A TRASH TRUCK passes down Nichol Street on its way to the Rainbow processing center in Huntington Beach. In the background is the church that was originally the Japanese Presbyterian Church, founded in 1934 (OC Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano

Santa Claus will still be bringing the holiday cheer, there’s a new car dealership coming and relief from bad smells and dust is on its way. That’s the news from Monday’s meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council.

Gina Clayton-Tarvin, president of the Ocean View School District, addressed the council to tell of an agreement reached last week between the OVSD and Rainbow Environmental Services to resolve a legal and environmental battle that had historic and public health dimensions.

“I’m pleased to announce we have reached an agreement to settle all pending litigation with Rainbow,” she said. That trash and recycling firm operates a large trash processing and recycling facility on Nichols Street, south of Slater Avenue, which is right across from Oak View Elementary School.

The facility emits a strong odor; refuse blows across the street onto the campus and incontinent seabirds wreak havoc on parked cars in the neighborhood, a low-income area of the city.

But the settlement reached is expected to resolve that issue. Republic Services – owner of Rainbow – has agreed to:

• build a new 45,000-square foot building
• enclose all existing buildings
• install a new state-of-the-art filtration system to cut back noise, pollution and odor
• build and pay for a new $4 million multi-purpose/gymnasium facility at the school.

Additionally, Rainbow has agreed to not add any trash processing uses at the nearby historic Wintersburg property, which was once a center of Japanese-American life in Huntington Beach. The total value of the settlement is expected to be $22 million.

“We hope the city can someday use that land for an historical park,” she told the council. The OVSD is a K-8 district serving chiefly the northern portion of Huntington Beach.

SANTA’S STILL ON HIS WAY

Susan Welfringer of the Huntington Beach Downtown Improvement District announced at the meeting that that while last weekend’s scheduled “Miracle on Main Street” got rained out, it was back on again for this Sunday, with Kris Kringle expected to be on duty by 4 p.m. with the tree-lighting at 6 p.m.

The reason that Old St. Nick wasn’t there last Sunday was – as she put it – “Santa likes reindeer, not rain, dear.”

SUBARU GEARS UP

On a 7-0 vote the council approved a sales tax sharing agreement with McKenna Motors related to the opening of a new Subaru dealership to be located at 18711 Beach Blvd. Under the agreement, the city would rebate to the dealer 45 percent of its share of sales tax to McKenna, above the first $158,800 in annual gross sales.

McKenna also agrees to operate a new car dealership at the site for 16 years.