By Brandon HENSLEY

The Crescenta Valley Town Council will not formally support CV High School’s push for field upgrades at this time, citing a need to see more concrete plans and to assess the “bigger picture” for the community, President Harry Leon said.

During its Nov. 16 meeting, council voted 3-3 on the motion to write a letter of support to Glendale Unified School District for the proposed lighting and seating upgrade to the CV field during. Leon’s tie-breaking vote swung it in favor of holding off on supporting the plans, which take funds from the district and would allow the Falcon football team to host games on Friday nights, instead of traveling to Glendale High, its current designated home field.

The motion itself called for support, but stipulated that GUSD do more research into the plans, as well as put time and effort into community outreach.

“Everything I hear is how great it’s going to be for the school,” said councilmember Mike Claessens. “I want to know how it’s going to be great for the community.”

Councilmember Aram Ordubegian said it is hard to support CV when “plans are not concrete.”

At the September council meeting, CVHS Principal Linda Junge said the school would be able to give council a blueprint for the project.

Leon said that most of council is not against the idea of new lighting and seating, but that further details need to be obtained before its members can move forward with formal support. There were two different motions made by council on what to vote on, and the lengthy discussion between members that preceded it was not lost on Ordubegian.

“The fact that we’re having this [discussion] shows how much we’re putting a square peg into a round hole,” he said.

The main item on the town council agenda focused on a presentation made by LA County Fire. Community service liaison Maria Grycan and Battalion Chief 4 Mark Whaling gave a general overview of County’s involvement in the Southland, including La Crescenta and its closest surrounding neighbors.

North Regional Operation’s Battalion 4 has seven stations, including stations in Altadena, the unincorporated part of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge. Station 63, located on 4526 Ramsdell Ave., is La Crescenta’s.

Station 63 has three firefighters on duty every day, and it responds to 700 calls annually, of which 65% to 70% are medical, Grycan said. County Fire helps educate citizens in brush clearance and sandbag use, both of which are helpful in the foothills. Station 63 can also prepare people in CERT (Community Emergency Response Training) and hands-only CPR.

“There is no certification, but we believe everyone should know how to do CPR, and you can learn it in as little as five minutes,” Grycan said.

Along the coast, County Fire has 150 year-round lifeguards who make 10,000 ocean rescues per year. Grycan said 55 million people visit LA beaches every year.

For wildland fires, there are two superscoopers and a sky crane, which is “a big orange one that looks like a mosquito,” Grycan explained.

LA County Fire protects 2,305 square miles of land, but responders travel to all parts of the world, including to Mexico after the recent earthquake and Houston, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey. They’ve also been to Nepal and Japan.

Whaling said County works with the Angeles National Forest Agency, which has green trucks, assisting in wildland fires. Both teams worked together during the LA Tuna Fire in September.

For more information, visit fire.lacounty.gov.

During community announcements, councilmember Mariam Barnes introduced new members of the CV Youth Council, which recently had its first meeting. The Youth Council addresses issues facing the young people in the foothills, and provides teens a platform to experience the function of government.

The Youth Council members introduced themselves to the audience one-by-one. They are: Alexis Karakas, Sena Lim, Lauren Karakas, Yatra Patel, Lucine Rickey, Trevor Beauchamp, Natalie Franklin, Madison Valiente, Maneh Davityan and Erin Yang.

There will be no council meeting in December. Meetings will resume in January. Council meets every third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley