February

North Park Maintenance Assessment District

Community Advisory Committee Minutes – February 13, 2017.
Meeting called to order at 5:04 pm

1. Roll Call:

Present: Rob Steppke – North Park Redevelopment Project Area Committee (PAC)
Jody Surowiec – North Park Historical Society (NPHS)
Peter Hill – North Park Planning Committee (NPPC)
Jean Samuels – Burlingame Neighborhood Association (BNA)
Steve Aldana – El Cajon Blvd Business Improvement Association (ECBBIA)
Jake Romero – North Park Main Street (NPMS) (5:09)
John Crago – City Staff

Absent:
City Council Rep .
Eva Miller – Altadena Neighborhood Association (ANA)

2. January minutes – Item #11 amended (“Blue Skies” corrected to “San Diego Power Cleaning”) Peter moved to approve amended minutes, Jean seconded. 4/0/1 (Steve)

3. Chair Report: Reminder of nominations later in the agenda. Nominations for the April elections – Peter/Chair, Rob/Vice Chair, Jean/Secretary

4. Non-agenda public comment: None

5. Councilmember’s Report – None.
Chloe Madison will be the person to cover North Park to replace Adrian.

6. St Luke’s Church request for trees on their property – The city has a new provision for planting. Nothing can be planted 5 feet from the street, or 5 feet from any utilities. John met with the city arborist at the site. There is concern that this provision will affect future plantings.

7 Twinkle lights – Three weeks ago the junction box was broken and unplugged. During testing John found that all the trees had their wires cut. A video had been reviewed showing the methodical act intentional. NPMS will replace the wires, and cameras will be stationed to record future vandalism. There will be no fixes until the cameras are installed.

8. Red Sidewalk color matching – City Engineers are negotiating a price reduction with Ramona Paving which doubled their original estimate.

9. Tile replacement on the sidewalks – The contractor (Wirtz) was to begin the work, but the city is contractually bound to Ramona Paving who originally bid the project.

10. Streetscape maintenance – Blue Skies is under contract until 6/30, the contract is up for bid after that. It is anticipated the bid will come in higher than the previous provider (Land Care) with a more realistic scope of services and frequencies. John analyzed the previous frequencies relative to group 1 and group 2 tree needs and is updating the map and number of trees. The board agreed it was in the best interest of the district to move forward without a lapse in service. Additionally, John is looking at a gro power plus soil wetting agent that would help maintain soil moisture. The board also discussed the growing homeless problem as it relates to performing needed services in the district. Angela Landsberg from NPMS commented that the police are not uniform in their response to the various situations as it frequently involves the property owners and where exactly the alleged violation takes place. issues with homeless people interfering with power washing and general maintenance.
The map of the number of trees is being updated.
11 of the 12 solar street lights are not functioning. Money is budgeted for repair. Two on Florida, and two on Idaho have gotten citizen complaints. One on Alabama was falling over after the last storm and was cut down. Yesco is the contractor.
The trash can that was removed from Herman and University still has not been relocated.

11. Service/maintenance schedules – John talked to the board regarding the 11 (out of 12) solar streetlights not working. For the most part, the problems involve the batteries are not holding a charge and in some cases, the controller device is not working properly. The labor charge runs $135 an hour just for checking the lights. The repair cost ranges from $1000-1,600 per light (not including labor) depending if batteries, controllers, or both are replaced. Money is budgeted for repair, estimated to run between $5288 and $6733 but not a precise number. Two on Florida, and two on Idaho have gotten citizen complaints. Additionally, one on Alabama was falling over after the last storm and was cut down. This location would require expensive new technology. Yesco is the contractor. The Chair will put this item on the March agenda to allow for Brown Act notification and public input.

12. Acorn streetlights on El Cajon – John’s investigation revealed the lights are not working due to never being energized. He has set up a meeting to get the process underway.

13. Proposal for MAD joining the NPPC – After a lengthy discussion it was decided to table the subject. The proposal will be put on the NPPC agenda for 2/21. MAD members may attend that meeting to address questions and/or concerns directly to the NPPC board.

14. Nominations for 2017 Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary – Rob nominated Peter to be Chair; Jody nominated Rob as Vice-Chair. Rob discussed the importance of the Secretary position to accurately record the actual motions and the spirit of the discussion with specific detail serving the group in future discussions requiring some history. Revised sidewalk replacement policy – No discussion

15. Next agenda items – Joining the NPPC.

Meeting adjourned at 7:21 (Jody/Peter). Next meeting – March 13, 2017