Community Corner

Monrovia City Manager's Update - October 16, 2020

On Saturday, October 24, you can join hundreds of volunteers and make a difference in the Monrovia community.

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Press Release Desk, News Partner

Press release from the City of Monrovia:

October 16, 2020

Hello Monrovians,

Find out what's happening in Monroviafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

This update has been prepared to share with you everything that is taking place in Monrovia. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.

Have a safe and wonderful week!

Find out what's happening in Monroviafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Sincerely,
Dylan

Highlights in this Issue

  • Health Officer Order Update Regarding Private Gatherings
  • City Tree Planting Program
  • Hay Rides in Old Town Monrovia
  • Make a Difference Day
  • Bulky Item Drop Off
  • Helpful Halloween Suggestions

Health Officer Order Update Regarding Private Gatherings

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has updated the Health Officer Order to align with the State's guidance on private gatherings.

On Friday, October 9, the State updated guidance to allow private gatherings of three or fewer households, as long as the private gathering is outdoors, everyone wears a cloth face covering and keeps at least six feet of physical distance, food is in single-serve disposable containers, and the duration of the gathering is two hours or less.

Private gatherings with people from different households increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission, with the risk increasing the longer the gathering. DPH recommends if you do gather with two other households, that you do so with the same households each time, to create a quasi-bubble that can reduce the risk of spreading the virus. It is very important that you do not attend any private gathering if you are experiencing symptoms of illness, have tested positive for COVID-19 or if you have been exposed or likely have been exposed to someone positive.

City Tree Planting Program

The City of Monrovia maintains more than 8,500 city-owned trees and in 1987 was recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA in recognition of our commitment to tree stewardship. In recent years, the City has had to remove several tree due, primarily, to trees lost due to the drought and trees that were removed due to construction activity. In the spirit of our commitment to tree stewardship, staff committed to replacing the removed trees on a 2 for 1 basis in order to maintain and expand our urban forest.

This fall, we will be launching an initiative to begin replanting trees throughout the community. The plantings will take place in parkways and public spaces with a focus on replacing trees that were previously removed. While we are working off of our existing inventory and records, we are also using this as an opportunity to consider planting trees within parkways where one may not have previously existed.

If you are interested in a City tree being planted in the parkway in front of your residence or business, please complete the interest form and submit the form by October 30. The ability to plant a tree will be determined by the available space in the parkway, the presence of overhead or underground utilities, and a site review conducted by the City Arborist. The tree will be planted and maintained by the City at our expense, however, we do ask for the resident or business owner to provide for watering of the tree. We will review interest on a first come first served basis and the number of trees planted this year will be determined by the level of interest and available resources.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Jaden Louie at (626) 932-5584 or jlouie@ci.monrovia.ca.us or Daniel Lee at (626) 932-8216 or dlee@ci.monrovia.ca.us.

Make a Difference Day

On Saturday, October 24, you can join hundreds of volunteers and make a difference in the Monrovia community. Be part of the impact!

Projects

  • Car Parade to Local Senior Centers
  • Phone Chain to Local Seniors - Wellness Checks and Friendly Conversation
  • Bulky Item Drop-Off Points - 9 in the Community "Thank You Athens"
  • Hero Wall - Thanking all Monrovia First Responders

Register

Bulky Item Drop Off

As part of Make a Difference Day, the San Gabriel Valley Volunteer Center will host bulky item drop off locations.

  • 215 W. Cypress Avenue
  • 1906 S. Peck Road
  • 2520 S. Peck Road
  • 525 E. Olive Avenue
  • 519 W. Colorado Boulevard
  • 450 Monrovista Avenue
  • South Ivy Avenue (east side of Ivy Avenue, between Cherry & Los Angeles)
  • West Walnut (north side of Walnut Avenue, west of Monterey)
  • Sherman Avenue (east side of Sherman Avenue, south of Los Angeles)

For additional information, call 626-774-1105.

Halloween Home Decorating Contest

Turn your home into a spooktacular showstopper for all to enjoy! Monrovia residents are invited to enter the Halloween Home Decoration Contest. This contest is free and open to Monrovia residents only. Residents must register for the contest by Friday, Oct. 16. Judging will take place on the week of Oct. 19. After the winners are announced, a map will be published for the community to take a driving tour and see the festive displays.

Get into the Halloween spirit and join in on the pumpkin carving fun! Those interested in the Jack-o-Lantern Carving Contest must submit their carvings by Oct. 19. Judging will take place on the week of Oct. 19. Winners will be selected and notified on Oct. 30. The City will share a video, on YouTube, of all pumpkin carving submissions on Oct. 31.

Helpful Halloween Suggestions

Halloween is a favorite holiday for so many Monrovians! While we might not be able to do the traditional Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhoods or attend the Halloween Spooktacular at Library Park, there are some fun ways to celebrate! Here are a few suggestions…

  • Check out our Halloween Home Decorating Contest! Download a map of the participating homes, pack your popcorn and goodies, and tour Monrovia!
  • Decorate your own home as a Halloween Haunt and wave to all the visitors as they drive by to see your masterpiece!
  • Check out a Flashback Halloween Costume Contest! Tune in to see the extended version of the 2019 Halloween Spooktacular Costume Contest!
  • Go Old School and carve your pumpkin Halloween day! Or do it early and submit a photo to be a part of the City of Monrovia Jack-o-Lantern Contest, then watch a video of all the entries and celebrate the winners!

To learn more about these programs, visit cityofmonroviarecreation.org.

The LA County Department of Public Health recommends that we do not participate in door to door (or trunk to trunk) trick-or-treating, as ensuring physical distancing and sharing food can be risky.

Voting During a Pandemic

California and the County of Los Angeles have taken precautions to be sure everyone can vote safely from home by mailing a ballot to every registered voter, regardless of whether they’ve requested to be a permanent vote by mail voter. This may come as a surprise to voters who still want to vote in person, which is still an option!

Visit cityofmonrovia.org/vote for information on:

  • Vote by Mail
  • Ballot Drop Box
  • Vote in Person

Ad Hoc Committee on Equity and Inclusion Meeting

The Monrovia Ad Hoc Committee on Equity is a five-member committee established by the City Council. The Committee’s sole function is to review with the community to determine whether any policies, practices, and procedures of the City of Monrovia are unjust or unfair; create structural barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in City governance, employment or enforcement; or perpetuate systemic racism in City government and provide a report back to the City Council with any recommendations for change the Committee deems advisable for consideration.

The next meeting will take place on October 22 at 6 p.m.

To comment during the public comment portions of the agenda, click the Participants “raised hand” icon (or *9 on your phone) at the appropriate time indicated by the Chair during the meeting, and you will be selected from the meeting queue. Please limit comments to three minutes.

Public comment will also be accepted by email to pio@ci.monrovia.ca.us before 4:00 p.m. on October 22, 2020. Public comment may be summarized in the interest of time, however, the full text will be provided to all members of the Committee prior to the meeting. If comments are specifically in support or opposition of an item, please clearly state so in the introduction.

National Community Planning Month

It is National Community Planning Month, and in honor of the event, the Community Development Department has a new blog post to share!

Last week your Monrovia City Planners blogged about this year’s theme for National Community Planning Month “Planning is Essential to Recovery.” This week your planners would like to let you know what type of “planning” we are doing relative to this topic.

Take a look at the Over the Counter Blog and join in on the National Community Planning month celebration!

Bulky Item Pick- Up Program

Athens Services provides two (2) scheduled bulky item collections, at no cost, for residential customers. To arrange for a bulky item collection, please contact Athens Services at (855) 557-1007. Bulky items include any nonhazardous, household items (furniture, appliances, and large boxes, mixed waste) that will not fit into your cart of bin.

Please schedule these collections at least two-days prior to your normal collection day. Once schedule, please place these items out with your normal trash for collection.

To schedule a bulky item pick-up, please call Athens Services at (855) 557-1007. For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Public Works at (626) 932-5575

Report Bulky Items around Town and Be Entered to Win a Gift Card

Have you seen bulky items around town? If you report them into Public Works, you will be entered into a raffle and could win a $50 gift card to a Monrovia Business! If you are out and about around town and see furniture, boxes, or other items in the Right of Way (not on Private Property), please report them to Public Works. In turn, Athens Services will pick these items up within about 48 hours.

How to Report Bulky Items:

Raffle tickets will be pulled each Thursday and the winners will be notified by Public Works Staff.

The winner for this week’s drawing is…Amy Kasten! Since June 4, we have received 2,049 reports for abandoned bulky items! Thank you for reporting these items!

COVID-19 At a Glance

Latest Facts & Figures

Additional details on cases and deaths were not provided by the County of Los Angeles. View the Public Health Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Patient Privacy.

Stay Informed

Monrovia Renewal Construction Updates

Work is underway in the Northeast Section of the Monrovia Renewal project. This represents the final section of work for Monrovia Renewal, which is the largest public works project in City history! The Northeast project section includes the area of the City that is bound by the City limit to the east, Myrtle Avenue to the west, Greystone Avenue and Hillcrest Boulevard to the north, Colorado Boulevard and Royal Oaks to the south.

  • Phase 1: May - September
  • Phase 2: July - September
  • Phase 3: September - November
  • Phase 4: October - December

We appreciate your patience and support while we work to execute these improvements throughout our community! Should you have any questions, please call the Public Works at (626) 932-5575 or email monroviarenewal@ci.monrovia.ca.us.

For the week of October 19, work will include:

Concrete pouring, restoration, and fine grading on the following streets:

  • Streets South of Greystone: Poinsettia Avenue, Grand Avenue, Aspen Drive, Pearl Avenue, Sierra Vista Avenue, Heliotrope Avenue, Poppy Avenue, Shamrock Avenue, Mountain View Avenue, Poppy Avenue, Valley View Avenue, Ocean View Avenue, and Madeline Drive.

We appreciate your patience and support while we work to execute these improvements throughout the community! If you have any questions regarding Monrovia Renewal, please feel free to contact Public Works at (626) 932-5575 or monroviarenewal@ci.monrovia.ca.us.

Monrovia Strong

The Monrovia Strong webpage was created to share with the community different resources to help you and your family get through these challenging times.

Visit Monrovia Strongto explore the many activities and resources. We're in this together, Monrovia!

Development Spotlight

Several significant projects are working their way through the review process and stages of construction here at the City. Among these are the Adaptive Reuse of the Monrovia Market Building (approved on Oct. 1), the Overton Moore Pacific Self Storage Project in the former Verizon Building in Old Town (approved on Nov. 19), 127 Pomona Multi-Family Development with 310 units at Station Square (approved on Jan. 21), the Alexan Multi-Family Development with 436 units at Station Square (approved on Feb. 4), and the Arroyo at Monrovia Station Multi-Family Development with 302 units (Planning Commission approved on Feb. 12). For more details, visit the Development Spotlight or Building Monrovia webpages.

Key Dates, Programs & Virtual Events

Neighborhood Watch Report

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 349 service events, resulting in 71 investigations. View the Neighborhood Watch Report.

This press release was produced by the City of Monrovia. The views expressed are the author's own.

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