City Manager's Update

August 30, 2013

City Manager’s Office

• EarthFest 2013 – The 8th Annual EarthFest 2013 will be held on September 28 at West Los Angeles College. EarthFest LA is produced by California Greenworks, Inc. in partnership with West. The intent is to raise the level of awareness about environmental protection, conservation and pollution prevention.

The overall goal of the event is to teach the public about sustainable ways to live green and how to reduce negative impacts to our environment. California Greenworks is a non-profit organization that provides environmental awareness programs and education to urban neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The environmental expo is free and will run from 11 am to 4 pm. Please go to http://www.earthfestLA.com for more information or to purchase tickets for the concert.

Community Development Department

• Hillside Memorial Park - A permit has been issued to Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary located at 6001 Centinela Avenue to construct a new two-story garden mausoleum, a single story maintenance building/yard and burial garden.

• Lounge Spa, Kimukatsu, and House of Fitness - Construction work has been completed on a variety of new businesses located at 4130 Sepulveda Boulevard including Lounge Spa, Kimukatsu (a 3,190 sq. ft. restaurant) and the House of Fitness gymnasium.

• Chase Bank - A permit has been issued to Chase to open a 2,504 sq. ft. bank at 13365 Washington Boulevard.

• 4043 Irving Place - Construction of a three-story condominium building with ground-floor commercial space is 82% complete and within budget. Construction is scheduled to be completed in October 2013.

• Ice Skating Rink - Bietak Productions informed staff this week they will not be operating an ice skating rink on Parcel B this year as they were unable to raise sufficient funds from sponsors to support the operation.

• Food and Wine Festival - The African Gourmet Food and Wine Festival will take place on Parcel B from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, August 31. Admission to the festival is free and includes wine tasting, face painting, live music, drumming and cooking classes, culinary demonstrations and arts and crafts along with offering a variety of African gourmet food and desserts.

Fire Department

• New Recruit Firefighters – On August 12 four new Recruit Firefighters began their training at the Culver City Fire Training Tower. The tower training will consist of eight weeks of intensive training on a variety of skills including: the proper donning and usage of personal protective equipment, hose and ladder evolutions, building construction and roof ventilation, ropes/knots/rappelling, and EMS skills/techniques. When the candidates successfully complete the tower training, they will be assigned to a Fire Company where they will continue to train and be evaluated throughout their one-year probationary period.

• Captain Promotional Exam – With the assistance of the City’s Human Resources Department, the Captain Promotional Exam has been completed. Members who submitted applications to participate in the exam process had to successfully complete the written, essay, fire simulator, presentation, and oral interview in order to be placed on the eligibility list. The testing is complete, and the Department now has three members on the active list to draw upon, when vacancies occur due to retirements.

Information Technology

• Property Information Search Application - The IT Department has released an updated version of the Property Information Search application on the City’s website. The application is most commonly used to identify properties in Culver City and obtain corresponding descriptive information. The application was redesigned to provide a faster and enhanced user experience. There is now a streamlined search functionality where users can find a property by address, parcel number, business and street intersection. Users can also manipulate and mark up the map to generate property reports that can be printed, saved and shared. Additionally, the application will display (at the user’s option) buildings, parks, various points of interest, and aerial photography spanning from 1999 to 2008. There is also integration with “Google Street View” which offers another way to view areas in Culver City. The Property Information Search tool (and instructions for using the application) is available on the City website at: http://www.culvercity.org/Government/IT/GIS.aspx.

• Sewer Infrastructure Management System - In cooperation with the Public Works Department, the IT Department also released an update to the online Sewer Infrastructure Management System (SIMS). This application provides the public with the ability to look up sewer lines, manhole locations, and obtain additional descriptive attributes along with links to scanned City Engineering drawings. The SIMS application is available on the City website at: http://www.culvercity.org/Government/IT/GIS.aspx

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

• Senior and Social Services – The Senior & Social Services Division has partnered with the Hearing Loss Association of America as well as the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles to offer monthly meetings in Culver City. The first meeting of the Hearing Loss Group will take place on Thursday, September 19 from 6:45 pm to 9 pm in the Veterans Memorial Building, Classroom “C”. The Down Syndrome Parent Support Group will meet on Friday, September 6 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 in the Veterans Memorial Building, Kaizuka Room. For more information, please contact the Disability Services at (310) 253-6729.

The Senior Center was happy to welcome volunteers from the UCLA Women’s Basketball Team at Socialites on Saturday, August 24. The student athletes assisted with meal prep, socializing and other activities to ensure adults with disabilities had a great night out. Thanks to the UCLA Women’s Basketball Team.

Are you a senior who has public transit questions? Take a public transit field trip from the Culver City Senior Center to the Culver City EXPO line on Tuesday, September 10 and Tuesday, September 17 to learn about navigating transit in Culver City. Sign up at the Senior Center to go on this local trip to gain confidence on public transit.

Are you a billiards player or want to practice to become a master at the 8-ball? The Pool Room at the Culver City Senior Center is now free to members. Membership to the Senior Center is just $13 a year and pool room access is now included.

• Veterans Memorial Building – Lindsay Productions presents another body-building exhibition, the NPC Tournament of Champions, on Saturday, September 7. For more information, please visit http://www.lindsayproductions.com.

• Fiesta La Ballona – Congratulations to the Fiesta La Ballona Committee for its work at this year’s event. The Council-approved committee includes Randy Arizmendiz, Stephen M. Fry, Karen Gibbs, Beth Hyatt, Ronnie Jayne and Marcus G. Tiggs. Ronnie Jayne was the Chair this year and Randy Arizmendiz was Vice-Chair.

The Entertainment Tent at Fiesta La Ballona presented approximately 250 performers over the three-day event

Police Department

• Back to School Safety - Monday August 26 was the first day back to school for the Culver City Unified School District. Members of the Police Department worked together with the District and Public Works staff to develop a plan that included the educating the public on the laws regarding dropping off students and parking of vehicles and keeping the students safe. The collaborative work between all departments made this year’s Back to School a safe and successful campaign.

• Fiesta La Ballona - During the weekend of August 23 through 25 Fiesta La Ballona took place and many of the members from the Culver City Police Reserve Program and VIP’s volunteered their time to help at this year’s festival. One of the highlights was the Police Department’s K-9 (police dog) program demonstration. This year’s festival was a huge success.

Public Works

• Golden State Water Co. began Pipeline Replacement Projects on August 22. Golden State Water recently began two projects to replace approximately 4,400 feet of aging waterlines in Culver City. These projects are part of an on-going infrastructure improvement program for the local water system to reduce the risk of leaks and improve water flow for customers. Golden State Water will replace the existing water distribution system facilities that provide fire and domestic water service in two areas: along Pickford Way, from Dobson Way to Virginia Avenue, and along Tilden Avenue, from Venice Boulevard to Washington Boulevard. Both projects are estimated to be completed in September. Construction crews will be working Monday through Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM, to complete both projects.

• Affected streets will remain open to traffic, however parking and access to driveways may be limited for short durations of time. All efforts will be made to minimize dust. Residents can expect an increase in noise during the construction period. Trash service will not be interrupted. Water service may be temporarily affected when the new pipelines are connected to individual customer service lines. Customers will be notified in advance, if any interruptions should need to occur.

Transportation

• Washington National Transit Oriented Development (TOD) - On September 9tat 7 pm the City Council will be requested to consider a discussion item relating to the impacts from the upcoming confluence of construction near the Washington National TOD site. In addition to the existing Metro construction, both the Legado and Platform projects will be underway shortly. This has raised some concerns regarding substantial impacts to traffic and the potential for impeding access to that area for emergency services. Staff will also be seeking general direction regarding a potential municipal code amendment to allow extended construction hours under certain circumstances in order to preserve the public health, safety and general welfare by decreasing the overall duration of construction and mitigating related impacts.

• Expo Phase 1 - Work on the National Boulevard Crossover - Expo is planning on performing work at the National Boulevard crossover in Culver City, possibly the night of September 9 into the morning of September 10. The City is awaiting details such as the exact time and date, but wanted to inform the public in advance. For more information, please call Expo staff at (213) 243-5534 or visit: http://www.buildexpo.org.