Feb

15

Traffic Commission, Solid Waste, Melting Pot, & City Clerk on Los Al agendas for Tuesday, 2/16

Filed Under 2010 Issues, City Council Meetings, Planning & Zoning, Traffic 

(2/15/2010, Los Alamitos)  Several items of interest are scheduled for two separate City Council Meetings that were moved back to Tuesday due to the Presidents’ Day Holiday today.

At a 5 p.m. Special Meeting the Council will meet in closed session todiscuss appointing a permanent City Clerk to replace interim Darleen Cordova.  Time is allocated to discuss the appointment and the terms of the contract.

Then at 7 the Council begins their second Regular Meeting of the month with a relatively light agenda.

Who wants to be a Traffic Commissioner?

Consent Calendar items include the third extension of the ongoing search for 4 new members of the Traffic Commission–so far only 2 applications have been received.  This time, of the 4 incumbents whose terms expired at year’s end (Clausen, Kusumoto, Wojak and Wray), only two have reapplied, Klaus Wojak and Norman Wray.

This would be a good opportunity for community involvement and service. . . and if some reader doesn’t apply, I might just try again and see if I make it on this time.  Hopefully there’s at least two more individuals out there who are passionate about improving traffic flow in our community.

Trash hauler bids move forward

Mayor Pro Tem Stephens requested a status report on the Request for Proposals for Solid Waste Collection.  The one page document appears to be mainly a reiteration of the schedule the Council approved at their last meeting.  There is actually a mandatory pre-proposal meeting tomorrow, along with the deadline to submit written questions from bidders, so perhaps a verbal report may be made to the Council.

Previously, Sloan Vasquez, who is overseeing the bid procedure for the city, indicated there were only 4 large companies who could be expected to bid, prompting at least one reader to ask why a small town like Los Alamitos wouldn’t aggressively seek bids from smaller companies, which might be more competitive.

Melting Pot Melt Down?

“Previously on Lost:” Council Member Edgar requested an update on what’s going on with the former 24 Hour Fitness facility.  Here’s the latest from the staff report:

The property is undergoing improvements for tenant Davita Kidney Dialysis. The remainder of the building is vacant but was intended for the Melting Pot restaurant. The property owner, Don Gibbs is improving the parking area and landscaping for the tenant.

This item was moved from the February 1, 2010 agenda to accommodate a full Council. Councilmember Zarkos was not in attendance at the February 1 meeting.

To date, the Tenant Improvements on the 8,763 sq. ft. Davita portion of the building are nearly complete. The 6,249 sq. ft. Melting Pot has all but abandoned their intent and has not indicated any movement forward until they can obtain a construction loan.

Staff last had contact with Doug Nichols in December 2009, where he was reminded that his building permit had expired and his alcohol Conditional Use Permit had expired. After being notified, there has been no movement by Mr. Nichols to remedy either issue.

To me, this is just one more indication for the need for the Council and Staff to move quickly to analyze comprehensive rezoning of the city’s non-residential neighborhoods, items which the Council has also indicated as priorities for the year.  In the meantime, it appears that the ongoing medicalization of Katella continues.

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome, as well as reports from residents in attendance at either meeting or viewing the 7 p.m. meeting on LosAl TV.  Try to be focused on issues, be diplomatic, and use family-friendly language.

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