City Manager’s BIWEEKLY BRIEFING April 19, 2016 ADMINISTRATION Town Hall Meeting with the City Manager—The City Manager and various City Staff members met with the Rosedale Community this past Tuesday to engage in a meaningful conversation. About 45 residents attended the event and learned about the exciting development projects happening in the City. Residents had the opportunity to share their concerns and ask questions regarding public safety, the Gold Line, traffic concerns and parking logistics. Stay tuned for the next meeting with the City Manager in your area. Details to follow. Report a non-emergency—Do you need to report a non-emergency? Don’t dial 911 instead call (626)812-3200. The Police Department will gladly assist you. Upcoming Events Need a ride to the Gold Line Station?—Take advantage of the 50¢ shuttle service to and from the Gold Line Station available to residents Smart Gardening Monday through Friday on a first-come, first served basis. For more information or to Workshop— make a reservation please call Azusa Transit at (626)812-5206. April 30th 9:30 a.m. Call to Pre-Register There’s an APP for that!— Azusa 24/7 is an Integrated Mobile APP, available for a (626)812-5198 free download at the APP store or Google Play store. The APP allows easy access to the City's website and to various web functions, such as push notifications, utility bill The Spring Thing payment, "Click it and Fix it", agendas, and other interactive features creating a virtual Family Festival— City Hall experience from your smartphone or tablet. Download it today! May 15th 12:00 p.m. Ready, Set, Go—The Los Angeles Fire Department encourages residents to be Memorial Day— May prepared in the event of a brush fire. For those living near current incidents, be vigilant 30th City Facilities and keep the TV or radio on. Make certain to have all family critical papers, phone data Closed pets, and other valuables ready to evacute if directed to do so. Ready, Set, Go is an important program designed to help resident’s family stay safe. For more information The Biweekly Briefing visit www.lafd.org or click here. is a publication from the City Manager’s City Council Walkabout— Due to the forecasted rain on April 9th , the City Council Office. For questions or Walkabout was canceled. The walkabout will be rescheduled at a further date. Details comments, please to follow. contact: City of Azusa Scholarship— The City is offering scholarship opportunities to qualified [email protected] first time Azusa residents pursing a post secondary education at an accredited college, university or trade school. Applications are available at www.ci.azusa.ca.us. City of Azusa 213 East Foothill Boulevard Azusa, California 91702 626.812.5200 www.ci.azusa.ca.us 1 BIWEEKLY BRIEFING LIGHT AND WATER April Clean and Green Month—Take advantage of FREE mobile shredding service offered to Azusa residents and businesses: Azusa Shred-A-Thon April 23rd and September 24th 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. * Azusa Light & Water Parking Lot 729 N. Azusa Avenue, Azusa CA 91702 Please note: • Prepare to wait in line • Bring your utility bill or ID card with Azusa address • Wait while shredding or drop off and go • Request a certificate of destruction if needed • Limit documents/paper to 10 file drawer size boxes • First come, first served * Note: Although we hope to be able to accommodate everyone, the event will end once the truck reaches its capacity. For more information, please call (626) 812-5198 or (626)812-5225. More Solar Energy for Azusa—Azusa Light & Water continues actions to meet the State's renewable energy targets. The "Kingbird B" solar project located in Kern County, developed by First Solar will begin making deliveries to ALW on April 28th. ALW contract for this project was signed in September 2013 for three megawatts of solar power (or about 9 million kilowatt-hours per year). Other project participants are the utilities in Riverside (14 MW) and Colton (3 MW). Water Supply Update—Azusa Light & Water's water system is delivering about 14 million gallons a day to customers. Under the State's mandatory water use restrictions, local water user's have achieved a cumulative 19.7% reduction of water usage since June 2015. Up until now, customers have reduced water usage by 18.5%. We thank our customers for everything they have done to reduce water usage as California struggles through drought conditions. City of Azusa 213 East Foothill Boulevard Azusa, California 91702 626.812.5200 www.ci.azusa.ca.us 2 BIWEEKLY BRIEFING LIGHT AND WATER Lower EV Charge Rate on Off-Peak Hours—The Electric Vehicle Off-Peak Charging Rate (Schedule EV) provides an incentive to residential Azusa electric vehicle owners to charge their electric vehicles customers between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., seven days a week. The EV charging rate provides a .05 cent per kWh discount for electricity use over 50 kWh a month during these hours, with an upper limit of 500 kWh. Since inception, over five dozen residential electric customers have purchased electric vehicles and have taken advantage of this rate. Visit our website www.AzusaLW.com or call (626)812-5225 for more information. Credit and Debit Card Payments Now Accepted at AL&W Counter—Good news! Azusa Light & Water now accepts credit and debit card payments when paying utility bills at the cashier counter. There is no additional fee for this service. Also, ALW will no longer charge convenience fees, which had been $3.25 or more, when paying a utility bill online or over the phone using a credit or debit card. In the first week of implementation, ALW received 206 payments from customers using credit or debit cards of which 70% of the payments were made over the phone. In the future, we expect more payments using credit cards as more customers discover this option. Two Days a Week Watering Begins April 1st —Water customers of Azusa Light & Water are reminded that two days a week watering is in effect from April 1st to October 31st. City of Azusa 213 East Foothill Boulevard Azusa, California 91702 626.812.5200 www.ci.azusa.ca.us 3 BIWEEKLY BRIEFING ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Planning Commission Meeting— The following item was taken to the Planning Commission on April 13, 2016: Code Amendment No. 240—The amendment proposes to amend Azusa Municipal Code Sections 74.466 and 88.36.130 as they relate to the parking of commercial vehicles on public and private properties. The amendment may include changing the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVC) and possibly allowing commercial vehicles to be parked in private residential properties with certain restrictions. Action: Recommending approval to City Council for adoption. Business Climate Survey— Azusa Business Owners are invited to participate in the Business Climate Survey for a chance to win a FREE business license renewal. Visit www.nextstopazusa.com to take the survey. City of Azusa 213 East Foothill Boulevard Azusa, California 91702 626.812.5200 www.ci.azusa.ca.us 4 BIWEEKLY BRIEFING ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Permits and Plan Checks—March 2016 Permit Type #Permits Plan Check Type # Permits Commercial Alteration Combo 17 Commercial Other 1 Commercial Other 1 Demolition 1 Demolition 6 Electrical 3 Electrical 13 SF Addition 1 Mechanical 6 SF Addition Combo 2 MF Remodel 1 SF Remodel 1 Occupancy Inspection 9 Photovoltaic System 2 Photovoltaic Systems 4 T.I. 1 Plumbing 15 Total 12 Reroof 14 Residential Other 3 SF Addition Combo 4 SF Addition 1 SF New Combo 3 Azusa SF remodel 3 Your Next Stop SF Remodel Combo 11 Looking to relocate or Sign 1 expand your business? Special Inspection Residential 16 Interested in saving at Tenant Improvement 1 least 20% on your monthly Total 117 electric bill? If so, why not consider City of Azusa as your next stop to locate your business. City of Azusa 213 East Foothill Boulevard Azusa, California 91702 626.812.5200 www.ci.azusa.ca.us 5 BIWEEKLY BRIEFING FINANCE Total Road Improvement Projects—Pavement repair costs are on the rise and over time, the cost to repair a street dramatically increases as its condition degrades, turning minor maintenance jobs into major reconstruction projects. Therefore, maintaining and improving City streets early offers the opportunity for substantial savings. To assist with funding such maintenance and improvements, the California Statewide Communities Development Authority offers a pooled securitization program to assist local agencies in bonding against future payments to obtain funding for more projects today. On March 31st, the City, in partnership with the City of San Fernando, issued Total Road Improvement Project bonds (T.R.I.P) for the purpose of enhancing traffic control and expediting improvements to deteriorating roads within certain areas of the City. Since the City partnered with the City of San Fernando in issuing the bonds, Azusa will benefit from reduced issuance costs and better interest rates as compared to issuing stand-alone bonds. Additionally, the program does not require a pledge of General Fund revenues; rather the cost of the bonds will be paid using Measure R Revenues allocated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”). Below is list of projects approved by MTA with expected completion dates by 2018: Project Component Description of Project Component Estimated Cost Traffic Signal Improvements Equipment, radios, controllers, wiring/conduit, $1,740,000 wireless communication, countdown pedestrian heads, pikes, CCTV, 12” traffic signal heads. Central traffic control system Construct a Traffic Control Center that will allow 140,000 staff to remotely monitor and control the signalized intersections.