhance the department’s overall investigative capabilities.”

The nearly $1 million investment is an initial step in providing the Hermosa Beach Police Department with the latest technology to keep the community safe, said City Manager Suja Lowenthal.

Another $1 million in federal funds will go to the California Abilities Network, which will use the grant to help build a new training center. A site for the new Employment Training Center has not been identified, but it will be in Lieu’s congressional district, said Executive Director Scott Elliott. The current center, in Torrance, is not in Lieu’s district.

The California Abilities Network has locations in Torrance, Redondo Beach and Long Beach. Its objective is to find employment, and provide “life skills and social programs for Southern California’s adults with physical and developmental disabilities,” according to its website.

Another nearly $1.5 million will go to the Redondo Beach Marina Dock System Replacement program, which will replace docks, pile supports, gangways and entry gates, according to a Lieu press release.

“This area has been identified as needing revitalization due to both the anticipated impacts of sea level rise and existing structural deficiencies induced by time and environmental factors,” Lieu said in the Wednesday, March 13, press release. “The improvements will also contribute to the overall commercial viability of the International Boardwalk, a commercial hub built around the marina.”

Additional federal funds and the projects receiving them include:

• $200,000: Manhattan Beach’s Peck Avenue Storm Drain Infrastructure Improvement Project.
• $850,000: Torrance’s Columbia Park water consesrvation project.
• $200,000: Lomita’s stormwater diversion project.
• $963,000: The UCLA Quantum Information Science Hub.
• $959,752: The Beverly Hills Water Resiliency Project.
• $959,752: The Culver City Stormwater Diversion  Project.
• $469,100: Renovations for Santa Monica’s Cloverfield Services Center Interim Housing Program.
• $500,000: Safety enhancements for Santa Monica’s  Lincoln Neighborhood Corridor.
• $850,000: Santa Monica’s Affordable Housing Rehab Project.
• $850,000: Venice Beach’s Restroom Replacement Project.