Pooch Park Needs Your Help!

HELP WANTED... we are reseeding the large dog area this Saturday, June 16th from 8 am to 3 pm. We will be spreading grass seeds and spreading topper over the seeds. If you are able to help with equipment or manual labor, please send an email to, poochpark411@yahoo.com, or just show up Saturday. 

July 2011 Council Update

Projects:

Euclid Street Reconstruction - Orangethorpe Avenue to 91 Freeway (Engineering): This project includes replacing deteriorated pavement and access ramps to comply with ADA regulations; installing traffic loops and striping; and replacing damaged curbs and gutters. The project is in the bidding phase, and construction is expected to begin in late August.

Richman Athletic Field Improvements (Engineering): The project was completed at the beginning of June and is in the maintenance period, which ends in September.

West Harbor Alley Improvement -

Amerige Avenue-Wilshire Avenue

(Engineering): In June, Council awarded this $215,175 project to Kormx, Inc. The project includes alley and sidewalk reconstruction, and improvements in landscaping, irrigation, and lighting between the Amerige and Wilshire entrances. Construction is expected to be completed in September.

Fox Block Temporary Parking Lot (Engineering): Construction was completed in June, and the lot is now fully operational.

Sewer Replacement and Road Reconstruction - Chapman Area, west of

Basque Avenue

(Engineering): Kana Pipeline, Inc., has begun installing sewer main and removing concrete at intersection corners. Access ramp installation will follow, as well as sidewalks, curbs, gutters and alley returns. The project is expected to be completed in mid-September.

Tennis Center Renovation (Parks and Recreation): The Fullerton Tennis Center renovation began July 5, and is expected to be completed Oct. 25. A grand opening is planned in November. Court availability will remain open throughout construction.

Hiltscher Trail Improvements (Parks and Recreation): The trail improvements (from

Euclid Street

to

La Mesa Avenue

) began early this month. Improvements will include enhanced trail staging areas, as well as a new trail alignment to create a better flow for different types of users and to cause the least amount of disruption to the neighboring homes. This section of the trail is closed during construction and will reopen in October.

Update on the Fox Theatre (Redevelopment and Economic Development): Work on the seismic retrofit of the Fox Theatre complex continues. Roof tile from the Firestone Building and Tea Room has been removed and cleaned. The tiles will be surveyed to determine which ones can be reused. Removal of the marquee is complete. The ”FOX ” letters were removed from the marquee and will be stored while the new marquee is fabricated during Phase 2 of the restoration project.

SOCO West Parking Structure (Redevelopment and Economic Development): Construction of the parking structure is under way, with shoring activities finished and excavation 80 percent completed.

Programs:

Fourth of July Festival (Parks and Recreation): Attendance in the stadium was estimated at 12,000, with an estimated 20,000 people in the surrounding streets, parks, and at the courthouse to watch the fireworks show. There was one minor incident at the end of the night: A woman fell as she was walking down the steps in the stadium. She landed hard on her left knee and hand. Fullerton Fire Paramedics provided medical attention, and she was taken to Anaheim Regional Hospital for follow-up. Traffic in the surrounding streets was heavy after the event, with no significant incidents reported.

Summer Concerts in the Park (Parks and Recreation): The Summer Concerts in the Park will be held Wednesdays, beginning July 13 and running through Aug. 17. The concerts will offer a variety of music genres from “Southbound” (‘70s and Southern Rock), “HELP” (a Beatles tribute group), “The James Harman Band” (blues), “The Mighty Cash Cats” (a Johnny Cash tribute group), “Yard Sale” (classic rock) and “The Lucky Stars” (country). A different Fullerton restaurant will sell food each week, and free crafts will be provided. Free shuttle service will be available to and from the parking structure at First Evangelical Free Church.

Foreclosure Prevention Workshop (Community Development): On June 11, the Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative, along with the Shalom Center Tree of Life and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez’s office, partnered to provide a free foreclosure prevention workshop that provided counseling to distressed homeowners by nonprofit housing agencies and lender representatives. Approximately 207 persons attended the event, representing 83 households in Fullerton and local communities. The foreclosure prevention information was presented in English, and Korean and Spanish translators were provided. All attendees first met one-on-one with a housing counselor and then were able to meet one-on-one with their respective lender to discuss their individual situations. Five lenders and four nonprofit agencies participated in the event.

City-wide Clean-up (Maintenance Services): In April, the City Council directed Maintenance Services to implement a city-wide clean-up effort involving several projects. As of June 30, the status of that effort is as follows:

Landscape Projects:

• The
  

  Nutwood Avenue

  and

  Lemon Street

  improvements have been completed.
• The Juanita Cooke Trail survey has been completed and work is under way.

Graffiti Removal:

The three-person graffiti removal crew’s efforts have been augmented by an employee assigned to clean parking structures, who is also removing graffiti as he finds it during his cleaning rounds.

Pothole Repair:

The Street Division repaired potholes at 525 locations in May and June, compared with 335 for the same period in 2010. The Division will continue to use recycled asphalt to augment its regular asphalt purchases, increasing the amount of material available for pothole repair and other paving operations.

Street Sign Replacement:

The Street Division is completing the count and locations of street sign replacement.

Based on current ordering and installation times, installing of all 326 new signs should be completed by September.

Month in Review:

Website Statistics (Redevelopment and Economic Development): In June, the Department’s section on the City website had 1,736 hits.

Unemployment Rates (Redevelopment and Economic Development): Current unemployment rates are as follows: U.S. – 9.1 percent; California – 11.4 percent; Orange County – 8.5 percent; and Fullerton – 9.6 percent. This data was provided by the Orange County Workforce Investment Board.

Fire: In June, the Department had 915 requests for service, up slightly from the 904 requests in June 2010. Of the 915 requests, 673 were for emergency medical aid, 23 were for fires, eight were hazardous materials incidents, and 61 were service calls. Of the medical aid requests, 437 required advanced life support response and 236 required basic life support response. In addition, the Department responded on 84 automatic aid calls, and received 73 automatic aid responses.

Community Development: In June, the Department: issued 292 plan checks and permits; issued 427 building permits; conducted 1,612 building inspections; received 216 code enforcement complaints; handled 733 active code enforcement cases; closed 176 code enforcement complaints; and conducted 848 code enforcement inspections.

Major Building Permits (Community Development): In June, the following major permits were issued: Chick-fil-A Restaurant; parking structure for the Transportation Center; and parking structure for University Housing,

555 N. Commonwealth Ave.

Police: In June, the Department was dispatched to 3,529 calls for service and initiated 2,164 additional contacts. There were 1,055 criminal reports taken and 419 persons arrested for various criminal offenses.

Police Explorers (Police): In the last week of June, eight Fullerton Police Explorers, along with three Police Officers and a Cadet Adviser attended “Camp Superstars” in Lake Arrowhead. Explorers from around Southern California gathered for a week of team building and competition. It was the first chance many of our Explorers ever had to attend such a camp. At the conclusion of the week, Fullerton’s Post earned the “Badge of Honor” trophy, which was awarded for an “exemplary showing of teamwork, sportsmanship and character.”

Source: http://www.cityoffullerton.com/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=7491

Open Coyote Hills group speaks with Fullerton Chamber of Commerce

The Fullerton Chamber of Commerce's Theresa Harvey and Open Coyote Hills' Jack Dean and Robert Hayden discuss the West Coyote Hills development by Pacific Coast Homes. 

This is great information for those seeking to understand both sides of the the issue: to build or to not build.

Click on THIS LINK to listen.

More Open Space Added to North OC!

Opponents of the West Coyote Hills development who wanted more open space and parklands just got their wish! 

The Orange County Register’s Michael Mello reported today that the OCTA has purchased 300 acres in North Orange County to be preserved as open space. 

With an overall price tag of $2.96-million it works out to be just under $10,000 an acre making the Carbon Canyon open space is significantly cheaper than West Coyote Hills. 

Although this should end the calls for more parks and open space, the no-growth crowd will likely continue to pond their fists.  For this minority group, the 120-plus parks north of the 91-Freeway (http://gregsebourn.blogspot.com/2011/04/observers-love-affair-with-chevron-love.html) and the addition of 300 acres just aren’t enough. 

OC Register:

“Former owner Leo Hayashi had planned to build up to 300 homes on his acreage. However, the city said he could safely build less than half that number because of the area's steep slopes created by the grass-covered canyons and ridges.”

“The money comes from Measure M, a half-cent sales tax extended by Orange County voters in 2006 to fund transportation improvements. A portion of the funds would go toward making up for habitat damage from road improvements and other projects.

In Orange County, a 2005 estimate showed that as much as $243 million could be used over 30 years to restore or acquire wild habitat. About $40 million has been approved to buy property this year, Scheper said.”

To put the scope and magnitude of the Pacific Coast Homes development into perspective, the 760-home development could be worth as much as $350-million even after all of the public dedications are made. 

Observer's Love Affair with Chevron - A love hate relationship

It doesn't take a reader long to recognize that the Fullerton Observer is a heavily biased publication. 

Each issue seems to surround Chevron, that "evil corporation that wants to destroy our beloved nature."  Some stories are emotional appeals while others raise valid concerns.  

Lacking any valid points,

at least in my opinion, the Mid-April issue is rife with emotional appeals, two of which I would like to explore here. 

First is the cover story with the flow chart.

The big fallacy, or dare I say lie, in the chart is where the project is approved with or maybe without conditions.  The project as it stands has MILLIONS of dollars in conditions.  Those conditions will not go away and neither will the law suit if the City chooses to deny the project again.

There are many other issues with the story and the chart but I'll leave those alone for now.

Next, let's look at the letter from Shirley Gregg titled "A Myth On Steroids, Chevron's 'No Money'" on page 3 of the same issue.

The author says that Chevron has refused to work with OCTA this year and that the agency has earmarked Chevron as "unwilling to negotiate at this time."  She later states that Chevron has communicated with OCTA this year but rejected their offers.

You can stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and pretend it ain't so, BUT Chevron sent a letter dated March 22, 2010 to OCTA wherein PCH project manager Jim Pugliese outlines what needs to happen for the County or the City or anyone else to purchase the West Coyote Hills property. 

Pugliese writes:

"...the current allocation amount of about $27 million is not sufficient to acquire, restore and maintain our 510‐acre property even if it received 100 percent of the funding, which is unlikely considering the property is a habitat island and there are no existing wildlife movement corridors between it and other native habitat areas (e.g. Puente Hills, Chino Hills). It is also unlikely to receive all of the funding because there are over 100 projects competing for funding throughout Orange County.

The issue of liability is another concern. Acquisition would have to include satisfactory indemnification of Pacific Coast Homes for any future liability from future public use of the land. It is not clear OCTA is in a position to offer this guarantee.

Lastly, we have made a pledge to Fullerton residents that after project approval we would open West Coyote Hills for public enjoyment through miles of trails, vista points and a nature center. Based on our conversation, it does not appear that public access is a priority for your program, and we are not prepared to go back on the pledges we have made to the community."

See actual letter at left.  Click images for full view.  To date, no one - OCTA, the City of Fullerton, or anyone else - has offered Chevron terms similar to those outlined in the March 2010 letter.

Ms. Gregg goes onto share her perceived deficit in parks in North Orange County. 

The fact remains North Orange County has plenty of parks.  Just to name a few which are all NORTH of the 91FWY:

State Parks:

Chino Hills State Park
County Parks:
Craig Regional Park
Clark Regional Park (next to WCH)
Carbon Canyon Regional Park
Featherly Regional Park
Yorba Regional Park
George Key Ranch Historical Park
Also listed as a "park" but not picnic worthy is the Yorba Cemetery

City Parks:
Constitution Park, La Habra
Corona Park, La Habra
Descanso Park, La Habra
El Centro-Lions Park, La Habra
Estelli Park, La Habra
Guadalupe Park, La Habra
La Bonita Park, La Habra
Las Lomas Park, La Habra
Loma Norte Park, La Habra
Loma Verde Park, La Habra
Montwood Park, La Habra
Oeste Park, La Habra
Old Reservoir Park, La Habra
Old Settlers Park, La Habra
Osornio Park, La Habra
Portola Park, La Habra
Richards Park, La Habra

Terraza Park, La Habra
Town Center Park, La Habra
San Miguel De Allende Park, La Habra
Vista Grande Park, La Habra
Vista Del Valle (Westridge) Park, La Habra
Vista Del Valle Park,  La Habra
Arovista Park, Brea
Brea Junior High School Park, Brea
Brea Sports Park, Brea
City Hall Park, Brea
Country Hills Park, Brea
Founder's Park, Brea
Greenbriar Par, Brea
Lagos De Moreno Park, Brea
Olinda Oil Museum and Trail, Brea
Olinda Ranch Park, Brea
Tamarack Park, Brea
Tri-City Park Maintained by the cities of Brea, Fullerton and PlacentiaWoodcrest Park, Brea
Arroyo Park, Yorba Linda
Box Canyon Park, Yorba Linda
Brush Canyon Park, Yorba Linda
Bryant Ranch School Park, Yorba Linda
Dominguez Trailside Park, Yorba Linda
Eastside Community Park, Yorba Linda
Fairmont Knolls Park, Yorba Linda
Hurless Barton Park, Yorba Linda
Jean Woodard Park, Yorba Linda
Jessamyn West Park, Yorba Linda
Kingsbriar Park, Yorba Linda
Las Palomas Tennis Park, Yorba Linda
Phillip S. Paxton Equestrian Center, Yorba Linda
Rio Del Oro, Yorba Linda
Roland Bigonger Park, Yorba Linda
San Antonio Park, Yorba Linda
Shapell Park, Yorba Linda
Travis Ranch Park, Yorba Linda
Veterans Park, Yorba Linda
Yorba Linda Middle School Park, Yorba Linda

George Bellis Park, Buena Park

Lindbergh Mini Park, Buena Park

Smith-Murphy Park, Buena Park

Acacia Park, Fullerton

Adlena Park, Fullerton

Amerige Park, Fullerton

Bastanchury Park, Fullerton

Brea Dam Recreation Area, Fullerton

Brea Dam Park, Fullerton

Byerrum Park, Fullerton

Chapman Park, Fullerton

Downtown Plaza, Fullerton

Edward H. White II Park, Fullerton

Emery Park, Fullerton

Fern Drive Park, Fullerton

Ford Park, Fullerton

Fullerton Arboretum, Fullerton

Fullerton Creek Greenbelt, Fullerton

Fullerton Sports Complex, Fullerton

Gilbert Park, Fullerton

Gilman Park, Fullerton

Hermosa School Park, Fullerton

Hillcrest Park, Fullerton

Hiltscher Park, Fullerton

Independence Park, Fullerton

Laguna Lake Park, Fullerton

Laguna Road School Park, Fullerton

Lemon Park, Fullerton

Mountain View Park, Fullerton

Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton

Nicolas Park, Fullerton

Olive Park, Fullerton

Orangethorpe Park, Fullerton

Pacific Drive Park, Fullerton

Plaza Park, Fullerton

Pooch Park, Fullerton

Richman Park, Fullerton

Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve, Fullerton

Roger B. Chaffee Park, Fullerton

Rolling Hills Park, Fullerton

Rolling Hills School Park, Fullerton

San Juan Park, Fullerton

Skate Park (at Independence Park) , Fullerton

Trail Rest Park, Fullerton

Truslow Park, Fullerton

Valencia Park, Fullerton

Virgil "Gus" Grissom Park, Fullerton

Vista Park, Fullerton

West Coyote Hills Park, Fullerton

West Coyote Hills Tree Park, Fullerton

Woodcrest Park, Fullerton

Koch Park, Placentia

Pearson Park, Placentia

Tuffree Park, Placentia

Kraemer Park, Placentia

Parque de Los Vaqueros, Placentia

Parque del Arroyo Verde, Placentia

RiverDale Park, Anaheim

*Recreational trails were not included in the list.

Did I miss any?  I tried to exclude buildings and golf courses though many consider those to be "parks".

122 PARKS NORTH OF THE 91FWY!

How many parks do we need before we have enough?

To Drink Or Not To Drink - The City of Fullerton, This Economy, and The Future

Parks and Recreation: What we use to do as teens -park and recreate! 

The Orange County Register's Barbara Giasone reported yesterday that the Fullerton Parks and Recreation Commission was to hold discussions on allowing beer and wine sales at the Fullerton Sports Complex during the Summer Concert Series. Why this hasn't come up before is surprising.

Fullerton is well known for being a cultural Mecca of college partying with the vast number of bars just in the downtown area alone and the numerous institutions of higher learning. However, since the drinkers all pack up and go home for the summer, the City is loosing tax revenue from the loss of alcohol-related sales. Add to that the poor economy and you have a City struggling to continue to provide concerts and other social events. Selling beer and wine is one way to make a lot of money quickly and create a mess or two as we have seen in the downtown area for several years. At a glance, it would seem that since the concerts in the Sports Complex are family events, there will be few people actually getting drunk, vomiting, and passing out. However, something to consider is the fact that the suppressed economy has spurred an increase in alcohol consumption.

Since the Great Depression of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's alcohol producers have seen increases in demand for liquor and beer. When times get tough, consumers tend to opt for cheaper brands, choosing to spend less and drink more. Consumers are also choosing to drink at home over costly nights at the local pub.

So, if everyone is staying home to drink, how will the City of Fullerton make money? Perhaps residents will choose the concert series as their one family night out each week. Perhaps the unemployed/under-employed ±20% of Fullerton Residents will find work by then, maybe even in the alcohol sales business. The reality is that we will likely see an increase in barbeque sales, propane sales, hotdogs, hamburger patties/buns, and some backyard basics. I don't think we will see too many of the $2,000 barbeques but probably more of the $200 variety. This will allow many to feel that they are living better without spending more. They will drink by their burners and backyard fire pits. They will invite their neighbors and share their angst over education, politics, and the economy.

You will also see an increase in the birthrate. With less money to go out drinking, couples will be feeling the effects of cheap booze in the comfort of their private abode. Expect a higher demand for OB/GYN and pediatricians. Expect to see more home additions to accommodate expanding families and with that a boom in minor construction, architecture, engineering, and land surveying.

Of course I'm not much of a prophet nor am I a good fortune teller. Just look around to see that this trend started about 3 years ago. Coincidently, I have a 4-year-old and a 4-month-old as a testament to this dip and a twelve-year-old from the last big dip I felt in the 90’s. Since I regard my children as the best thing that ever happened to me, I think recessions may not be so bad.

Aint life grand!