DRHNA MINUTES
December 4, 2006
Page 1
DEL REY HOMEOWNERS & NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING OF DECEMBER 4, 2006
Italicized remarks are post-meeting comments by the Recording Secretary.
Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Janice Santos, Parliamentarian; Chris Nevil, President; George Gross, 1st VP and Webmaster; Wendy Averill, 2d VP;Michelle Rudo, Treasurer; Elizabeth Pollock, Recording Secretary; Tobyann Mandel, Director; Marlene Savage, Director; Casey Anderson, Director/Membership Chair; Mary Anderson, Director; Steve Knight, Advisor
Guests: Donald Dombrowski;Nancee Inouye; Mei Wah Wong; Gail Sharp of Venice Japanese Community Center; Nicole Velasquez, field deputy for Council District 11; L.A. P.D. Officer Allan Rabina; Greg Pifer,Senior Construction Inspector, City of Los Angeles; Kelton Kirby, project manager for Centinela Avenue widening project.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the November 6, 2006, board meeting were reviewed and approved with changes.The final, revised minutes for November were distributed to the board by email on December 6, 2006.
Approval of Treasurer’s Report: Before the meeting, Treasurer Michelle Rudo circulated the Transaction Detail Report for November and a Budget Summary Report comparing the actual inflows and outflows with the budgeted amounts, and these reports were approved. At the October 2006 board meeting, the board authorized an expenditure of $200 to buy 1000 notepads bearing the DRHNA logo and contact information. The actual cost was $235.50, and the board authorized the additional expenditure.
Centinela Avenue Widening Project: Kelton Kirby, project manager for Excel Paving, and Greg Pifer, senior construction inspector for the City of Los Angeles, reported that the west side of the street should be based paved by December 15, and all traffic lanes should be reopened around December 21. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 21, and the last three months of the project will be spent on cleanup. The street trees will be watered for 90 days and then must survive on their own. The local water table should be high enough to irrigate the trees.
There is not going to be a left turn signal for northbound traffic at Short Avenue. There will be a 70 foot left turn lane (about 3 cars). The adequacy of this arrangement should be discussed with the Department of Transportation at the next Traffic Meeting.
Traffic Meeting: Next meeting will be on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. at the Westchester municipal office building. Don Dombrowski will attend. Casey Anderson may attend.
Police/Crime Report: No report.
Newsletter: For the Spring newsletter, each board member should submit a short biography (six to eight sentences). Mary Anderson is going to write an article about the VeniceJapaneseCommunity Center, which has hosted our board meetings for many years. The Venice Boys’and Girls’Club runs a drop-in center at Short Avenue elementary school, and that tie to the Del Rey community will be featured in an article. Ms. Thompson (?) will be sending an article. Nicole Velasquez is preparing a “Councilman’s Corner” article that will address common questions that come up, e.g. what to do about barking dogs. Del Rey resident Mary Wilson took pictures of the 5K run, and we can print one of the pictures in the newsletter. (There are no pictures of our booth, but there is a good one of some of the children in the race.)
Mary Anderson will develop a production schedule for the spring newsletter. Private email addresses should only be printed in the newsletter with the consent of the person whose address is being given.
Chris Nevil has announced that he will be stepping down as President, so the newsletter may be needed to provide some information about the candidates that will be voted on at the General Meeting.
General Meeting: The planning committee will begin its work in January. Ideas: A program on medical emergency services in the area, given the recent hospital closures? Invite Gail Goldberg, head of the Los Angeles Planning Commission, to speak about the Master Plan for Del Rey?Have a program about the local schools? Talk about what criteria are applied to new developments being proposed for our area, e.g. the 55 foot height limit, and how civic groups like ours can have input?
Membership: Dues income is $3818 so far. We have 226 renewals and seven people from our outreach mailing (an acceptable two per cent response rate).
Liquor License for 12740 Culver Blvd. Suite H: A local realtor, Marie Antoinette, has applied for and been granted a liquor license so a bar to be called “The Bus Stop” can be opened in the shopping area by Ronnie’s Diner. The license is for beer and wine only, and food can be served. Nancee Inouye arranged for Allan Rabina, a police officer in the Pacific Division’s Vice Unit, to attend the meeting. He said this bar will put the area right at the limit for liquor licenses allowed in our area. Both the Los Angeles Zoning Administrator and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control imposed the following restrictions on the license: (1) full exterior illumination; (2) security guards; (3) an i.d. scanner; (4) hours from 11 a.m. to midnight; (5) no live bands, dancing or karaoke; (6) neighbors within 500 feet of the bar will have a direct number to call the owner if there is a problem. These conditions will run with the license. When this location had a bar before, it did not seem to affect the local crime rate. Parking may be an issue.
Website: Webmaster George Gross will update the website now that the November minutes have been approved.
Del Rey Neighborhood Council (“DRNC”): Next meeting is Wednesday, December 14, 2006. The new officers have been installed.
Now that his term as president is over, Steve Knight is “retiring” from the DRNC and in January, he will be retiring from his paid employment as well. He recommended the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division resources website, and said that Denny Schneider has just become president of the ARSAC (Alliance for Regional Solutions for Airport Congestion). We might want to do another airport program.
Culver City Liaison: The business owners affected by the planned redevelopment of the north side of Jefferson Blvd. between Slauson Ave. and Sawtelle Ave. will be holding a meeting on December 5, 2006, to discuss what is going to happen and how eminent domain compensation for the businesses will be handled.
Chris Nevil reminded us of former board member Jack Cumming’s interest in having Del Rey annexed by Culver City. Now that Culver City is redeveloping the land on the north side of Venice Blvd., west of Centinela, the City of Los Angeles is working on trying to get some traffic mitigation at the Venice/Centinela intersection, which is at the city border.
Council District 11 Update: Field Deputy Nicole Velasquez has been investigating who owns the service road that starts at Centinela Ave. and runs west along the north side of the 90 Freeway. It is probably a Caltrans road, but “no one wants to claim it.” It is not Caltrans or Dept. of Water and Power land, and the road does not appear on city maps. There is a “Road Closed”sign on it now. Nicole Velasquez is still investigating. Is it for maintenance? Truck parking? Could it be turned into a dog park?
The rampant rumor that MarVistaGardens has been sold is untrue. Some of the units are boarded up for lead paint and asbestos abatement.
A lawsuit has been filed concerning the proposed strip club on Centinela Ave. across from what will be a park in the Playa Vista development.
Is it true that there is a strip club on Del Rey Avenue?
Quimby Funds: Nicole Velasquez spoke with Camille Walls at the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. Kathryn Frengs (predecessor to Nicole Velasquez) had told us that the Quimby money that was taken from Del Rey and spent in Venice would be coming back to Del Rey, but there is nothing specific in the works.
Camille Walls told Elizabeth Pollock, DRHNA Recording Secretary, that the planning for the next distribution of funds will start in January, so we should send letters now urging that money generated in Del Rey should be spent in Del Rey. Elizabeth Pollock circulated two draft letters for comment -- one to the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department and one to the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. Nicole Velasquez must confirm what can and cannot be said about Home Depot’s reported “commitment”to having five acres of the 20 acre U.S. Postal Service property (bought by Home Depot in August 2006) be used for a park. It is rumored that Home Depot might re-sell the land to someone else.
The board agreed in principle to sending the letters, which will be signed by Chris Nevil, president. However, before the letters go out, Elizabeth Pollock must confirm which public entity allowed the Community Garden to be put on its property, must confirm which propositions are potential sources of money for parks, must make clear that the Grosvenor Avenue property is in unincorporated Los Angeles County, and not in the City of Los Angeles.
5K Race to support Del Rey elementary schools: The race was well-organized, well-attended and appeared to have been a successful event for the community. Casey Anderson, George Gross and Elizabeth Pollock manned a booth for the DRHNA. At no charge, the organizers of the event provided us with a canopy, a table and chairs, and we brought our banner, a map of Del Rey showing the four public elementary schools, notepads, magnets and newsletters. We heard that the participating businesses each paid at least $250 to host a booth. The DRNC and Playa Vista each contributed $5000 to the event, which started/ended at Campus Drive, which is on the south side of Jefferson where Centinela Avenue meets Jefferson.
We had only a dozen or so visitors at our booth, and it was clear that “Del Rey” is still an unknown term. We probably need to develop a marketing plan for 2007. Maybe we can: leave some of our newsletters at the businesses on Centinela; put some of our magnets on the mailboxes of the apartment houses where we cannot distribute flyers; distribute our notepads as part of a Welcome Wagon package for people moving to the area; ask local realtors to include a flyer about the DRHNA in their mailings. (Juanita Tiu already has said she will do this. She will also refer to our area as Del Rey, rather than “Marina Adjacent.”) We may want to post electioneering style signs in our yards before the next general meeting. Nicole Velasquez will check on what rules apply to those signs. Goerge Gross will ask what it costs to have such signs prepared. Elizabeth Pollock is making inquiries about what is needed in order to get a new map with our updated boundaries. We may be able to enlarge a map from a digital Thomas Guide mapbook.
Board “Kick Off the New Year” party in January – Scheduled for the evening of Saturday, January 13, 2007, at Marlene Savage’s house.
Policy on Commemorative Gifts/Honoraria: Elizabeth Pollock circulated a first draft of proposed language for discussion. We should not prohibit reimbursement of travel expenses, e.g. parking. Restrictions on gifts to individuals should also apply to family members of individuals being honored. A $25 maximum is probably too low. If the maximum were $50, we could always spend less than the maximum. A revised draft will be presented at the next meeting.
Leaded Lipstick- Marlene Savage read a safety advisory that many lipsticks contain unsafe amounts of lead. One should test each lipstick by rubbing it on one’s skin. If the rubbed lipstick turns black, it has a high lead content.
Holiday Support for Police: For several years, community members have delivered food and drink to the Pacific Division police station for the officers working on Christmas and New Year’s. Tobyann Mandel will ask our senior lead officers, Heidi Llanes and Pete Llanes, if such an effort would be appreciated. If so, Tobyann Mandel will talk to Roberto’s, Taqueria Sanchez, Marina Farms to find out if they would be willing to donate food.
The board voted that the DRHNA will contribute up to $100 ($50 for Christmas, $50 for New Year’s) toward whatever the Senior Lead Officers indicate would be needed. Last year, we contributed paper goods and tableware to go with the donated food.
CellPhoneTowers: Mei Wah Wong reported that 12 cellular towers and two GPS antennae are going to be installed by T-Mobile on the roof of the Mar Vista Community Center, 4620 Slauson Avenue. The center’s director is Steve Clare. There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. on December 5, 2006, at the MarVistaFamilyCenter regarding the decision to install the towers. The installation has been approved by the City of Los Angeles Zoning Administrator. There is concern that these digital, high-powered towers/antennae will have deleterious effects on the health of people in the area. Mei Wah Wong will draft a proposed letter of concern and will bring it to the January 2007 board meeting.
NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2007.
ADJOURNMENT: 9:10 P.M.
Post Meeting Events:
It has been determined that that a subdivision project Tract Map No. 067206 has been filed for the church property at 5550 Grosvenor Blvd., Culver City, CA90230, assessor’s parcel no. 4211003068. The Los AngelesCounty planner for the case is Ramon Cordova of the Land Divisions Section, LandDevelopmentCoordinatingCenter, Department of Regional Planning. His direct telephone number is (213) 974-6433. We want to make sure the Quimby Funds for this project are set aside for use in Del Rey.
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