City Manager's Update

April 26, 2013

Community Development Department

· Hillside Memorial Park & Mortuary – Building plans have been submitted for new two-story garden mausoleum building, a new one-story maintenance building and a new burial garden located at Hillside, located at 6001 Centinela Avenue.

· Conjunctive Points Property II, LP – A Building Permit has been issued for a minor alteration and improvements of the existing two-story commercial space located at 3960 Ince Boulevard.

• City of Culver City dog park (“The Boneyard”) – A Building and Electrical permit has been approved for the installation six new light poles at the Culver City dog park located at 9800 Jefferson Boulevard.
• Mazda Dealership – A Building Permit has been issued for a new dealership to remodel the interior and exterior of the commercial structure of the Volvo auto dealership to include a new Mazda dealership located at 11215 Washington Boulevard.
• Art in Public Places – Changes to the City’s Art in Public Places Program as included in Ordinance 2013-003 and adopted by the City Council in March became effective on April 25. Amendments to the Program include an additional option for developers to fulfill the Art in Public Places Program requirement, specific criteria for commissioning artworks, and guidelines for de-accessioning art.
• Public Art Installation – On April 9 the Cultural Affairs Commission approved a public art concept by Culver City artist Robert Toll entitled The Doors, in conjunction with a development project at 12095 and 12099 Washington Boulevard (The Help Group). The art is scheduled to be installed by mid-August.
• Tumblr – Tumblr has opened an office in Culver City. Tumblr operates a platform for people to set up micro blogs where they can share multimedia or short-form posts. It has more than 100 million blogs in its nationwide network. The seven-person Culver City office, located at 10381 Jefferson Boulevard, is Tumblr’s first West Coast branch and will focus on sales and outreach.
• CicLAvia – Staff, CicLAvia organizers, and the Downtown Business Association worked together on the Culver City CicLAvia hub for the April 21 bicycling event. The hub was very successful and attendance exceeded expectations.
• Segrell Fire Station and Cranks Road tour – Staff met with real estate brokers to tour the two sites in response to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to sell the properties and to answer their questions.
• 4043 Irving Place – The project is approximately 60% complete and on budget and is scheduled for completion by July 15.

Fire Department

· Southern California Gas Company Training – During the month of April, the Southern California Gas Company provided three days of training for all Fire Suppression personnel. The training focused on the different types of emergency responses fire personnel could encounter regarding natural gas.

· Strike Team Deployment – On Saturday, April 20 the Area A Strike Team was deployed to Monrovia on a mutual aid request. The Area A Strike Team consists of personnel and apparatus from Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Culver City. Under the command of Culver City Battalion Chief Mike Nagy and Assistant Fire Chief Dave White, personnel responded into the City of Monrovia and spent the next 17 hours protecting residential structures located in the wildland urban interface. Off-duty Culver City personnel were emergency recalled back to the City to provide services to our own community. Ultimately more than 125-acres burned, but no structures were damaged and there were no injuries to personnel assigned to the Area A Strike Team.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

· Parks – The Parks Division has completed a number of projects, including: fertilization and supplemental watering of the infield and outfield at Babe Ruth; the nature trail Calsense controller repair at Culver City Park; trimming and detailing of the lookout road slopes at Culver City Park; installing new plants at the Culver City dog park; and washing of the tennis courts at both Fox Hills Park and Vets Park. Ongoing projects include mainline repairs along the Bike Path and at Blair Hills Park and swing assembly replacements at Culver West Alexander Park.

Thank you to the community partners who supported the 40^th Anniversary of our Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) during National Volunteer Week: General Manager Bill Rider and the Doubletree by Hilton Westside; Tasha Griffin and the team from Best Buy on Washington Boulevard; Culver City High dance squad volunteers; the staff volunteers of the Banana Republic at the Grove; and Alpha Gamma Sigma from Santa Monica College.

May is Older Americans Month and the Senior Center will be busy with activities, performances and exhibits, so mark your calendars:

o Senior Center Art Exhibit: May 20, 21, 22 & 23.

o Ukulele & Dance Showcase with Culver City Strummers and Hula & Ballroom Dancers: May 21 at 1 pm.

o Older Americans Month Party & Senior of the Year Recognition: May 24 at 11:30 am.

o National Senior Health & Fitness Day: May 29 at 10 am.

· Aquatics – Instructors at the Culver City Plunge are gearing up to provide group swim lessons for swimmers ages six months to adult, from beginners to advanced swimmers. Swim lessons will start June 24 and run through August 16, running Monday through Friday with two-week sessions. Resident online registration begins on May 20, and non-resident online registration begins May 28. Walk-in and mail-in open-registration begins June 3.

· Veterans Memorial Building – New chairs have arrived for the Teen Center, Rotunda, Garden, Multipurpose, Kaizuka and Uruapan rooms. Room rental information is available by visiting the Veterans Memorial Complex Rentals webpage at www.culvercity.org.