Crossing Invisible Borders

For the past two years as president of the CV Town Council one of my priorities was to focus on outreach to the entire foothill community. As many of you know the lines on a map that create our invisible borders between our neighboring communities of Glendale, La Cañada and Sunland-Tujunga do not define us as separate communities. Despite several jurisdictions overseeing our communities, we embrace each other as one community. These invisible borders should not prevent our Council from listening to residents’ concerns simply because the core issue is not located between the lines of the unincorporated area. The Crescenta Valley shares so many different resources including water, schools, streets, crime, events, businesses and, more than anything, our reliance on each other. As a council we should not close the door on a topic simply because the footprint of the issue stands beyond an invisible border. For instance, our Nov. 19 agenda will include the Rockhaven property. We have invited the Friends of Rockhaven group as well as the group of doctors that is one of the interested investors. This site does not sit within the Council’s unincorporated area. However, many residents are concerned about Rockhaven’s future. Residents should be able to have access to as much information as possible regarding all types of issues throughout our community. Over the years we have not only listened to but weighed in on certain issues such as the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, the 710 tunnel and high speed rail, just to mention a few. CV Town Council is and should always remain a place for our residents to voice concerns, gather information and collaborate on the issues that have an effect on our entire community.

Moving on to some current issues and then some fun holiday announcements for our community:

1. Crescenta Valley Water District (CVWD) has hired Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. at a cost of $117,266 to conduct a rate study. On Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m., CVWD will hold the first of three public workshops regarding the water and wastewater rate study. The workshop will be held at CVWD’s administrative office at 2700 Foothill Blvd. The consultants will be presenting an overview of the rate study objectives and the project’s approach. Elements of the rate study will include long-term financial stability, equity for all service classes, revenue sensitivity related to water conservation and economic impact on the community. You can view all the details at www.CVWD.com.

2. LA County Code enforcement is conducting a survey of all commercially zoned properties in the unincorporated areas. For the past year-and-a-half, CV Town Council, along with the CV Chamber, residents and code enforcement, have been working together to clean up Foothill Boulevard of the flashing lights, multiple banners, waving advertisement flags and banners. Information regarding what is not allowed was circulated by hand to all businesses along Foothill. In addition, the same notices were mailed to all property owners. During the survey, three code enforcement officers physically drove and walked Foothill, noting non-compliant businesses. As a result of the survey, more than 45 citations will be issued. Citations will be mailed to the property owners, who will then have 30 days to comply before further action is taken. This has been a long process and we have heard the residents and their desire to get Foothill cleaned up. We are well on our way.

3. New CV Town Council members. The CV Town Council elections were held Nov. 5-6. Six Councilmembers were elected out of the nine candidates running. Those winning a three-year term in order of largest number of votes received are Lisa Griffin, Mike Claessens and Sophal Ear. The three one-year alternates are Aram Ordubegian, JoAnn Stupakis and Charles Beatty. The new council will be sworn in at the Dec. 17 Council meeting. Councilmembers Kyle Studebaker and I both decided not to re-run and we will not be returning next year.

Holiday Announcements:

1. La Crescenta First Annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. On Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. the large sycamore tree at the main entrance to the La Crescenta library will be lit to celebrate the start of a new La Crescenta tradition, an annual Christmas Tree lighting. Events for the kids will start at 5:30 p.m. in the community room. Supervisor Antonovich will arrive to start the ceremony at 6:30 p.m. and, after some great music and lighting the tree, he will return to the community room to read a story to all of the kids and parents at 7:30 p.m. Look for all the details on Facebook and the CV Town Council website.

2. Snow Day at Two Strike Park. On Saturday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Supervisor Antonovich is sponsoring a snow day. Loads of snow will be brought to the park for everyone to enjoy.

3. Montrose Christmas Parade is on Saturday, Dec. 5 starting at 6 p.m. This is the parade’s 39th year and a wonderful community event. Claim your seat along Honolulu Avenue!

Wishing our community a very safe and fun filled Thanksgiving holiday. Hope to see you all at our Nov. 19 CV Town Council meeting at 7 p.m. in the La Crescenta library community room, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

Robbyn Battles, president
CV Town Council
robbyn@theCVCouncil.com
www.theCVCouncil.com

  Robbyn Battles