Hank Panian, Fees, Development And More

FULL AGENDA...
The Costa Mesa City Council meets for their first, of many, meetings in September on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 for another very interesting gathering.  There's plenty on the agenda to draw a crowd.  Read the full agenda HERE.

HANK IS THE MAN!
Right off the top there will be the presentation of the Mayor's Award to Costa Mesa icon, Hank Panian - a man who has dedicated much of his adult life trying to make Costa Mesa better.  I'm really looking forward to this one.

CONSENT CALENDAR
There are a few interesting items on the Consent Calendar - those items that are considered "routine" and can be voted upon with one vote and no discussion.  That's not likely to happen this time.

SPENDING YOUR MONEY
Item #3 is Warrant #2541, HERE, which shows disbursements we've made for the past several weeks.  As always, I'll give you just a little taste of some of the money we laid out recently.  These are in order as they appear, so you can read along if you wish.

• Bingo West $4 - $15,306.78 - apparently for a Bingo Console (for where?  The Senior Center?)
• Clean Street - $57,799.98 - Street Sweeping Svcs, June. 15
• Jones & Mayer - $143,811.48 - Legal Svcs, various (two full pages listed!)
• Kabbara Engineering - $22,614.50 - Engineering Svcs.
• Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. - $7,125.00 - Consulting
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $8,802.34 - Legal, Personnel Matter
• City of Huntington Beach - $22,540.00 - Helicopter, Jun.2015
• Civil Source - $17,658.00 - Temp. Staffing
• Moore Iacofano Goftsman Inc - $20,426.75 - Gen'l Plan Update and Env. Rprt
• FTOG Inc - $2,775.00 - Special Project Consulting, 7/20-7/31/15
• Government Staffing Services Inc - $7,665.00 - Temp Svcs.
• Interwest Consulting Group Inc - $12,045.00 - Sr. Bldg Inspct. Svcs Jun 15
• Samys Camera - $1,419.12 - GoPro Camera and gear
• Scientia Consulting Group Inc - $5,590.00 - On-site Tech Support 6/28-7/11
• Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau - $187,048.05 - BIA Receipts, Jun 15
• Safe Moves - $40,154.18 - Bicycle Education Svds Jun 15
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $10,714.50 - Legal, General
• Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $13,548.00 - Legal, Various
• Easton & Easton LLP - $150,000 - Settlement Bailey v City
• Mary Goggin - $30,000 - Settlement M Goggins v City
• Government Staffing Services Inc - $11,712.50 - Temp Svcs
• White Nelson Diehl Evans LLP - $7,950.00 - Audit Svcs FY 2014/2015

So, once again legal costs and settlements cost us over $250,000 this time around.

COLLECTING PARKING TICKET BUCKS
Item #7, HERE, is a contract through the City of Sausalito, for parking ticket citation processing with Data Ticket, Inc.  Our contract has expired and, according to the staff report, this is the most cost effective way to perpetuate the agreement with Data Ticket.  Last year it cost us just over $60,000, but the revenue resulting from the citations was a net $700,495.

SEVENTEEN (17) NEW POLICE VEHICLES
Item #8, HERE, is VERY interesting.  It's the request by the Police Department for an increase in the FY 15/16 budget of $372,705 for a total this year of $654,985 for the following:

• Purchase of 8 vehicles replacing 10 that were leased
• Six front line patrol vehicles will be replaced by six purchased vehicles
• Two new pick-up trucks will be purchased for Park Ranger use
• One new vehicle has been purchased for the Chief of Police

VAPING RULES AND SMOKING LOUNGES
There are four (4) Public Hearings on the agenda Tuesday night.  #1, HERE, is the delayed hearing on amendments to Title 8 and Title 13 of the Municipal Code related to vaping in public facilities and regulation of smoking lounges.  If approved as recommended this will:

1 - Add a definition and create zoning regulations specifically pertaining to smoking lounges.
2 - Add a definition f or "smoking/vaping retailers" to preclude the establishment of lounge uses as part of a retail store.
3 - Prohibit vaping in specified public places by modifying the current prohibition of smoking in public facilities.
4 - Consider the existing two, legally-established smoking lounges as legal nonconforming uses, which may be subject to discontinuation or closure in the future under specific circumstances.
5 - Create standards to allow several zoning districts where new smoking lounges may be permitted by right or conditionally permitted.
6 - Create operational and development standards to address various potential issues.
7 - Planning Commission recommended changes to distinguish between tobacco and electronic cigarette/vaping products.

The council can either (1) continue the meeting to address additional changes to the draft ordinance.  If they do that it must be considered by September 15, 2015 because the current moratorium will expire November 5, 2015; OR (2) Direct staff to modify the ordinance and forward to City Council for consideration.  This would require the moratorium to be extended.

CODIFYING CAPITAL NEEDS ALLOCATIONS
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the first reading of the Capital Asset Needs Ordinance, which codifies the policies established last March.  If approved this will allocate a minimum of five percent (5%) of the General Fund Budget to capital expenditures and plan a goal of an additional one and one-half percent (1.5%) dedicated to a Capital Facilities Account.  If this were in place for the current budget it would have resulted in just over $5.5 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

VACATION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY
Public Hearing #3, HERE, is the vacation of right-of-way at 970 West 16th Street, where a new development is planned.

RIGHT-OF-WAY, PART 2
Public Hearing #4, HERE, is a vacation of a flowage easement at the same address for the same project.

PARK FEES FOR APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT, PLUS...
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading of an update to the Park in-lieu fees and Impact Fees (Park Fees), which includes application of those fees to apartment projects for the first time.

MORE DEVELOPMENT!
New Business #1, HERE, may draw a crowd.  This is the General Plan Screening request for a proposed 28-unit residential project at 440 Fair Drive, near the corner of Fair and Harbor Blvd.  I suspect more than one or two of the College Park neighbors will show up to talk about this item.

ALLOCATING LEINART FEES
New Business #2, HERE, is the delayed discussion of how to allocate the nearly $25,000 in fees paid by Matt Leinart Flag Football for inaccurately portraying their organization last year.  Normally, such funds go into the General Fund, but there are those - Councilwoman Katrina Foley - who suggested they should be split and allocated to Costa Mesa and Estancia High Schools for athletic equipment.

VOTING DELEGATES
New Business #3, HERE, is the designation of the voting delegate and voting delegate alternate for the 2015 League of California Cities Annual Conference.  Presently Mayor Steve Mensinger is designated as the voting delegate and Councilwoman Sandra Genis is the alternate.

REFUND OF APPEAL FEES
New Business #4, HERE, is the request for refund of appeal fees for two items - ZA-15-01 involving the Solid Landings facility on West 19th Street and PA-14-41, involving the proposed Farmer's Market at the corner of Orange Avenue and Bay Street.  The appellants, Ann Parker and Carrie Renfro respectively, have requested the refund of the fees they paid for their successful appeals.  Parker's is $690.00 and Renfro paid $1,220.00.

An Interesting Night With The Parks & Rec. Commission

AS EXPECTED...
As expected, Thursday night's Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission meeting was very interesting right from the top.  If you want to follow along you'll find the agenda HERE.  Commissioner Don Harper showed up about 45 minutes late.

WILSON PARK SPEAKERS
Chairman Kim Pederson advised the larger-than-usual audience that if they wished to speak on the Wilson Park issue - the CMPD was presenting an update early in the agenda - they would have to do so under Public Comments - which preceded the actual presentation and made it impossible for the speakers to address items discussed later during the presentation.

60% SPOKE ON WILSON PARK
Nonetheless, six of the ten speakers addressed, either directly or tangentially, Wilson Park.  Tamar Goldmann led off with a scathing indictment of what she understood from recent newspaper articles to be the current condition at Wilson Park.  She reminded the commissioners that the drug paraphernalia that reportedly has been found and the human feces that apparently has been observed since the toilets have been locked, create possible life-threatening situations for children who might stumble across the needles and/or excrement.  She referred specifically to AIDS and hepatitis.   She left no doubt about who is responsible for this issue - the current city policies that permit this state of affairs.  She demanded a greater law enforcement presence at the park.

MORE CONS THAN PROS
Nearby residents complained about the current state of affairs, and described their unwillingness - and fear - of going into the park, even in daylight hours.  The pastor of a local church, Reverend Sian Wiltshire, opined that it is appropriate for church members to feed the down and out.

SKATE PARKS
Among the other speakers, skate park advocate Rocky Evans again pleaded his case for extended hours at the Volcom Skate Park and/or consideration for another park in the city to handle the heavy demand.  In response to his plea Commissioner Byron de Arakal advised him that he'd recently spoken with nearby residents about extended hours and they were strongly against it.  He didn't say how many or who, but advised Evans to continue to lobby of another skate park.

FAIRVIEW PARK PRESERVATION ALLIANCE
Cindy Black stepped up and advised the commissioners and the audience of the new organization formed to protect Fairview Park - the Fairview Park Preservation Alliance.  She described the Facebook page and the web site and encouraged the commissioners to visit them.

WILSON PARK PRESENTATION
The commissioners blitzed right through the single-item Consent Calendar and moved on to the presentation by CMPD Lieutenant Ed Everett on Wilson Park.  He reiterated many of the facts stated in his staff report, HERE.  He spoke about prison realignment, which has placed more parolees on the streets, and of Prop. 47, which changed many crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, which means that instead of being incarcerated for a crime that had been a felony, perpetrators now spend, perhaps, an hour at the jail and are then released.  He referred to that as "cite and release".  He did tell us that, between January and July 27th, there had been 91 "enforcement actions" at Wilson Park - a significant jump from the previous year.

DE ARAKAL'S ANGER
Commissioner de Arakal asked him if there had been any noticeable change in behaviors since the toilets have been locked and was advised that it's too soon to tell.  de Arakal then reported his personal experiences at the park involving his observations of what appeared to be sex activity in the restrooms and being shown needles and other drug items inside the bathrooms - something he said children might find.  He was clearly angry about this issue - he is the driving force behind this update.  He was angry at the well-intentioned folks who regularly feed transients at the park.  And, he was angry that they didn't get proper permits for the park use.  And, he was angry that the police were not citing them for not having the proper permits.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE
During the public comments one speaker suggested that members of the CMPD were "too friendly" with some of the homeless in the park - making them too "comfortable".  Everett stated clearly that the CMPD is doing everything they can to make transients uncomfortable.  That was later addressed by explaining that Park Rangers typically are not armed and deal with many of the same people on a regular basis, many of which have mental health issues.  Their tactic is, with those and other more passive transients, to establish a relationship with them and calmly provide them direction to places where they can get services.  Mention was made of the mental health worker who travels with the CMPD each week and works with some of the people on the street.

NEED MORE STAFF
During the discussion staffing came up.  We were advised that presently we have 5.5 Park Rangers, or will have when one member returns to duty from active Army duty.  de Arakal went on record emphatically stating that we need eight.  

"PUT THE SCREWS TO" THEM
During the discussion, de Arakal perhaps summed up the feelings of many in the audience and on the dais when he said, "Neighborhood parks are for families to take their children to play and to have family picnics, not to witness the symptoms of life's hard knocks.  That how I feel about it and I've talked to some council members.  We really need to put the screws to those groups who are feeding those folks in the parks without permits.  It shouldn't be allowed.  They have church campuses - take them there!"

LIKE WATER, THEY WILL FIND A WAY...
The commissioners all thanked the CMPD for their hard work and looked forward to improvement at Wilson Park.  Concern was expressed throughout the presentation and discussion about the pressure being put on the folks at Wilson Park would force them to another park.  Right now they are spreading out to nearby commercial centers and into the contiguous neighborhoods, although Everett could not quantify property crimes in the neighborhood with the presence of the homeless folks at the park.

MY OBSERVATIONS
I personally observed Wilson Park one afternoon this week.  I was there after the feeding was complete and saw about two dozen folks - most quite obviously homeless because they had all their worldly belongings stacked near them.  I suggested elsewhere that it reminded me of photos of the Mt. Everest Base Camp!  I saw nobody at the park that looked like someone from the neighborhood.  No moms with kids, for example.

NO CLEARLY-DEFINED SOLUTION
The City is working on the homeless problem.  Everett mentioned the Homeless Task Force - an offshoot of that group meets weekly, developing strategies and gathering data.  Everett said the next homeless census will be gathered in October using Vanguard University students, as has been done in the past.  At this point we see no light at the end of the homelessness tunnel.  There's a lot of effort being put in by staff and there are occasional success stories - homeless folks reunited with loved ones and/or sent home - but it remains a great problem without a clearly-defined solution.

50/50 ON TREE REMOVALS
On to more mundane issues... the first tree removal request was denied - the applicant failed to show up to plead his case and the commissioners didn't much like that.  The second one - Harold Weitzberg's request to remove the same kind of tree from his parkway because it was doing significant damage to his property and, if the roots were pruned, was likely to create a hazard by toppling over in wind - was approved by the commission.  The City will remove the tree at our expense.  It seemed like the right decision.

GRAHAM TO CARRY THE BALL
Item 9d, Public Information on City Parkway Trees, was an item requested to be agendized by Commissioner Robert Graham because he thought the public didn't have enough information on the subject.  The brief staff report showed an example of a short slide show.  The commission gave direction to Graham to create an ad hoc committee of staffers to flesh out possible communications tools to be used to inform the public about parkway trees.  To me, it seemed like a solution looking for a problem.

TREE/PLAQUE REQUEST APPROVED
The commission gave quick work to the request for a tree donation and plaque placement at Estancia Park, approving it in about two minutes.

NEW WATER TANK FOR THE OCME
The discussion of the request to replace the aging and frequently vandalized water tower at the site of the Orange County Model Engineers venue at Fairview Park was given a good, but short, discussion and the commission approved the proposed metal replacement on a 5-0 vote.

FAIRVIEW PARK TRAIL REALIGNMENT
Next came the consideration of the realignment of a bluff trail at Fairview Park.  In a nutshell, the existing trail is in poor condition and will likely soon require closure if not rehabilitiated or replaced, according to the staff report and to rehabilitate it would require significant incursion on protected plant species and a protected site of presumed native artifacts.  Four people spoke on this issue - 2 for the plan and 2 against it.  The issue the commission was dealing with was NOT the approval of the construction of a new trail, but whether the PLAN for that action was consistent with the Fairview Park Master Plan.  At the end the commission voted, 5-0, that it WAS consistent with the master plan.  The probable new alignment is shown below as the blue line, which would replace the thin, white line at the right of the blue line near the bottom.

BRIEF PROJECT REPORT
During his report Parks Project Manager Bart Mejia told the commissioners that lighting was being improved at TeWinkle Park; the Master Plan of Parks and Open Spaces update was in the hands of a consultant and was moving forward, although he was reluctant to give a specific completion time; Fairview Park Delineation Fencing around vernal pools is underway, as is ADA Accessability Improvements at TeWinkle Park.

RECREATION REPORT
In his report Recreation Manager Travis Karlen spoke of the "Smart" camps - Sport-Music-Art, indicating there was an increase in Music participants this time.  He also spoke briefly about the upcoming beginning of sports programs and will have a full report of the summer activities in September.  He spoke about the Movies In The Park at TeWinkle Park, indicating they were very successful.  He also spoke about the recent Field Use Allocation Program meetings with the various user groups.

AND IT ENDED WITH.... ME!
The meeting wrapped up with commissioner comments - most of which were to thank various staff members for their hard work and dedicated service to the community.  Near the very end Chairman Pederson looked back at me - one of two people left in the audience - and actually thanked me by name for attending and covering the meetings.  It was pretty amusing, because he then said he'd never read my blog, but he'd heard good things about it.  I guess nobody told him that he may have sealed his fate with that comment because the guys who appointed him don't much like me. But I appreciated his kind words, nonetheless.  I later told him how to find the blog... One more happy reader coming up!

Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Thursday Night

A REMINDER...
Just a friendly reminder that Thursday, August 27, 2015, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission meets to discuss some interesting issues.  I wrote about it earlier, but wanted to remind you again because of the current dust-up about homeless folks in Wilson Park.  Bradley Zint wrote about it earlier in the Daily Pilot, HERE.

 WILSON PARK REPORT

The agenda for the meeting includes a report from the Costa Mesa Police Department on the current status of Wilson Park.  Read the staff report from Lieutenant Ed Everett HERE.  This presentation takes place early in the meeting, so show up early if you want to be there to hear the report in person, or tune in to CMTV on Channel 3 (Time Warner Cable) or Channel 99 (ATT Uverse) or on streaming video on the City website, HERE.

I'LL REPORT LATER
As always, I'll report back on the meeting, including Lieutenant Everett's segment, tomorrow night.

Time For A Dose Of The Chuckmeister

ONCE AGAIN...
My pal, The Chuckmeister, is at it again.  He decamped to parts south from his long-time home in Costa Mesa a couple years ago to enjoy the proximity of his family and the growing wine region inland from Camp Pendleton and created a blog - Chuckmeister Unleashed -  to provide an outlet for his pent-up frustration on a variety of issues.  I know the feeling well.

A SPECIAL MESSAGE
Under normal circumstances I'd simply make a little entry on Facebook and link to his piece and let my friends and others go nuts as they read them.  Not today.  Today the message my pal sends is too important, and too timely, to simply leave to the Zuckerbergians who run Facebook.  Today I want my broader audience to have a chance to read his words.  I will link it on Facebook, where folks there will have to take one more step to read Chuck's words.

JUST A LITTLE TEASE

I'm not even going to paraphrase his entry... I'm going to make you follow the link, HERE, to his site and take your time reading it.  I will, however, provoke you with the title, "A Front-Row Seat for Slow-Motion Suicide...", and tell you it deals with the state (small "s" intended) of California.

MEDICATE IF NECESSARY, BUT READ IT...
So, take a Valium if you need to, or pour yourself a relaxing libation and click on that link.  I won't tell you that you'll "like" what you read, but I think you'll understand it and maybe even appreciate it.

Costa Mesa Brief Interviews Chief Sharpnack

AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE

Costa Mesa Brief released an exclusive, lengthy interview with new Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack on its YouTube Channel.  You can see it HERE.

WORTH AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME
I've watched this nearly 55 minute interview and think it's worth an hour of your time.  You'll get a good sense of Chief Sharpnack's idea of enforcing laws in our city and his plans for the future.  He gives you a summary of the current challenges facing the CMPD - staffing, impact of recent laws on law enforcement, staff development -  and a clear idea of where he hopes to take the organization from a leadership, staffing, organizational and technological standpoint.

EXCEPT...

This interview is conducted by Costa Mesa resident Dennis Popp, who was apparently chosen by Costa Mesa Brief for this assignment because he, we are told, has a law enforcement background.  Watching him interview a real cop I got the impression he was trying to pretend he was Walter Cronkite... badly, by the way.  I guess it's good that Popp surfaced for this assignment... some were concerned that he was no longer with us, since he has not posted a single new word on his pathetic blog since April 24th.  You'll have to get past the sanctimonious, pompous pontification of the interviewer.  Just hold your nose, close your eyes and ignore him if you can.  You'll be glad you did.  I used this image of him smiling because all you'll see on the video is the grumpier, normal side of Popp.

GOOD JOB, BARRY
Thanks to Barry Friedland of Costa Mesa Brief for, once again, providing this public service.

Fairview Park Issues And More Thursday

INTERESTING AGENDA THURSDAY NIGHT

The Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission, led by Chairman Kim Pederson,  meets on Thursday, August 27, 2016 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall and this meeting has some very interesting items on the agenda, HERE. 
 
CMPD REPORT ON WILSON PARK

Right off the top the commissioners will hear a presentation from the Costa Mesa Police Department on the status of Wilson Park.  You can read the report, HERE.  The short version of some of the numbers that should draw you to that staff report - Calls For Service at Wilson Park for January through July of this year are up 90% compared to the same period last year!  Read the report.

NEW CLASS FEES

There is a proposal for new fees for three new adult and youth instructional classes, HERE.  The classes are Gymnastics, Dance and Drawing and Painting.

TREES

There are two tree removal requests on the agenda, both of which the staff is recommending be denied.  There is also a tree donation request for Estancia Park on the agenda.

REPLACING OCME WATER TANK AT FAIRVIEW PARK

Item 9e, HERE, is a proposal from the Orange County Model Engineers (OCME) to replace an existing water tower with new metal tank in response to vandalism to the existing unit.  The OCME has been a positive presence in Fairview Park for a quarter century and has been a good stewards of the section of the park they occupy.  The city council recently approved a five (5) year extension of their agreement.

REALIGNMENT OF FAIRVIEW PARK NORTH BLUFF TRAIL
The final item on the formal agenda, HERE, is proposal to realign Fairview Park North Bluff Trail due to deterioration of the existing trail, utilizing a user-defined trail as the formal trail.

Important Study Session Information!

WESTSIDE URBAN PLANS AND GENERAL PLAN

On Tuesday, September 8, 2016, the Costa Mesa City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a joint study session to discuss the Westside Urban Plans and the Land Use Alternatives of the General Plan.  I won't be surprised if the Fairview Developmental Center property is an important part of this discussion.  Considering the land rush of development going on in the city for the past couple years, and the specter of the so-called Smart Growth initiative that might be on the ballot next year, this discussion should be of interest to anyone at all interested in the future of development in the city.

NEW LOCATION!
This meeting has wisely been re-located from City Hall to the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue (Lions Park).  The meeting begins at 5:00 p.m.  There should be more than adequate seating for all interested in this study session, which typically will be a more casual kind of discussion of these important issues.

RIGHT AFTER LABOR DAY!
I know this notification is early, but it's time to mark your calendar.  I'll notify you again shortly before the Labor Day holiday, since this meeting falls on the first work day after the holiday.