BSRA Minutes 20111013

Belmont Shore Residents Association

MINUTES

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

President Kurt Borsting and Treasurer Robert O’Connor present, Secretary Jeff Miller & VP Terry Endersen absent. Members at large Max Alavi, Chrisjeon Clemmer, Aileen Colon, Julie Dean, Marvin Jones, Robert Stropky present, John Forstrom absent.

President Borsting brought the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and began with a request for a moment of silence in memory of the Seal Beach shooting victims.

Debi introduced Judi Ashley, new children’s librarian. Amazon has approved availability of E-books to libraries. Effective immediately library cardholders can download E-books on their Kindles.

Julie advised of the recent passing of Ken, owner of Pygmalion’s Salon in Naples. The City will provide trees with volunteer planting for parkways. Interested homeowners can call the office to get details. A meeting was held between lifeguards and animal control regarding problems at “dog beach”. The consensus was that more signage is needed to make public more aware of the rules. A list of damaged sidewalks marked for repair in 2012 is in the works. Residents with knowledge of locations needing work can call the office to include them on the list. Several residents asked for additional “Quiet after 10:00 PM” signs.

Kurt Borsting asked for Julie’s take on the recent Planning Commission’s recommendation to send the developer’s plans for the Second St & PCH project to the City Council for approval. While the topic has yet to reach the Council, Julie suggests that residents and other interested parties make suggestions on what they would like to see. By doing this rather than blanket objections to any proposed project, the community will have more impact on what is finally approved. It should be kept in mind that the reality is that the site will be developed objections notwithstanding.

Despite budget cuts patrol service has not been seriously affected. Response time on priority calls remains under five minutes. Burglaries in The Shore area are up (as they are everywhere). Juveniles are a particular problem due to the fact that the juvenile justice system is a “revolving door”. Offenders are arrested but are released usually within one day. Kids on probation are subject to close attention by the police. Random visits at home are commonplace. Auto theft has not been a problem in our area. Heavy traffic, vehicle and pedestrian, might be the reason. The Lt. reminded the audience of their personal responsibility for security - valuables left in plain sight in vehicles, unlocked doors and windows etc.) A more recent phenomenon is “grab and run” of gold jewelry.

The police have been trying to get help for the homeless by directing them to services that can assist them. They are also paying attention to the new influx of parolees due to the early release policy of the prisons as parole officers are overwhelmed with the increased case load. The police have a policy of drop in visits (legal at parolee residences) to keep tabs on them.

The LBPD has tweaked shifts to have more patrol officers work on Second Street through bar closing time because of ongoing problems with the bars there. A question was asked about what can be done about aggressive panhandling. The response was that unless here is undue harassment or physical contact there is little the police can do. Panhandling is not a crime.

The City has a new program called “Go Long Beach”. The plan allows citizens to report problems directly via smart phone (for the less technically savvy E-mail can be used instead). In addition to a description you can send a picture and an exact location using GPS. There are 15 different situations that be reported with graffiti and potholes being the most frequent. The report goes to a date base which then forwards it to the right department. The system also has a tracking feature which allows the sender to track progress made in solving the problem. THE SYSTEM IS NOT INTENDED FOR EMERGENCIES.

The regular BRBA contact was not in attendance. President Borsting offered congratulations to Frank Colonna, the new BSBA President. A BSBA person was at the meeting and mentioned the upcoming Art Walk, Halloween activities and Christmas Parade.

Within the next 60 days ten “big belly” trash compactors will be placed at locations in the area where the most trash is generated; usually by takeout restaurants and yogurt shops. The cost is $52,000 which should be recouped over the next three years by reduced collection costs. The Parking Commission is planning on sidewalk repair and landscape needed in the coming months. These items are paid for with parking revenue.

They are working with LB transit on a program to offer free bus passes to employees of local businesses. This could open up additional parking for customers and residents. A new pedicab service at the Shore and other LB locations is due to start shortly. While Eric is aware of it, the Parking Commission is not involved. Their only purpose is addressing issues regarding the Second Street business locations extending to the alleys immediately behind them. The same applies to parking in the Belmont pool area which was mentioned by a resident.

Current account balance $3,160. No significant financial transactions are anticipated in the next three to six months.

Marvin Jones said they would like to get additional one-way signs at all alley crossings of First and Division Streets. It must be kept in mind that the City will not approve such an extensive project. The best approach is to request them piecemeal - to be continued.

Kurt reiterated the outcome of the recent planning session. The four areas of discussion were Advocacy, Membership, Service and Social. He stressed continuing contact with the various City Departments, BSBA and others. He also suggested we all try to get a local friend or neighbor to attend the next meeting - the greater the participation, the greater the impact.

Anne Conness introduced herself as a new Shore resident and new owner of the restaurant location now operated as the Shorehouse Cafe. The current operation will close on December 1, be renovated, and reopened as Simzees approximately March 1, 2012.

The new location will not be a 24 hour coffee shop as it is now but a family restaurant instead. The hours will be 11:00 AM to 12:00 midnight. Anne says “nothing good happens in a restaurant after midnight.” The Shorehouse has a beer and wine license which restricts sales to 10:00 PM. Anne says she will apply to extend serving hours to closing.

Several members commented on the ongoing subject of late night disruptions arising out of the bad behavior of departing bar patrons. This has been an ongoing discussion. One of the bar owners was in attendance and said they were doing all they could to be good neighbors. Several ideas were presented including, parking permits after midnight, use of off duty police officers in uniform for security.

MEETING MINUTES