The construction of the set for "Memoirs of a Geisha" is in full swing at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the County is still negotiating how to pay for the repairs to the Reserve.

According to Dave Moore at the County Department of Parks and Recreation, they are "working on a bond escrow type account" to pay for repairs after the filming. A biologist is currently estimating the cost of repairs. Asked if the escrow agreement would be completed before filming begins, Moore said, "I sure hope so."

The company has agreed to restore the area to its condition before it was disturbed by the crew, as well as some adjacent areas that the filming will not impact.  The Review reported that the estimated cost of repairs was $5,000. Moore told me that the $5,000 figure is the estimated additional cost of restoring adjacent areas.

Columbia Pictures paid $18,000 to the County for a permit, and donated $28,000 to Friends of the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to get permission to do the filming in the park.  Permission included a Planning Department waiver of the required Environmental Impact Report.

Not everyone feels the county is handling this well.

Neighbor Alan Harris believes that filming must be stopped until a full assessment of the project’s impact on the park’s wildlife and geology by independent experts is complete. And filming should be permitted only if they conclude that the project poses little risk to the park and that the studio agrees to repair any damage.

Harris plans a a tour of the area at Noon this Sunday, Jan. 9. The group will meet at the southwest entrance of the park at the end of Cypress Street. This is a followup to a tour Harris led last Sunday, Jan. 2.

Harris reports that the crew has already shown its lack of respect for the neighborhood by parking in a No Parking area and starting opeartions, including truck engines and some very noisy generators well before the 7am start time required by the County.

Terry Plank of Weddings by the Sea has concerns about the equity permitting filming. After 15 years of performing small weddings on the Reserve blufftops, he was told that weddings would no longer be permitted on the bluffs. in a letter to the Parks and Recreation Department, Plank wrote, "It appears that the influence of a wealthy multi-national corporation is enough to override your stated concerns of impact on the Marine Reserve. The impact of the preparation for and filming the Sony Pictures movie is considerable in comparison to 2-20 people walking into the Reserve and spending 45 minutes to an hour."

Another neighbor has posted more pictures of the construction and its impact on the Reserve.

In an editorial in today’s Review, Debra Godshall writes,

In early July, the Review broke the story of the red-legged frog sighting at Wavecrest that all but derailed the Wavecrest Village project just days after the city had signed an agreement with Wavecrest Partners.

Actually, Coastsider broke the story on July 19.  Two days later, on July 21, the Review followed our lead with a report skeptically titled "Biologist reportedly discovers red-legged frog in Wavecrest".  Even then, the nasty adverb "reportedly" intimated that the biologist, whom their reporter spoke to, might be lying. The Review didn’t "break" the story and it didn’t happen in "early July".