By Brandon HENSLEY

Results from an outdoor lighting survey within the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County in La Crescenta were brought to the Crescenta Valley Town Council on Aug. 17, only to cause confusion from both the audience and the councilmembers. This prompted council to move to table any further discussion on the results to a later date.

The survey was sent to over 5,000 La Crescenta residents this summer, including questions on how people feel about streetlights in their area. Carmen Sainze of LA Regional Planning said it received 905 responses but, when she read off the different answers, several audience members claimed the questions could have been misinterpreted. Vice President Mike Claessens eventually stopped the proceedings, and huddled outside with County representatives while other agenda items were addressed.

When Claessens came back, he agreed he didn’t know exactly what the numbers meant, and that’s when council agreed to move any further discussion about how to move forward to a later date, possibly a joint meeting with the Land Use Committee. Council said it will not discuss lights at the Sept. 7 public Land Use meeting.

“It is a complex issue and maybe the answers have a little bit more depth instead of just looking at the percentages right now,” said Inez Chessum, a member of Land Use. “That’s why I think it’s important for Land Use and Town Council to be able to look at [the issue].”

There were three main options on the survey: A) Leave the current process for light petitioning as is (60 % approval to install new lights); B) Increase percentage of signatures to have lights installed from 60% to 80%; C) No new additional lights except for public safety.

Sainz said 393 people voted for option A, 94 people voted for B and 392 voted for C, while the remaining votes were split.

Council’s next job is to evaluate the results and make specific recommendations to Regional Planning.

Before the lighting discussion, Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Winfred Roberson welcomed back parents in the audience to another school year. He said GUSD hired 120 new teachers, many of whom live in the community. He encouraged parents to download the GUSD app on their phones, located in the app store. This app allows parents to receive a news feed, view Instagram photos and have access to grades.

In other council news, Brandon Lee has resigned. Alternate Kyle Studebaker will take his place as a regular member.

The council website may be undergoing changes. Councilmember Mariam Barnes said it is looking into a new website host, and the new site would be a static page with contact info and limited updates. Barnes said because so few people visit the site, thecvcouncil.com, it may be smart to leverage social media and use Facebook as a main source of council news, including live-streaming meetings.

Crescenta Valley High School’s Prom Plus organization is planning a barbecue fundraiser in the school’s quad on Aug. 31 at 5 p.m.

There will be a Q&A open house presented by the Fire Safe Council on Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the La Crescenta Library Community Room.

The next CVTC meeting is scheduled for Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley