June 9, 2012 Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Acknowledgments
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail  and phone reminders

Attendees

8 members

Acknowledgments

Susan brought fresh organic seedless grapes

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:25 am

    • General Plan Update
      • Last month’s meeting included some information from a staff report to the City Council for its May 14 meeting regarding a draft General Plan update.  That report included some unexpectedly high numbers regarding future housing development in our area.  It also said there would be Community Meetings in June to discuss the draft.
      • Community Meetings scheduled for June 23 and 26
        • There are actually four “forums” scheduled, two on each date.
        • Here is a link to the posting on the city’s website:
          http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/GeneralPlan/June_2012_Community_Forums
        • According to the flyer, there will be a presentation about the Concept Map and exhibits to explore.
        • Saturday June 23
          • Pasadena City College, Creveling Lounge, Building CC
            1570 E. Colorado Blvd,  $2 self-park in Lot 3 off Hill St.
          • Session 1: 9 am – 10:30 am
          • Session 2: 11 am – 12:30 pm
        • Tuesday June 26
          • Pasadena Senior Center, Scott Pavilion, 85 E Holly St
            Parking will be validated for structure on corner of Arroyo Pkwy and Holly Street
          • Session 1: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
          • Session 2: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
      • Projections vs. targets or caps
        • At the presentation to the City Council on May 14, it was brought out that the numbers being thrown about for commercial and housing development are not necessarily intended to be the new development caps.  Instead they are supposedly projections of demand.  Supposedly they started by evaluating every parcel to get a number for what its highest capacity could be, removed parcels that are currently churches, schools, or historic properties because those are rarely redeveloped, and worked with an economist to further reduce the numbers based on past trends and market forces.
        • The staff person said these number could be used for new caps, ignored, or some combination.  That staff will be getting into that detail later, and mainly they will be defined (or removed) when the specific plans are updated.
        • During public comment for the item, there were several people who said how great it is that forecasts are being used instead of caps.  They said there should not be caps in the future because they can artificially limit development (which of course is the whole point of caps).
    • McDonald’s – more details of rebuild
      • Tim Price from Daisy Villa neighborhood (to the north of McDonald’s) went to the hearing and provided a report.
      • At the hearing, they changed their dine-in hours request to Sun to Thurs 4:30 am to midnight, and Fri, Sat, and Sun 4:30 am to 1 am.  Drive thru still to be open 24 hours.
      • The driveway on Sunnyslope is to get a new Drive-thru sign.  Small outbuilding and storage container to be removed.
      • Driveway on far west that is currently both an entrance and exit will change to exit only. The parking spaces on that side will be angled instead of straight in.  The driveway on Foothill will remain both entrance and exit.
      • Cars entering the drive-thru will first merge into one line.  After a few feet of that they split to go to either of two ordering areas. Then they merge again, and go around the building to the Foothill side to pay and pick up their order.  Then they exit to Foothill only.  But all of these details could still change because the permitting process isn’t finished yet.
      • If everything goes smoothly, they plan to start construction this summer.  It will take at least 4 months.
    • Power Rate Increase
      • Yet another power rate increase for everybody goes to the City Council for approval on Monday June 11.
      • This increase is to the “Distribution and Customer Charge”.
      • The new rate will apply to the first bill after July 1.
      • The increase is expected to result in an additional $3.75 million per year for capital investments and operational expenses including repair and maintenance of poles, cables, and vaults and for meter reading, billing, and customer service.
      • They say the last increase for this charge on the bill took effect as of December 2007.
      • Here is the table of current and proposed rates for residential customers.
        Note that the numbers provided are monthly, so you have to double them to relate them to your bi-monthly bill.
Monthly Usage in kWh* Current Rate Proposed Rate $ Increase
0-250 $5.60 $6.02 $0.42
251-350 $11.46 $12.32 $0.86
351-450 $23.19 $24.94 $1.75
451-550 $33.45 $35.97 $2.52
551-650 $42.25 $45.43 $3.18
651-750 $52.51 $56.47 $3.96
751-1000 $62.77 $67.50 $4.73
1001> $83.29 $89.57 $6.28
  • Local crime summary
    • From crimemapping.com:
      • Saturday June 2, 1:41 pm, Residential Burglary, 3000 block La Tierra St.
      • Friday June 8, 2:45 pm, Petty Theft, 3300 block Hermanos St.
      • Tuesday June 5, 5:31 pm, Residential Burglary, 3200 block Rida St. (just north of library)
      • Appears to be a rash of car break-ins at Eaton Canyon nature park
      • Residential burglaries in Upper Hastings dropped off after group was caught on May 25
      • Appears to be lots more incidents in commercial areas recently, from car break-ins and shoplifting, to assault and armed robbery.  Don’t know whether actually more or just more being entered in the system.
  • CERT – Emergency Response Class
    • The following link provides information for a CERT course that will be held in La Canada over three upcoming Saturdays (June 16, 23, and 30).
      http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/lacofd-cert-program/
    • CERT is the LA County sponsored “Community Emergency Response Training”.  Taking three full days, it is a far more comprehensive course then Pasadena’s PERT.
    • Note that you must register to attend.
  • Edison lots to be mowed by June 22
    • This information was passed along by Council member Masuda.
  • Pasadena Birthday Celebration June 23
    • On June 23 from noon to 4 p.m. there will be a big free event at the Pasadena Museum of History to celebrate the City of Pasadena’s 126th birthday.
    • Here is a link to their information page.
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss
    • 3175 Alameda
      • Some debris was removed this past week.  Did not appear to be a MASH crew, possibly bulky pickup. The yard is still a big mess.  The fence was left open.
    • Hastings Branch Library renovation closure possible Aug – Oct
      • The floor of Hastings Branch Library is to be trenched to bring more electricity to the north east corner, and the floor is to be redone. (Yes, the entire floor was just redone a few years ago.  While quiet, the cork just hasn’t stood up to wear very well.)
      • Last word was a tentative schedule to close at the end of the first week of August and may remain closed into October, but would reopen sooner if the work gets done faster.
      • If this happens, if we want to meet in August, September, and possibly October, we’ll have to do so elsewhere.  Kathy and Vinnie offered to host at their houses; Kathy would take August.
    • Street signs replacement?
      • When will the street signs destroyed,damaged, or blown away by the wind storm be replaced?

Next meeting is July 14, 2012, 11:15 am, at Hastings Branch Library

Adjourned about ??