Foothills Sentry Page 2 FEBRUARY 2025 RELAX jadtec.com $1595 /mo as low as SECURITY JADTEC Protecting your family, home and business from burglary, fire and medical emergencies. We’ve got you covered! 714 282 0828 | jadtec.com aco 4202 Orange will explore annexation of El Modena county island The Orange City Council agreed, Jan. 14, to explore the financial implications of annexing the El Modena county island into the city. The possible annexation was introduced by Councilwoman Ana Gutierrez, who represents that area. She noted that the city’s Strategic Plan includes annexing county islands as a goal and, because the process is expected to take two to three years, it should begin now. Gutierrez specifically referred to El Modena, but noted that the county portion of Orange Park Acres is another candidate for annexation. She asked staff to work with LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) to look into the costs, and what county contributions could be expected. She also noted that she had introduced annexation of El Modena in 2020, and that a subsequent study (2021) used data from 2016 and 2017. That, she said, needs to be updated. Ask first Councilman Jon Dumitru agreed that the City of Orange needs to be whole, but that El Modena residents should be surveyed before the city gets too far along in the process. “If we find out 70% of the property owners are against it,” he explained, “then it stops right there. If 70% are in favor, then we move on.” Denis Bilodeau added that any annexation over 75 acres is subject to protest by residents. The El Modena island, at 150 acres, could be protested if residents aren’t in favor of it. He agreed that local opinion should be sought early on. Gutierrez offered that many El Modena residents are not even aware that they do not live in the city. When made aware, they express the preference for a city, not county, connection. She added that LAFCO will communicate with residents. Dumitru said that he didn’t want to leave resident outreach up to LAFCO, that the city should do “everything it can to be transparent.” Half and half Third generation El Modena resident Sammy Rodriquez provided a brief history of the process that annexed half of the barrio into the city in the 1960s. There were no streets, no infrastructure at the time, and both the county and the city recognized that it would be too expensive for one entity to upgrade the entire area -- so they split it in half. “That worked back then,” Rodriguez said, “but 60 years later, the whole barrio needs to be part of Orange.” Mayor Dan Slater related that, “county islands are the height of government inefficiency,” and that they will all be part of the city at some point. “We need to start the process,” he said. “We can decide later whether to survey the community or not. El Modena needs to be part of Orange.” “We’ve already started working on it,” City Manager Tom Kisela advised. “We’ve already been talking to LAFCO.” While the El Modena barrio, above, was the primary focus of the city's annexation discussion, North El Modena, above right, and Orange Park Acres, below right, are also candidates for transfer from county jurisdiction to Orange. The process is expected to be long and laborious, but the city has already talked to LAFCO, the agency responsible for such boundary changes about next steps.
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