By Mary O’KEEFE

The Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting was held March 15 in the community room at La Crescenta Library. During the meeting there was an update from Caltrans on the work being done on the Foothill (210) Freeway.

The project involves a major roadway rework that rehabilitates 90 lane miles of pavement, replaces lanes three and four completely, repairs lanes one and two as needed and replaces the median barrier. It includes upgrades on overhead sign structures to withstand higher wind loads and installs overhead sign panels with reflective signs that require no added lighting. Existing high pressure sodium lighting will be changed out to energy efficient LED lighting system at the three tunnels at the interchange of I-210 and SR-134. Additional upgrades are also planned.

The pavement is designed for a life expectancy of 40 years. The total cost of the project is about $140 million.

Some ramp closures continue until March 23 including the eastbound 210 Lincoln/Howard off-ramp; from March 26 to April 25 the eastbound 210 Lincoln/Howard on-ramp; from April 9 to May 9 the eastbound 210 Mountain Avenue off-ramp; from April 18 to May 30 the eastbound 210 Mountain Avenue on-ramp; and “nightly” westbound 210 Arroyo on-ramp.

Although the work was planned to be completed by March of this year, due to weather and technical issues the company could not get all of the pavement work done and work has been extended to a completion date of July 2018.

Audience member Steve Goldsworthy asked Caltrans representatives to revisit the signage on the 210 eastbound just east of Lowell Avenue that was taken out by a traffic collision 10 years ago and another sign just east of Pennsylvania Avenue that was taken out by a dump truck about three years ago. The pole at Pennsylvania Avenue is still there but the sign was never replaced. The Caltrans representative seemed to be surprised the signs were not there and stated they would look into the matter.

The CVTC scholarship applications for local high school students are available with a deadline to apply of April 5. To apply for the scholarship, visit thecvcouncil.com and click on Support for Residents.

The end of the meeting had a lively debate concerning the Crescenta Commons that is located at the southwest corner of Rosemont and Orange avenues.

Crescenta Commons has been at the center of a debate almost since it was proposed. The piece of land is owned by LA County Public Works. It is just east of Monte Vista Elementary School and for years was covered in weeds and not appealing to neighbors. About six years ago, a neighbor who is a local architect had wanted to transform the area into a pocket park. Boy Scout Rhys Teff brought the refurbishing project to LA County and to CVTC, proposing the project as his Eagle project. The two volunteers worked together along with CVTC.

Teff raised over $7,000 toward the project, but then things stalled. The Boy Scout said that decisions were made that didn’t include him. Others, who said they were there to help, including neighbor Ines Chessum, stated the project was a lot more complicated than anyone had originally thought.

Permitting and other processes began to pull the two volunteer groups farther apart.

When progress on the Crescenta Commons stalled again, then- CVTC President Robbyn Battles took the helm. The council reached out to the community and the CC project was completed.

It is important to note that Teff’s Eagle Scout project did raise funds and he and his troop did work to clear the area of the weeds and other debris on the grounds.

The CC was a project championed by Battles and then-CVTC Vice President Harry Leon (Leon is now the president of CVTC and Battles is no longer on the council).

In November 2014, a ribbon cutting was held that included the installation of a time capsule in the stone tower. In December 2016, local senior group ASTER (Assisting Seniors Through Enhanced Resources), a non-profit organization, took over the responsibilities of the Crescenta Commons including gardening, upkeeping and fundraising.

Fast forward to CVTC on Thursday night when the Crescenta Commons was once again in the middle of a debate.

On the Crescenta Commons land there are a lot of plants, benches, trees, tiles and a bulletin board with the purpose of highlighting local events. For example, this week there is a flyer for the CV Chamber of Commerce bingo night.

It is the bulletin board that is now at the center of the disagreement between the CVTC and ASTER. Some town council members feel the council should have a key to the board to place information on it, while others feel the system that is in place now works. That system requires those who would like to place something in the bulletin board contact Battles, who is a board member of ASTER.

“There have been a couple of statements made about an effort to restrict [postings],” said councilmember Kyle Studebaker.

She added that some on the council stated that ASTER is not following the rules.

“What effort has been restricted? And what rules are in place that are not being followed?” asked Studebaker of her fellow town council members.

It was difficult to understand what the issue was with posting information on the bulletin board. Councilmember Charles Beatty shared his concern of what would happen if ASTER and Battles were no longer able to take on the CC responsibilities.

Other members seemed to be upset with the posting system and wanted more information on what could be posted and when it would be posted.

“We don’t know [anything] until we sit down and find out how ASTER wants to address this,” said councilmember Mariam Barnes. “We have never actually done that. We [need] to have someone reach out to [Battles].”

CVTC members had discussed this in their executive meeting but had not yet spoken to Battles about the issue.

For Battles, she is confused as to why this topic has become an issue. According to her, the CVTC relinquished any interest in Crescenta Commons in December 2016 and, since then, there has not been a problem.

“I have never told Town Council it could not post [notices on the board],” she said.

She said the Commons is taken care of by a subcommittee of ASTER. This has worked because, as a non-profit, the organization is able to fundraise for the CC upkeep.

“After researching other community bulletin board rules and regulations, it has become very clear that every community board has one thing in common: Content needs to be submitted and reviewed and all postings are done by the entity in charge of the overall site or campus. The bulletin board at the Commons is no different,” Battles said.

The end of the meeting saw a vote to send two representatives, Aram Ordubegian and Mariam Barnes, to reach out to Battles and ASTER to discuss the issue.

  Mary Okeefe