September 14, 2013 Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail and phone reminders

Attendees

5 members

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:25 am

  • PWP construction activity, traffic, …
    • New large water main is being put in on Foothill east to Halstead, on Sierra Madre Villa from Foothill to Sierra Madre Blvd, east on Sierra Madre Blvd to the reservoir on the north side under Hamilton Park.
    • Pasadena Water and Power contractors are using the lot north of the Goodrich Power Plant for storage of trucks and materials, including dug up materials and fill, as they work on the new water main.  In addition to noise and dust from that lot, we’re getting the big trucks traveling on Alameda and Santa Paula.
    • Details from last month’s meeting
    • The week after our last meeting, the backup beeping from the bulldozer before 7 am was back.  Complaint was sent to the Project Manager, Natalie Ouwersloot. She responded that afternoon that she’d spoken to the contractor again and was assured they wouldn’t do it again.  At least it didn’t happen again in subsequent days that weren’t too hot (fans on in the morning later in the month would have masked it).
  • Edison
    • New power line activity
      • On Saturday September 7 just before 7:30 am, the little yellow helicopter flying for Edison pulled the guide wire between towers and onto the pulleys for the bottom transmission line in the new circuit.  Starting in the PCC-CEC parking lot, it fly from tower to tower to the north, to somewhere north of New York Drive.  The helicopter returned just before 9 am to pull the second (middle, vertically wire) in the same manner.  It returned to pull the third (top) wire about 9:48 am.
      • On Sunday morning ground crews were using the guide wires to pull the real transmission wires from tower to tower.
      • By Tuesday afternoon, the pulleys had been replaced by the final insulating wire hangers, at least on the towers adjacent to us.
    • Maintenance and destruction issues
      • Homeowners adjacent to the Edison right-of-way have increasing complaints about gophers and various insects invading their yards from the right-of-way.  Edison land acts as a reservoir of them that the homeowner has no control over.  Other property owners are required to manage pests, so should Edison.  Gophers are also causing a lot of damage to the park.  During the time the plant nurseries were in place, they apparently were controlling the gophers and insects.
      • Edison only has the weeds mowed a couple times a year.  In the meantime, the weeds sometimes get very high. In addition to the unsightly view and fire hazard, nearby residents complain about all the weed seeds blowing into their yards.
      • The weed fields can generate a lot of runoff in a hurry when it rains hard.  Homeowners who have had problems with it say Edison is non-responsive to requests to control the runoff.
      • In the last six months or so, Edison contractors have been found clear cutting and bulldozing natural areas.  On Pasadena land in the Hahamonga (formerly Devils Gate Dam park) area and now also above Altadena, just over Sunset Ridge from the La Vina development.  These are lands where Edison has an easement, not ownership.  It seems the landowners (Pasadena, National Forest Service) were neither informed or consulted and there is contention that required environmental reviews were not done.  It does not appear this activity was necessary for stringing the new circuit.  Above Altadena the new circuit was already strung before the bulldozing began.  It may be that Edison has decided to become much more aggressive about clearing under its wires do to recent fire liability cases.
      • A resident contends that the power lines in the sag zone (for which the southeast corner of the park was cut out) are sagging even more as time goes on and therefore becoming increasingly dangerous for imparting shocks from stray voltage.
    • City Council and/or Safe Streets Now actions
      • The Economic and Development Committee of the City Council held a meeting (off standard schedule) on Wednesday Sept 11.  One of the agenda items was Edison’s maintenance issues.
        • Four residents from the Eaton Canyon Wash Neighborhood and two others from further south made comments at the meeting.
        • One observer believes the Committee is going to recommend the full Council take some kind of action against Edison.
      • Members of the Eaton Canyon Wash Homes Association plan to use the Safe Streets Now program to pressure Edison. Anyone else who has issues with Edison’s poor maintenance affecting their property or quality of life is welcomed to join them.
        • Safe Streets Now is a program for dealing with nuisance properties.  A trained city employee coordinates.  If direct complaints and possibly negotiation fails, all the complainants file against the property owner in Small Claims Court.
        • At this point, a workshop with the coordinator is being arranged.  It takes about 2 hours and will occur on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evening at the Jackie Robinson Center.   She will explain the process.
        • It you are interested in taking part, contact Jim Hartley at [email protected] or 626-577-9183
  • McDonald’s Closed for Rebuild
    • McDonald’s on Foothill is closed for rebuilding.
    • A sign on the door, after it was closed but before it was torn down, said it would be open again in December.  Seems awful fast for that much work.
    • Here is the previously reported information about the rebuild.  Do not know why it has taken more then a year since then to actually start. Have not heard about changes in the plan, but it is quite possible.  It took until November last year to finish the permit process.
  • Dog licensing canvas by Pasadena Humane Society
    • Pasadena Humane Society representatives started a door-to-door canvas on September 3 to verify that dogs have been licensed and vaccinated.  This is part of the new contract between the City and the Humane Society for animal services.
    • They will be knocking on doors from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
    • They are starting in Hastings Ranch and moving west from there.
    • The canvassers will be wearing either
      • a uniform with white shirt with Pasadena Humane Society patch on the shoulder, blue pants, and display a badge, or
      • a tan polo style shirt, blue pants or jeans, and a photo ID badge.
    • You can call the Pasadena Humane Society at 626 792-7151 ext 115 during normal business hours to verify the person is legit. But remember that the Humane Society is closed on Mondays.
    • For additional information about dog licensing, visit http://pasadenahumane.org/animal-control/pet-licenses/.
  • Pasadena Library hours restored
    • Pasadena Public Library branch days and hours of being open that were cut back in 2009 and 2010 to save money have now been restored.
    • Hastings Branch is again open Monday to Thursday 10 am – 9 pm, Friday and Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm.
    • If you have lost or damaged your library card, replacement is free of charge this month.
  • General Plan Update Environmental Initial Study
    • The environmental Initial Study for the City’s General Plan Update is available for review and comment until October 21.
    • Basically the Initial Study is a formulaic document which has to be filled out to indicate which environmental aspects might be affected by a project or plan and therefore need to be studied by the Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
    • You can access the Initial Study at www.cityofpasadena.net/Generalplan/2013-Environmental-Review.
    • That web page also contains information on the two remaining meetings where the document will be discussed and where to send any comments.   Comments can be about the content of the document, but you can also provide input for the EIR itself.
    • The City expects a Draft of the General Plan EIR to be available next spring.
  • Local Crime Summary
    • On August 22nd, there was a residential burglary in the 3100 block of Las Lunas.  Two suspects were spotted and questioned as they came from the backyard on the driveway (no gate), but unfortunately the police were not called until the next day.  The suspects were described as a tall black man and a shorter Latino looking man, both with backpacks and wearing gloves.  The witness asked them what they were doing and they claimed to have been delivering flyers.  When asked for a flyer, they claimed they were out of flyers.
    • For the last month, from crimemapping.com:
      • Wed Aug 14, 9:17 pm, 400 block Avocado Av, Vehicle Burglary
      • Mon Aug 19, 12:36 am, 300 block Santa Paula, Domestic Violence
      • There was a rash of residential burglaries in Lower and Upper Hastings
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss

Next meeting is October 12, 11:15 am, at Hastings Branch Library

Adjourned about 12:15? pm