March 8, 2014 Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Acknowledgments
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail and phone reminders

Attendees

13 members

Acknowledgments

Susan brought Irish soda? bread

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:25 pm

  • Annual Election of Association Officers
    • The annual election of officers of East Eaton Wash Neighborhood Association took place.
    • Last year’s officer’s agreed to stand for election again.  Vinnie Torres, a past treasurer, volunteered for the Secretary position, which has been open for many years.
    • Everyone was elected unanimously (no write-ins), though one ballot was marked only for Vinnie.
  • Newsletters Distributed
    • The annual newsletter was distributed to all our residences between February 25 and March 3 (on either side of the rain).
    • Thank you to Susan Chu, Laura Ellersieck, and Desi Gonzales.
  • Dog Park
    • Turf Renovation
      • The large dog area is scheduled to begin undergoing a turf renovation on Tuesday March 11.
      • The area will temporarily be divided into southern and northern sections.
      • Each section is expected to take about six weeks, including aerification, overseeding, fertilization, and germination.
      • The northern half will be done first, with expected reopening on April 22.  Then the southern half will be done.
    • Small Dog Area rules change
      • It has been decided to change the rules of the Small Dog area to only allow dogs of 25 pounds and under.
      • “Special Needs” dogs have been allowed, but that has resulted in conflicts with small dog owners who felt threatened by larger dogs using the space.
      • Signs with the new rules will be installed soon.
  • Pasadena Citizen Service Center
    • A good time for a reminder about the Pasadena Citizen Service Center.
    • If you have a question about Pasadena city services or rules, or you need to report a problem or request a service, the online Pasadena Citizen Service Center is the one stop place to start
    • If you have an Apple iPhone or Android based phone, there is also an App you can download.  Go to the link above.
    • NEW: The city now has a single phone number to call where they are either supposed to be able to answer a question directly,  redirect your call to the correct department, or perhaps fill out the online request for you.  That number is (626) 744-8888.
    • The Citizen Service Center has links to information on a large number of topics.  Some of the information provided is useful, some is almost useless, some is totally useless because it’s just a place marker.
    • The submission form allows you to report a wide range of problems such as a street light that is not working, a street tree that is broken or needs trimming, a trash pickup that was missed, potholes, street sweeping problems, a broken parking meter, abandoned trash, needed code enforcement, barking dogs, park maintenance issues.
    • The submission form also allows you to request services such as bulky item pickup, replacement trash/recycling/landscape bin, sidewalk asphalt patching, red curb installation, abandoned shopping cart pickup.
    • The advantage of using the online Citizen Service Center is that you have the option of giving them your contact info.  If you do, you will get automated updates when someone takes action on your report/request.  Experience has shown that sometimes the responses are not useful, annoying, or aggravating, but at least they are in writing and you can respond.  And it produces a record that can be useful in escalating problems to city management or the City Council.
  • Local Crime Summary
    • For the last month, from crimemapping.com:
      • Mon Feb 10, 10:28 am, 3200 block Foothill Blvd, Battery
      • Mon Feb 17, 6:58 pm, 3100 block Estado St, ADW – Assault with Deadly Weapon
      • Sat Feb 22, 11:50 am, intersection of Foothill and Sierra Madre Villa, Indecent Exposure
      • Tue Feb 25, 1:51 pm, 3100 block La Tierra St, Residential Burglary
      • Daytime residential burglaries in all of East Pasadena seem to be on the rise again this past month.  There also seem to be more middle of the day battery and assault reports.
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss
    • Water main truck traffic almost finished
      • Kim, on Alameda, says that the Pasadena Water and Power project manager Natalie Ouwersloot assured her that the project will be finished and all the truck traffic will stop in two weeks.
      • Kim also reports that Gene Masuda said he is getting Alameda repaved due to all the truck traffic.  He is also reportedly responsible for the water saving goodie bags dropped off by Pasadena Water and Power on Alameda doorsteps shortly before Christmas.
    • Reporting water waste
      • The newsletter article about the permanent water conservation ordinance raised the question of how water waste can be reported.
      • You can call the Pasadena Water Shortage Hotline at (626) 744-8888, or you can report it online here:
        www.cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/watershortage/waterwastereport.htm
      • The link takes you to the Pasadena Citizen Service Center website and pre-fills it with the Problem topic “Wasting Water”.  According to the text that displays with that selection: “Pasadena Water & Power will send a formal notice to the address where water waste is thought to have occurred. The goal of these notices is to give all persons and businesses the opportunity to correct the problem; become better informed about the importance of water conservation; deter future instances of waste; and, change water habits for the better.”   One can hope they would actually send someone out immediately to take action if there is a really large leak such as a broken pipe.

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

Adjourned about 12:25 pm