City Manager's Update

Community Development Department

• Beats by Dr. Dre – Building plans have been submitted for an addition of new exterior stairs and an overhead shade structure, located at 8600 Hayden Place. In addition, building plans have been submitted for a tenant improvement, located at 8501 Stellar Drive which includes a reroof, ADA upgrades, and replacement of existing doors.

• Bar 9 Collective – A permit has been issued for a tenant improvement for a new coffee shop at 3515 Helms Avenue.

• Baldwin Site / Axis-Mundi – A Ninth Implementation Agreement and Revised Schedule of Performance has been drafted.

• Media Park – Staff has met with representatives from the City of Los Angeles and an official from Councilmember Paul Koretz’s office to review the Zoning and Building Code requirements to open a LAMILL Coffee concession business in Media Park.

• Parcel B – The City has signed a License Agreement with FTP Productions for use of Parcel B as a base camp to produce an episode of the “Mistresses” television series.

• Former Fire Station No. 3 – Staff is evaluating the response from Thomas James Capital to the proposed Purchase and Sale Agreement for former Fire Station No. 3. The City Council is scheduled to consider the Purchase and Sale Agreement on April 21.

• 10745 Cranks Road – Last week, the City and property owner executed a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Cranks property, and escrow is scheduled to close by April 1.

• Culver Village –Culver Village, comprised of the businesses located between Sepulveda Boulevard between Culver Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, will be hosting a “Bunny Hop” on Saturday, April 19 from 1 pm to 4. Businesses will be open and handing out candy and treats or offering promotions to those who “hop” in. In addition, the Village is also sponsoring a coloring contest in association with the Culver City News. The winners’ entries will be posted during the event and prizes have been donated by various business in the district to include a four pack of tickets to Disney on Ice, a Children’s cooking class, and a Children’s portrait sitting.

• Sweat Pilates – This Pilates studio will be relocating its business in the Arts District to a tenant space in the Fresh Paint Art Gallery, located at 5835 W. Washington Boulevard.

• Humble Potato – This Japanese/American fusion concept restaurant will open a second location at 12608 Washington Boulevard, which will complement the burgeoning restaurant district in the West Washington Area Improvement District. The Humble Potato currently has an eatery in Westchester.

• Tilden Terrace – Los Angeles Housing Partnership (LAHP) has hired the real estate brokerage firm of Newmark, Grubb, Knight, and Frank to lease the project’s first floor commercial component.

Fire Department

• Sister City Tour – On March 11 the Los Angeles Marathon Runners from our Sister City of Kaizuka, Japan, were given a tour of Fire Station #1. This was an opportunity for them to learn about the types of services the Fire Department provides. They were also provided the opportunity to view the station, apparatus, and equipment carried. The firefighters provided them some demonstrations and answered a number of questions.

• Station Tour – On March 14 students from STAR Prep Academy were provided a tour of Fire Station #1. The students were shown around the Station and apparatus. The firefighters provided them demonstrations on the use of the equipment and personal protective firefighting gear. Lastly, the students were given information regarding a career in the fire service, typical job duties, and the type of education and training that is required.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

• Veterans Memorial Building and Rental Operations – Haynes Building Service will refinish the Basketball Court floor and the Stage floor in Veterans Memorial Auditorium during the week of March 31.

• Parks – Parks staff has gone into Blair Hills Park to completely renovate the existing picnic and playground areas, perform tree trimming, complete simple repairs, apply fresh paint, replenish playground sand, and schedule repairs to the resilient rubberized fall zone surfacing.

• Spring Camp – Spring Camp Parent Orientation was held on March 20. Staff gave parents and campers a 30-minute overview presentation of the upcoming Spring Camp. Staff provided information which included camp rules, camper conduct and discipline policy, field trip rules and the payment schedules for camp. The orientation was well attended, with over 50 parents and children participating. After the presentation, the floor was opened up for a Question and Answer session. Spring Camp began on Monday, March 24 and runs Monday through Friday from 7 am to 6 pm for two weeks.

• Teen Center – The Teen Center recently completed a month-long clothing drive. Ten bags of clothes were collected for the Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Shelter. The Teen Center’s Young Women’s Group rallied the teens to collect much needed clothes for children and youth that currently live in homeless shelters throughout Los Angeles County.

Police Department

• CCPD Officers Take First Place in Baker to Vegas Relay Run - The Culver City Police Department sent a team of 20 runners to compete in the 30th annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay. Each runner ran a relay leg of 3.9 to 8.2 miles, depending on the difficulty of the leg. The race started in Baker, California on Saturday, March 22 and finished in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 23. With teams coming from as far away as Europe, this 120-mile relay race is recognized as the largest law enforcement sporting event of its kind in the world. The race starts during the daytime desert heat and lasts through the night, where the temperatures may drop to freezing, as the runners reach the summit of the Mountain Springs Pass (5,600’). Over 220 Law Enforcement teams participated in this year’s very competitive event, which promotes camaraderie and discipline among Law Enforcement Officers. The top finishers in each division are awarded a highly coveted “Winner’s Mug”. By posting an outstanding time of 16 hours and 1 minute, Culver City finished first in the 99-Team Division. This was a true team effort that could not have been accomplished without the help of local donors, support personnel, and the officers, including reserves, which remained behind to keep our city safe.

Public Works

• Community Energy Partnership Accomplishments – The Department of Public Works is a participant of the Community Energy Partnership aimed at saving energy in Culver City. The partnership funds City engagement in activities supporting the California Public Utilities Commission’s Long-Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan. These activities help shape the City’s green policies and support the City’s sustainability efforts. In 2013, the City completed the following projects totaling an annual energy savings of 358,113 kWh:

o Plug Load Occupancy Sensors

o Streetlight Upgrade Completion

o Veterans Memorial Building HVAC Optimization

o Energy Upgrades at the Watseka Parking Structure

In 2014, there are several projects planned, including the installation of a Variable Frequency Drive at the Municipal Plunge to save approximately 122,000 kWh annually.

• Free Compost Giveaway - Saturday, April 26 – Culver City is closing the loop and replenishing the earth with nutrient rich compost.

Public Works and American Organics will offer free compost through the City’s Food Waste Program.

The event is on Saturday, April 26 from 9 am to 4 pm(or while material lasts) in the lower Bill Botts parking lot on the left just before the Boneyard dog park. Access to the area is at the Jefferson Blvd and Duquesne Street traffic signal, located at 9710 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City.

This is a self-haul event so participants should bring a shovel and containers to hold compost for transport. Residents are responsible for shoveling and bagging their own compost, and up to the equivalent of 7 garbage bags of compost per household will be allowed. For more information, call (310) 253 6411.

• Sewer Main Rehabilitation Project Update –To date, the contractor (Insituform) has installed approximately 12 miles of Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) liner out of the 19 miles of sewer to be lined in this phase of the sewer main rehabilitation project. In addition, the contractor has completed 20 sewer main pipe local failure point repairs; rehabilitated 30 sewer manholes, and installed 30 trenchless sewer lateral connection repairs.

• Pedestrian Improvement Project Update – The Pedestrian Improvement at Intersection with Bus Stops Project consists of constructing pedestrian safety improvements at eight intersections. The improvements for this federally funded project include new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible curb ramps with truncated domes; high visible crosswalk and pavement markings; accessible pedestrian push buttons; more versatile vehicle video detection and bicycle detection devices; and reconstruction of damaged concrete pavements at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Inglewood Boulevard.

• Storm Water Project Planning: Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday, April 10 – On November 8, 2012, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) adopted a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit under the Federal Clean Water Act for discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) within Los Angeles County.

This latest permit incorporates water quality based effluent limits via adopted Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) provisions. TMDL is a regulatory term in the Federal Clean Water Act describing the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards. TMDLs have been issued to Ballona Creek, Ballona Creek Estuary, and Marina del Rey addressing trash, metals, pesticides and bacteria.

Culver City and all other watershed agencies have elected to pursue the EWMP alternative to achieve compliance within both the Ballona Creek and Marina del Rey watersheds, and in June 2013 both watershed groups submitted notices of intent to prepare EWMPs by the June 2015 deadline.

In November 2013, Council approved staff’s request to enter into two memoranda of understanding to develop Enhanced Watershed Management Plans (EWMP) for the Ballona Creek and Marina del Rey Harbor watersheds. Each memorandum would establish cost sharing of EWMP development costs based on area percentages (4% in Ballona Creek and 3% in Marina del Rey).

The first memorandum of understanding would allow Culver City to work with the Ballona Creek agencies for a not to exceed amount of $53,452.30. The second memorandum of understanding would allow Culver City to work with the Marina del Rey Harbor agencies for a not to exceed amount of $13,022. The plans will be completed and submitted to the Regional Board by June 2015. Once the Regional Board approves of them, implementation of projects will begin. Implementation costs are yet to be determined and are expected to be significant. The City is exploring funding options.

As part of the development phase for the EWMPs, the Watershed Management Groups will hold a planning workshop on Thursday, April 10 from 10 am to 2:30 pm at the Los Angeles Zoo. All interested parties are welcome to attend.

• New ADA Skate Park Ramp - On March 21 construction was completed at the Culver City Skate Park to add a new ADA Ramp. The Skate Park remained open during construction and now is fully operational with additional access opportunities.