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PAC meeting Aug. 6th 2008 6:30 PM Santa Ana Hts. Fire station Minutes (subject to approval at October ) PAC members in attendance: Barbara Venezia, Tim Stoaks, Richard Moriarty, Rick Dayton, Gary Hall, Jayne Jones, Gary Golson Approved Excused: Ted Nichols, Ted Bosley Unexcused: Mary Slouka Special note: Mario Mainero was on vacation and could not attend. Guests: NBPD Eric Peterson 1. Approval of minutes from August 2008 PAC Richard Moriarty made a motion to approve minutes. Gary Hall 2nds. Minutes approved 2/ BV Welcome comments and introductions: Baby News! Keri Bullock and her husband Jake report that a healthy baby boy was born at 5:07 pm on the 3rd, at 8lbs, 12 oz. Lucy Leigh Levin, 6lbs 9oz 19 3/4 inches long born July 29th @ 3:10am. Mommy and baby doing wonderful. Shannon will be out on maternity leave beginning Aug. 1st and return to work in December, but she won’t be coming back to Code Enforcement. She’s been hired as the Harbor Resources Supervisor and will begin that job upon her return. We wish both moms the very best! As of July 21st Brian Contino is our new contact for the area. Brian was hired by the Recreation and Senior Services department in 2002, as one of the youth leaders for the after school, sports and camp programs. In 2007 Brian made the transition over to the Code Enforcement Department. He has been working in the Newport Heights/ Dover Shores area for the last three months. His contact information is now on the PAC website www.sahpac.com. We welcome Brian and look forward to working with him. You can reach him directly with code enforcement issues at (949)644-3257 or email him at bcontino@city.newport-beach.ca.us. Dolores Otting is running for City Council against Keith Curry and she is in our audience tonight. Dolores has been coming to PAC meetings since before I was PAC Chairman. She is very familiar with our issues and projects and she really understands them first hand because she has been following them for years and keeps up with reading the website as well. She would be a strong advocate for us at the city because of her level of understanding. The Orchard St. Park is not even a few months old and already graffiti has been spotted on our new equipment. Please call the Newport Beach Graffiti Hotline at 949 644-3333 to report any activity. The City Parks Dept. is installing rubber stops on the railings to prevent skate boarders from continuing to use those in a dangerous manner. In our last newsletter we asked folks to share their thoughts as to what PAC should evolve into if anything once the RDA is completed. There are approximately 900 homes that receive our newsletter and only six people responded. Of the six, three were in favor of PAC rolling into some form of community association to continue lobbying the city and the county on issues. Three responses did not support any kind of organization. With such a small return, there doesn’t seem to be any enthusiasm by the community to take this concept any further. Once PAC has completed the projects and the RDA is closed, nothing further will evolve at this point. As a community there’s always the option for folks to organize at any time to create what they like. PAC, however, will exert no further efforts in this area. A resident named Annie at KindSL@aol.com emailed and said she would like to work on this and I sent her the information we had gathered. Contac Annie if you would like to work with her. 3 Public Comments: (3 minutes or less) no comments 4/ Staff and Committee Reports George Britton reports on: Overview of the County runs projects- Kline Dr., Bristol St. Sidewalks, (10mins) Kline Dr. -“Kline Drive engineering is continuing, with the drainage being conveyed to an existing storm drain in Orchard Drive, rather than draining south and west. County is also getting the precise real estate documents put together for use when the property conveyances are ready to be made. We, Keri, Dave Marshall and I, have been meeting with the individual owners to review specifics of the plans with the selected drainage solution. We still have a few to link up with.” Bristol St sidewalk is moving along and they are sorting drainage issues. 6/ Eric Peterson Newport Beach Police Dept. reports: Eric Peterson gave a presentation on behalf of the Police dept. Recent crimes are mainly property and a major crime that is occurring now is the theft of GPS systems from cars. DUI is still the number one crime in the city. The city offers E-select through their web site. E-select will let you know what is going on in the city and let the user select the updates they want to know about. Eric also mentioned that Chief Klien is working on signs for people to be careful of children when driving through the neighborhoods. 7/ Dave Kiff / reports updates on Mesa Birch Park and undergrounding and trail extension. (5 min) Update on Mesa Birch Park: Per City Staff and Committee members report that because the park is so close to the Bay it is suppose to reflect the same basic feel of the area. The project has been stalled in the past several months due to the replacement of the original contractor assigned to do the construction. Barbara voiced concerns that the delay in the project will actually cost more money if this project and other projects are not finished in a timely manner. Dave Kiff reported that their had been major delays due to the replacement of the original contractor but the project is back on track at this time. Richard Moriarty mentioned the park now has a vagrant that is sleeping on the one of the benches. Richard brought a picture to share with PAC and Newport Beach PD so they could identify him. Richard brought to code enforcement officer Brian Contino’s attention that sprinklers installed in the park have been over watering and the dirt is being washed into the drain. He provided Brian with a picture of the area he is concerned about. Undergrounding/ Mesa Trail: Barbara voiced her concern that the undergrounding project is in danger of being delayed due to the retirement of key people on the project and that delays will end up costing more money that was originally projected. Dave reports the project is considered a low priority for SCE but the date has not been moved and is in the design stage and is still scheduled to break ground in Jan, 2008. While in this design stage it is being determined if the cables may be put under ground in the middle of the street making it unnecessary to remove trees and landscaping that have encroached on public easement land that was set aside to complete this trail. Barbara also pointed out that it appears the installation of the Mesa trail portion of this project has now been eliminated or separated from the project. Dave Kiff agreed that the Mesa Trail completion is no longer included as part of the undergrounding project. This part of the project seems to have been dropped sometime in the last half of 2007 without notification to PAC, the Trial Sub-committee or the general public. Dave reported that city staff has not been directed to do anything with the trail portion of the project. Staff has not been directed to delete the trail nor construct the trail. Council has not told staff to build the trail only to complete the undergrounding project. Barbara strongly objected stating that Dave has been coming to PAC meetings for years before annexation took place, instructed staff to gather reports on encroachments along Mesa Dr. and it has always been called the Undergrounding/ Mea Birch Trail project. He also was instrumental on pricing the trail extension and that is in our minutes on the website. She also stated that the city adopted the Specific Plan and it clearly calls for this project in its entirety. The Specific Plan also was adopted into the General Plan update in the election of 2006. She suggested that this dropping of the trail is a direct result of catering to special interests of certain individuals with political clout and that no one was considering the huge liability issue as children and handicap people ride in the street along Mesa Dr. due to the new program in the neighborhood. It was suggested that PAC should address the issue of the Mesa Trail portion of the project not being included in the Under grounding directive. Barbara reminded us that this Mesa trail project was specifically connected to the undergrounding project in order to be completed and was coupled there by Supervisor Wilson. This trail is designated and considered a public right of way and PAC has been lead to believe the trail would be put in once the undergrounding was completed. She also noted that there is an agreement that links the two projects together and they should not be separated at this late date. PAC requested Dave provide them with these documents so they can follow up with why this portion of the project is being left uncompleted. Dave agreed to provide all records of the project. He also suggests PAC could conduct an archive search in city records. Dave explained that even though the Mesa Trail is documented in the Specific plan for the area. The Specific Plan is not a budget or directive to move forward on a project. Staff has been given a directive as to what can go forward with regard to this project. George Britton added that there are several ways to move forward on the trail project. The city council can ask for the project to be done. or the county can complete the project. George stated the county could take over and complete the project but in order for the county to do this they would have to get the city permission. Jayne suggested the city complete the trail ASAP if the area won’t be disrupted by the under grounding of the cables. Barbara and other PAC members strongly recommended the Mesa Trail be completed because of safety issues to protect pedestrians, children and trail riders giving them an area to use when cars speed down the street and/or don’t give right of way to them. 8/ Subject: Santa Ana Heights Code Enforcement Activity Update from Shannon Levin This is the time of year when we enjoy ocean breezes and open windows. Unfortunately those breezes also blow in “horsy” air to neighboring properties. Here are some helpful tips all equestrian property owners should follow to be a good neighbor. Manure: As a property owner or tenant be sure and initiate and maintain a program of proper manure management. Daily collection of manure from in and around exercise arenas and stables should be practiced and manure should be stored in covered containers. Dust: Dust control is important to all in the neighborhood. A method of light watering of arenas and exercise areas should be practiced daily. Instead of watering, a light chemical control of dust can also be used effectively. Insects: There should be a vigorous control of insects and rodents. All dry grains and pellets should be stored in rodent proof containers (i.e. well sealed and preferably metal containers). Hay should be stored on a raised platform with a minimum six inch clearance above the surrounding area. Insects may be controlled using fly predator techniques. More information can be obtained by speaking with the Back Bay Equestrians or visiting the website at www.backbayequestrians.com. Throughout the City we have seen landscaping dying and drying up. Please take a few minutes in the morning or evening to water the front yard. Remember, the streets, sidewalks and driveways don’t need watering. Be Water wise!! Brian Contino Reports : Brian reports that code enforcement is looking at the amount of animals that will be allowed on properties and is in the process of drafting an ordinance that will only allow 6 animals on a property. PAC reminded Brian that there are guidelines already in place in the Specific Plan and there should be on reason to change those guidelines also noting that what applies in the REQ should not be lumped in with areas of the city that are not designated equestrian. Jayne makes a motion that Brian works with a sub-committee before any changes are drafted. Rick Dayton second’s the motion. The sub committee will include Gary Hall, Tim Stokes, Jayne Jones and Rick Dayton. The committee will work out language before the October PAC meeting. Richard also asked about the dust control in the Arena Area and what is being done with that area. A new Cypress St. resident mentioned he would like to see material used on the trail that would cut down on dust and make the trail easier to use by more than horse riders. 9/ Development Committee - Rick D. (5 mins) No report at this time 10/ Trails/ Arena Subcommittee - Jayne J., Mary S., and Dave K. (10 min) PAC Secretary Jayne Jones Reports….. The “Adopt a Trail” equipment has been taken from the Mesa trail. As you know this issue was discussed at the last PAC meeting. We have not replaced the missing equipment but interestingly enough the trails are being kept exceptionally clean by Back Bay Equestrian members and neighbors. I would like to thank everyone for their efforts toward the program and I commend them for their commitment to keeping our neighborhood clean. I am working closely with the City of Newport Beach on the Arena Project and Dave Kiff reported: “As of mid-July, two environmental review efforts are nearing a public comment period. These are the Resource Management Plan (the plan that is required when any sensitive habitat area is disturbed by construction and by the arena itself) and the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). The RMP is intended to show how the restored area will be maintained once the arena and the restored bluff top are done - who will maintain it, what the maintenance includes (like irrigation, removal of non-native species, trimming, plant species, storm water protections, etc.), and the estimated costs of the maintenance over time. If the City of Newport Beach adopts the RMP, it must also either decide to do the work or tell who is going to do it. The MND is a document prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that describes the environmental impacts of the arena project. Issues like noise, dust, views, water quality, and air quality are all covered in an MND. The MND is intended to allow the public to see these impacts in advance, and to judge whether or not the arena project is meritorious despite the impacts. The "M" part of MND means that the document also shows how some environmental impacts will be mitigated to reduce or eliminate the impacts (like a dust control program for the arena, a manure management program, and the water quality bioswale to reduce storm water pollutants). Interested readers will want to review and comment on the MND during the prescribed comment period, which is about to be set. If you would like more information or to be notified of the release of the MND, please contact Rosalinh Ung in the City's Planning Department at rung@city.newport-beach.ca.us “ Keeton Kreitzer contacted me via email on August 5 to let me know the project is still moving forward. Keeton wrote: We met with the OCFCD (Orange County Flood Control District) to discuss issues related to the project and we will be meeting with the RWQCB (Regional Water Quality Control Board within a week or so to discuss comments we received from them in November. As soon as their comments are addressed, we will get finalize the initial study accordingly and get the document out for public review this month. It was noted that the city is currently funding the project and will be reimbursed by the county. Dolores mentioned to go on e-select offered through the city web site and ask for updates of this project. Meeting closed at 8:00 PM / BV adjourned meeting and thanked everyone. |
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