By Justin HAGER

The Crescenta Valley Town Council welcomed the public back to the La Crescenta Library last week for its first regular in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated large in-person gatherings more than two years ago.

The meeting began with a solemn ceremony as Councilmember Frida Baghdassarian presented the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) –Crescenta Valley Chapter with a Resolution of Solidarity and remembrance of the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution, signed by Council President Harry Leon on behalf of the entire council, recognized both the historic and ongoing impact of the Genocide committed against the people of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora around the world and proclaimed a day of remembrance thereof.

Following the ceremony, a more celebratory note took hold of the meeting as the council congratulated the newly named captain of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff Station, Robert Hahnlein. Hahnlein provided an update on crime in the area including an elder abuse case that led to an arrest for assault, and several catalytic converter thefts. With the success of the department’s catalytic converter stamping/etching event earlier this year, Hahnlein said he is working to arrange a similar event in the future to help prevent catalytic converter thieves from stealing and then selling the converters.

Continuing the theme of law enforcement, Mike Baldwin shared the success of the American Legion and VFW in distributing more than 600 Operation Gratitude care packages to first responders throughout the region. And Paul Dutton announced exciting new opportunities for additional emergency preparedness training as part of his ongoing Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program.

Jason Hauser of LA County Parks and Recreation also reported rare criminal activity at Two Strike Park after maintenance crews were forced to clean graffiti from the bathroom doors and walls. He reminded the public to lock their car doors and keep valuables out of sight to avoid rewarding opportunistic criminals.

The bulk of the meeting’s time was spent on a presentation and discussion with Shirley Lai of LA County Public Works. Lai provided a second presentation on the partnership between Los Angeles County and cities of Glendale and La Cañada Flintridge to gather community input on possible active transportation upgrades to Foothill Boulevard. No plans or proposals have been made yet as the county and its local government partners are currently in the process of gathering public input, but ideas submitted thus far include the installation of new bike lanes, high visibility crosswalks and raised medians. In order to gather input from a variety of community sources, the county is providing multiple opportunities for interaction with project planners and managers including an online survey, waking and biking audits, and outreach events like their presentation to the town council. More can be learned about the project, including viewing the existing conditions report, and sign up for updates about the project by visiting: pw.lacounty.gov/tpp/foothillsblvdatp/. The Foothill ATP project is a separate project from the bike lanes currently being installed on Foothill near Highway 2. That project was approved and funded several years ago by the City of La Cañada Flintridge.

Following the presentation, the council discussed the project at length and asked LA County Public Works to return to a future CVTC meeting for future presentations, informational updates and input from the council and public. Public comment also focused on the issue of street and traffic safety after two members of the public spoke about the prevalence of speeding cars in the community and the loss of a beloved pet due to a hit-and-run driver.