Belmont Shore Residents Association
MINUTES
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
December 10, 2015
The meeting was called to order by President Terence Endersen at 6:00 pm. The other members of the Executive Board present were: Ray Bradford, Aileen Colon and Julie Dean, as well as Treasurer Robert O'Connor. 15 additional BSRA members and visitors were present. Vice President Max Alavi was absent and excused.
Bay Shore Librarian Debi Vilander gave the library minute announcing that there would be a meeting at Marina Park at Appian Way regarding El Nino preparations, with the help of CERT and Long Beach Fire Department. She also advised that the Long Beach Public Library annual report statistics show that Sunday Library Hours have been a rousing success. Bay Shore Library was the pilot location and now Burnett and North neighborhood libraries are also open on Sundays. All three locations are open from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m.
The agenda for this meeting and the minutes of the November 12 meeting were approved.
LBPD East Division Commander Griffin provided the following information:
Third District Councilwoman Price’s office updates from Jack Cunningham included:
Belmont Shore Business Association update:
Parking Commission update:
President’s Report:
Treasurer’s Report:
Currently bank balance is at $3686.00.
New Business/Public Comment:
Submitted by:
Julie Dean, Executive Board
MINUTES
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
December 10, 2015
The meeting was called to order by President Terence Endersen at 6:00 pm. The other members of the Executive Board present were: Ray Bradford, Aileen Colon and Julie Dean, as well as Treasurer Robert O'Connor. 15 additional BSRA members and visitors were present. Vice President Max Alavi was absent and excused.
Bay Shore Librarian Debi Vilander gave the library minute announcing that there would be a meeting at Marina Park at Appian Way regarding El Nino preparations, with the help of CERT and Long Beach Fire Department. She also advised that the Long Beach Public Library annual report statistics show that Sunday Library Hours have been a rousing success. Bay Shore Library was the pilot location and now Burnett and North neighborhood libraries are also open on Sundays. All three locations are open from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m.
The agenda for this meeting and the minutes of the November 12 meeting were approved.
LBPD East Division Commander Griffin provided the following information:
- Holiday safety tips: there are generally more crimes during the holidays. Dogs are good deterrents, as is walking in pairs. LBPD caught a perpetrator in a different Division who was approaching victims with a gun and asking for their wallet and phone. Commander Griffin advises residents that NO property is worth your life.
- Drug offenses were a little higher in the last month compared to normal. Commander Griffin believes that is partially due to CA Proposition 47 which reduces certain drug possession felonies to misdemeanors.
- Assaults: on Santa Ana, domestic-related, drunk guy partying who got punched and had his wallet stolen; on Livingston, neighbor vs. neighbor, mutual battery; Ocean & 54th at entrance to Peninsula, guy walking to meet up with friends and got jumped by two white guys who beat him with a bat. There have been similar situations to the bat assault and the police are following up; additionally an LBPD front yard meeting occurred.
- Robberies: on Ximeno, male walking when five males very boldly jumped him and stole his wallet; at Granada deli & liquor, two black males, had a gun, proprietor gave them the store’s money, which was a small amount; on Bay Shore, a person met someone online and had them come to their house, after the couple had relations, the Bay Shore resident was robbed with a gun and beaten up, there was a loss of $200.
- Residential Burglaries: keep attached garages, bedroom windows, windows open shut and locked and keep valuables out of view from potential burglars.
- Drug Arrests: on 2nd Street there was a citation given for marijuana; in Naples there was an arrest made for someone who was smoking meth on 2nd Street on a bench.
- East Division LBPD is working with Jack-in-the-Box on transient issues.
- On 2nd & St Joseph at approximately 1045pm (near Nick’s) there was a robbery, although it was cited as a racial homophobic incident. Two guys were walking alone and were approached by two male perpetrators who tried to get their wallets and cell phones. LBPD believes this was a random crime and that the men were not targeted because the same two perpetrators approached a woman earlier in the evening. The victims screamed, pummeled the perpetrators and fought back. One of the men was stabbed and punctured near his lungs. Neighbors came outside and pulled one suspect off and the suspects fled. The suspects were both thin male Hispanics in the 20-30 age range. Again, Commander Griffin advises this is very bold behavior.
- Melinda Cotton suggested that some of the meter profits could be used for guides, like those in downtown Long Beach.
- The East Division LBPD is expected to move into the historic Army Reserve Center, Schroeder Hall. This new substation should be open the second week of January.
Third District Councilwoman Price’s office updates from Jack Cunningham included:
- Traffic safety has been a big push in the Third District.
- Broadway Study update: traffic engineering installed five radar speed signs along Broadway and a new crosswalk with rectangular rapid flashing beacons at Newport. FYI, these were committed to in September.
- New Rest-in-Red Traffic Lights on Ocean Blvd coming soon: Rest-in-red basically means the stoplight “will always be red, with speed detectors set before the light to read your speed. Should you not be following speed laws, the light will remain red and therefore make you come to a complete stop. If you are traveling at the correct speed limit, the light will turn green, permitting you to pass.” The rest-in-red lights will possibly be only during overnight hours and will possibly apply to all of the stoplights between Alamitos and Livingston.
- Repave Ocean Blvd: all pavement elements are completed and they are now fixing imperfections. Sidewalks are also all done and the team is on pace to complete Dec 24th. FYI, the bike lane was put in to slow down traffic.
- Ocean Blvd Traffic Study update: Suzie’s office will have more updates available in early February. It should be a pretty quick study and the results should be available in early 2016.
- Resident question regarding Laverne & Ocean: the city is trying to delay adding stop signs on Ocean Blvd until after the study is completed because they need to make sure it’s cohesive with everything else they’re putting together. Resident advised that recently a dog was killed at that intersection and that a neighborhood petition was submitted to Suzie Price seven months ago.
- Resident request: Sandbags are available only from the fire station and, understandably, the fire fighters are not often onsite. A request was made that the Conservation office be available to residents for sandbag retrieval.
Belmont Shore Business Association update:
- No update.
- No December BSBA meeting.
Parking Commission update:
- At the last meeting an approval occurred to repair 2 big belly trash containers on 2nd Street.
- New trees will be installed on 2nd Street. Due to the drought, there has been too little water and some of the trees have become distressed, but the Parking Commission has received approval for more water. Seven trees died and the one in front of Brix is gone. There was no vote to replace them at the last meeting; an item must be on the agenda in order to take a vote/action.
- No Parking Commission meeting in December.
President’s Report:
- Be prepared for El Nino and attend the community meeting on Monday December 14th at Marine Park on Appian Way from 7-8pm.
- Saint & Second has filed an application to extend alcohol sales by one hour.
- The December 1st City Council meeting addressed Alfredo’s by forgiving part of Fred Kumar’s debt and lowering his rent on the pier. He has had the contracts since 1996 and complained about the recession in 2008 and the Coastal Commission always turning down his requests.
Treasurer’s Report:
Currently bank balance is at $3686.00.
New Business/Public Comment:
- Resident Request: There should be a discussion regarding the minimum wage proposal at a future meeting. The business community has a certain view and the BSBA has had the floor several times to discuss the BSBA viewpoint, but in order to remain fair and balanced and to clarify misinformation, there is a recommendation that the other side be allowed to discuss increased living wages. City Council has not made a determination of what a new minimum wage would be or what businesses would be impacted based on number of employees. More accurate information should be provided and maybe the Councilwoman’s office can help in this matter. Per Jack Cunningham from the Councilwoman’s office, every indication is that it will pass at $15.00 (it is currently $9.00) phased in over several years. Jack will check on future public meetings.
- Resident Comment/Request: He spent the last six years dealing with Gary DeLong’s office, the BSBA and the Belmont Shore Parking Commission in regards to jaywalking, skateboarding and bike riding on the sidewalks. He has met with Bill Lorbeer and requested that they install ADA blister pads on all of the sidewalks and intersections in order to stop skateboarding. He suggested that the BSBA have Belmont Shore Angels (similar to DTLB Guides) in order to stop these people with warnings or citations. He’s been advised this topic will be on the next Belmont Shore Parking Commission meeting agenda. He feels that now is the time to apply pressure, if you feel strongly about this issue.
- Resident Comment: She attended a 45 minute workshop in the 8th District that trained residents on rain barrel usage. Many of us don’t have room for rain barrels, but some of us do. If you are interested, they are $85/piece but you can get a very good rebate from the County water district (not Long Beach). This way when rain arrives and you have a plot of land or plants, you can save rain water from your rain gutters to water. They have 82 gallon terracotta or 85 gallon black rain barrels.
For more information, please go to: http://RainBarrelsIntl.com
Click on Events and you see a list of upcoming trainings and/or barrel pickup dates
Or call 919-602-6316 and ask about the rain barrel product. - Roe Restaurant Chef and Owner: They are excited to say that Roe Express is open and doing well and the restaurant is scheduled to be open by late Spring. Their hours are 11a-10p, 7 days a week.
Submitted by:
Julie Dean, Executive Board