OCC Planetarium Groundbreaking Tomorrow

NOON, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2016
Tomorrow at noon on the campus of Orange Coast College there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for their brand new Planetarium.  This special event is part of their Vision 2020 program for expansion and enhancement of many campus facilities. 

MORE INFORMATION
Read more about this amazing new facility HERE.  The attached flyer has the particulars.  The public is welcome.  A light lunch will be served.

Trustees To Act On OCC Vision 2020 EIR

TRUSTEES TO REVIEW AND ACT ON OCC EIR
The trustees of the Coast Community College District will hold a special meeting on Monday, November 2, 2015 at 6 p.m. in the Board Room of the Coast Community College District at 1370 Adams Avenue, Costa Mesa to review and take action on the Final Orange Coast College Vision 2020 Facilities Master Plan Program EIR, all 426 pages of which can be found HERE.

FINAL VERSION
This report is the Final Vision 2020 Master Plan Program EIR for the Orange Coast College Vision 2020 Facilities Master Plan and contains responses by the Coast Community College District and Orange Coast College to comments received at the Wednesday, September 9 Community Meeting in the OCC Library and comments submitted during the comment period which ended October 5.

OCC's Scaled-back "Modernization" Plan Unveiled

A STANDING-ROOM-ONLY CROWD
Wednesday evening officials from Orange Coast College unveiled their scaled-back "modernization" plans to a standing-room-only room full of residents and students in the library building on campus.  My best guess is that about 50 people attended the meeting - fewer than previous meetings and, interestingly, not a single City of Costa Mesa senior staffer was present.

BENNETT THE MC
Doug Bennett, Executive Director of College Advancement for OCC explained the format of the meeting, then introduced Dr. Dennis Harkins, President of OCC.

DR. HARKINS EXPLAINS THE CHANGES
Dr. Harkins spoke very briefly about the new plan - he made a point to be sure we understood that this was a brand new plan, with a new Environmental Impact Report.  He also made sure we understood this was a "modernization plan",  NOT a "growth plan", since OCC presently is well below the high point of enrollment a few decades ago.  This plan presumes a student population of 28,000 by 2020.

(Click on Image to enlarge)

Issues being presented at this meeting were Traffic, Student Housing and Health issues.

• The parking structure - that would have accommodated 2,000 cars - has been moved on-campus.  There is no funding for it yet - Dr. Harkins told it is several years off.
• The gymnasium will be relocated closer to the football field.
• There will be some solar panels covering part of the parking lot.
• The Recycle Center will be enhanced, with more parking available.
• The Planetarium is ready to be built.
• The controversial College Village - which had included a hotel - is on hold and will require a separate CEQA report.
• Some of the historic buildings will be retained, including some of them by renowned architect Richard Neutra.  However, some of those will be removed.

PAGEL EXPLAINS THE FORMAT
Rich Pagel, Vice President of Administrative Services, expanded on the current plans and told the audience that there will be tables around the perimeter of the room at which experts in each of the fields being discussed that night were available to answer all questions.  However, there would be NO public comments before the group - a "recorder" was available to take questions/comments to become part of the permanent record of the meeting.

PART OF THE MEETING HIJACKED
With that announcement the audience was unleashed to wander around, talking to experts.  However, not everyone was happy about that.  A local architect named John Linnert sprung to his feet with an associate, whipped out a chart showing an alternative plan and hijacked the meeting - at least, in part.  He held court for nearly an hour - he was still going on and on and on when I left - preaching to an amorphous, but attentive group of mostly students.  There was no attempt to stop him, which seemed like the right decision.

INPUT WILL BE COLLECTED AND COLLATED
So, the information provided at this meeting will be consolidated and become part of the report and will impact how the college will move forward with this project.  Most of the things that caused nearby neighbors heartburn - the hotel and parking structure, for example - have been put on hold.  Progress is being made.

THE NEW RECYCLING CENTER
OCC's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, Mike Carey, explains his new Recycling Center to an interested visitor.

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO....
If you wish to read the full documents, the brief overview (11 pages) can be found HERE.
The Full Revised Master Plan (550 pages) can be found HERE.
And, for you diehards, the full technical information (4,754 pages) can be found HERE.

The PDF does not provide a table of contents but I have listed the Appendices and there starting and ending pages which are as Follows:

Appendix A – NOP/Initial Study (page 1 – 91) and Comment Letters (pages 97-126)

Appendix B – Air Quality and GHG Emissions Calculations (pages 127 – 1378)

Appendix C – Biological Resources Letter Report (pages 1379 – 1434)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports – Part 1 (pages 1435 – 1580)

Dudek letter on:  Negative Phase I Findings for the CCCD Vision 2020 Plan, Orange Coast College Project, Orange County, CA (Pages 1437 – 1446)

Historic Resources Technical Report – Jan Ostashay, Principal, Ostashay & Associates Consulting, Long Beach, CA (Pages 1447 – 1555)

Paleontological Resource Survey – Paleo Solutions, Monrovia, CA (Pages 1557 – 1580)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports Part 2 (pages 1581 – 3457)

            Historic Resource Report – Page & Turnbull, Los Angeles, CA (pages 1583 – 3457)

Appendix E – Hazards Assessment – (pages 3459 – 4180)

Appendix F – Noise Calculations – (pages 4181 – 4188)

Appendix G – Traffic Impact Analysis, Linscott, Law & Greenspan, Irvine, CA – (pages 4189 – 4754)

A Short, Busy Week Ahead

MAKES MY HEAD HURT!
Next week will be a busy one in Costa Mesa.  Following the Labor Day holiday Monday we will have several very important meetings facing us.  Here's a quick rundown on those meetings for your schedule-planning.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
The Costa Mesa Senior Commission meets at the Costa Mesa Senior Center beginning at 9:00 a.m.  You can read the agenda for that meeting HERE.  Among the items to be discussed are:
Chronicle Contest Selection
Computer Classes
Bus Reservations
Senior Advisory Committee.
Click on those titles for the staff reports.

The Costa Mesa City Council and the Costa Mesa Planning Commission will hold a Joint Study Session beginning a 5:00 p.m. at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue (Lions Park).  This venue is different in anticipation of a larger crowd.  Two items are on the agenda, HERE.  They are:

(1) Proposed Land Use Alternative For the Year 2015-2025 General Plan Update, Including The Fairview Developmental Center (2501 Harbor Boulevard) and the Los Angeles Times (1375 Sunflower Avenue) Sites.

(2) Proposed Amendments To The Westside And SOBECA Urban Plans.

If you plan to attend, a peek at those staff reports will be helpful to you.  The Fairview Developmental Center and Los Angeles Times properties have been added to this discussion.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
Orange Coast College Expansion Meeting
The Coast Community College District will hold a public meeting on September 9, 2015 on the modified Orange Coast College Vision 2020 Facilities Master Plan (proposed project). This meeting will include a presentation of the project by staff and an opportunity for the public to make comments.  The meeting will be held at the OCC campus at the Library Classroom 112 at 6:00 p.m.  Free parking will be available in Lots D & E off of Merrimac.

You can read the eleven (11) page revised Vision 2020 Facilities Master Plan (revision 1) July 2015 document HERE. 

If you REALLY want to get into this issue, the entire Vision 2020 Facilities Master Plan Recirculated Program EIR - all 550 pages of it - can be viewed HERE.

And, if you REALLY, REALLY love numbers, the entire EIR Apendices - 4,754 pages - can be viewed HERE. 

The PDF does not provide a table of contents but I have listed the Appendices and there starting and ending pages which are as Follows:

Appendix A – NOP/Initial Study (page 1 – 91) and Comment Letters (pages 97-126)

Appendix B – Air Quality and GHG Emissions Calculations (pages 127 – 1378)

Appendix C – Biological Resources Letter Report (pages 1379 – 1434)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports – Part 1 (pages 1435 – 1580)

Dudek letter on:  Negative Phase I Findings for the CCCD Vision 2020 Plan, Orange Coast College Project, Orange County, CA (Pages 1437 – 1446)

Historic Resources Technical Report – Jan Ostashay, Principal, Ostashay & Associates Consulting, Long Beach, CA (Pages 1447 – 1555)

Paleontological Resource Survey – Paleo Solutions, Monrovia, CA (Pages 1557 – 1580)

Appendix D – Cultural Reports Part 2 (pages 1581 – 3457)

            Historic Resource Report – Page & Turnbull, Los Angeles, CA (pages 1583 – 3457)

Appendix E – Hazards Assessment – (pages 3459 – 4180)

Appendix F – Noise Calculations – (pages 4181 – 4188)

Appendix G – Traffic Impact Analysis, Linscott, Law & Greenspan, Irvine, CA – (pages 4189 – 4754)

Just so you know, I DO NOT plan to read those documents over the weekend, but I plan to attend to hear the presentations and concerns by residents and city staffers. (click on map to expand)

HAPPY HOLIDAY TO YOU ALL

Have a wonderful end-of-summer Labor Day holiday.  We'll be back next week, ready to go on your behalf.

Budget And OCC Meetings Scheduled Thursday Night

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Two very important meetings are scheduled tomorrow, Thursday, and I'm not attending either one due to important family commitments.  However, that doesn't mean YOU shouldn't attend them and report back to me how things went!


6:00 P.M., ROOM 108, ADMIN. BLDG, OCC
Orange Coast College will hold yet another community outreach meeting to continue the discussion of their Vision 2020 expansion program.  This one involves the possibility of Student Housing on Campus and begins at 6:00 in Room 108 in the OCC Administration Building.  Here's the text of the most recent announcement of this meeting:

Reminder: Orange Coast College will be hosting a Community Meeting on Thursday, May 21 at 6 p.m., in Room 108 of the OCC Administration Building to report on the feasibility studies the college has conducted in regards to the possibility of the construction of student housing on the campus. A representative of the consulting firm of Brailsford & Dunlavey will be at the meeting to provide an overview of the firm’s findings related to the feasibility of adding residential housing on the OCC campus.

The meeting will be in the OCC Administration Building at Fairview & Arlington. Free parking will be available in Lot B next to the OCC Admin. Building. If you have additional questions please contact Doug Bennett at (714) 432-5126.

EASY TO FIND - FREE PARKING
As you can see from the attached map, the Admin. building is immediately adjacent to Lot B at the Arlington Drive entrance.  Parking is free.  Click on the map to enlarge.

INFORMATIVE AND USEFUL
I've found these OCC meetings to be very informative and conducted in a very civilized manner.  The folks speaking typically are respectful of the questions asked and appear to do their best to provide answers.  Having attended several of them by this time, one thing is VERY clear - they DO LISTEN to the voices of their neighbors and other concerned residents.  That's very refreshing.  I hope you'll attend and participate.

BUDGET TIME
Simultaneously, across the street at City Hall, the staff will conduct a community meeting on the proposed 2015-2016 Municipal Budget.  You can find the entire nearly 400 page document HERE. 

CONFERENCE ROOM 1A
This meeting also begins at 6:00 p.m. and will be held in Conference Room 1A on the first floor of City Hall, immediately behind the City Clerk's office. 

CASUAL AND INFORMATIVE

In the past these meetings have been poorly attended, but have been quite valuable for those of us who did show up.  I suspect tomorrow's meeting will have a larger turnout than in years past.  The format has been more casual than, for example, a council study session.  Generally, the staff has been interested in hearing from the community on this subject before the council makes the final decision on this document the first meeting of June.

A FEW OF MY QUESTIONS
If I were to attend there area a few things I'd like to discuss.  Perhaps others might have the same questions.  Some of mine are:

1 - Why are we not budgeting money to expand Fire Station #4, which is pivotal to the full implementation of the deployment plan created by former Interim Chief Tom Arnold and modified by CEO Tom Hatch?

2 - On the same subject, why do we NOT cancel the contract with CARE Ambulance and begin transporting patients ourselves - and generating between $1-2 million in annual revenue for the city?  Could it be political?  Seems like a good question, since CARE has been a big campaign contributor and also contributes to events around the city.

3 - Why do we not require department heads to produce a more realistic staff requirement?   By over-projecting the needs it results in theoretical budgeted money saved by not filling positions, which is then used by the council as a piggy bank for their pet projects. 

4 - Why do we budget $4 million for the Library/Neighborhood Community Center project instead of putting at least part of that money toward more public safety staff?  Today we are nearly 30 positions short of our diminished Police Department authorized staffing level.  The Fire Department staff continues to be required to rack up horrible overtime hours because we do not adequately staff that organization.

5 - What kind of fiscal responsibility is it to have half our brand new fleet of Rescue Ambulances - at $250,000 a piece - sitting dormant?  This is directly related to the above items.  We cannot fully implement the Arnold plan.

6 - Why do we not purchase a new emergency generator - Capital Improvement Budget wish list line #93?  This is long, long, long overdue.

POTHOLES BEFORE PUBLIC SAFETY - WHY?
There are MANY other questions I have about the fiscal management of our city.  All are policy questions.  Things like what kind of a political character will put potholes before public safety?  Sure, the streets are nice, but our priorities are so screwed-up because of the hatred of the Police Department by a couple hack politicians that our city is NOT safe today.  No A.B.L.E.; A severely diminshed Gang Unit; No Narcotics Unit; A severely diminished Detective Bureau; 3/4 of our motorcycles sit unused; No K-9s, etc.  We cannot hire cops - new or Reserves -  fast enough to keep up with the hemorrhaging of officers retiring early and/or departing to other venues, including some of our most recent hires.  All this at a time when our streets are made significantly less safe by the increase of parolees and probationers in our community and the epidemic of sober living homes infesting our city.

OUR PRIORITY
So, attend the meeting.  Ask your own questions and listen to the answers.  I'm sorry I'll miss it, but we're getting our first chance to visit with our newest grand niece from Omaha, Miss Harper Hartte Cunningham, and we have our priorities in order. 

 

OCC Trims Expansion Plans

FOURTH IN A SERIES
In the fourth and not the final such meeting, last night officials from Orange Coast College provided insight into the current status of their optimistic planning for their Vision 2020 Master Plan.  Unlike some of the previous meetings, this was not a public hearing with all the formality that entails.  Rather, it was a chance for the college officials to provide feedback to the community and acknowledge their concerns, suggestions, observations and recommendations made at previous meetings.

BENNETT KICKED OFF
Doug Bennett, Executive Director, College Advancement, kicked the meeting off, introduced the various OCC staff members and consultants present, then promptly tossed the ball to President Dennis Harkins, who took us through a slide presentation, shown below, assisted by Vice President Rich Pagel.

STRATEGIC GOALS

THE PLANNING PROCESS

 THEY LISTENED AND CONTROVERSIAL ELEMENTS REMOVED
Perhaps the biggest surprise to most in attendance last night was the fact that OCC has made a major shift in their plans and have removed two major elements - those that seemed to be the most controversial and troublesome to community members at previous meetings.  After going through a prioritizing exercise they decided to REMOVE the OCC Village (including the hotel) and the Parking Structure on the grounds of the Orange County Fair and Event Center from their plans.

They also decided to recirculate the New Environmental Impact Report this summer; review and recommend alternatives for repurpose of Student Services and Administration and to continue to engage the Campus Community.

 There are a couple "shovel-ready" projects ready to go - the Planetarium and the Recycling Center.

 PLANETARIUM

 RECYCLING CENTER

 LARGE TURNOUT OF INQUISITIVE INDIVIDUALS

More than five dozen people showed up for this meeting, including City of Costa Mesa Staffers Gary Armstrong - Director of Economic and Development Services and Deputy CEO - and Ernesto Munoz - Director of Public Services.  Councilwoman Sandra Genis was also present, as were representatives from the Orange County Fair Board.

FIELDING QUESTIONS
For nearly an hour Harkins and Pagel fielded questions regarding a wide variety of issues, including Measure M funding; campus housing; enrollment projections; the recycling center improvements; the EIR and the timing for review of that document.  Residents wanted to know if OCC will become a 4-year school; whether the proposed on-campus housing would increase or diminish vehicular traffic; whether "bikeability and walkability" were included in their plans and whether the expansion plans and presumed additional traffic might increase pressure from Orange County officials to re-examine the issue of bridges across the Santa Ana River at Gisler and 19th Streets.

PRIVATELY-OPERATED HOUSING
We learned, among other things, that the proposed student housing would be operated by a private contractor with experience in that kind of business.  We learned that one of the goals was to provide an affordable "on-campus experience" for students.

UNHAPPY CAMPERS
Other residents expressed frustration about noise spilling off campus and the traffic new housing may bring.

DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY?
The revised Environmental Impact Report will be circulated early this summer and all who filled out their contact information last night or previously will be notified.  When asked how it could be reviewed we were told it would be available in the campus library - viewed by most as an unsatisfactory solution.  Several people requested (demanded) that it be made available in an electronic format to help avoid public records requests.  The answer to that question was vague, unfortunately.

WHAT'S NEXT?
There will be at least one more of these meetings - sometime during the summer.  You can read the schedule below.

COSTA MESA BRIEF ON THE SCENE
Oops... almost forgot to mention.  In addition to Bradley Zint from the Daily Pilot and Jordan Graham from the Orange County Register, Barry Friedland was on hand to make a video record of this meeting which will probably appear on his Costa Mesa Brief YouTube Channel within a few days.  Thanks to Barry for continuing to provide the community with important coverage of events.