Foothills Sentry - October 2024

NEWS INSIDE A Monthly Community Newspaper OCTOBER 2024 Letters Page 8 Canyon Beat Page 11 Service Directory Pages 12-13 Classifieds Page 14 Obituaries Page 15 Community Sports Page 18-19 The Best News In Town Since 1969 FOLLOW US at Foothills Sentry DISPLACED FROM HOME BASE Local wildlife is losing habitat, room to roam and safe passage to make way for housing See These Hills, page 10 A FINE FAIR THEE WELL Annual international food fest transforms Old Towne Orange on Labor Day weekend. See photos, page 20. WRITE IS MIGHT Readers weigh in on local ballot choices, from a sales tax to board members vying in November. See Commentary, page 7, letters, Page 8 CANDID CANDIDATES With four council seats in Villa Park and a treasurer race in Orange, those in the running hope to earn your vote. See Villa Park, page 6; Orange, page 9 SWEETWATER REVIVAL Hometown water district opens new well, PFAS treatment plant, and moves out of its old trailer into a new building. See EOCWD, page 17 See "Crossing guards" continued on page 3 See "OCCA" continued on page 5 See "Chandler" continued on page 4 The Woman's Club of Orange celebrated the 100th anniversary of its clubhouse on Sept. 16. In addition to comments from Mayor Dan Slater, Congressman Lou Correa and Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez, the group welcomed a surprise guest, Carl Peters. Peters is the grandson of M. Eugene Durfee, the architect who designed the clubhouse 100 years ago. The Orange Chamber of Commerce announced that the WCO was chosen as the Nonprofit Organization of the Year for 2024. See WCO, page 12. Crossing guards will be reinstated in Orange By Tina Richards “I want you to know that this city council listens to its citi- zens,” Mayor Dan Slater told the audience at the Sept. 10 Orange council meeting. “We try to serve the public the best we can, and I’ve heard you. I’m convinced we need to reinstate the crossing guard program.” Slater’s pronouncement con- firmed the council’s willingness to reverse its June 8 decision to cut the crossing guard program from the police department bud- get, as it attempted to reconcile the city’s budget deficit. Councilman Denis Bilodeau had opposed cutting that program all along, and brought it back to the council for reconsideration in August. Bilodeau gained the support of councilmembers Ana Gutierrez and Jon Dumitru, and encouraged a groundswell of public comments that stretched over three council meetings. Parents, teachers and concerned citizens implored the council to bring back crossing guards in the interest of public safety: specifi- cally, the safety of young chil- dren walking to school. Guards not in the cards Commenters were particu- larly outraged that the council was poised to approve a cost- of-living increase for city man- agement while also debating the city’s continued support of Treats in the Streets. “There’s a difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’,” El Modena sophomore Sultan Raman stated. “Children’s lives are at risk. The proposed management raises would cover this program.” Others noted the city’s liabil- ity if a child were to be injured in an unguarded crosswalk; that guards not only protect children, they slow traffic; and that cutting the program may not be illegal, but is immoral. Police Chief Dan Adams re- minded the council that he was tasked to cut $1,000,000 from his budget. “We are not abandoning children,” he said, “we just can’t afford it. Criminals don’t stop. I need cops.” He explained that ap- plicants were not flocking to fill crossing guard positions. While the department has been budgeted $425,000 for 39 positions, only 16 were filled. Last year, the depart- ment spent $254,000 on the pro- gram. Safe passage There is no law that requires the city to provide crossing guards, Adams noted. As far as public safety, he said, “We held two meetings on that topic, and only 10 people attended.” Adams suggested that if the council wants to continue the program, it could consider out- sourcing it. He had spoken to one company, ACMS, that currently provides crossing guards to 20 OCCA withdraws application for high school on Peralta site By Tina Richards Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA) withdrew its application for a conditional use permit (CUP) to install modular classrooms, offices, patio covers, a theater structure and make site improvements on portions of the Peralta property licensed by the Orange Unified School District for that purpose. The withdrawal came on the heels of a 39-page noncompli- ance letter from the Orange Planning Department, detailing what OCCA needs to provide to bring it into compliance with city codes. The biggest setback for the charter school was its plan to use 30 temporary structures for class- rooms. Orange Municipal Code restricts the use of modular struc- tures for classrooms or offices to one year. That temporary provi- sion cannot be renewed. OCCAwas granted a license to use a portion of OUSD’s Peralta property, including an existing gym, for a charter high school by the OUSD Board of Trustees only a month before two trustees were recalled. Board members Rick Ledesma, Madison Miner, An- gie Rumsey and John Ortega ap- proved the deal, wherein OCCA would control the property for up to 25 years. Board members Kris Erickson, Ana Page and Andrea Yamasaki voted against it. Ledes- ma and Miner were recalled in March. OCCA’S plan was to open the campus for its first high school class in August 2024. It has been paying the district $22,916 per month, but was unable to get city approvals in time to meet that goal. At the Sept. 12 OCCA board meeting, OCCA Director of School Development and Culture Mike Davis reported the City of Orange would not allow the use of modular classrooms, and that the charter had no interest in building permanent structures on that site. Although the Peralta site belongs to the school district, the City of Orange has ultimate land use authority over it because it ceased being a public school. School districts have land use au- thority over property that houses schools, hence the long-term use of portable classrooms on OUSD campuses. The Peralta school closed in 1985. It remained the property of OUSD, but land Orange acquisition of Chandler “pit” was a citizen- led effort By Tina Richards It took the Orange City Council about 10 minutes, Sept. 10, to ap- prove a deal between the city and Chandler LLC that gave Orange 14 acres of natural open space, in exchange for rights to expand the company’s landscape supply business on Santiago Canyon Road. But it took six years to get to that point. Chandler proposed the open space for an expanded business footprint deal earlier this year. It was deemed a win-win situ- ation for all involved, and the city began working on the com- prehensive land use, zoning and permitting details needed to make it happen. Chandler’s willingness to give the city the acreage that nestles between Santiago Canyon Road and Cannon, abutting San- tiago Creek, was applauded and embraced by East Orange resi- dents. Chandler is the new local hero, looming large in the hearts and minds of the community. But that was not always the case. Chandler bought what was known as the Hurwitz property in 2016. Four years later, it bought the adjacent Blue Ribbon Nurs- ery at 1425 N. Santiago Boule- vard. The Hurwitz property is an abandoned mine pit that has long since been reclaimed by nature. It is home to native plants, wildlife and, when it rains, a wetland that supports frogs and fish. Kids used to fish there Rubble rousers Chandler planned to fill in the depression with construction waste and bring the “pit” up to