(Los Alamitos, 3/18/2013)  The meeting was an hour and a half old when I left, & Oral Communications wasn’t even over yet!

I’ve got an early appointment tomorrow, so I’ll do a quick synopsis of the first part of the meeting & let our readers fill in the rest.  Hopefully the meeting will be over by the time I get up around 4:30 tomorrow morning!

The 45 minutes of presentations started with a MADD presentation to Officer Samantha Mathias for DUI Officer of the Year, and who wouldn’t drink to that!  (Sorry.  Better  not be your designated driver!)

Then we heard from a couple of pinch hitting  OCTD rep who didn’t know answers to all the Council Member’s  questions.  Worse, they had no idea about the truck terminal on Katella, but said they’d respond before the deadline, which they obviously didn’t realize was just two weeks away on April 2.

Finally we heard from two (count ‘em) sewer dudes who had to defend their proposed tax increase, which still doesn’t seem to balance the budget, if I understood the references to “structural deficits” correctly.

Frankly, I still don’t know enough to say if the whole things just a bunch of shhhhh!    This is family friendly blog.   Let’s just say I’m still not sold on this crrrrrr. . . sewage increase.

Then on at last to another 45 minutes + of public comment, as the high school students continued their exodus (cue music via video below, no need to watch the video, just an amazing soundtrack for this post.  Plus it’ll make anyone else in the room wonder what you’re doing!)

Speaking of an Exodus, wait ’til you see what 350 new truck bays on the Race Track property will do to Katella.  You’re going to need Moses to part the bloody red sea of trucks to get anywhere in this town.

One resident who’s been canvassing the neighborhood Prologis supposedly mailed to says only about five homes per block actually received the invites.

Which was exactly the concern of  the majority of public comments tonight, and they were still going strong when I left to bring you up to date.

Your truly suggested a park instead of a truck terminal made much more sense on Katella, but I exceeded my five minutes before I had a chance to explain I thought the County should pay for a Regional Park on the Western side of the County.

The more I consider it , the more I’m convinced the truck terminal is a very bad idea that will destroy our quality of life, our environment, and cost lives.  I really can’t think of anything worse, not even an amusement park  or toxic dump.  I’ve already seen one person killed by a truck on Katella at Bloomfield, and it appears this facility will triple the truck traffic through that intersection!

See you at the open house at the Race Track  tomorrow, 7:30 – 9:30 pm, 4921 Katella.    Or in the back of an ambulance once it’s open.

We also had a couple Rossmoor Highlands residents comment on the noise, dust, & hazards of speeding mulch-filled big rigs just a few feet behind their properties on the Base.

Former Planning Commissioner Schloss suggested Seal Beach show their support for the Base by allowing the trucks to take a huge short cut via Lampson.    I’ll check back on that right after the Cubs win the. . . Stanley Cup.

Council Member Edgar requested any residents  with Base truck  problems call City Hall with their contact info this week as so far he only has two residents’ info to present to the Base & needs more.

But enough from me.

This post is for your reports and comments on tonight’s meeting, whether you watched it live, were there in person, or watched it taped or on the Tuesday morning or evening rebroadcast.

Tell us what you saw, what you thought, & please put up links to other reports on other media.

Try to be diplomatic and keep at least some focus on positive things.  Council Meetings, like life, are full of ups & downs.   And sometimes seem to go on forever.