The City's lessee/ship-operator/adjacent land developer Urban Commons tells LBREPORT.com that it's working with the City and making necessary repairs as quickly as possible and says it has made progress despite challenges.

The monthly Queen Mary inspection reports by Edward Pribonic, P.E., were provided by the City as public records to QMI -- Restore the Queen", a grassroots group that supports restoring and preserving the historic vessel. The monthly inspection reports have since surfaced on social media (and were reported by at least one Scottish news outlet); QMI -- Restore the Queen has also put webposted photos and videos on its publicly accessible Facebook page of what it recently observed to its displeasure on the ship.

LBREPORT.com independently follows-up below.

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Below are the two most recently monthly inspection reports by the city-hired independent professional engineer (previously released to third parties by the City and accessible elsewhere on the internet.) We recommend that readers also view comments and context provided by city staff and Urban Commons also published below. [LBREPORT.com redacted the hired engineer's address, telephone number and signature from his report.]

• Jan. 1, 2018 monthly inspection report

• Feb. 3, 2018 monthly inspection report [caveat: Urban Commons says this report was in draft form when released.]

QMI -- Restore the Queen also webposted 80 photos plus three videos of what it says it observed on the ship on March 12, 2018...and voiced concerns. The group's materials are visible on its Facebook page at this link.

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LBREPORT.com sought comments and context from city staff. Below are responses to our inquiry by Johnny Vallejo, City Property Services Officer in the Economic Development Department:

• Has city management informed LB elected officials, and if so who, about the content of the [monthly inspection] reports? "City staff maintain quarterly meetings with the elected City Auditor to review oversight of the lease, implementation of the marine study recommendations, and answer any questions about the inspection reports. Additionally, City Auditor staff are included on the email distribution of monthly reports and the reports are released to the public as part of multiple standing PRA requests."

• Has city management discussed the issues in the monthly reports with the City's lessee Urban Commons and if so with what results? "City staff meet regularly with Urban Commons and the City-contracted professional engineer to discuss the findings of the reports. The intent of the meetings is to convey any concerns noted in the reports, discuss any potential discrepancies, and work with the lessee to address the noted concerns."

• Does the City have any additional comments or information for publication on this? "The professional engineer has been conducting monthly inspections for over a decade at the Queen Mary. Although, it should be noted that staff has worked with Urban Commons and the professional engineer to develop an accountability loop that includes monthly meetings to discuss the inspection reports, and the addition of action items to the reports."

LBREPORT.com also sought comments and context from the City's lessee/ship-operator/adjacent land developer Urban Commons. Below are responses received from the firm's Chief Development Officer, Dan Zaharoni.

• Has Long Beach city management or city staff discussed the issues in the monthly reports with Urban Commons? If so, with what results? "Yes, there is a process in place where city management provides the monthly reports to Urban Commons for review and discussion. The reports are not considered to be "final" until the City and Urban Commons have discussed the report. Unfortunately, there was one instance where a draft report was inadvertently publicly circulated. Urban Commons takes into account all comments and action requests from the City each month and attempts to make the necessary repairs to the ship as quickly as possible. Scheduling, repair priorities, available resources and financing all have an impact on the expedience and scope of repairs."

• Does Urban Commons have comments or relevant information for publication on this? "Urban Commons remains committed to restoring the ship to its former glory days. However, as one might expect for an 81-year-old vessel, the required maintenance and capital improvements are substantial and the challenges posed with such improvements are ongoing. Nevertheless, with the City’s support and assistance, Urban Commons has made tremendous progress in addressing the ship’s immediate structural, safety and aesthetic needs and will continue to do so for the term of its leasehold interest."

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QMI -- Restore the Queen Executive Director, Mary K. Rohrer, commented in an emailed statement to LBREPORT.com that her organization "would like to see a structure that provides and educates the community on any and all restoration projects for the RMS Queen Mary...As a native of Long Beach, having been visiting the ships since I was seven, access to the Queen Mary and her preservation have been a significant part of my life as well as many others. The cost of doing nothing has never been an option and the lease holders need to embrace who the actual share holders of the Mary Are: The community!"

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The condition of the taxpayer-owned ship is of considerable public interest after city staff acknowledged at a November 1, 2016 City Council meeting that the historic vessel required at least $20 million in immediate repairs. The revelation came at the same meeting where city staff recommended, and a Council majority approved, entering into a 66 year lease with Urban Commons as the City's new QM lessee/ship-operator/adjacent-land developer. (A year earlier, the Council approved entering into a lease with Urban Commons but the lease was never executed and the transaction was revised and brought back to the Council)

On November 1, 2016, the Council voted 6-1 (Price dissenting) to authorize the lease with Urban Commons coupled with a complex plan to fund immediate repairs via a transaction that involved use of a debt bond and Tidelands Funds. (Councilwoman Price dissented after unsuccessfully seeking Council support for a City Auditor review of the proposed transaction before approval; LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

In early 2017, a detailed study on ship's overall condition -- a "Marine Survey" (released after Public Records Act requests by LBREPORT.com and separately by the Press-Telegram) indicated that for various reasons (some related to work performed shortly after the ship's arrival and other items allowed to persist over the years) the ship now requires roughly 200+ million in longer-term repairs over a period of multiple years. The Marine Survey concluded that in a worst case scenario without needed repairs, at some point in the next few years the historic ship might begin to list or sink at its mooring.

On March 22, 2017 (a few weeks after the City's release of the Marine Survey results), Urban Commons released (and LBREPORT.com reported in detail) text details, artist drawings and a video describing plans by the firm's plans for $250 million in developments on land adjoining the Queen Mary. "The project will be privately funded, and will not use taxpayer dollars. Further, the Lease allows Urban Commons to enter into development deals with third parties that will generate additional revenues," said Dan Zaharoni, Chief Development Officer for lessee, Urban Commons in an emailed statement provided to LBREPORT.com. (LBREPORT.com coverage of Urban Commons' March 2017 announced development plans, click here. .

LBREPORT.com will continue to follow this story as it progresses.