City manager speaks at residents’ meeting
Barbara Diamond
City Manager Ken Frank was the guest speaker at the Laguna North
Community Assn. meeting held recently at Wells Fargo Bank -- but he
also listened.
LANO members questioned Frank about North Laguna issues such as
sidewalks, beach pollution and noise from low flying planes. The
questions came after Frank spoke off the cuff about North Laguna
projects completed, near completion or planned. They included the
last link of sidewalks on the inland side of North Coast Highway,
placing utility poles underground on High Drive, construction of a
storm drain between Louise Street and Emerald Bay and re-striping of
Hillcrest in front of Riddle Field to give more parking for Little
League.
Repaving the North Laguna alleys, Frank said, is about four years
out. It is a $500,000-to-$600,000 project.
But the city’s herd of goats is scheduled to head north next
month.
Fire prevention is a major concern in North Laguna, which is
abutted by open space that does not belong to the city and over which
the city has no control.
“The herd is now at [Top of the World],” Frank said. “In
mid-April, they will move to more expensive quarters in North Laguna
and probably be here for two months.”
“One problem is that it is difficult to figure out who owns what.
It used to be easy -- the Irvine Co. owned everything. Now some is
the company’s and some is county area. The Nature Conservancy manages
the area between Lookout and Allview Terrace.”
The conservancy doesn’t want to do any fuel modification during
the gnatcatcher season, Frank said. And they don’t want the goats on
their patch.
“But there should be a nice fuel break by mid-June,” Frank said.
“The goats will do the water district property,” he said. “It not
as pretty a job as the hand crews do, but it’s about one-fifth of the
cost.
“Technically, North Laguna area should be the county’s
responsibility, but it would never get done.”
Jackie Jacobson asked what the city was doing about pollution on
Crescent Bay Beach.
“Nuisance water diversions in storm drains filter into the sewer
system at the end of Myrtle and Asters streets,” Frank said.
“Crescent Bay has no diversion.”
State law prohibits run-off from private property irrigation or
hosing, which can get into the storm drains and contaminate beaches,
Frank said.
However, an unsettled claim is causing the roadblock in the
diversion program. The outstanding claim has also held up the
renovation of the stairs at Crescent Bay, Frank said.
“We had 55 claims from the 1997-98 storms and we have settled 54,”
Frank said. “We have been involved in litigation for six years with
the neighbor of the stairs.”
Congressman Christopher Cox is sponsoring a federal bill that
would pay half of the $1.2 million to build pump stations in North
Laguna, according to Frank.
The city also is turning to Cox for help in dealing with
low-flying commercial airliners.
“We have made zero progress with the FAA [Federal Aviation
Administration],” Frank. “It is my perception that when we call in
complaints, there are fewer low flights for a while, then it picks up
again.”
LANO is a non-political association of property owners and
residents in North Laguna. Visit website www.lagunanorth.org for more
information or to pass on information to the association.
“We keep on top of what’s going on to keep [members] informed and
we are interested in feedback from members,” Egly said.
New members will be welcomed.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.