TheFoothillsForum

The council office has identified funds that could potentially be used to purchase VERDUGO HILLS GOLF COURSE!!!!! Proposition O funds.

OMG!!! That is HUGE!!! We need to attend an open meeting of the Prop O Oversight Committee that will be deciding the fate of Prop O funds. This is HUGE.

WEDNESDAY May 18th at 2PM City Hall EAST on the 15th floor
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE LETTERS, WE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT LETTERS WE CAN MUSTER.

Address them to the Prop O Oversight Committee or Paul Krekorian.

BUT do not mail them, email them or fax them. We'll get the specifics on that to you. Stay tuned.

This is a case of the loudest and most proven need will get the funds. All those meetings you attended, the hearings, it all comes down to this little committee so call out the town crier and get the letters pumping pronto!!! This is an amazing opportunity.

Car pool!

Look for a more complete brief and update from the Save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course group!

That's right, Tomi!

The Verdugo Hills Golf Course is being considered for Prop O funding. A proposal will be made to the Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee on Wednesday, May 18th.

Proposition O, which was passed by City of Los Angeles voters in 2004, is designed to fund water projects that protect water quality, clean up pollution in the city's waterways, beaches and the ocean, helping the city meet requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act.

Rich Toyon touched on this in his concept drawing of a Verdugo Hills Golf Course Regional Park, implementing techniques recommended by Audubon International,including storm water retention and groundwater recharge.

The specifics of the proposal will be made public at the May 18th meeting.

Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee Meeting
2-5pm, Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Main Street, Room 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Prop O Website:
http://www.lastormwater.org/Siteorg/LAPropO/index.htm

Wednesday’s Agenda: [Note Item #3]
http://www.lastormwater.org/Siteorg/LAPropO/sitefiles/docs/COAC/2011/COAC_Agenda_2011-05-18.pdf

Background Info for Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee:
http://www.lastormwater.org/Siteorg/LAPropO/sitefiles/coac.htm

This is great news. I sure hope the funding can be secured. A regional park with a golf course would be such a great thing for the valley.

Suggested points to highlight from Abby Diamond of STA: (It's all about the WATER and being able to use this property to capture the water)

They should send comments before end of day Tuesday.

Address your comments to:

Prop O Oversight Committee

Send email to:

karo.torossian@lacity.org

*Thanks to Councilman Krekorian for this opportunity to possibly secure Prop O funds for the Verdugo Hills Golf Course.

*The VHGC is ideal for this type of project because it is essentially open space and recreational land use located in the upper area of the Los Angeles River Watershed where the water flows from the San Gabriel and Verdugo Mountains.

*The water from this area feeds the Verdugo Wash (Reach 2), a tributary of the Los Angeles River.

*This is the one of the least urban portions of the Los Angeles River Watershed.

*This project at this location will revitalize and increase the health of the Los Angeles River and its eventual discharge into the Pacific Ocean.

Keep writing. The Oversight Committee had a positive response to the project and are getting more technical information to review it more thoroughly. There were more than a few who voiced very positive feedback. We're on their radar and we managed to jump on ...the train!! We should, in my opinion, keep sending our letters. These are very sharp environmental hawks with an eye to water capture and reuse. Very cool program. They seemed to very much like the idea that we can change LA's image from water wasteful to a model of water recapture!! So keep writing them and the more technical you can be about what aspects of this project make this a good one, the better. It must be clear to the committee that it is a correct use of Prop O funds. I must say after perusing their web site I feel very strongly that this is a project MADE for VHGC.

Here's the web site so you can read up on the criteria and get the history of what Prop O is and is for.

http://www.lapropo.org/sitefiles/criteria.htm

Here's an example of a great proposed project that was initiated through community activism by neighbors near the Expo light rail line near Cheviot Hills. There is good probability that this project will be green-lighted: Expo - Westwood Botanical Garden

Here are some links on the subject for research and related concepts and terms (courtesy of lighrailforcheviot.org):

Daylighting: New Life For buried Streams
Biofiltration (Wikipedia)
Stone Canyon Creek: Ballona Watershed Context (great powerpoint!)
Stone Canyon Creek Project in Westwood (.pdf)
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for Urban Runoff and Stormwater (City of LA)
Stormwater Program (City of LA)
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project


I'm sure there are many others, but this is a start...

That's good advice, Tomi!

If you haven't written a letter, please do. Ask friends to also write. The more letters sent, the better. You can email Paul Krekorian at:
councilmember.krekorian@lacity.org.

Or you can write to him at:
City Councilmember Paul Krekorian
200 N. Spring St., Room 425
Los Angeles, CA 90012

And thank you, db, for sharing the Bureau of Sanitation Watershed Protection Division paper on the Expo - Westwood Botanical Garden db's post includes other good links. Very good stuff!

P.S. If you write a letter or email, please forward us a copy to info@savethegolfcourse.org for our files. Thanks!

PROPOSITION “O” GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS

ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

Thursday, May 26, 2011

11:00 a.m.

City Hall East

200 North Main Street, Room 1500

Los Angeles, CA 90012





The Prop O Administrative Oversight Committee meeting agenda was posted on the city’s early notification system.

The agenda, linked below, includes the two golf courses. If you have any interest and are available, please attend the meeting at City Hall. It’s the same room we were in last week.



This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Prop O process and to also let the city know that community members really do care about the VHGC. Nobody drives downtown unless they really need to!



Please let me know if you will be going to the meeting as we’re trying to get an idea of who might be able to attend. If I’ve overlooked anyone who was at last week’s meeting or someone else who you think would be interested in attending, please let me know.



Thanks!

Karen



Agenda: http://ens.lacity.org/cao/propoadmincom ... 262011.pdf



Early Notification:

http://www.lacity.org/SubMenu/ENSEarlyN ... /index.htm





Karen Keehne Zimmerman

V.O.i.C.E.

STNC Land Use Committee

SaveTheGolfCourse.Org