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Foothills Sentry Page 2 APRIL 2024 RELAX jadtec.com $ 15 95 /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 Taft Library is not closing Orange Councilwoman Kathy Tavoularis set off a firestorm when she asked that a discus- sion of the sale of Taft Library be included on the Feb. 27 council meeting agenda. The impending “sale” spread quickly over social media, alarm- ing Taft Library neighbors and patrons. Aware that the city cur- rently faces a budget shortfall, residents perceived the discus- sion item on the agenda as a very real threat to the library. A dozen people came to the council meet- ing to defend the facility. Tavoularis appeared mortified that her request to discuss the Taft Library triggered such a passion- ate response. Her intent, she said, was simply to discuss the facility. “There is no proposal, no plan,” she stressed. “The library is unde- rutilized. The building is worth a lot of money. Is there a better use for the facility? It’s my responsi- bility as a city council member to raise the issue for discussion.” Library users, library board trustees, foundation members and parents, however, attended the council meeting armed with pre- pared comments intended to get “on the record.” Despite Tavou- laris’s assurances that the library is in no immediate danger, the public made it clear that closing it is not an acceptable option. Speakers noted that the library budget is small, and the city will not save a great deal by cutting there; and, the Taft Library is an important part of the community, offering services and programs within walking distance of hun- dreds of homes. Library Trustee Peggy Calvert pointed out that the library of- fers programs in French, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese; helps job seekers with resumes and in- terview skills; hosts Red Cross blood drives, and a mobile eye clinic. It holds cultural celebra- tions and game days for all ages. “It’s a people’s library,” she said. Others reiterated the value of an “educated community” result- ing from readily available books, computers, crafts and programs. “The item was listed on the agenda as ‘sale,’” Friends of the Library’s Jim Dickenson pointed out. “That’s unfortunate termi- nology. That’s what upset the public. Maybe we should be talk- ing about how to help the Friends raise revenue and increase us- age.” “I felt the same way when I saw the agenda,” Councilmem- ber Ana Gutierrez noted. “We have a duty to promote a literate community.” The council agreed that closing the library or selling the property was not on the agenda, now or in the future. “I’m not interested in closing the library,” Denis Bi- lodeau said, “but the discussion keeps us on our toes.” Jon Dumitru added that it was incumbent on the council to look at all city properties periodically, and that’s what they were do- ing. “We had to encourage dis- cussion,” Tavoularis explained. “Your comments reached a lot of people today. This is what the council is supposed to do.” Mrs. Roper’s Romp comes to Orange Fans of the TV series, “Three’s Company” of the late 70s and early 80s, have brought one of the shows characters, Mrs. Roper, back to life by donning caftans, wigs and outlandish jewelry and going pub crawling en masse. The craze began in New Or- leans about 10 years ago, and quickly spread to cities all over the nation. Mrs. Roper caught the attention of TV nostalgia buffs because she was ”progressive, freethinking and a voluptuary.” She’s also easy to recreate with simple costumes and fuzzy wigs. The local romp, dubbed the Caftan Crawl, graced the City of Orange March 2. The American Legion was the first stop for the approximately 150 participants, because it was large enough for a group photo. The throng of Mrs. Roper look-alikes then broke into smaller groups to visit the District Lounge, Paul's Cocktails, 1886 Brewery and O'Hara's Pub. Old fire department headquarters to be demolished The City of Orange is moving forward with plans to demolish the former fire department head- quarters on Grand Street, but is deferring the proposal to turn the site into a parking lot until a pub- lic meeting can be held. The old fire station is 50 years old. City studies of the facility found that it is seismically vulner- able, has no historic significance and is not viable for other com- mercial uses. It has been empty since September 2022, when the fire department moved into its new headquarters on Chapman. The city considered turning the property into a parking lot, which, combined with adjacent parking areas north of the site, would create 119 parking spaces. That’s a 77-slot gain, and would increase parking options in Old Towne. The council was asked, at its Feb. 27 meeting, to give city staff the go-ahead to solicit propos- als for the demolition work and finalize plans for the parking lot extension. Before the council discussion on the topic began, Old Towne resident James Kushon voiced his objections to the parking propos- al. “Where is the study that says this is necessary?” he asked, add- ing that “there’s been no traffic study, no environmental review. A lot of traffic will use South Or- ange Street, some of it going 50 miles per hour. I will be directly impacted by this. What about oth- er options that could go there?” Mayor Pro Tem Arianna Bar- rios agreed with his assessment, noting that the council had prom- ised residents that nothing would be done on that site without a public hearing. “We talked about it four times,” she said. “Yes, the fire station needs to be demol- ished, but we promised a conver- sation about what to do with it. Could it be a pocket park? Can we protect entry into neighbor- hoods?” Barrios suggested that the tear- down project be separated from the parking lot planning, that the council could vote on one, but not the other. Mayor Dan Slater acknowl- edged that Old Towne needs more parking, but supported the idea of community discussion. “Can we approve the first part (demolition), but move the sec- ond part (parking) forward until we have that public meeting, get community input and then bring it back to council?” The council agreed that the ag- ing headquarters building had to be razed no matter what the next step might be, and voted 6-0 to approve the demolition. Old Orange Fire Department headquarters at 176 S. Grand