Foothills Sentry February 2023

Page 7 Foothills Sentry February 2023 The Foothill Communities Association (FCA) is a nonprofit corporation located in the unincorporated area known as North Tustin, and has strived since 1964 to preserve and enhance our neighborhoods of over 10,000 homes, the largest unincorporated area in Orange County. Please attend our annual meeting to meet your local agencies, representatives, FCA board members, your neighbors, and to discuss local concerns. For more information on the FCA and updates on the annual meeting, please visit https://www.fcahome.org/ ANNUAL MEETING March 6, 2023 / 6:30pm Orange city council embraces change By Tina Richards The new Orange City Council, led by Mayor Dan Slater, dove into the new year with a unani- mous agreement to change sev- eral long-standing council proto- cols at its Jan. 10 meeting. Those changes include: meet- ing twice a month, instead of just once; and increasing city com- mittee and commission member- ships to seven people, to allow each council member to nominate an individual for each citizen-led body. Of primary import is the planning commission, which, at five members, has, according to some council members, left parts of the city underrepresented. Slater also announced the for- mation of a committee focused on the homeless and the need to establish a shelter within the city. Charter committee members will include Councilmembers Denis Bilodeau and Jon Dumitru. Residents are encouraged to apply for city commissions and committees via the city’s website. Applications should be sent to the council as a whole. Any council member can make a recommen- dation for a committee member- ship, regardless of district. “I maintain final approval,” Slater said. “That’s the mayor’s job.” Meeting two nights The council used to meet twice monthly, but that was changed to once a month 10 years ago. The reduced meeting schedule re- sulted in long agendas that often took until 11 p.m. or later to get through. Residents who came to address a specific agenda item would often give up and go home as the hour got later and their is- sue was yet to be heard. “One meeting a month doesn’t get the job done,” Slater said. “When can we move to two meet- ings?” The council’s desire to begin meeting twice monthly in February was quashed by Interim City Attorney Mary Binning and Interim City Manager Tom Kise- la. “We can bring the resolution back in February,” Binning said, “and it can be effective March 1.” Kisela agreed to look into a The way of water Specific Plan Justin Kirk --- not the “Weeds” actor, but Planning Division Manager, OC Public Works --- was the star, all-around expert and good sport in the well-pro- duced, well-attended Tuesday, Jan. 10 performance of the Inter- Canyon League (ICL). It was a Zoom meeting hosted by ICL President and civic impresario Geoff Sarkissian, re-elected later that evening. Kirk promised spe- cifically to not be specific about one specific circumstance of al- leged illegal grading and con- struction on a historic olive-tree lined stretch of Modjeska Canyon Road. He instead offered a help- ful overview of code enforcement activities, resources, and respon- sibilities, taking questions from engaged --- and several enraged --- participants, assessing along the way both the legitimacy and practical limitations of the Sil- Mod plan. But wait! Reliably prepared Janet Wilson, ICL Land Use Committee member who knows the Sil-Mod Site Specific Plan by heart, unshyly shared its extremely specific legal prec- edent, established via a judge’s March 2019 ruling, in Save the Canyons Coalition v. OC Board of Supervisors: “… there is noth- ing in the SMSP that supports an argument that these provisions are merely general policies sub- ject to exceptions.” Neighborly and naughtily A meeting like this brings peo- ple out, and mostly brings out the best in people. Everybody’s got a story of reporting, or being re- ported on, and while residents like the Plan, some dislike the county. One Zoomer suggested a one-year code enforcement mora- torium, a period for owners with illegal or unpermitted structures, fences, or additions to fix to code without penalty after improve- ments. Kirk gently reiterated his agency’s limited resources. Confusing the word “reaction- ary” with “reactive” to describe Public Works’ mission may not have been purposeful on his part. When inspectors visit following any complaints, they seem to try hard not (!) to notice more than one specific violation. Clear as mud Jean Chapman identified de- bris and mud from the thus-far unidentified parcels as a safety threat. She resides downstream. Kirk agreed, responding that the unnamed site was being moni- tored. Private roads complicate, as in Silverado last year, where the ideological commitment to private property rights was aban- doned when folks needed help from Big Government. Jennifer Crocker offered helpful historical perspective on the property ev- erybody was talking about, or not talking about specifically, until they were. Daughter of the one- time owner of many Mo Canyon properties, she read chapter and verse restrictions and respon- sibilities falling to developers, right down to plants removed and replaced per area plan. She was disappointed at potential harm to Count Bozenta’s old trees, as was Francesca Duff, who noted their historic and symbolic importance. Code coda All pretense regarding loca- tion of the specific alleged vio- lation was abandoned after Janet Wilson asked, finally, the ques- tion everyone wanted to. How to stop development, restore the property, and assure safety from debris flow? And who’d pay for remediation from damage so far? Kirk confirmed documented encroachment on the adjacent county easement as within his purview. The county would ab- sorb costs of short-term remedia- tion. Long-term reparation would be assigned to the property own- ers. Several overly enthusiastic citizens offered to do the work themselves. Kirk indicated that at least one parcel owner had already actually sold. Correspondence between Janet, owners and the county re- garding the case was, all agreed, part of the public record after Ja- net generously offered to perform a dramatic reading of emails she’d already shared. That’s the way she rolls. Documents will soon be on the ICL website, and anybody can file a public records request. By way of follow-up on all com- plaints, specific or general, Kirk suggested always asking who the assigned officer is. If the case has been closed, its resolution might not have been “noticed” even af- ter somebody noticed. Residents can request it be reopened. Weather permitting Inspectors, Kirk promised, would be out the next day due to the rain event, a nice bit of syn- chronicity, or only obvious. The next morning, tap water was out in Modjeska, IRWD having failed to complete a routine procedure. It was back in four hours. The res- ervoir of irony is always full. Other agenda items? ICL Secretary Scott Breedon was also re-elected, after report- ing $750 raised through canyon recycling. Donate soda cans and bottles on the second Saturday of the month at the Community Cen- ter. Melody McWilliams shared news and artifacts from the Histo- ry Committee, including a photo of a handsome young Ed Fredette in front of The Castle, site of his- toric criminal hippie drug culture hijinks featuring Timothy Leary. Friends, if this exciting meeting report and civics lesson hasn’t persuaded you to join the ICL, nothing will. Voting membership means an annual $5 donation and attending three meetings. Hot water Serrano Water District reports a 40% increase in capacity at Irvine Lake. That’s about 3,500 acre- feet, with more flowing in. The lake had been at a historic low. Tom Horvath Covenant presents “From Broadway with Love” The Women’s Fellowship of Covenant Presbyterian Church will present singer/performer Tom Horvath at its monthly luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 16. Horvath’s theme, “From Broadway with Love,” celebrates Valentine’s Day. Tom Horvath is a theatrical tenor, and has performed in nu- merous productions throughout the U.S., including off-Broadway in New York, television commer- cials, and at Disneyland in the “Fantasy Faire” show. He per- forms an array of Broadway and classical music, religious hymns and soft pop. The program is open to the community, and will be pre- sented in St. Andrew’s Hall 1855 Orange-Olive Road. The doors open at 11 a.m.; the program be- gins at 11:30 a.m. Men are always welcome to attend. The cost for the program and catered lunch is $15 per person, payable in advance; reservations are required before noon on Feb. 13, by calling Linda at (951) 237- 9888. If you wish to attend the program only at 12:30 p.m., res- ervations are required; the cost is $5, payable at the door. February start, but noted that the increase “might take more staff work than we know. We haven’t done it since 2013. When we switch, we need to step up.” Modest member benefits The council also agreed that members should have the option to get medical insurance, a ben- efit not available to them in over a decade. Orange is the only city in Orange County that does not offer council members medical cover- age. Stressing that it would be "bare bones, Slater asked Kisela to come back with suggestions on what that would entail. Starting this year, council mem- bers will be paid a $600 monthly stipend, an amount based on the city’s population and established by state code. Orange council- members used to get stipends, but they (like medical insurance) were discontinued by a council vote a decade ago. None of the changes, except for the stipend, will take effect immediately. Mayor Dan Slater is joined by newly elected councilmembers Denis Bilodeau, District 4, and John Gyllenhammer, District 6. Returning members are Jon Du- mitru, District 2; Arianna Bar- rios, District 1; Ana Gutierrez, District 5; and Kathy Tavoularis, District 3. Barrios was elected Mayor Pro Tem, also by unani- mous vote.