(As published in the Butterfield Stageline)
Men, it can be done. I was under pressure to come up with a unique & "cool" 30th mid-December anniversary and we ended up celebrating in Chicago. It was a totally different environment but a great place to visit. Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and those deep-dish pizzas are my new foods of choice. We also learned Chicagoans wanted to ask about SoCal weather quite often. Hmmmm, so that's why people move to California.
Also, last month started my 17th year as a member of the Chino Hills City Council. Gwen Norton Perry and I are the two remaining original council members and both of us are very proud of our community. It has been an honor to represent you at events throughout this county and state.
1) The California Public Utilities Commission will hold another hearing in CH mid January to look at the alternative SCE transmission routes proposed by us. This is a critical time to convince them to move the 200-foot electrical towers away from homes and run the lines through the state park exactly where the existing ones now run. In addition, the number of lines and towers WOULD BE REDUCED OVERALL from what is currently in existence. Go figure. It is a battle in which we will not roll over.
2) Water rates will increase shortly. However, establishing a tiered rate structure did not get approval at the council level so rates will increase at the same percentage across the board. The council has established a committee to start developing water conservation methods and education now. I was selected as the council rep to this committee and it will consist of other citizens as we prepare for the drought conditions for the summer. A key question will be what type of program to implement, whether it's based on incentives or penalties. I will let you know as we move along.
3) It's time to become more watchful of little children playing outside. Drought conditions in CH have resulted in an increase in coyote sightings and two residential coyote attacks in the last three months as they seek food and water found in parks and neighborhoods. Residents should immediately contact the Inland Valley Humane Society at (909) 623-9777 if you encounter a wild animal that behaves aggressively, appears sick, or exhibits unusual behavior such as running in circles or twitching. After hours or weekend sightings of unusual wild animal behavior should be reported to Chino Hills Police / Sheriff's Dispatch by calling (909) 465-6638. It is not necessary to report a coyote or wildlife sighting if the animal does not exhibit aggressive or unusual behavior.
4) FYI - 2008 inflation CPI is estimated at 2.5%.
5) Fly from New York to Ontario in two hours? It can be done now with a jet traveling at supersonic speed. But the hitch is the sonic booms that would drive everyone nuts as it speeds across the country. Some engineers think they have solved the noise problem through a different nose design of these planes. The redesign is still about 10 years away.
6) Chino Hills has a contract with a federal lobbyist and an agenda. Last year this lobbyist brought in $450K and helped us navigate through the massive federal legislation, which only congressional lobbyists can understand. So much for "government of the people." Chino Hills also received grant awards totaling $1.1M for 2007. Congressman Gary Miller is a great advocate for our city in Congress and we thank him.
7) The state's Department of Water Resources has announced how much water State Water Project contractors (like MWD) are likely to receive in 2008. The initial allocation, which serves 25 million Californians, is only 25 percent of the amount of water requested but may increase during the winter months depending on precipitation. This is significantly less than the initial allocation for 2007, which was 60 percent of the requested amount.
8) The government center steelwork is done and last month a long-held ironworkers tradition was held. It is a celebration that takes place between the groundbreaking and the ribbon-cutting ceremonies of any major building structure. When the last structural beam of a building is ready to be swung into place, the ironworkers and guests sign it before it is hoisted into place. The "Topping-Off Ceremony" dates back to 700 AD and was pretty cool to be a part of it.
9) The CH Summer program had 10,760 participants. Hope you all had fun.
10) The following tenant improvement permits were pulled for the Shoppes: Yardhouse, California Pizza Kitchen, Joe A. Banks, Solstice, Hollister.
11) Two more Japanese restaurants are steam rolling into town: Maki Yaki at the Gateway Center, Sushi Ten at Fairfield Ranch. The Holiday Inn Express at Fairfield Ranch is going up too.
12) At the Commons site the grading is proceeding along and soon a large Lowe's will compete with Home Depot. An Ayers Hotel with 200 rooms, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Lucille's Smokehouse Restaurant.
13) Can it finally be over? The Kevin Cooper saga of using the legal system to stay alive has probably run its course with this latest denial of his appeal. He murdered four people in Chino Hills in 1983 and has had a legal team stretch out his life to this date.
14) I was surprised when our Public Works Commission voted against allowing a double right turn lane from Soquel onto Pomona Rincon heading to Chino Hills High. Although I acknowledge that would make the situation worse going up to CHHS, at least it would clear up traffic on Soquel. The commission has asked for more details and study. I know one commissioner has been watching the whole scenario for several days so I am confident a fix; even temporary will soon be implemented.
15) Copper wire thefts hit Chino Hills as they broke into four storage containers and stripped the copper from the old Community Park lights.
16) Infrastructure in CA continues to be a hot topic of discussion between the legislature and unions. I saw an estimate that said CA costs for infrastructure improvement would be $100 billion. On top of that, these major infrastructure projects, because of regulations that unions endorsed, will take14 years. (We see this when freeways are proposed and built.)
17) Chino Hills fully understands the value of recycling. All cities in California are mandated to divert from the landfills at least 50% of their solid waste. Many cities have had problems in meeting this mandate, but not us. Our diversion rate is currently 59%, which is quite an accomplishment. Currently homeowners who live in condominium complexes are not involved in the curbside recycle program but all solid waste collected at apartments, condominiums, and all commercial businesses is sorted by our waste hauler ("murfed") in order to recycle as much of the material as is possible.
18) Did you know our monthly trash rates are 32% below the regional average?
19) The City at one time had a policy that provided a process for the sale of small, remnant parcels of open space to individual homeowners. The intent was to sell remnant portions of graded building pads, which do not enhance or contribute to the value of the adjacent natural open space areas. Unfortunately, the Council has chosen to rescind this policy. Because the policy was open to the interpretation, many times open space property was sold that probably would not have been sold had the original intent of the policy been followed. This happened because the exceptions to the policy were not always clear. This caused many problems, some anticipated and some not. In addition, due to staff limitations, enforcement of the terms of sales agreement was non-existent.
20) Trash, sewer and water rates must be increased and by law, residents must vote upon these increases. A "vote by mail" will be held since that is now the requirement of Prop. 218. The sewer rate is established by the IEUA and is currently at $8.44 and will gradually increase to $11.14 by July of 2011. These are "pass through" costs from the sewer agency, the IEUA. The trash and water rates will be increased gradually and that info will soon be in the mail.
21) Saving 20 gallons of water each day can be done simply by:
- Reducing irrigation cycles; saves 15-25 gallons/minute
- Having the car washed at a car wash facility saves 8-18 gallons per minute
- Turning off the faucet while brushing teeth saves 2.5 gallons per minute
- Fixing leaky sprinkler heads saves 20 gallons per day
- A pool/spa cover can save 30 gallons per day
- Fixing leaky toilets or faucets saves 20-50 gallons per day
22) What is the City of Chino Hills Doing to Save Water?
The biggest water customer in the City of Chino Hills is the City of Chino Hills! The City maintains 700 hundred acres of landscaped slopes, parks, and medians. The Public Facilities Department has been working on a multi-year plan of using:
- -Recycled water to irrigate some of the City's parks, slopes, and medians, and Los Serranos Golf Course (purple pipes mean recycled water).
- -A state-of-the-art central irrigation controller to adjust watering cycles and turn off sprinklers when it rains.
- -More efficient sprinkler head models to reduce overspray on streets and sidewalks. Irrigation cycles have been shortened to avoid runoff.
- -Drought tolerant plants in landscaped areas.
23) You can see a wonderful drought tolerant demonstration garden at Fire Station 4 in Carbon Canyon at Canon Lane. It is open to the public and was refurbished in collaboration with the Carbon Canyon Fire Safety Council (resident council). In Butterfield Ranch, a 1-1/2 acre drought tolerant garden with a drip irrigation system was recently planted at the entrance to the open space on Twin Knolls Drive in the Butterfield Ranch area.
As always, please call or email if you have any question or ideas.
Councilmember Ed
H) (909) 597-0535
and is not a part of nor affiliated with the City of Chino Hills.