HomeMy WebLinkAboutREVIEW STREET RECONSTRUCTION PETITION PROCESS - H- ITEM - KE0 i �� �
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CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
City Council Interoffice Communication
To: Honorable Mayor and. City Council Me ber
From: Keith Bohr, City Council Member
Date: July 17, 2006
Subject: H-ITEM FOR AUGUST 7, 2006, CITY COUNCIL MEETING —
REVIEW STREET RECONSTRUCTION PETITION PROCESS
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The City Council recently concluded a series of agendized discussions concerning
street reconstruction projects.that were initiated by citizen petitions. During these
discussions over the past six months, it became clear that the process is in need of
revision so that the limited resources of the city can be best distributed to those streets
that are most in need of reconstruction.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
I recommend that the City Council take action to:
Freeze the current street tree petition list for six months. The current order of
work will continue on the established list, but no further citizen -initiated petitions
will be accepted during this period.
2. Direct staff to work with the City Council's Beautification, Landscape and Tree
Subcommittee, to develop a comprehensive, amended process that will:
(a) Equitably deal with those streets on the established petition list.
(b) Ensure that new streets added to this, or a similar petition list, are ranked
according to relative need, and ensure that the rules of the revised petition
process are clearly enumerated to minimize any misunderstanding of the
process or the city's responsibilities.
xc: Penny Culbreth-Graft, City Administrator
Paul Emery, Deputy City Administrator
Bob Hall, Deputy City Administrator
Joan Flynn, City Clerk
Robert Beardsley, Director of Public Works
�'�7 06
Page 1 of 1.
Ross,Rebecca_
From:. Dapkus," Pat
Sent: Monday,. August 07, 2006 11:58 AM
To: Flynn, Joan
Cc: Ross, Rebecca
Subject: FW: Agenda Item H-2a
For tonight's Council meeting_
----Original Message -----
From: bridget byrne[mailto:gila5byrne@earthlink.net]
Sent:, Monday, August 07, 2006 11:24 AM. -
To: city.council@surfcity-hb.org
Cc: Pat Dapkus; Cathy. Fikes,
Subject: Agenda Item H-2a
Councilmen Rohs and other Council Members as someone who has been on the tree petition list for 12+ years I
urge you to vote no on this item. On my email sent on 8i3/06, (below) I outlined those concerns. Attached you
will find photographs of the gutters in front on my house and two of my neighbors. It is not fair to change this
processes now as some of us have been waiting many years. By the way the Street Department has be very
helpful, doing an intensive street sweeping cleaning of the gutters today.
Thank You,
Bridget Byrne
Dear Council Members,
Upon reading an article in the Huntington Beach Independent I was informed of the item submitted by Council
Member Bohr.
As a 42 year resident of the city and a 23 Year resident of 5032 Pheasant Circle who has been trying for 18 years
to get.the city to fix our curb/gutter and get rid of the'tree's causing the problem. Finally about 12 years ago
residents on our street signed.a petition to get the tree's removed. Currently I am #29 on the list, so far 26 streets
have been done this year, next year I move up to #3.
I have algae and god knows what else growing in my gutter. Street cleaning does nothing anymore, just too
much water and the tree has pushed up the curb even more causing pooling. This is a health and safety issue,
the algae is very slippery. My Mother is over 70 and my Father and my Father-in-law are both in their:80's, they
could fall in this. Navigating over the "creek" means you have to take a large step or jump. Sweeping it out is
also dangerous as I was quite surprised how slippery it was. .
I "want my street repaired and l-don't want to get bumped. I have played by the rules and followed the city's
guidelines for the.petition process.
Fill free to contact me for any question's, I would appriciate it_
Sincerely,
Bridget Byrne
714 894 9253 home
714 329 3929 cell
8/7/2006
In. L.X,. Morley Can Pave, the,,
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nomoney for sidewalk repairs.
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For more than two decades,
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maintenance backlog,
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y -,
city crewsresponded to home -
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the the city allOWs-property -
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owners complaints by of udng
Owners to step t0 the
ry d� �f _.7
1O>! 5O Miles of cp2'YO OOOJJS Number o*
temporary asphalt patches to
cracked sidewalks. No perma-
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head Of the Illle if they
city sidewalks in Los Estimated cost of property owners who
nent repairs were made
Angeles repairs, per mile* . participated in the
"Our sidewalks have been de-
. ro
- , -
foOthalf the bill-
'
prdgraa', first year
"
5,000 $1,300
cayingforthe past 30 years;' said
Shoup, who a taste of the
By IVIenTxx Gaovixs
Average
Approximate number - cost to property - 600 Projected
got
problem when he rented a mo-
-
r.
Times se¢n tvriler
ofmil-infired.f ,, - ownerwho numberof property " -
torized scooter for his visiting
-, �l.
'- repair participates- in the owners who will
sister,. who has multiple sclera-
-
-
Paul Koplin simply wanted
his two
�] 50/50 program participate this year
HJ
sis "'She couldn't use it on the
-u
-help
children be able to ride
their scooters safely on the side-
Number of years -
it would take the city
sidewalks," he said.
City officials said they turned
e�
J,
-
walk in front of their Pacific Pali-
at current funding -
to the 50/50 system after other ef-
-
- strl'
sades house. But the walkway
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levels to fix ever thin
y g •a rp i- c i -- ..
forts to gain funding for repairs
g g P
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$Ill
was cracked and uneven, with
huge •
that needs fixing now k,,p6simt,
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failed, Including parcel tax pro-
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sections raised several
metres by tree roots.
s eTimes,,ep¢>tfngGr¢phcsrep¢>[�rzp6yNarthaGmues
posal that voters rejected in the.
lae1990s.
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tag
They have fallen,' he said of
ied
z.—venm
In fiscal 2006, the City Council'
a
-
his children. "Every time they go
-
began funding permanent re-
7 -
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- By
out, -someone has to be there to
turbed that the city would re- "I do think it's unfair that we
pairs to comply with changes in
.rim
tell them they can't go as fast."
quire property owners to help have to.pay for something the
the 1990Americans With Disabil-
'+ - t 'i-•=
-called
ver feel cityay he But
ies Act. In the st ar, 26
nwere a
1.
several monthe erlcre s with
should be a routine service. he general consensusaup and
miles of sidewalks fixed
SI,
backhoes and cement mixers
Some antics also- contend down the.block.was, What are
,
That later rose to I18 miles in
to
came to grind down- tree roots
that the situation forces poor we going to do?' We had 'up-
some flush years, but energy
A 't
M
that were buckling the sidewalk,
residents to wait longer for re- heeled sidewalks." - _ ,
edsis'and post-9/il budget cuts
- vn` ` ,i•~
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flatten, the surface and pour new
.pairs while wealthier counter- Jodi Gechtman of Sherman
drained available funds. This
-' '
0
concrete.
' parts obtain almost immediate ; Oaks also was miffed about hav-
year's allotment, without contri-
g.
Now, his kids race their Ra-
.results. ing to pay, but she was grateful
butions from residents, would
-
zms'over a pristine, level walk-
"Taxpayers should not have nonetheless.. - - '-
cover 26 miles ofh7gh-priority re -
way that is, Koplin said, "as-
to fix sidewalks," said Eddie, The tree that caused her side-
pairs, particularly new schools
-
- smooth as glass."
Jones, president of the Los An- walk to buckle wag in the city-
and public buildings.
For the privilege, Koplin had
geles Civil Rights Assn., who owned ' parkwdy " between .the
"If we're able to get people to
BUCKLED UP: A couple .stroll downs damaged sidewalk on
-
to shell out $2,200 — roughly half
owns a town house in Balchm walkway and the street. "So, yes,
buy in and use that money truly,:
Cabanas Avenue in nijunga. The waiting listfor repairs is long.
thecost of the project. Without
Hills."The people of Los Angeles why isn't the city totally paying
as 50/50, we could do an addi-
-
'
his •-contribution, officials told
have to pay. high property taxes, for this?"Gechtman said.
flood) 26 miles," said William A.
,sidewalks, other communities too refined for the raggedy ter -
the family, the city might have
high gasoline taxes. We pay out However, for the $600 it cost
Robertson, director of the Bu-
have extended the 50150 eon apt rain. In [us time with the city, Si-
-
, taken as long as 80 years to fix it.
enough." her, last year's repair has "liter-
reau of Street Services.
toinclude alley paving, tree mon said, he has seen plenty of
.
Of'the city's ,10,750 miles of
City officials defend the pro- ,ally changed the front of"my
Los Angeles is the latest of
planting and removal, and curb 10s, sidewalks rendered impass-
sidewalks, officials say nearly
gram, saying it has already en-, house."' The city removed her
manycash-strapped cities to ask
and gutter repairs. able by uplift that resembles
half need some form of repair:.
- abled crews to flx mfes oftreach- dead. hquidambar and replaced
residents to help pay for, repairs.
. A Los Angeles ddewallt crew mini -mountain peaks. _
_
Throughout the city, .long
erous walltways. They point out it with a tulip tree that she said is
. Generally, the -programs have
was in action in early June in Pa- Sidewalk repair crews at -
stretches of walkway have chum-
that the city annually pays out thriving.
been well -received'.
cific Palisades, using backhoes tempt to preserve as many trees
bled from years of disrepair or
$4 million to $6 million to trip- Until about 1975, property
In some cities, however, the -
'and picks to beak up contorted as possible, removing them only
` -
been' heaved up by tree roots,
and -fall victims with sprained- ownem in -Los Angeles were re-..
arrangement has sparked con-
slabs along Almar Avenue and "as a last-ditch effort;" Simon
some the size of an elephant's
ankles or broken wrists. sponsible for repairing their own -
troversy. In Chicago, for exam-
Junaluska Way. On both sides of said. (Crews removed about 50
-
leg:'
In the 50/50'program's first sidewalks, said Donald Shoup, a
pie, the 50/50 program was re-
Junalaska, at the Koplins' and trees last year) Instead, -crews '
The wafting list for repairs is
year, which ended June 30, about - professor of urban planning at.
named the "shared -cost
.other homes; the massive root grind down the roots to allow the
so long — and the amount of
530 people signed on. Thus year, . UCLA. - City. inspectors cited
sidewalk program" after it came
systems of mature camphor pouring of new slabs.
funding available so limited —
the Bureau of Street Services ex-- owners and required diem to pay
to light that thousands of rest-
trees stei,ched above ground, Mary Peattie, who has Lived at
that city officials say it would
pacts to provide repairs for ' fortmprovdments.
debts were forced to pay for more.
with sidewalk slabs slanted pre- Almar and Junaluska for 37
•
take decades to get to allofthem.
about 600 homeowners. In the mid-t970s; when a fed-
than half of the sidewalk -re;
callously atop them. years, said getting her sidewalks
-
To speed the process, Los An-
. Even some residents who eral grant became available, the
placement cci Several cities
The operator ofayeilow back- replaced was "well worth" paying
- geles last year joined a growing
have used the program said they city offered to fix residents' side-
have modified their programs so
hoe used the teeth of the vehi- a hitless than $3,000.
-
'
numberofeities that have hill
were rankled -about having to •Walks free, and a -big backlog de-
-
that the government covers all
cle's"bucket" to scrape offold as-. The roots other camphor tree
merited shared -cost programs,
. pay.. .. veioped. The money ran out In
repair costs in low neome neigh-
phalt patches. - , on Junaluskahad notonlyraised
in which residents cover a por-
_ Pat Kuntz, who lives on Mar- 1978, butby then property own-
borhoods and areas frequented
"On a scale of 1 to lit" said - and cracked her sidewalk but
' -
tion of the repair expense to
.nice Avenue in, Tujunga, con- ers were convinced that repairs
by children. A few communities
Mark Simon,.who oversees the also tipped her chain -link fence.
. move to the front ofthe ]hoe.
tends that the city, should man---. were the government's respon-
have also offered more generous
50/50 program, "this section is The tree was saved.
-
Although residents like Ko- -
age its funds so that it can repair -sibility. (That year, the. passage
80/20 or 75/25 splits with rest-
probably air 8." He described the .: ."My children as wellasthe
_
plin welcome LA:s new 50/50
sidewalks without having to seek. of Proposition 13 capped the
dents. "
sidewalks as ."undulating;l an neighbor children. learned to
,'
program; many others are per-
help. i property tax rate, leaving the city
While L.A. focuses only on
adjective that somehow seemed climb trees on thls," she said. '