6 Responses to “Recycling Truck Ban, Medical Center Project, Fees for the 4th on Council Agenda for Monday, August 3”

1. To Dave on August 2nd, 2009 7:29 am

   Your welcome sign sounds most appropriate.

2. JM Ivler on August 3rd, 2009 12:00 am

   separate posts on separate items…

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   My concern is that the EIR statement will not go through the planning commission process. In other words, this is to be railroaded without community input.

   The hospital and it’s facilities provide NO income to the city of Los Alamitos. Additional beds, additional medical offices, etc, are not a good use for the city of the acreage. I believe that zoning changes would be required and I for one would fight any such changes. I believe that should be made clear at the city council meeting.

   Their 20 year plan does not in any way HELP the city. In fact, I am of firm belief that their 20 year plan is in fact harmful to the city’s short and long term prospects. It will reduce potential revenue. While it is fine and dandy for Leisure World, I do not believe that there is a material benefit to the residents of the city, or to the city itself.

   If Tenant Healthcare wants to build a facility to further benefit their income producing goals, they had best show how they benefit the residents of the City of Los Alamitos and the City of Los Alamitos, specifically in generating, producing and maintaining the tax base and providing services that are fair and reasonable. As someone who has used Tenant services I can state that they are not fair or reasonable. As someone who has seen the results of their last foray into development, I fail to see how that development helped the city or the residents. While I am sure that the development helped Tenants financial bottom line, I really don’t give a sh#t about that. What I have seen is the hospital purchase property that had tax paying business in them and replacing them with nothing, further reducing the city tax base and adding nothing of value.

   In simple terms, The Hospital provides loads of services for Leisure World and doesn’t provide squat for the City of Los Alamitos. It is not one of the “best hospitals” in O.C. or South LA County, it isn’t even close. It doesn’t provide a critical care facility, and the fact the accident victims from the fatal crash on Katella by the 24 Hour Fitness were not transferred there only goes to support the simple fact that they don’t provide a valuable support service to the community.

   Adding more medical office space for them to make income off of that generates no tax base for the city is an unacceptable use for the property in question.

   Currently there is an effort underway to have an EIR done along the Katella corridor by the Planning Commission in order to determine a new Zone Overlay for the corridor. This seems to have the stink of an attempt to get around that EIR with a plan for that property that would be outside the Zone Overlay. And, it is possible that in doing this the Hospitals efforts may have a detrimental effect on the EI that will disallow a Zone Overlay that would truly benefit the City of Los Alamitos (say one that would overlay Arrowhead with multi-use/Retail that would allow it to be income producing property of the City of Los Alamitos).

   Unless I see a clear statement from the City Council that all development would have to go through the Planning Commission, and that any future development would have to be done with consideration to the Zone Overlay that is being done on Katella, I don’t believe that this is a good or fair deal for the people or the City of Los Alamitos.

3. JM Ivler on August 3rd, 2009 12:50 am

   I don’t live in CPE. I don’t live in Seal Beach. I do live on the mess that they have helped create, the road they call Katella.

   I get to listen to the trucks drive by at 50+ MPH as they go to Shaw Carpet. I get to listen to the traffic. I get to listen to it all while they have their peace and quite; their traffic free Lampson.

   I watched as they made a massive deal out of 12 trucks. I wonder if any of them felt ashamed as they drove around with their “I Support Our Troops” bumper stickers?

   Supporting the JFTB is not a part-time gig. It is not something you do when it doesn’t cost you anything.

   Now, for the most part, we have a good relationship with the JFTB. They work with us to be a good neighbor and not fly choppers over our homes. They listen to those who back up on the base and when they call about the dust, they came out and worked to reduce it.

   No neighbor is perfect, the eyesores of vacant dilapidated housing are still there, but they have started the clean up, and they did erect the wall.

   So, they need to get 12 trucks a day in and out. Rather than follow the lead of Seal Beach, why don’t we try something different.

   The goal of the trucks is to generate compost from green waste. Why don’t we work with the base to see to it that the compost is first applied to the areas that border Los Alamitos. Make part of the arrangement that they will use the compost to the cover the dirt along the western border of the base first. Then they will move from the North-West corner to the East along the Northern border of the base.

   This way the people that would benefit from this first would be the residents of Los Alamitos along Cherry Street from Kempton Drive to North of Thor to Denwood. Then behind Denwood to Little Cottonwood. Finally, from Lexington behind Howard all the way down to Mindora and the Naval Base Golf Course.

   By then, maybe the housing will be torn down between Little Cottonwood and the Baseball diamonds and they can use the compost there.

   In addition, maybe we can ask then to widen the “dirt road” that they are using behind the houses on Cherry and also even make some basic road improvements (this would be in their best interests as well to ensure that the trucks can get to the compost site safely).

   And we should limit the “hours of operation” to those that are outside “peak traffic” hours so they don’t add to the mess that is Katella – and ensure that they don’t bother the residents of Lexington or Cherry.

   In other words, rather than being a bunch of whiney biatches like the CPE/Seal Beach people, we can actually show that we support the base and it’s mission by proactively working with them to make this happen.

   Then we can also ask to use this wonderful compost at Laurel Park and at Little Cottonwood to help enhance our city (and save water) at no additional costs to us.

   Yep, this will mean that 12 more big truck will most likely pass by my home every day. But in a simple cost-benefit analysis, it is a low cost to pay for a chance to eliminate the dust issues for my neighbors to the west (and get that base service road fixed up).

   Me, I don’t drive around with a “I Support Our Troops” bumper sticker on my car (or the putt-putt). Rather than be a mealy-mouth’d CPE resident I am willing to share some of the pain. The conditions on the base suck compared to say Pendelton. But, this is our base and the men and the women who have to pass through here on their way to serve our country in dangerous duty deserve more than a bunch of whiny civi’s complaining about a few additional trucks.

   The JFTB works with us when they can to be a good neighbor, and until they BRAC it or start spending the money they need to fix it up and make it work, the least we can do is be a good neighbor to them as well.

   And don’t for one minute think that this means that I wouldn’t fight Briggemen adding one truck so he can run some sort of for profit enterprise at the JFTB. That I would fight tooth and nail.

   Oh yes, and to the JFTB, may I suggest that the best way to say “thanks” to CPE is to close down the park behind WestEd. I’m sure they can make do with BlueBell, Heather and Almond parks.

   And Dave, I disagree that this is a good way to get “all the cities” to share the burden. Seal Beach has made it clear that Lampson is sacrosanct (no F-ing kidding, as if we can’t tell that by the traffic analysis) so rather than play into their hands, why not use this as an opportunity to make things MUCH better between the JFTB and Los Al. Maybe we can get the base to move all the flight traffic from the choppers to the south side of the base and away from the North and West… wouldn’t that be a nice way for them to say “thanks” to Los Al?

4. Dave Emerson on August 3rd, 2009 5:51 pm

   JM–

   Your thoughts on the Medical Center make a lot of sense. The Council’s still cleaning up from their last “improvement,” witness the new 2 hour parking restrictions on Katella because the hospital’s own staff won’t even use the massive (and massively misplaced) parking lot they put in so they could build more doctor’s offices on the old, logically placed lot.

   As a bare minimum the whole thing should be put on hold, now that SKAG is funding that Katella/Los Al Blvd. retail overlay study. It would probably make sense to institute a moratorium on any development or planning in both of the study corridors until the results of the study have been presented to the community.

   As for your thoughts on the Base trucks, your creative approach gives much food for thought. You seem to do a better job of applying the Golden Rule than me in this case.

   Still, I think the Mayor’s approach will force the Base to pull Federal Rank, which will eventually result in most access running through Lampson.

   Maybe your proposal could form the basis of an interim plan while the base pulls rank on Seal Beach through the courts. That way the recycling could continue for, say the next 6 months, provided maybe half of the product was used to benefit Los Al.

   Remember, that’s 12 trucks in and back out on little old 2-lane Lexington for 24 trips, vs. 12 trucks one-way on Lampson, all on the base side of the street, 3 lanes away from CPE. Also reduces the congestion on Los Al Blvd., Valley View, and Katella.

   Keep the good ideas coming!

5. JM Ivler on August 4th, 2009 12:10 am

   Pursuant to your request at the meeting that I post my comments publicly…

   AQUATICS

   I’ve been thinking a great deal about budgets as of late. With reducing tax revenues from the economic slowdown, the loss of taxpaying businesses from the Los Alamitos Medical Center parking lot expansion program, and from the massive number of commercial property for lease signs that have been popping up like weeds along our city commercial properties. To the expenses that we incur through daily operations of our city and city services.

   My son has been at the day camp this year run by the rec department, and I have seen the reduction in the number of kids there this year, a sign of bad economic times. And my daughter is a rec volunteer, serving at Little Cottonwood and at the pool on the base. There too I have seen a reduction in the use of our facilities. This caused me great concern, especially the base pool, which has been such a fine addition to our city.

   And then I remembered that there was a non-profit foundation that was set up to ensure that the city didn’t have to assume costs for the Aquatics Center. A quick check of public records showed that the foundation had money in the bank at the end of their last reporting period. It also showed that the foundation wasn’t doing squat in fundraising.

   Then I remembered that the city had budgeted money for the pool, and I wondered why? Since the foundation was started to ensure that the city never had to spend money on the pool.

   So, first I would like to ask that the Council have Mr. Stewart find out if the Foundation has any money, and if so, to obtain it for the city to offset any costs associated with the operations of the facility. In addition, it would be nice to know if the foundation has had a meeting of the board and if so, what happened at that meeting. I guess we could have Mr. Stewart do that formally, but since one of the board members is I believe your neighbor Troy, maybe you could ask informally of Mr. Bates and report it back. Or if Mr. Bates is busy, those of you who were so happy to take Mr. Briggeman’s money might be so inclined to give him a call and let us know what he has to say. Or, you can do it all nice and formal through the city manager, it’s your call, but the residents would surely like to know if the foundation exists or if it’s promise to help the city was just something that Mayor Bates was using so he could have his moment in the sun.

   Why is this so important? Because it’s important to a number of kids. In these hard times it’s important to the city. Unlike LATV, this was a group that touched a large number of people. I can’t count the number of kids that have learned to swim at the pool, but it will be into the thousands I’m sure.

   So, spend say 10% of the time that the city council has spent in the last three years on LATV to find out what is going on with the Aquatics Foundation. Let’s see if the gang of five are doing anything, let’s get the money into the city coffers, and if they aren’t doing anything, then maybe it’s time that they turn the foundation over to a new board that will do something and help the city and help our kids.

   JFTB

   When one is raising children they hope that their children don’t learn lessons from the bully down the street. They hope that their kids learn lessons based on values that are better. And that is how I feel about this council.

   Yes, CPE residents whined about a dozen trucks. And their short-sighted city council, with members who most likely have “I Support Our Troops” bumper stickers on their cars voted to enforce a weight limit on Lampson to protect the residents from the evil JFTB.

   And what do I see our City Council doing? Learning from the bully instead of showing better values and judgment.

   Instead of looking for a fight, let’s look for an accommodation. What are the high priority issues that affect the city on the JFTB? Well there is the use of the service road behind the homes on Cherry. There is the dust issue on Cherry and in the whole neighborhood along that western border. Then there are the eyesores of the dilapidated vacant housing.

   So, rather than impose restrictions for the trucks, why not work with the JFTB to address these issues and the issue of truck access at the same time.

   Those trucks will have to use that access road, so before they do so the road will have to be improved. As a part of an agreement for access via Lexington, the JFTB will speed up the deconstruction of the housing. And how about the first place to get the new compost will be the west end of the base so that the dust will be kept down of Los Al neighborhoods?

   In addition, the trucks may not be on Katella during peak traffic, and have strict limits on when they can travel up and down Lexington so as to not disturb the community.

   In other words, rather than leaning our lessons from the people who’s NIMBY values we deplore, maybe we should maintain our values. Understand that the base is doing the best it can in an underfunded environment where people like Ahnold can come down and use it as a photo-op backdrop, but not fund it to where it needs to be funded to do the mission it is required to do. And we can show that we can be a good neighbor, and work with the JFTB to help it in it’s mission as long as it works with us to help insure that our community is as protected as it can be.

   There are a number of solutions that we can come up with if we work together creatively. Following the lead of the bad neighbor isn’t how we make things work, it just makes us look as bad as they are.

   When a man is down you can kick sand in his face or give them a helping hand. The base is beaten financially and struggling. Let’s show our better nature. Extend a hand.

   LAMC – Katella

   Not long ago I came before this council and asked that we look at doing something on Katella that looked at the long term future of the area and the long term future of the city. I didn’t expect much, and was pleasantly surprised by the supportive response that came out of the Planning Commission. The end result was an effort to create a zone overlay for Katella that would look at the entire corridor and overlay a new set of zoning that would be most beneficial for the city in the long term, as well as not impact the environment.

   I suspected that any attempts to derail this effort would come from Cypress doing whatever they could to impact the environment to reduce Los Alamitos’s opportunities to make the best possible use of the Katella corridor.

   Imagine my surprise to see that the enemy of this plan seems to come from within.

   A plan for an EIR for a 20 year plan to expand a non-revenue producing property along the Katella corridor. One that would most likely have a detrimental effect to any zone overlay EIR. Thus having the potential to massive negatively impact the possibility of a zone overlay along the corridor that would be the most beneficial to the City of Los Alamitos and the residents.

   For years I have watched the Los Alamitos Medical Center buy up properties that had tax paying businesses in them and tear them down to create their ever expanding footprint. I have watched them add a massive medical office complex fronting on Katella that added not one new tax dollar to the city. And now they want to create a plan that may have a detrimental effect to the zone overlay of the corridor, and will add more non tax base medical office space to the city.

   May I suggest that they would have been better off buying portions of the Boeing property in Seal Beach to better service the Leisure World community.

   It distresses me that any agreement with the City and the Los Alamitos Medical Center to do a planned EIR for a 20 year development doesn’t have a rider that stipulates that any zone overlay EIR has priority over any EIR created by the Los Alamitos Medical Center along the Katella corridor and that no planned future development or EIR for any planned future development will take precedence over the EIR for the zone overlay along the Katella corridor.

   This City Council should be looking out for the interests of the residents of the city. It should be looking at the best possible way to increase the tax base while creating the lowest possible environmental impact to the residents. Adding and expanding a medical facility that eliminates tax base rather than expanding it, and letting that potentially eliminate other future potential tax base increases is not in the best long term interests of either the City of Los Alamitos or the residents of the City of Los Alamitos, and I would hope that this effort does not go forward without a rider protecting the future of this city firmly in place. Such a rider would simply state that any zone overlay EIR has precedence over any EIR from the Los Alamitos Medical Center’s planned development.

   I ask this council to please, before we eliminate our future potential, protect it.

6. Art DeBolt on August 4th, 2009 7:36 am

   Am I the only one who remembers the paving of Lexington in the last 5 years or so? They took the road way down at least 4-6 inches and completely repaved it. I noticed that because it was so much more thorough than the job the city did in just grinding the surface of our streets and “capping” the asphalt.

   It was obviously done to such a depth because of the heavy traffic onto the base (tanks etc). If you look at the pavement today there is not one crack or pothole.

   Taking on the base, based on some lame excuse about weight limits on a roadway that in everybody’s recent or long term memory (except mine evidently)hasn’t been maintained is embarrassing.

   Watermellon boy or his counterpart in Seal Beach did not keep their buds on the council or their cities in the loop about the composting pilot project.

   It has been in operation since Dec of last year with no complaints from anyone about truck traffic going or coming from the base along Lexington.

   This is not the issue with which to become adversarial with the base. And Lexington is not the solution to a problem that does not exist.

   But then again I remember the phrase I heard more than once when I was on the city council, “We need to create the problem so we can solve it.”

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