Politics & Government

Two-Week-Long Lane Closures Coming for Coast Hwy. Also: Free Compost!

And more from city manager John Pietig's weekly update.

Laguna Beach City Manager John Pietig's weekly update:

$450,000 State Grant Comes Through! – Orange County staff has informed the City that contracts for the long awaited grant will be forwarded to the City for execution.  The Proposition 84 Integrated Regional Watershed Management grant will serve to partially fund the replacement of one of our oldest lift stations located in the Rockledge neighborhood.  The project also consists of replacing the gravity pipelines that are in poor condition.  The construction is slated to begin in late September and to be completed in December 2012.

Main Beach Lift Station Reconstruction Project – The Main Beach Sewer Lift Station project has been under construction for approximately five months with minimal traffic interruptions.  Beginning next week, the contractor will be closing the Coast Highway southbound slow lane from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for approximately two weeks.  The closure will allow the removal of the sidewalk between the new lift station and the south easterly corner of the Inn at Laguna to install the piping from the new lift station to the existing piping that leads to the intersection of Coast Highway and Aster Street.  During the lane closures, the sidewalk will be closed during the day with pedestrians routed between the Inn at Laguna and the Lifeguard Headquarters.   The sidewalk will be open during the evenings and weekends.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Annual Weed Abatement Deadline – May 18, 2012, is the deadline for noticed property owners to abate weeds.  If weeds are present after the deadline, the City will abate the hazard and recover the costs through a property tax assessment.  Please Call Fire Prevention Officer Ray Lardie at 949-497-0756 if you have any questions.  

Debris Wall Construction Behind City Hall – Construction of a debris wall behind City Hall began this week. The work will involve construction of a 6’ to 8’ high wood lagging wall to collect sliding soil and boulders from the steep slope above. Code Enforcement staff have been temporarily relocated from the trailer by the slope to the Recreation building. The work is planned to be completed in June.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Compost Giveaway in May - The annual compost giveaway event will be held on Saturday, May 12 from 8:00 a.m. to Noon at the Act V Lot at 1900 Laguna Canyon Road.  In appreciation of the recycling efforts by Laguna Beach residents, 10 tons of compost will be made available for pickup by residents. The compost is provided by our contract solid waste hauler, Waste Management of Orange County and their green waste recycler, Tierra Verde Industries. Empty sand bags will be provided, which residents can fill with compost.  There will be a limit of six bags (about 80 lbs.) per household.  Distributions are on a first come first serve basis.

Edison’s Work on Laguna Canyon Road Postponed – Southern California Edison plans to replace the high voltage transmission lines and 85 utility poles from the Toll Road to the substation near the Festival Grounds. The work that was planned to begin soon has been postponed until September to avoid impacting traffic through the spring and into the summer.

Glenneyre Lane Closure Next Week – Work on the Glenneyre Parking Structure rehabilitation project will require the closure of the No. 2 southbound traffic lane of Glenneyre in front of the parking structure. It was expected to be done this week, but difficulties of groundwater will cause this work to extend through next week. The lane closures are from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. No significant traffic delays have been experienced. The lower level of the parking structure will also be closed during those days and hours.

Big Belly Trash Compactor Grant Application Not Selected – In January, the City Council authorized staff to submit a $50,000 grant application to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for the purchase of up to 10 solar powered trash compactors. There were 69 grant applications received and only 40% were successful. The City’s grant application was not selected. City staff will continue to seek similar grant opportunities.

Proposed Sewer User Charge Increase Notice – A notice was sent out to inform affected property owners of the proposed increases.  Public notices were mailed by first-class postage on or about Tuesday, April 17, 2012.  Notices were posted to the mailing addresses of over 9,000 property owners.  Pursuant to State law, if more than 50% of property owners protest (over 4,500); the rate increase must be abandoned.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here