
The city is moving forward with a project to correct faulty pump stations in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach, both of which failed during the torrential rainstorms in January. “The pumps and pumping capacity obviously can be improved, so I’m pleased the city is moving forward,” said District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who visited the pump stations numerous times during the storms. On Feb. 26, the city awarded a no-bid contract for the project to Sloan Electric, with the work not to exceed $3.5 million. According to city officials, the contract involves maintaining pump motors, providing a temporary above-ground motor-control center at Pump Station N, installing pumps and check valves at Pump Station G and performing any additional necessary repairs. Pump Station N is located at Santa Clara Point in Mission Beach and takes water from Pump Station G in Pacific Beach and funnels it out into Mission Bay. During the storms in late January, the pump that feeds Pump Station N backed up, causing flooding that shut down areas of Mission Boulevard and Pacific Beach Drive for extended periods of time on three separate occasions in a one-week span. “It is unacceptable to have three floods in a week,” Faulconer said at Pump Station N in January. “If not fixed, it’s going to happen again.” Faulconer said he is pleased with the developments thus far. After visiting the stations with member of the city’s Storm Water Department, he urged the city to fix the problem as soon as possible. “It is the large domino in a system of runoff and other pumping stations,” Faulconer said about Pump Station N. The contract will go before the City Council by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Once the contract is approved there, work at the pump stations can begin.