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H.B. to try to find buyers for Mariners Point fuel dock

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Deciding that they could not stand by while the only boat fueling station in Huntington Harbour faces imminent closure, Huntington Beach City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to take steps to try to keep the dock open.

The council directed City Manager Fred Wilson to work to find parties willing to buy and operate the Mariners Point fueling dock and to look into the possibility of the city or Orange County being the buyer.

Wilson also was told to have city staff conduct environmental studies and look into liability insurance on the dock and report the findings at a future meeting.

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The operators of the Mariners Point dock at 15922 Pacific Coast Hwy., behind the Simple Green building, have told the city that the business will close by Oct. 1.

Michael Leifer, an attorney representing the operators, Center City Properties and Nahas Enterprises, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

“We really aren’t getting a lot of cooperation from the other side, and we’ve almost run out of time,” Councilwoman Barbara Delgleize said.

To close Mariners Point, the operators would need to undergo an application process with county officials that would include pouring cement into the three 12,000-gallon fuel tanks. Wilson said the operators have yet to apply with the county to close the business.

Huntington Harbour residents have been concerned since July about the dock’s potential closure. Mariners Point provides fuel for about 6,000 boat owners. If it closes, the closest alternative would be the Alamitos Bay Marine Fuel Dock in Long Beach.

Huntington Harbour resident Frank De Gelas, owner of Mike Thompson’s RV, said he is concerned that people would use portable tanks known as jerry cans to fuel their boats and might spill fuel into the harbor.

“It’s a huge, huge public safety issue, and we’ve just got to get fuel [in the harbor] so we don’t have people doing that,” he said.

Mariners Point also has been used by city, county and state lifeguards as an area to treat people who have been injured at the beach or in the harbor.

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