Oct
28
Los Al Med Center meets with Community Activists
Filed Under 2009 Issues, Development, Los Alamitos Priorities, Planning & Zoning | 11 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 10/28/2009) (Intro by Dave Emerson:) There’s been plenty of noise and discussion lately about the Los Alamitos Medical Center’s future development plans. The LAMC apparently decided to be proactive and invited three of the “squeaky wheels” to their facility for a discussion this past Monday, 10/26/2009.
Those attendees have issued a very interesting report on that meeting. I was amazed to learn Read more
Oct
5
Breaking News: Is Tenet playing a “shell game” with Los Alamitos?
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council, Planning & Zoning | Leave a Comment
Guess who really owns this building?
(Los Alamitos, 10/5/2009) Information culled from public records over the weekend will hopefully give the Los Alamitos City Council good reason to hold off on entering an agreement tonight with the Los Alamitos Medical Center regarding their 25 year expansion plan.
Indeed, it’s not even clear at this point exactly whom that agreement should be with, but it’s evident that there are at least two additional legal entities involved: Read more
Oct
3
Los Al Med Center files for massive expansion
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council, Planning & Zoning | 16 Comments
(10/2/2009, Los Alamitos) Now we know why they asked for that Enviornmental Impact Report our City Council will vote on Monday night.
They want to build two new medical towers allowing up to 602 beds, an 80,000 square foot medical office building, new parking structures, and a new central plant on the 18 acres they now own in our fair town.
The plan is to be implemented over the next Read more
Sep
9
City Council Removes DeBolt from Planning Commission
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council, Planning & Zoning | 3 Comments
Tuesday night’s Los Alamitos City Council Session went on for almost 4 hours, touching on many different items.
On the bright side, the Council is moving ahead, although rather slowly, on establishing a process for possibly moving forward with a General Plan review and/or revision.
The action I found most disappointing in last night’s meeting, however was Read more
Aug
18
8/17 Council meeting: Not interested in moratorium?
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, Planning & Zoning | 43 Comments
8/18/09 In a short but not-so-sweet meeting last night the Los Alamitos City Council majority seemed disinclined to slow whatever’s happening at the Los Alamitos Medical Center with a building moratorium and voted to proceed without further input on Read more
Aug
16
Council to consider mandating advance payment by youth sports groups tonight
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council, Education & Schools, Los Alamitos Priorities | 3 Comments
Youth sports: a big part of our community
(8/17/2009, Los Alamitos) In an interesting consent calendar item for their Monday, August 17, Regular Meeting the Los Alamitos City Council is being asked to require payment in advance from the many youth sports groups which use city or school district facilities.
This seems like a logical move from an economic viewpoint. The question is, have the affected volunteer groups, all committed to serving our kids, had adequate input in the development of this policy.
Under current policy, according to a Youth Permits Summary submitted to the Council, all of the local groups have been delinquent to one extent or another in making at least some payments over the past three years, including (in alphabetical order):
- Friday Night Lights
- Los Alamitos Girls Softball League
- Los Alamitos Youth Baseball
- NJB Basketball
- Pop Warner Football
- AYSO Soccer
- St. Hedwig Baseball
All but two of those groups are now current: AYSO still owes the city about Read more
Aug
14
Council to discuss proposed construction moratorium this Monday, 8/17
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, News you can use, Planning & Zoning, Traffic | 6 Comments
Los Al Med Center's last major project
(by Dave Emerson) The potential impact of future medical development in town has got some citizens concerned about impacts on traffic, future development, and potential for expanding Los Alamitos’ sales tax base.
The Los Alamitos City Council is slated to further discuss the issue near the end of this Monday’s Regular Council meeting in response to an interesting letter from former Read more
Aug
4
Los Al Council continues Medical Center EIR & Base truck issues
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, Planning & Zoning, Teamwork, The Base | 26 Comments
Council takes a step back from immediate confrontation with Base over recycling trucks
(8/4/09, Los Alamitos) At a lengthy but relatively non contentions meeting Monday night, the Los Alamitos City Council deferred decisions on two hot topics by continuing them for at least two weeks.
It’s been a while since I’ve actually made it to a Los Alamitos City Council meeting, and I was surprised at Read more
Aug
1
Recycling Truck Ban, Medical Center Project, Fees for the 4th on Council Agenda for Monday, August 3
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, The Base | 6 Comments
(August 1, 2009, Los Alamitos) This Monday night’s 7 p.m. City Council meeting has a number of interesting items on the agenda.
It appears that the Council will move forward with plans to ban trucks weighing over 4 tons from Lexington Ave. south of Katella, a move aimed directly at the 10 daily recycling round trips forced to use 2-lane Lexington now that Seal Beach has blocked them from using Base’s preferred, more direct route using 4-lane Lampson.
This is a follow up by staff from two prior meetings at which the issue was raised. As one local observer told me,
The big battle if you have been watching the last couple of meeting is…the trucks on Lexington. Troy threw down the gauntlet. The battle is on.
While I tend to be supportive of the Base’s efforts, I’m also pleased to see our Council sticking up for our town and our residents. I don’t have the ful picture yet, but from what I do know, it looks like Mayor Edgar is Read more
Jun
12
Los Al Council urged to seek “full partner” status in Base planning
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, The Base | 13 Comments
City Manager Stewart doing his homework at the Base
(6/12/09, Los Alamitos) There’s several interesting intems on this Monday’s regular Los Alamitos City Council meeting (6/15/09). We’ll get to the full agenda and some other items of note tomorrow.
Today, however, let’s note an interesting letter that our new City Manager Jeff Stewart is suggesting Mayor Edgar send on behalf of the Council to outgoing Base Commander General James P. Combs.
What I find especially noteworthy about the suggested letter is that in it Read more
May
30
Cypress traffic mitigation revisited: Los Al Council looks at SeaCoast Grace expansion Monday
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council Meetings, Traffic | 6 Comments
View of SeaCoast Grace's admin building & present auditorium taken from site of planned new auditorium
(5/30/09, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson) Once again the Los Alamitos City Council has a busy agenda for it’s regular meeting this Monday. Appointing Commission members, a Katella no-parking zone, and selecting a non-profit to run LosAlTV are only 3 of 9 items on which the Council will be taking action.
We’ll post the agenda later this weekend, but for now we’ll focus on Los Al City staff input on how to respond to Cypress’s SeaCoast Grace Church’s expansion plans.
Cypress’ City Council will be meeting a week later to consider a Conditional Use Permit Amendment for the expansion of the church, located at 5100 Cerritos Avenue. The church wants to a a 2nd auditorium/sanctuary building of 38,031 square feet in Read more
May
26
The Eco-General Strikes Back: Our big recycling field trip
Filed Under 2009 Issues, The Base, Traffic | 13 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 5/26/2009, by Dave Emerson) I felt like I was riding a school bus on a field trip, except everyone on the bus was adults. And we had military escorts wearing camis instead of teachers. And Mayor Edgar, with JM sitting across the aisle in the same row. Plus assorted other Council Members and Commissioners from both Seal Beach and Los Alamitos.
It just might have been the biggest gathering of local officials assembled in one vehicle since Fred Freeman arranged for that infamous Towne Car ride. Maybe bigger.
A variety of vehicles was waiting to transport us to the compost site.
There we were–me and almost 80 of my new BFFs in two buses riding directly across the only controlled military landing field left in our part of this dysfunctional state on a mission to see . . . Read more
May
26
O.C. Human Relations calls neighborhood meeting Wednesday, 5/27
Filed Under 2009 Issues, News you can use | Leave a Comment
The tag of the Northwest Orange Skins covered one side of the van
5/20: Wednesday morning update. Due to a prior commitment I will not be able to attend this informal meeting, but would love to have at least one person report back to us on what took place. If you can stop by and report back, please mention it in a comment below now, then report back after the meeting by way of another comment. If nobocy’s volunteered yet, maybe you’d like to try your hand at being a neighborhood reporter! The more the better.
The idea here really is to make this a community website, not my website. Here’s your chance!
(Los Alamitos, 5/26/2009, by Dave Emerson) In an effort to respond to issues raised in April by the hate crime/vandalism/grafitti in Apartment Row, the Orange County Human Relations Commission has called an informal meeting at Little Cottonwood Park this Wednesday evening from 6 – 7.
I spoke with James Armendaris about the meeting today, who indicated it was called to allow the community, especially those living in Apartment Row, to address concerns with representatives from the Los Alamitos Police Department. In addition there will be a representative from the Anti-Defamation League as well as a victim’s advocate.
At the time of the incident concerns were expressed Read more
May
25
Is it Seal Beach vs. Los Al @ two Base meetings on recycling tomorrow, Tuesday, 5/26?
Filed Under 2009 Issues, City Council, George Briggeman, The Base, Traffic | 20 Comments
The view last week from Rossmoor Highlands back yards.
(5/25/2009, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson) The Joint Forces Training Base is now routing 10 – 15 big 18wheeler trucks on a circuitous route through Los Alamitos five to six days a week as part of their new 5 year green waste recycling program.
The come and go by taking the 405 freeway to the 605 freeway to Katella to Lexington. Once they enter the base the trucks backtrack to the western side of the base where they follow a narrow road directly behind Rossmoor Highlands all the way around the perimeter of the Base until they finally arrive at the recycling site northeast of Arbor Park. Then they turn around and exit by the same crazy spiral, occasionally passing incoming 18 wheelers on the narrow road.
General Combs, who will be retiring this year, was hoping to route that traffic more directly off of Lampson, but ran into a major snag when Read more
May
21
Your input needed for LATV
Filed Under 2009 Issues, LosAl TV | 1 Comment
(Los Alamitos, 5/21/09, by Larry Strawther) What would you like to see on LATV? More city government meetings? More local arts? More high school concerts and plays? More sports? Less sports? Maybe you’d just like the whole thing to go away. Whatever the case, we’re providing you a forum to make your voice heard with our LATV survey.
Some of us think LATV, if managed properly, can be a very valuable tool in this community — not just for coverage of local events (sports AND non-sports), but for education (advanced training at Los Al HS in audio-video, the third largest industry in this country), and also for helping local business in a way that could definitely have a positive financial impact for this city and community.
Obviously, I have my thoughts on what the people in this community would like to see on LATV, and so do others. But the facts are none of us truly know what the community wants, so why not actually ask them?
If you’d like to make your opinions known, go here to take our survey:
