TO: FROM: Mayor Eugene Sun Vice Mayor Allan Yung Councilman Dennis Kneier Councilman Richard Sun Councilman Richard Ward S.M. Department Heads S.M. Managers John T. Schaefer, City Manager DATE: December 18, 2014 SUBJECT: Weekly Briefing 1. Library Trustee Meeting On Monday the Library Trustees held their monthly meeting. Topics discussed included the Library Strategic Plan Update, Trustee Training, the Library s 7 year anniversary celebration, ethics training and the upcoming joint meeting with City Council. 2. Chief John Incontro and Aldo Cervantes On Monday Chief Incontro and Mr. Cervantes officially took the helm of their respective departments. So far the transition seems to be going very well. 3. Coming up at the Library Library Open House, Saturday, January 24, 10a.m. 3 p.m. Crowell Public Library celebrates its 7 th Anniversary with an open house. Stop by to see the variety of services the library has to offer. At noon, see the announcement of the annual bookmark contest winners and the titles in our new Meet the Authors series. At 2 p.m., enjoy a magical performance from Abbit the Average. Crowell Library has something for everyone in the community! Rose Pruning Workshop, Saturday, January 10, 9:00 am Ron Serven, Environmental Services Manager/City Arborist for San Marino will conduct his 22nd annual rose pruning workshop and give even the most inexperienced gardeners the knowledge to give their roses a healthy, beautiful bloom when spring comes around. Learn the technique in just an hour or so and you will be ready to work in companionship with nature. Teen SAT Practice Test, January 17, at 10AM High school students (grades 9-12) can get prepared for the SAT by taking a free practice test at the library. Space is limited; please register between January 2nd and January 15, 2014. *Register in-person at the library or call (626) 300-0777.
Did you know...that you can borrow ebooks and audio books through our library web site? Visit http://crowellpubliclibrary.org and click ebooks and then Overdrive. From there, sign into the Southern California Digital Library, our ebook consortium. Download up to five books for two weeks at a time. The best part: you don t have to return them. After 14 days, the books simply disappear off of your device. 4. Design Review Committee Two items of interest from this week s DRC were: 1715 Westhaven Road Applicant requested approval for a new two story house to replace an existing two story house. Staff recommended a continuance to address the design concerns and the over-use of architectural trimming. The DRC agreed with staff and the project was continued to January 7 th, 2015. Several neighbors voiced their concerns regarding the size of the house and privacy concerns. 1210 Mill Lane The applicant for the project requested permission to construct a new front yard fence and gate. Staff recommended denial on the basis that the proposed fence and gate was not compatible with the neighborhood. The DRC agreed with staff and denied the project. 5. Councilmember Kneier Mr. Kneier will be out of town from December 16 th until January 5th. 6. Huntington Library On Thursday Aldo Cervantes, Chief Incontro and I met with Laurie Sowd, Vice President of Operations for the Huntington Library for the semiannual review of the Parking and Traffic Management Plan (PTMP). Based on that review I would say that the Huntington is doing an exceptional job of controlling on street parking and in the past 12 months there has only been one day when the Huntington exceeded the vehicle cap (this was August 24 th when the Stinky Plant bloomed.) Even on that day, the Huntington was able to contain all the parking to the Huntington grounds. Based on these factors, no modifications were recommended to the PTMP. On January 14, 2015, the Huntington will open Phase 1 of the EVC. April 4, 2015 will be the grand opening of the entire EVC. On July 1, 2015, Laura Skandera Trombley will be installed as the Huntington s next president. 7. SMPD Activities The Chief of Police provided me a weekly updated that included these two operational activities: A SM resident was the victim of identity theft, credit card fraud, and ultimately package theft. Several warrants on this case have been written and a search warrant of a third suspect s residence was served on December 17th. During the course of the warrant service in the city of Glendora, a second suspect in the case
was taken into custody. Several items of property, which are currently being examined, were also recovered. This investigation is still ongoing. On December 14th, Corporal Todd responded to the area of Lombardy and San Gabriel after a resident called and reported a vehicle stopped in the middle of the street for several minutes. Upon contact Todd saw that the driver appeared to be passed out behind the wheel. After waking the driver, his identification was requested. As the subject opened the center console of the vehicle, the officer observed a handgun concealed within. The subject was detained at gunpoint until additional units arrived. The subject was taken into custody without incident. 8. Fire Department Monday the Regional Fire Command Staff was called out on an extensive rescue of a worked trapped underground just across the border in San Gabriel. A construction worker fell into a 40 underground vault and injured his leg. He was safely extricated and was transported to a trauma center. He is doing well. On Christmas morning from, 09:00 to 11:00 A.M., the Fire Department will be traveling through town shuttling Santa around in our antique fire engine handing out candy canes to San Marino Children. 9. Overnight Parking - In the spirit of the holiday season, the San Marino Police Department will not enforce 15.07.24, Prohibited Parking at Night, of the San Marino City Code, from December 22, 2014 through January 2, 2015. 10.Parks and Public Works - A number of projects are continuing within the Department, including ongoing boring for the streetlight conversion project and engineering for various street improvements (Winston, Santa Anita, Allen/Orlando) and park improvements (restrooms, inner loop). These projects will advance with over the next couple of months after the appropriate award of contract is secured with the City Council. 11.Retirement - After 32 years of service, Mike Furiani has announced his retirement as Shop Foreman under the Parks and Public Works Department. Mike has been instrumental in managing the City s fleet program, purchasing and repairing vehicles, and handling routine maintenance. The City Council will present a tile to Mike at the January meeting for his dedication to the City.
12.Recreation - The holidays rang in at Stoneman, with over 200 preschoolers participating in our annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3with over 200 preschoolers participating in our annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3th over 200 preschoolers participating in our annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3in our annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3our annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3ur annual Christmas program. Parents and grandparents filled the school, and Santa Gino made a special visit. Holiday Day Care will be available for parents, 8am to 6pm. Winter registration begins January 3 rd, with new classes beginning January 12 th. 13.Library - Recent rains brought a bit of flooding to the Friends of the Library book shop; Public Works is assisting with repair and prevention. A new book drop was installed this week, located at the exit of the library lot. The existing book drop is now on the west end of the library, allowing patrons to drop off books and DVD s at two locations. The book drop purchase was made with the library Foundation donations. 14.Traffic Commission - At the upcoming January meeting of the City Council, the Council will consider the Traffic Commission s recommendation to paint 3 feet of red curbing at various driveway locations along Sherwood. Neighborhood residents have complained of congested parking resulting from weekend activities and drop off/pick up during school hours. Sherwood residents will be notified regarding the proposed red curbing. Also, for the Traffic Commission meeting in January, the Commission will discuss increasing the speed limits from 25 to 30 on Euston and El Molino. The current speed limit of 25mph has expired and consequently any violations of speed based on radar are currently unenforceable. After some surveying, the 85 th percentile for the streets is higher resulting in this need to change the speed limit. 15.Holiday Hours - City Hall shall be open December 22, 23, 29, and 30 from 7:30 am to 4:00 p.m. All other days for those weeks shall be closed for the Holidays.
16.Coming Up 1/14/15 at 5:00 P.M. Joint Library and City Council Meeting 1/14/15 at 6:00 P.M. City Council Meeting 1/24/15 Crowell Public Library Open House 10:00 2:30 ish 1/24/15 Snow Day at Lacy Park 10:00 2:00 A.M.