June 11, 2016 Neighborhood Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Acknowledgments
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail and phone reminders

Attendees

7 members

Acknowledgments

Susan brought Trader Joe mini-blueberry muffins

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:24 am

  • July and October meeting dates
    • We were unable to get the second Saturday for July or October because the library scheduled them for something else before others were allowed to make reservations.
    • We were able to reserve July 2 instead of the 9th. The 16th was also unavailable. But the 2nd is during the holiday weekend. We decided to cancel the July meeting. So our next meeting will be in August.
    • We have October 15 reserved (instead of October 8). That is just one day beyond the usual range.
  • 550 apartment units development update
    • Here is background on this topic from last meeting:
      eewna.org/meeting-summaries/may-14-2016-neighborhood-meeting-summary/#spacebank
    • The presentation of plans and discussion at the City Council meeting on May 16 did not reveal anything substantially new.
      • The developer was asked about their plan for meeting the affordable housing requirement on-site or paying an in-lieu fee. They claimed to have not decided pending getting a feel for what the City Council wants. The City Council members who spoke made it clear they want the affordable housing to be on-site. The developer said they’d include it on-site.
      • There was a little discussion about traffic, but not much. No direct questioning about not making full use of Kinneloa Ave.
      • The toxic waste issue was briefly touched upon. City staff acknowledged that a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be required.
    • Presumably they are now starting the environmental review process.
    • We have not heard anything since then from either the City or the development team. But only sent an e-mail to the public relations contact person this past Thursday.
    • We discussed some whether the apartment residents really won’t use cars so much, as the city claims.
    • Discussed whether having affordable housing included would lead to problems for the other units. Current urban planning thinking is that having rent-regulated or subsidized units mixed in rather then balkanized works better for everybody.
  • Household Hazardous and E-Waste collection June 18
    • The County is holding their usual mid-June Household Hazardous and Electric/Electronic Waste collection event in Pasadena.
      • June 18, 9 am – 3 pm
      • Brookside Park Parking Lot I (South-east corner of Seco Street and N Arroyo Blvd. Enter from N Arroyo Blvd.)
    • Note that cans containing unused paint can be recycled now anywhere that you can buy paint.
  • Local Crime Summary
    • For the last month, from crimemapping.com: (note that time is typically when reported, not when it happened)
      • Mon May 16, 9:48 am, 3000 block E Orange Grove (probably Vińa Vieja park), Vehicle Break-In / Theft
      • Fri June 3, 3 am, 3100 (or 3200) block Mataro St, Residential Burglary
        • The police call log said 3200 block, crime mapping says 3100 block.
        • A pasadenanow.com article and a Star News article both say 3000 block (which would be inside PCC-CEC).
        • According to the news articles, a man had fallen asleep on his couch and woke up hearing noises. When he went to investigate he saw the prowler crouched beside his bed. The prowler then punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the ground, and ran out of the house. Prowler was an unshaven black male. Apparently entered through an open window.
      • Thurs June 9, 9:08 am, 400 block Sierra Madre Villa Ave, Vehicle Break-In / Theft
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss
    • WaterSmart Program survey
      • Pasadena Water & Power (PWP) water customers are receiving letters about a “WaterSmart Program”.
      • The letter encourages taking an online survey to provide information such as how many people in your household, the size of your yard and how much of it is hard scape or lawn, how the yard is watered, how many toilets and how old, about bathroom faucets, washing machine, dishwasher, … As is the case with most surveys, some of the questions are not applicable and cannot be answered correctly. (Garbage in, garbage out).
      • It says the information will be used to provide water usage comparisons with “like neighbors” and tips for saving water. Obviously people can game the system by providing incorrect information but, at least at this time, there is no impact on how much you’ll pay for water.
      • This program is being run and managed by a company named WaterSmart Software, Inc., which has been contracted by PWP.
      • This program is similar to the opower program that has been providing comparisons for electricity usage for the last five years. The power program, however, never asked for household information and just bases its comparisons on public records about the square footage of houses.
      • Presumably those who do not take the water survey will have comparisons made based on house and lot size plus it appears they are either guessing the number of people in the house based on records of past water usage and/or getting information from a commercial database.
      • The vendor’s privacy policy claims the information you provide won’t be sold or shared, except with PWP. But it also says if the vendor company has affiliates in the future, it could be shared with them, depending on what the contract with PWP says. Don’t know what the contract with PWP says.
      • The “Welcome” letter from PWP mentions a “WaterSmart Portal” for accessing comparisons and getting information, but the website currently has only the survey on it.
    • Miscellaneous discussions
      • We discussed numerous other topics. Some of them were:
        • How is the initiative to slow traffic on Santa Paula going? No one at the meeting is involved, so we don’t know.
          • What is the speed limit? (Unmarked residential, so probably 25 mph). Would signs help?
          • Some residents are taking Santa Paula on the way home to avoid having to make a left turn from Sierra Madre Villa and risking getting rear ended or side-swiped.
        • What is all the digging up of the street on the northern portion of Santa Paula about? Gas company? AT&T?
        • Why is it taking so long to build the 212 unit building on the corner of Sierra Madre Villa and Foothill? No info, all we could do is speculate.
        • Phone and internet service providers. AT&T vs Charter. Trade offs, dealing with them.
        • Metro Gold line is going to start having all the trains go to the end of the line in Azusa instead of half turning around here. Trains to the east have been totally packed.
        • Taking the train to Santa Monica. Takes a while, including transferring to the subway and then the new Metro line, but you don’t have to deal with parking once you get there.

Next meeting is August 13, 2016, 11:15 am, at Hastings Branch Library meeting room

Adjourned about 12:30 pm