Board Attendees: Janice Santos, Parliamentarian; Chris Nevil, President; Wendy
Averill, 2d VP; Michelle Rudo, Treasurer; Elizabeth Pollock, Recording Secretary
Guests: Lydia Athan, Anne Rice, Don Dombrowski
There are 11 members of the Board of Directors (officers and directors), and
therefore, we need six voting members in order to have a quorum. We did not
have a quorum, and thus, no action could be taken at the meeting itself. We
agreed to poll the board electronically to resolve certain matters. All matters
not discussed below were tabled until the next meeting.
Approval
of Minutes: The March board minutes were already circulated electronically.
The four voting board members at the April 3, 2006 meeting voted to approve
the March minutes as circulated. The remaining board members are requested to
vote electronically.
Approval of Treasurer’s Report: The March report was circulated electronically
before the meeting. There were no transactions during March. The four voting
board members at the April 3, 2006, meeting voted to approve the March report.
The remaining board members are requested to vote electronically.
Police/Crime
Report: Mary Anderson of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council was not present, so
we do not know if she attended the March meeting as planned. Chris Nevil will
contact her and ask her for a written report and whether she can report to us
regarding the April meeting as well.
Traffic
Committee: DRNC’s Mike Stafford is organizing these. Chris Nevil will
attend the April 5, 2006 meeting, which will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Westchester
municipal building, 7166 Manchester Ave.
On March 31, 2006, Chris Nevil met with Playa Vista and a representative of
the Department of Transportation, and they spent an hour discussing how to reinstate
the left turn arrow at Inglewood and Jefferson. If there have been changes in
the design standards since the left turn arrow was last activated, that will
set off a whole chain of events. Getting the arrow reinstated will be “complex,
but may happen,”according to Chris Nevil.
Topics
Not On the Agenda:
Chris Nevil said that Playa Vista representatives have always acknowledged to
him that they had agreed to contribute $300,000 to mitigate the parking problem
that will be created when the south side of Jefferson is no longer available
for parking. As it has been recognized that the money will not be sufficient
to buy land or build a parking structure, it may need to be used to create a
preferential parking district and to soundproof some of the buildings along
Jefferson. Discussions of this topic have been open-ended because no clear solution
has presented itself. Ideas?
Don
Dombrowski said that it was decided last week that Home Depot on Jefferson will
close because the landowner there wants to build housing on the property. As
a zoning variance will be necessary, this may open another opportunity to get
a park built. The Home Depot probably will move to Jefferson and La Cienega.
Later in the meeting, Don Dombrowski also reported that when the Playa Vista
construction work is digging up the former Hughes Aircraft facility, it may
be releasing hydrogen sulfide into the air, rather than having it treated. He
also noted that the new 12 inch gas line that is being installed down Jefferson
Blvd. is to service the Playa Vista development. The Gas Co. sent out notice
of their work on March 20, but it did not arrive until April 1.
The planned work on the Centinela Ave. bridge also has not been completed.
Newsletter:
It is not yet ready and will need to be delivered to our members by April 12,
in order to give 15 days’notice of the dues proposal. Chris Nevil will
check with Steve Knight about the status of the newsletter.
General
Meeting: The planning committee will meet again next Monday, April 10, at 7
p.m. at Marlene Savage’s home. The meeting will be on Thursday, April
27, at 7 p.m. at Marina Middle School. The exhibitors will be set up by 6:30
p.m. For some reason, it has been difficult to confirm speakers for this meeting.
U.S.P.S.
Facility Park Task Force: Congresswoman Jane Harman has written to the Postmaster
General, urging that preference be given to the candidate(s) who will consider
the local community’s interests in building their project. To date, none
of the bidders have said they will set aside parkland.
DRHNA
Boundary Change: It was agreed that if the DRHNA received a petition with 50
signatures favoring annexation to DRHNA of the unaffiliated part of the DRNC’s
Area A by April 15, 2006, the board would then draft a resolution and vote on
whether to annex that area before the April 27, 2006 general meeting. Without
the annexation, no one from that area can run for a DRHNA directorship at the
general meeting.
We do not know how many residents live in the proposed area to be annexed, so
we could not require signatures from a certain percentage of the local residents.
Trailers
As Housing: Chris Nevil circulated the letter that he proposes to send to the
local police captain and to Councilman Bill Rosendahl regarding the trailer
problem. We approved the writing and sending of this letter at our last meeting.
The four board members present approved of the letter, which probably should
be posted on the website. (Editorial comment from the recording secretary)
Director
Positions: Please consider if you know any local residents that might be good
board members. Can we ask Sherry Routier to suggest someone from Mar Vista Gardens
who might be good?
Gifts
Policy: We tabled discussion of our gift policy until the May board meeting.
Chris Nevil will give the treasurer, Michelle Rudo, written instructions so
that she can issue the check to Feral Feline Alliance in honor of Kathy Briar’s
service and the check to Charlotte DeMeo to cover the community garden work
that was done in honor of Guy Doeh.
Cell
Tower at Inglewood and MacDonald: Our letter did get submitted to the Zoning
Administrator before the Thursday, March 30, 2006, hearing. Anne Rice, who lives
near the proposed tower site, reported that the file has been left open for
another week so that Cingular can make a showing that it did make a good faith
effort to “co-locate”in another, more commercial, area.
There are three main issues with the Cingular application: (1) Cingular’s
environmental assessment was just a checklist and did not fulfill the requirements
of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); (2) Cingular had to prove
a need to erect the tower, but they have “high”coverage in the area,
so why is the tower needed?; (3)Cingular must prove that it made an effort to
co-locate the tower in a more commercial area.
Anne Rice has testing equipment and has been measuring the existing amounts
of Electromagnetic Force (EMF) in our area. There is a large tower at the Pacific
Division police station and another at Centinela Avenue and Jefferson Blvd..
Cingular would like to have towers spaced one quarter of a mile apart. There
are eight towers within a three mile radius of Inglewood and McDonald, and 80
towers within a 10 mile radius of that location.
The Zoning Administrator had written a tentative denial on the grounds that
the proposed tower was “not in keeping with the general plan” of
the City of Los Angeles and was not of benefit for the residents of the area.
Rather, the tower would benefit people traveling through Del Rey.
Once there is a decision, the losing party will have two weeks to appeal to
the City Planning Commission and then that decision can be appealed to the City
Council.
Anne Rice will write a short article for the newsletter. She can be contacted
by email at ankami@gmail.com or on her mobile phone, (310) 927-2980.
For information about filtering devices that can be put onto cell phones, go
to www.lessemf.com.
Gate
Across Service Road: Don Dombrowski reported that CalTrans built a new service
road from Centinela to Ballona Creek, parallel to the Marina Freeway. This road
is unlit and runs along the back of about 100 homes on Sanford Street. Don would
like us to write a letter supporting his request that untoward use of the road
be reduced by putting a gate across the entrance to it. Don Dombrowski will
provide Chris Nevil with specific coordinates so that it will be clear where
the gate should go.
Starbucks
Property: No word on the status of the conditional use permit application, but
the property has a healthy crop of weeds. Maybe try calling the Fire Department
and have the owners cited, as was done with the vacant lot at Inglewood and
MacDonald?
Reportedly,
there has been an explosion in the rodent population along Jefferson Blvd. between
Centinela Ave. and Inglewood Blvd.. Is it because many of the feral cat colonies
have been eliminated during the past year?
Responsiveness
of Councilman Rosendahl’s Office: When we talk with Councilman Rosendahl
and/or his staff, we need to advise them that some constituents have sensed
a reduction in responsiveness by the office, and that needs to be addressed.
NEXT BOARD MEETING ON MONDAY, MAY 1, 2006, AT 7 P.M.