Rohrabacher gets flood control funds
Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Chris Cox have successfully lobbied
President George W. Bush for continued federal funding of the 20-year
Santa Ana River flood control project.
Bush has included $19.8 million in funding for four such projects
in his budget covering the 2003-04 fiscal year, which would begin
Oct. 1. The money would, local officials hope, go toward removing
Orange County’s flood-plane designation from the area that requires
homeowners to shell out at least $800 per year for flood insurance.
“Anything they can do will certainly help eliminate what seems
like a nonsensical flood plane [designation],” Councilwoman Debbie
Cook said. “Every time we have rain, we have flooding here.”
Rohrabacher, who represents Surf City, and Cox (R-Newport Beach)
are also readying a second round of funding requests for other local
environmental projects. Those would need to be submitted by the end
of the month.
Among those in Bush’s budget include a $15.7 million outlay to
build dams and shore up levies in the river. The federal government
has, with the lobbying of local congressional representatives, been
funding a 20-year effort to protect Surf City, Costa Mesa, Fountain
Valley and other communities that would be hit hard in the event of a
100-year flood.
Significant portions of Huntington Beach lay in a flood plane,
putting many neighborhoods at risk during a catastrophic flood.
Other funding for river projects includes $3.8 million for
flood-control efforts in the river basin, which extends beyond Orange
County’s borders to Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside
counties.
Bush is also requesting $150,000 for an environmental restoration
survey of the river basin and $150,000 for an environmental survey of
the upper Santa Ana River watershed.
The men must, by the end of the month, submit any additional
requests for funding. The second round of funding would be included
in an appropriations bill from the Veterans Administration and
Housing and Urban Development and Energy and Water committees.
-- Paul Clinton
Animal rights group to present new program
A local animal rights organization will unveil plans for a new
program at the City Council meeting Monday that will reduce
euthanasia of animals and help to relocate strays.
Save Our Strays of Huntington Beach was recently granted city
funding for a spay and neuter micro chipping program, the first of
its kind in Orange County.
The program, which will begin Saturday, will make spaying and
neutering animals and installing microchips more affordable for Surf
City residents. It will provide spaying and neutering services for
$30 and microchipping identification for $5.
Microchips are injected under the animals’ skin and contain a
number that can be identified and called into a national database to
obtain permanent information about the animal and its owner.
“Spaying and neutering reduces the number of animals being born
and microchipping reduces the number of animals without homes,” said
Karen Chepeka, president of Save our Strays. “It will mean less
animals going to the shelter and less animals being euthanized.”
Save our Strays will also be hosting microchip clinics on March 29
and April 26. For more information, visit their Web site
www.saveourstrayshb.org.
-- Jenny Marder
Council meeting will focus on labor relations
The City Council will hold a special workshop on Friday to learn
how to better handle labor negotiations.
Richard Whitmore, partner at the firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, a
law firm that specializes in employment and labor relations will host
the workshop.
Topics will include methods for organizing negotiations,
strategies for achieving negotiation objectives and techniques to
manage negotiation impasses. Former state law and court decisions
that involve labor relations will be examined as well as legislation
that deals with labor disputes between local government employers and
employees.
The meeting will be held at 1 p.m.. in rooms C and D of the
Central Library, located at 7111 Talbert Ave.
-- Jenny Marder
OCTA adds several Surf City routes
Changes were made in the Orange County Transportation Authority’s
bus system Sunday, several of which affect Huntington Beach riders.
Route 29, which runs from Brea to Huntington Beach via La Habra
and Beach Boulevard, has added a new short trip on Sundays that will
operate from the Brea Mall at 9:53 p.m. to Beach and La Habra.
Four full-length one-way trips have been added on Saturday to
route 33, which runs from Huntington Beach to Fullerton via Magnolia
Street.
Northbound trips will now run starting at 8:32 a.m. and 7:05 p.m.
and southbound trips starting at 7:17 a.m. and 6:13 p.m. will be
added.
Route 35, which runs from Fullerton to Huntington Beach via
Brookhurst Street will add four full-length one-way trips on Saturday
and four on Sunday. The new northbound trips Saturday will start at
8:08 a.m. and 6:35 p.m. with southbound trips starting at 7:17 a.m.
and 6:13 p.m.
On Sunday, the schedule will widen to include northbound trips
starting at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and southbound trips starting at 7:30
a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The transportation authority has also discontinued route 80, which
runs from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa via Hamilton Avenue and
Victoria Street and will combine it with route 173.
-- Jenny Marder
Springdale Reservoir up and running
Surf City’s new $9-million gallon Springdale Reservoir has been
filled, tested for leaks and disinfected, and is now in full
operation. The final touches, such as landscaping around the
reservoir, will be completed over the next few weeks.
Springdale reservoir is the second reservoir to be built in
Huntington Beach in the last two years as part of the city’s Water
Master Plan.
Using the same booster pumping station as Peck Reservoir, its
purpose is to provide the city with drinking water and also water for
emergency storage.
A dedication ceremony will be scheduled for June.
-- Jenny Marder
Traffic signals effected by renovation
A city renovation project has resulted in many traffic lights in
the city being out of sync with one another.
Many lights were disconnected from master computers that
synchronize timing between traffic signals, in order to move the
system to a centralized computer, which will be located at City Hall.
Traffic signals will be back to normal within the next two months,
said Bob Stachelski, the city’s transportation manager.
This conversion may result in some prolonged waiting at lights in
the north and west sections of the city.
-- Jenny Marder
Dozens gather for Women’s Day
Several dozen women came together at Harbour View Park Saturday to
celebrate International Women’s Day along with other events
throughout the world.
The Surf City event included peace prayers, crystal bowl
meditations and music, featuring female musicians Elivia Melodey and
Karie Hillery.
About 35 women of all ages and faiths were present, said the Rev.
Melody Heart, co-facilitator for the Huntington Beach event.
Women also brought images and words expressing their vision of
peace, which were combined to create a Gather the Women collage.
Gather the Women is a grass-roots movement that was started in
2002 by members of the group, Women of Vision and Action.
“The purpose was to connect women all over the planet to bring
world peace and to take action in the community on how you want the
world to be,” Heart said. “It’s starting to snowball that women can
make a difference to bring world peace to the planet.”
-- Jenny Marder
Surf City charities each receive grants
PacifiCare Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has donated
$10,000 to two Huntington Beach organizations.
Project Self-Efficiency and Communities in Schools Orange County,
each received a donation of $5,000.
Project Self-Efficiency will use the grant money for job training,
school fees, children’s back-to-school assistance and child care.
Community in Schools Orange County will put the $5,000 toward a
program that is designed to increase self-esteem and improve
performance of at-risk students through counseling.
PacifiCare Foundation has donated millions of dollars over the
past 10 years to community-based organizations dedicated to
charitable educational causes.
-- Jenny Marder
Character awards offered to youths
The Huntington Beach Children’s Task Force is accepting
nominations for awards that will honor children for their strength of
character.
Anyone can nominate a praiseworthy child by completing a
nomination form and attaching a brief statement describing why the
nominee is an example of a good character.
Nominees must be in kindergarten through the 12th grade and must
be Huntington Beach residents.
Nearly 150 youngsters have been awarded with Youth Character
Awards since 2001.
Applications can be obtained from the Community Service
Department, at the Huntington Beach Civic Center and will be accepted
through April 18.
-- Jenny Marder
Art Center opening gets large turnout
More than 120 guests attended the opening for the new art exhibit
at Huntington Beach Art Center Saturday, which has simple forms and
color as its theme.
The artists, Dawn Arrowsmith and Carlos Estrada-Vega, each have
their own exhibition, entitled “Circle Paintings” and “Squares and
Cubes” respectively.
Baja Fresh provided refreshments and Gregg Goodhart played
acoustic guitar.
The exhibition will be at the center until April 12.
-- Jenny Marder
Mobile home board seeks new members
The Mobile Home Advisory Board is seeking applications to fill two
vacancies, created in January when two members resigned.
Applicants are limited to Huntington Beach residents.
The board, which reviews mobile home park issues and provides a
forum for park residents, is made up of residents from Surf City’s 18
mobile homes, park owners and community representatives.
Mayor Connie Boardman and Councilman Dave Sullivan serve as
liaisons to the board and will select the board’s new members.
To obtain an application, contact the Economic Development
Department at (714) 536-5542.
-- Jenny Marder
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