City Council Preview - October 6

Once again the City is going to ignore many of the major issues siting on our back burners, waiting to be sorted out, and instead they are offering us an agenda that is very light on content, and even lighter on impact. Meanwhile, there are such major issues as -

· How do we deploy our limited real property assets to meet our many needs (an item I and others have been raising several times yet still unaddressed)? Residents are asking for community garden, community garden education, dog parks, soccer arena, animal shelter, community pool, senior center, civic center, etc. but there are only 4 more sites that the City owns that something can be built upon. What goes where???

· What are the results of the evaluation of the Village Pond Park ordinance (as ordered by the Council months ago) so that we can be in a better position to plan the projected modifications? And when are those plans going to come to the Council for a project that was supposed to have started already?

· Is the current site for the senior center the best place for it to be? How can we be planning for a new senior center if we haven’t decided the proposed place isn’t the best place? And where are those plans? BTW - I recently asked a group of 50 seniors if they would prefer the site already proposed for the senior center (along Serrano Creek near Dimension) or if they preferred the site next to the Railroad tracks (near El Toro). 100% preferred the Railroad tracks site!

· Is our website now more responsive to the community’s needs, as requested by the City Council some months ago?

· What have we decided to do about alternatives to the County’s universally deplored animal care service? Weeks ago I gave a detailed report to the staff. Why hasn’t that come before the Council yet?

None of these major issues will be brought up at the next meeting, and I’ve only scratched the surface of those issues that are sitting on the back burners. Instead we are going to look at how to design signs for the various parts of the City and talking about possible State legislation.

AREA SIGNS

Lake Forest has several distinct areas, some of them defined by private HOAs and others defined by county incorporated areas. Each has its own look and feel, and many people have strong feelings about maintaining their neighborhood look.

The specific case that raised this issue was the make-over of the Alton Park sign (see pictures). The old sign looked very different from the 20+ other signs in the City, so when the sign was damaged, the City re-built it to look more like the other City signs.

Unfortunately, while the City claims to have a standard river rock design, the truth is, once you look at all the signs, that the signs have a very different look, from the dark to the light and to the marbled river rock signs. The one for Alton is the dark design, which contrasts dramatically from the previous look which was lower and lighter.

Moreover, while the City claims to have a standard look, there are very different signs in places like Borrego Park, Etnies, the Nature Park, and the Sports Park which has several different looks for the same place.

What now do we do with the finished sign that has annoyed hundreds of Foothill Ranch residents? Do we bite the bullet, admit we were wrong, and replace the sign at an estimated cost of $10,000 to $15,000 (BTW – I saw no estimates of the sign replacement costs in the Council packet!)

WATER CHARGES

Apparently earlier this year there was a Senate Bill (20) that included a provision that would allow the Department of Water Resources “to assess a fee in conjunction with the preparation of statutorily required “well completion reports.” Apparently there was some debate about whether or not this fee should be charged and apparently it wasn’t controversial or consequential enough for the California League of Cities or the Association of California Cities – Orange County to take a position one way or the other! Regardless, the bill “failed to pass”. So now we are going to take up precious Council time talking about a bill that failed, talking about material that is ambivalent at best, in the prospects that some time in the future the bill may be introduced. I suppose that’s better than taking a Spa Day, as my colleagues (Voigts, Robinson, Hamilton) did recently, but personally I am appalled that with so many pressing issues before us, we are stopping to take time to talk about something that might happen in the future. If the bill ever does surface, we probably should look at it, but right now with all the pressing needs we have, this is a monumental waste of time.

PORTOLA PARK

In case you’ve been living in a cave, you are well aware of the conceptual plans going forward for the park being built by the developers as part of their agreement that allowed them to build 900 new homes in Portola Hills. The plan was approved at two community meetings as well as passing the Parks and Recreation Commission, so its appearance at the Council is relatively pro forma. The good news is that the park will be built with nearly $3 million provided by the developers. It will include –

· A tot lot;

· Open turf play area;

· A dog park;

· 3 pickle ball courts;

· 1 Sand volleyball court;

· Restrooms;

· Picnic gazebos; and

· Parking lot with 54 parking stalls

BTW – also on the agenda is an item to modify the current agreement with RJM Design for their work on Portola Park. City staff want us to add $6,255.30 to the $34,490 they were already being paid. While this may be appropriate, I am reminded that we are almost always amending contracts to add more money, and rarely, if ever, amending them to save money. Wouldn’t that be a nice change if it occurs?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 12 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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