Community Council chairman Steve Boyers began his first meeting on a high note last Thursday by re-honoring Bobbie Farberow with the Golden Sparkplug award she received in 1981. (See story, page 7.) The evening’s wide-ranging agenda challenged a realigned council, which includes new members Susan Nash as secretary, and Matthew Rodman, who was appointed under former chair Kurt Toppel to fill a vacancy as the Area 5 representative. o o o The council heard from June Payne of the Palisades AARP chapter, who proposed a motion to name the beach bike path after its creator, former City Councilman Marvin Braude. He passed away last December 7. “A group of [my] friends have been riding the bike path for years and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could name this after Marvin Braude?'” Payne said. Andrea Epstein, field deputy to City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, announced that Rosendahl had received that request “a while back” and that “it’s either happened or it’s happening.” Upon further research, the Palisadian-Post learned that State Sen. Sheila Kuehl introduced SB 1583 on February 23. The bill, which was approved unanimously by the City Council, “would name the Los Angeles County beach bicycle path, which runs 22.3 miles from its northern end at Will Rogers State Beach to its southern end in the City of Torrance, ‘Marvin Braude Bikeway’.” A resolution presented by Councilmember Wendy Greuel and signed by Rosendahl stated that “the late Marvin Braude was a visionary member of the Los Angeles City Council for 32 years and led efforts to create the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, protect Griffith Park from development; preserve the Pacific coastline, and improve air quality in Los Angeles.” Braude “was also instrumental in the creation of the city’s bikeway system and has been called the father of the Venice beach bike path, where he was often seen bicycling with his family.” The County will ultimately be in charge of implementing the change because the bike path crosses various city boundaries. o o o An update on the Asilomar Boulevard slippage was almost taken off the Council agenda during the meeting because there was nothing substantial to report, but Asilomar resident Dick Wulliger stood up and asked to give a report on the work being done on the storm-damaged area. “It’s true the city has patched the depression,” Wulliger said, referring to a large depression in the southbound lane of Asilomar. “The big problem is the slide.” The Asilomar landslide, about a quarter of a mile northwest of PCH and Temescal Canyon Road, was first documented in 1957-1958. In 1998, the city repaired the sewer beneath Asilomar because of damage caused by the Northridge earthquake, but in subsequent years city engineers discovered two weakened areas underlying the street. The hillside was further damaged during the heavy rains in January and February of 2005, which caused the federal government to declare disasters in the area. The city applied for funding to the Federal Highway Administration, asking for approval and designation of the road as an Emergency Relief project, but the application was denied in early April. Asilomar Boulevard was originally designated as a federal highway and is still under the jurisdiction of the FHWA, even though it was never made into one. The FHWA did, however, give the city some money to do minor repair work. “The city’s contractor has replaced all three sewer reaches as requested,” said Cora Jackson Fossett, director of public affairs for the Department of Public Works, in an e-mail to the Palisadian-Post on Tuesday. “These three connecting sewer reaches extend from directly in front of 15927 Asilomar Blvd., westerly to the intersection of Asilomar and Almar. In all, 675 ft. of 8-inch vitrified clay pipe (VCP) sewer was replaced with an equivalent size and amount of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. The segments of new HDPE sewer pipe were connected to each other using electro-fusion couplers, thereby insuring leak-proof joints in the mainline sewer.” Jackson Fossett explained that the sewer was replaced by open-trench excavation in the roadway surface. “Upon replacement of the sewer pipe, the trench was backfilled with a cement slurry mixture, which also insures proper compaction below the roadway surface.” She added that the city’s contractor is currently making final repairs to the roadway surface directly over the new sewer. Public Works expects this sewer replacement project to be fully completed by tomorrow, July 21. Asilomar residents like Wulliger will be watching closely to see if this repair work is successful. “I hope this will help,” Wulliger told the council. “I don’t know.” o o o LAPD Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore reported that there was a “slight increase in vehicle-related crime” in June. He referred specifically to break-ins in which laptops and iPods were stolen, and reiterated that people should not leave property in their car, or the door unlocked. The people burglarizing cars, residential and commercial properties are “looking for high-value small electronic items that are easy to sell and in high demand,” Moore said. “They’re also looking for cash and jewelry.” Council members and audience members raised questions and concerns, including how residents can learn why helicopters are circling their neighborhood and if they could be notified as to the danger level of a crime-scene investigation in their area. “The LAPD helicopter can come out for everything from a robbery in progress to a loud party,” Moore said. “It’s really hard to tell [what it is] unless the officer working that [area] takes the time to let me know.” Moore added that if residents call 911 and request police presence in their area to handle a problem, they have to tell the 911 dispatcher whether they expect to meet with the officers. Otherwise, the officers may come and go without making their presence known to the person who made the request.
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