April 14, 2007 Meeting Summary

Preparation

E-mail reminder was sent to each member who has provided a contact e-mail address.
Susan Chu and Laura Ellersieck phoned other members on the phone contact list.

Attendees

11 members

Meeting

Agenda Items:

Locked park pedestrian path gates
Ice Rink, results of final Design Commission review
School board election runoff April 17
Final municipal election results
Speed humps and Avocado Ave.
Edison proposed addition of 220 kV transmission line upgrade

open house at PHS cafeteria, April 23, 4:30 - 7:30 pm

E-waste collection: Sat April 28, 9 am - 3 pm, Brookside Park/Rose Bowl Lot I
Traffic Reduction Strategies workshop, Sat April 21, 8-11 am Brookside Golf Clubhouse
Anticipated library closure for renovation
anything else attendees wish to discuss

The meeting began at 11:15 am

Locked park pedestrian path gates

One or both gates have been left locked during the day or locked well before sunset on numerous occasions recently.
Please call 744-4321 and complain each time you find a gate locked during hours they are supposed to be open. If it is after hours and no one answers, leave a message - at least they are on notice the security contractor has failed its duty again. Don't assume someone else has reported the problem.
Some people have been bypassing using the hole in the fence on Avocado and the unlocked maintenance gates in the fence on the east side of the park, behind homes on the north end of Avocado.
Councilman Haderlein's field representative Rhonda Stone asked whether just leaving the gates unlocked all the time is a solution that would be acceptable to the neighbors. The reaction from some is that would just be inviting trouble. Others say go ahead, with the persistent hole in the fence and unlocked maintenance gates, the Edison area is pretty much already open to those who would most likely cause trouble. Still, having the more obvious gates open, especially next to the dog park, could invite those who wouldn't otherwise think of it.
This past week Rhonda Stone passed word that Councilman Haderlein has asked for a meeting with the City Manager and the head of Public Works to try to find out why managing these gates is so problematic and what can be done about it. If nothing else this will raise the level of attention to the problem.

Ice Rink, results of final Design Commission review

Design Commission Meeting occurred on Monday March 12
More details were presented and/or made available then had been the case for the concept review in January. Overall, there was very little change in the design. Some things were still in flux, and additional changes could occur before it goes to the City Council (including in response to commissioner concerns)
The one significant new concept is window box spectator seating on the exterior balcony/terrace. The planners hadn't worked all the details, including cost, out yet and indicated budget would have to be found to do it. Commissioners were somewhat intrigued, but dubious about the practicality.
Commissioner comments made clear they were not all in agreement about what they liked or did not like about the design. One liked the outside balcony, while some disliked it. One liked the simplicity of the north and south and would like the east to be simplified, while another felt the north and south are too boring. One liked the green screen while others were dubious it would work as desired.
The commission passed a motion listing concerns to be passed along to the City Council. It did not seem to directly speak to either approval or disapproval of the project. Major concerns about the design were signage and spectator seating.
Something not directly brought up in the meeting, but very clear reviewing the materials made available at the meeting, is that nothing east of the sidewalk on the east side of the building is shown in any of the materials. Not the access road or any landscaping. Nothing beyond the city's parcel. This may be because negotiations are ongoing with Edison, but it means that has bypassed any public scrutiny. We may need to make a fuss that no design should be approved by the City Council until this portion of it is part of the public record being reviewed.
Another major issue wasn't the design itself but the lack of commission input to city projects. If this were a private developer, multiple commissions would have reviewed it starting much earlier in the process, and they would have had some decision making authority. The Design Commission is the only commission getting input for this design, only after almost everything is already decided, and they only get to make a recommendation to the City Council. The commissioners were disgruntled.
No idea when it will go to the City Council.
The design drawings distributed at the meeting were made available for attendees of our meeting to look at.
Our web site information about the ice rink project has been updated and reorganized. Check it out.

School board election runoff April 17

Just a reminder that the school board runoff election for two seats is Tuesday April 17.

Final municipal election results

The final vote tally for our City Council representative was a difference of 150 votes:

Gene Masuda 1,474 votes (47.5%)
Steve Haderlein 1,624 votes (52.4%)

There were also 2 write-ins, 77 blank votes, and 4 over votes.
There are 11,441 registered voters in the district, 1810 voted in person, 1371 voted by absentee ballot. District turnout was 27.8%; citywide it was 20.3%.

Mayor Bogaard and the District 6 councilman Madison were easily reelected. District 1 and 2 will be decided by a runoff on April 17. (In District 2, the second and third place finishers were only 12 votes apart.)
Measure C, the library parcel tax, passed 80.4% to 19.5%

speed humps and Avocado Ave.

The ballot was successful and it is expected that the humps will be installed by the end of the year
no word on how many or exactly where they will be

Edison proposed addition of 220 kV transmission line

Edison is conducting an "open house" at the PHS cafeteria, April 23, 4:30 - 7:30 pm
The notion is that you just drop in to see explanatory displays and ask questions.
Although this is just about the project, it is also an opportunity to tell the Edison public relations people what you think of the way they maintain their land and ask them to raise their "too low" lines.
In our area, the project is to add three lines vertically on the east side of the western rank of towers. There are currently no lines there.
A public relations consultant was asked whether there would be upgrades to the Goodrich substation in connection with this and a number of other questions and comments. He said he's working on getting answers.

E-waste collection: Sat April 28, 9 am - 3 pm, Brookside Park/Rose Bowl Lot I

This event is city sponsored and is only for electronic waste; not non-electronic hazardous waste.
Such things as televisions, VCRs, computers and computer parts, CD and DVD players, cell phones, answering machines, power supplies. See the flyer.
There will be a county run Hazardous and E-Waste collection on June 23 at the Rose Bowl. County calender.

Traffic Reduction Strategies workshop, Sat April 21, 8-11 am Brookside Golf Clubhouse

The city staff and transportation commission have recommended the city change its rules in numerous ways to supposedly reduce traffic. Almost all of them involve making parking harder to get and more expensive. The notion being that if parking is unavailable or costs more, people are less likely to come by car, and thus traffic will be reduced.
Stores are supposed to be willing to go along with making parking cost more under the premise that it will only chase away those who aren't serious about spending their money anyway.
Residential developments would be prevented from making enough parking spaces and required to unbundle the spaces from the unit rental/purchase price so it is apparent how much is being paid for parking and there is monetary incentive to not have cars.
More residential streets would get parking meters with the promise that the parking meter income would be used for improvements on those streets.
The study admits that none of these parking based solutions does anything about the through traffic, and that reductions in local traffic may just be filled in by more regional traffic.
The document to be discussed can be accessed at: http://www.cityofpasadena.net/trans

Anticipated library closure for renovation

The meeting room and bathrooms were locked shut for several weeks because of supposed discovery of asbestos in the room - in and/or under the floor tiles that were exposed when the carpet was taken out. Even the librarian could not enter. Presumably that's been remediated since the room is open again.
The library is being re-roofed now.
A sign on the door says the whole library will be shut from May 4 to 28. Will not be surprised if it takes longer.
Additional electric circuits need to be brought in and they are talking about tunneling under the (cement slab) floor to place outlets that will be accessible at library tables for laptop users.
This means we will have to meet elsewhere in May and possibly also June. Will look into using the park although believe a reservation would cost money we don't have. Attendees suggested the church and Lamanda Park library as possibilities. Will let you know with the meeting reminder.

anything else attendees wish to discuss

homeless cats - Turns out the second brother cat is very social with anybody who gives him a little food. He has now also been fixed and vaccinated, this time under the Humane Society's Trap-Neuter-Release program. Both of them would like a home, separately or together.

Next meeting is May 12, location and possibly time To Be Determined.

Adjourned about 12 pm? (forgot to look)