January 12, 2013 Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Acknowledgments
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail reminders

Attendees

8 members

Acknowledgments

Susan brought brownies and gingerbread.

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:28 am

  • Potential soccer fields
    • As reported previously, city staff is studying the possibility of creating a facility with a couple of youth soccer fields on the city land south of the dog park.   Parking for the fields would be on Edison land under the high tension lines (and thus adjacent to our neighborhood).
    • Originally the city wanted to make one full size soccer field and one youth sized fields, but a full sized field would have had to be partially under the power lines.  Edison flatly rejected that proposal, so the city revised the proposal to two youth sized fields and tried again.
    • Apparently the current revision of the city’s plan is getting better reception with Edison representatives.   The only information available to us so far about the plan is that it involves two youth sized fields and the parking plan would also involve some change to the dog park parking.
    • The Edison representatives involved so far are reportedly going to take the proposal to a higher level in their organization and then meet again with the city later this month to provide their feedback.
    • City staff intends to wait until after receiving formal approval from Edison before meeting with the community and presenting the plan.  They don’t want to present something to the community until they are sure they can actually do it.  (At least that is how they would explain the strategy.  A skeptic would say they don’t want to bring it to the community until it looks like it’s already a done deal and can’t be modified because they’d have to renegotiate with Edison.)
    • Formal city approvals will require a Conditional Use Permit and a meeting with the Parks and Rec Commission.  Presumably final approval from the City Council, for the financing if nothing else.
  • Interest in presentation about native plants?
    • The Director of Outreach for the Theodore Payne Foundation asked if our Association would like to have a presentation “about the Garden Tour and how native plants provide beauty year-round while decreasing water and energy use and providing habitat for birds and butterflies.”
    • The Theodore Payne Foundation is a local non-profit native plant nursery and education center since 1960. This is its 10th year hosting a native plant home garden tour every spring, including homes in the Pasadena area.
    • She says the presentation is “a 35-minute, highly illustrated PowerPoint … and I would also bring samples of native plants (such as native lilac, sage, buckwheat, cherry, and others) plus handouts and display information.”
    • What shall our response be? Meeting participants
      • Felt a 35 minute presentation would be just too much.
      • Noted that Pasadena Water and Power holds at least one class each year.
      • Thought a link to the foundation’s website would be more useful to all.  Those with interest can obtain information there about native plants, the garden tour, and the foundation’s nursery and education center in Sun Valley.
    • Here’s the website link: http://www.theodorepayne.org
  • Local crime summary
    • For the last month, from crimemapping.com:
      • Grand Theft Auto at Foothill and Maple Street on January 9, at 10:10 pm.
      • Daisy Villa neighborhood, directly across the wash from us, only shows one incident, a Grand Theft on January 10.  (Apparently the mail theft discussed below doesn’t count.)
      • On Dec 31, in the morning, there was yet another residential burglary on Rida Street (same street as the library.)
      • Upper and Lower Hastings and above the golf course on Sierra Madre Villa show several more residential burglaries and thefts.
      • The area around 24 Hour Fitness quieted down with just one petty theft.
      • The Gold Line Station and/or the shopping centers on Foothill show fewer incidents then the previous month, but still quite a few, including a bunch of auto related incidents on December 31.
  • Mail theft reminder
    • Tim Price, President of Daisy Villa Neighborhood Association, which is on the west side of Eaton Wash, reminds us of the necessity to not put outgoing mail in our household mail slots/boxes.
    • He reports on an incident with his neighbor on Monday January 7.  Several bill payments were put in the mail slot by the caretaker for pickup by the mailman.  In the early afternoon, a car pulled up in front of the house.  A young man got out, went straight to the mail slot and pulled the letters out.  The caretaker saw it happening and yelled at the man, but he jumped in the car and sped off.  Police were called but no one was caught.
    • This is a reminder that mail theft really does happen.  To be safe, you really need to take outgoing mail to a formal postal service mail box (even though there are fewer and fewer of them).  Best is to take it to the substation on Colorado just west of Kinneloa.  Alternatively, watch for the mailman during the 7 or so hour time frame in which they might come and hand it to him/her.
  • Annual Newsletter time coming again
    • February is coming up quick and with it the requirement to put together and distribute our annual newsletter / introduction to the Association again.
    • Suggested topics?   A brief mention of the soccer field proposal since we probably won’t have any additional detail by then.  What else?
  • Mayor’s State of the City address with Curiosity Rover model
    • The Mayor will be presenting his annual State of the City Report on January 24 at 7 pm at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, 332 S Michigan Ave.
    • Starting at 6 pm (weather permitting) a full scale model of the Curiosity Rover will be on display, including the opportunity for photographs.
    • Free parking will be available in Caltech Parking Lot #2, 405 S. Wilson Ave, at the northwest corner of Wilson and San Pasqual.
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss
    • Former Pacific Hastings Theater
      • Question raised as to which fitness company has leased the former theater and when is it supposed to open.  It’s LA Fitness and they expect to open fall 2014.  See the December 2012 meeting report on the subject.
    • Kaiser building parking garage
      • Question raised as to when the parking garage is supposed to be done because currently traffic is getting backed up.  Believe it should be done around May of this year.   See the October 2012 meeting report on the subject.
    • Signal on Sierra Madre Villa at Electronic Drive
      • Is it going to happen?  Have not heard anything new.  It’s on the city’s capital improvement list,  but the problem is how to pay for it.  No source of funds has been identified so far other then the city’s long held hope to require any new development of the properties north of Electronic to put a signal in as traffic mitigation.  See the October 2012 meeting report on the subject.

Next meeting is February 9, 11:15 am, at Hastings Branch Library

Adjourned about 12:30 pm?