Meeting Minutes

West Ranch Town Council Meeting Minutes for the previous minutes are reviewed and voted to be accepted by the Town Council. are approved at the immediate following Town Council meeting. Once the Town Council approves the minutes, they will be posted on this page. At the bottom of the page, links will be maintained for past meeting minutes.

WEST RANCH TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES for APRIL 2009

West Ranch Town Council

Minutes for the Meeting Dated: April 1, 2009

6:34pm call to order
1. Present: Dave Bossert, Ron Meschner, Randal Winter, James Zimmerman, Chuck O’Connell, Brian Toqe
2. Absent: Don Fleming
Approval of Prior Month’s Minutes
1. Approved 6 to 0
Treasurer’s Report and Banking Update
1. Bank account balance – $1,384.89
Los Angeles County Updates:
1. Parks & Recreation - Doug Newell
  1. Richard Rioux Park update – annual easter egg hunt is scheduled for Saturday April 11, 2009. Royal Oaks Four Square Church is sponsoring.
  2. Flag football and T-ball is starting practice this month.
  3. Youth co-ed soccer is starting soon for ages 4 -11 yrs old. Player registration on April 29^th, 2009.
  4. Smart Gardening Workshop on April 25^th, 2009 is scheduled to discuss garden care, water-wise planting, lawn care, etc.
  5. Dog training program will be held May 6 – June 24^th on Wed evenings from 7pm to 8pm. A certified dog trainer is hosting this class. The cost is $80, which includes 8 lessons.
  6. Community forum held by the Parks & Rec Department had two people show up last month, even though there was extensive advertising.
2. Sheriffs’ Update – Lt Cambra
  1. Stevenson Ranch had house burglaries, with a variety of items taken.
  2. Vehicle burglaries are down to one this month.
  3. Vandalism to the fountain (using soap).
  4. Plastic bottle bomb incident – local kids found instructions on how to make bottle bomb. Even without history of crimes, this crime carries high punishment, so it was determined this situation did not warrant a felony conviction based on the situation and parent involvement.
  5. Westridge had four burglaries. One on Green Leaf, another on Redwood Bluff, Cedar Ridge front door was unlocked, Oak Terrace while homeowner was out of town.
  6. In one of the burglaries in Westridge, the car used in burglary was a rental car that was turned in at a South LA location. Chicago Airport police detained suspect at airport, but he complained of heart attack symptoms and police let him go without resolving the situation. Police are still looking for suspect again. Teduce Pach is the suspect’s name.
  7. Sunset Point had one felony vandalism situation – six trees were cut down, presumably because it was blocking someone’s view.
  8. Nothing reported in Southern Oaks.
  9. Santa Clarita in general is still having an issue with burglaries.
  10. IMPORTANT: Lt Cambra suggests that if you are in a home when someone knocks on the door that you at least verbally answer if you choose not to open the door. There are descriptions of black male/black female/white male/white female/etc. The suspects may be local or may be from www.crimereports.com to find out what crimes have been reported in your neighborhood.
  11. Gun Program - April 18^th and 19^th is Sheriff’s Department program intended to allow people to turn in a working gun that they no longer want anymore. The Sheriff’s Department will give a gift certificate if you turn in a gun at this event. This gives people a way to easily get rid of their unwanted guns.
3. CHP Update – Byron Wong
  1. Unincorporated area had 138 citations and 6 arrests.
  2. "Tip-a-Cop" event at BJ’s Restaurant on Tuesday April 7^th from 5pm to 9pm.
4. Los Angeles County Update – Rosalind Wayman
  1. Edison has recently installed new high-tension structures wires. During April and May, their contractor will be flying loud helicopters to finish the project.
  2. Lyons Canyon Ranch was approved at the Board of Supervisors. Most people have positive feedback.
  3. Josephine Gutierrez from the Department of Public Works. Kevin Tonoian with the City of Santa Clarita is in attendance as well.
Newhall Land Update – Alex.
1. Nothing new to report at this time.
Guest Speaker – Dan Freeman from Maintenance District 7 at CalTrans
1. Dan fields a lot of complaints about landscape and pavement, but pavement is something that Dan likes talking about.
2. Local CalTrans district is one of 12 districts. They are responsible for 1100 miles of freeway. This is the most lane miles among the 12 teams.
3. 900 maintenance workers are involved in taking care of the roads.
4. Pavement deficiencies – 26% of lane miles are distressed at any given time.
5. Categories are as follows: 40% major distress, 50%+ minor distressed, and the rest is considered
6. POOR RIDE QUALITY IF THE ISSUE.
7. This problem centers around a lack of money. Some of the freeways are 40 or 50 years old, and their life expectancy was only intended to be 20 to 30 years.
8. What is CalTrans doing to fix this???
  1. Pavement survey
  2. Identify projects that need to be done
  3. Taking advantage of funding sources that come up
  4. Do emergency projects first
  5. Coordinate with locals jurisdictions because they have their own budgets to consider and utilize.
  6. Try to find innovative ways to fund projects now.
9. 29% to 30% of the roads are in this area.
10. Los Angeles County Transportation Commission [MTA]
I-5 Pico/Lyons Beautification Project - Kevin Tonoian, City of Santa Clarita reporting
1. Pico / Lyons project is part of MTA "call for projects". They are preparing to submit for $1.5M application ($1.2M grant and the local match takes it to $1.5M) application.
2. Applications are due April 17^th, 2009
3. Support would be appreciated from the Town Councils.
4. Motion made to write a letter in support. Motion seconded. Vote was unanimously in favor of the project.
Community Updates:
1. Westridge update:
  1. None at this time.
2. Southern Oaks:
  1. None at this time.
3. Sunset Point:
  1. LMD update from Chuck O’Connell. Project is moving ahead and everyone is generally happy with the project. Rosalind W indicated that the County has been very happy with the process that this Town Council has gone through in this project, and the County is using this as a model example for other projects.
4. Stevenson Ranch Update
  1. Neighborhood Watch meeting to be held at 7pm at IHOP in Santa Clarita on April 16^th, 2009.
Governmental Exploratory Committee Update
1. IFA was completed December 2008 and was reviewed by both City and County people. 72-page report has been waiting for City’s "Option Comparison" document.
2. Meeting on April 13^th
3. May 7^th is the first presentation of the IFA at a community meeting at Stevenson Ranch multi-purpose room. The following week, there will be another meeting on May 12^th at the Castaic Middle School auditorium as well. Meetings will be two hours long and a professional facilitator will be part of the meeting. If you are concerned about this community, then you should attend these meetings. This report will quantify the value of our community.
4. County General Election on Novermber 3^rd will include three options: 1) keep status as-is, 2) negotiate an annexation into the City of Santa Clarita or 3) pursue formation of standalone city.
New Business
1. Letter received from Think Santa Clarita promotional campaign. They are creating a campaign to promote the whole valley to encourage the people to do business locally from start to finish. Marketing materials are being prepared for distribution. The letter requests participation from the Town Council.
  1. Dave Bossert suggested that this letter is an afterthought. This letter can be taken as possible a bit of an insult given the timing. Dave suggested that we should be a part of it even though the Town Council was made into an after-thought.
  2. Randy asked where Dave got his ideas about an "after-thought".
  3. Meeting will be the 24^th at 3pm at the City Hall in Santa Clarita.
Public Comment
1. None.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:02pm