Honey, I Shrunk the Leftovers

From City Manager John Pietig's weekly update:

Food Waste Diversion Pilot Programs – Armed with food dehydrators and other gadgets, Laguna Beach is expanding a pilot program to cut the amount of restaurant waste sent to the landfill. The Montage and the Tommy Bahamas restaurant began processing food waste onsite in 2010. Food dehydrators are used to shrink food waste up to 90 percent by drying it at 180 degrees for about 18 hours. The output resembles coffee grounds and is used as a fertilizer by the Montage. Waste Management recently began offsite food waste collection after testing the program at the Montage. Food waste is collected at the Montage, Albertsons and the Katsuya Restaurant four times per week and transported to Waste Management’s food and organic recycling facility in Orange. Using a separation process, contaminants are removed from the organic waste, which is then turned into organic slurry that can be mixed with other liquids to create green energy. The Broadway by Amar Santana Restaurant will participate in this program starting next month. Waste Management will also provide carts for food waste collection at the Taste of Laguna and Community Expo event.

Heisler Park Interpretive Sign Series Successfully Installed Along Heisler Park Walkway – A coastal-themed interpretive sign series has been installed along the seaward trail of Heisler Park, from Diver’s Cove to the stairs above lifeguard headquarters. The six signs are full-color depictions with themes covering the kelp forest, ocean pollution, tidepool habitat, tidepool animals, seabirds and marine mammals. The signs were designed by the Marine Safety Department in collaboration with Water Quality, installed by the Public Works Department, and funded by the Heisler Park grant.

Laguna Canyon Road Resurfacing – During the first three days of this week, Caltrans was grinding pavement on Laguna Canyon Road to prepare for adding a layer of new asphalt. This work caused considerable traffic problems. The remainder of the work will be done at night to minimize traffic problems. There will be daytime work for striping near the end of the project in November. The traffic detection loops have been removed at the Festival traffic signal and at Canyon Acres. The signals will operate on a timed basis until the loops are replaced in November. Because of this, the signals will go through a complete cycle whether or not there is traffic or pedestrians.

Code Enforcement Supervisor Departs - Code Enforcement Supervisor Joe Trujillo has accepted a code enforcement manager position with the City of Santa Monica. We wish Joe the best in his new position. A recruitment is underway to fill this position.

Fallen Firefighter Memorial – On Oct. 1, the annual memorial for California’s fallen firefighters will be held at the Memorial Wall in Sacramento’s Capitol Park. David Lopez will perform with about 200 other bagpipers. Lopez will represent the Laguna Beach Fire Department while off-duty and will fund the trip through donations and his own money.