Reprieve in Beach Funding Dispute : Hermosa: County will continue to provide lifeguards and beach groomers through Dec. 28. New council members are optimistic they can strike a deal with supervisors.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which has been threatening to withdraw lifeguards and beach groomers from Hermosa Beach unless the city pays more for the services, has given the city yet another reprieve.

The supervisors voted 3 to 1 Tuesday to continue providing beach services through Dec. 28. Supervisor Ed Edelman dissented and Supervisor Gloria Molina was not present.

The reprieve, Hermosa’s second since the supervisors announced in August that they would suspend beach services after Labor Day, comes less than two weeks before three new Hermosa Beach City Council members are scheduled to be sworn into office.

“It gives the new council an opportunity to be brought up to speed on the issue to see whether they want to participate in the negotiations,” said Don Knabe, Supervisor Deane Dana’s chief deputy.

Two of the new council members, J. R. Reviczky and Julie A. Oakes, are optimistic that the county and the new council can work out a compromise.

“We’re coming into it with a fresh outlook, I guess, and with no sour taste in our mouth,” Reviczky said. “If nothing else, we’ll have a change of personalities and maybe that will bring something positive to the table.”

Oakes said: “Any sign of flexibility is always a good sign.”

County and Hermosa Beach officials have been at a stalemate since the supervisors announced last summer that the cash-strapped county could no longer afford to guard and clean state- or city-owned beaches.

Faced with the biggest fiscal crisis in the county’s history, county officials said they would need at least $200,000 in cash and other subsidies to continue providing services in Hermosa Beach, which owns its beach.

Hermosa Beach officials initially balked at the request, saying residents already pay more than their fair share in taxes and other subsidies to support beach services. Later, they said they could meet $114,000 of the county’s request by participating in additional county marketing programs and by taking over more beach maintenance costs.

But Stan Wisniewski, director of the county’s Department of Beaches and Harbors, has disputed the value of the city’s concessions, saying it really provides only about $44,000 to the county.

Other beach cities that have also been hit up by the county for more funds are closely watching the standoff.

Redondo Beach, which owns a small portion of its beach and currently provides the county with $140,000 annually in parking meter revenue, had considered paying the county an additional $100,000 a year to pay for beach services. The council, however, has put off making a decision on the matter until the county’s dispute with Hermosa is resolved.

“The City Council is concerned there is equity between all the cities,” said Ken Simmons, Redondo Beach’s assistant city manager.

Officials of Manhattan Beach, which has a state-owned beach, are likewise holding back. Although the county wants the city to pay $200,000 a year for beach services, Manhattan Beach City Manager Bill Smith has recommended that the City Council provide the county with a onetime payment of $100,000.