City Manager’s Office
• Metro Board of Directors/Westside Subway Extension Project — Last Thursday, staff joined Councilmember Malsin as he addressed the Metro Board, as the Chair of the Westside Cities Council of Governments (COG), to convey the COG’s support for the Westside Subway Extension Project. At the meeting, the Metro Board took action to approve the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) #2 for the Westside Subway Extension. The approved LPA will extend the existing Purple Line subway with seven stations from its current terminus at the Wilshire/Western Station to a Westwood/Veterans Administration Hospital station.
• California State Lands Commission Meeting — Last Friday, the California State Lands Commission hosted an all-day Commission meeting in the Council Chambers. Councilmember Malsin conveyed welcoming remarks to the group. The meeting was well attended.
Community Development Dept.
• 2010 Performing Arts Grant Program Recipient Performance — Staff continues assistance with marketing for the upcoming performance of Dis-Illusions, by grantee Donna Sternberg & Dancers, at Royal/T next Sunday at 6 p.m. Ticket information is available at www.dsdancers.com.
• 2011 Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program — Staff facilitated the annual Peer Review Panel meeting for the 2011 Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program on Oct. 21. The panel results were confirmed by the Cultural Affairs Commission’s Grants and Artist Services Subcommittee and will be presented to the full Commission for review at its November meeting.
• Culverland Temporary Art — This public art/game installation, commissioned through a request for proposal process by the Cultural Affairs Commission, has received coverage through the Los Angeles Times, NBC Los Angeles, Daily Candy Kids, Nickelodeon’s Parents Connect, http://la.curbed.com, www.laist.com, Culver City News and Culver City Crossroads websites. The installation will remain in effect until today.
• Native Foods — M Café de Chaya has closed. Native Foods has taken over the space and plans to open in November.
• A-Frame — One of Culver City’s newest restaurants, A-Frame, will open to the public on Thursday. Chef Roy Choi has designed a Korean-flavored picnic-style menu.
• CDBG Program — Staff has requested CDBG project ideas for FY 2011-12 and will host an orientation meeting with the CDBG Advisory Committee on Wednesday and a community meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Committee recommendations will be brought to City Council on Monday, Dec. 13.
• West Washington Boulevard Area Improvement Project (AIP) — Construction for Phase I of the AIP is almost complete. Electrical inspections and completion of work should be done by this week. Phase II construction documents are currently being developed and should be ready for plan review in the next few weeks. Staff has completed interviews for Phase III landscape architecture services.
Fire Dept.
• Great California ShakeOut — On Oct. 21, Culver City joined millions of Californians by participating in the annual Great California ShakeOut. Most Californians participated by dropping, taking cover and holding on at 10:21 a.m. At 9 a.m., the Culver City Fire Dept. (personnel went to each Culver City Unified School District school to observe their drilling procedures and requested that they contact Fire Dept. administrative staff to let staff know that they were okay and to gain the all-clear message from the department. At 10:21 am, all City employees were instructed to drop, cover and hold on and then to evacuate with their red disaster supply backpacks to their designated meeting places. A radio reporter observed the City Hall evacuation and subsequently interviewed several employees. At 7 p.m., police and fire personnel joined our Community Emergency Response Team, Volunteers in Patrol, and Culver City Amateur Radio Emergency Services volunteers to conduct the annual city-wide disaster drill. The Fire Dept. verified that approximately 2,100 households participated, based upon the counting of okay signs. Considering that this is the first year the Fire Dept. has conducted the drill on the same day as the ShakeOut and not on Dec. 7, as in years past, the level of participation was significant.
Information Technology
• New Property Information Search Application — Last Monday, Geographic Information System and Information Technology launched a new application called “Property Information Search.” The new Property Information Search consolidates and replaces the original Property Information Search, General City Map, Planning Division Vicinity Map, and Mail Label applications. In addition, it provides new sophisticated functionality for marking up and creating custom maps, viewing oblique (angled, bird’s eye view) imagery, generating parcel reports, querying GIS databases, searching for businesses. It is anticipated that this new tool will greatly enhance staff productivity by providing property and parcel information, map generation, and mailing labels for selected areas quickly and easily.
Parks, Recreation and Community Services Dept.
• RSVP Special Delivery — Just in time for fall and chilly weather, the dedicated volunteer knitters at the Culver City Senior Center donated more than 100 homemade afghans to both the Veterans Administration and Westside Homeless Outreach, Inc. The VA’s thank-you note to staff read, “Without your support, we could not provide for the smaller niceties that make hospitalization more bearable. Your thoughtfulness also reflects the concern and compassion our community feels for our veterans.”
Police Dept.
• Law Enforcement Torch Run — On Tuesday, Oct. 19, police officers participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run Conference/Special Olympics in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol, the LAPD, the L.A, County Sheriff’s Dept., and many other municipal police agencies in greeting the participants of the conference at LAX when they arrived. The conference was held in Long Beach.
• Halloween Safety — The department issued a press release for Halloween safety tips to remind the community the importance of having a fun-filled evening of trick-or-treating and keeping everyone safe.
• Safety vs. Senior Pool Tournament — Last Saturday, the annual Safety vs. Senior Pool Tournament was held at the Senior Center.
Public Works Dept.
• Safe Routes to School — On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the Public Works Dept. was notified of an award of a $447,480 State Safe Routes to School competitive grant for Linwood Howe School. It will be matched with $49,720 of city funds to provide funding for bulb-outs/curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, curb ramps, bike racks, bike lanes, and bike routes at 13 locations along routes to this school. Staff expects to receive authorization from Caltrans to expend funds in January and to complete construction by early 2012. The grant application was put together with the assistance of a consultant funded by a County Dept.of Public Health’s Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments grant.
• Culver City Dog Park Update — The City Manager signed a Right of Entry Agreement last Friday to allow Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) to repair the leak on the abandoned oil well at the Culver City Dog Park. PXP anticipates beginning work next week. The repair procedure, approved by the State Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), will take approximately two weeks to complete, if things go smoothly. It will then take one additional week to restore the Dog Park to its prior condition, before it can be reopened for use.
Transportation
• Culver CityBus Line 7 Service — Staff held two public outreach meetings on Wednesday, Oct. 20, to solicit comments from the community regarding the Line 7 proposed service change. Staff initially proposed to eliminate weekend service and reduce weekday service to peak hours only. Subsequent to hearing from the community and learning that Metro no longer plans to cancel their connecting weekday Line 220 service, staff plans to move forward with a modified proposal to the City Council on Monday, Nov. 8.
City Manager John Nachbar may be contacted at john.nachbar@culvercity.org
