Plans approved for Nyes Place

The City Council approved more improvements for Nyes Place on

Tuesday, though safety issues on the street will likely continue to

attract the attention of neighbors and city officials.

“We’re not done with this,” said Nyes Place resident Charles

Michael Murray.The City Council approved plans from the Public Works

Department to reconfigure the curve from South Coast Highway to Nyes

Place and build sidewalks along two short sections of the street. An

idea to build a concrete median was modified to using a stripe to

divide the road.

City staffers estimated the curve project could cost $50,000 and

the sidewalks could cost $145,000. The City Council will have to

appropriate funding for both projects in the future, and officials

expect the sidewalks will be funded in next year’s budget, with money

for the curve coming the year after.

“These projects will be done in the next two years,” City Manager

Ken Frank said.

The council also approved three of five ideas proposed by Nyes

Place neighbors. The council voted to install striped medians at

lower Nyes Place, add a stop sign at the curve that marks the

boundary between the upper stretch of the road and lower Nyes Place,

which is steeper, and to build speed tables at lower Nyes Place.

Speed tables are raised sections of road, like long speed bumps, that

are designed to encourage motorists to slow down as they drive over

them.

The city has money available to implement the improvements in a

short time, Frank said.

A proposal to build a runaway truck ramp has been discussed since

last December, but has never been approved. Councilman Wayne Baglin

has consistently opposed the idea, since he believes a safe ramp

cannot be built at that location.

“I can’t think of anything that makes sense with this, I think we

should be taking this off the list,” he said.

-- Andrew Edwards

Maxi-meter being tested in Laguna

That bright yellow box that sprouted recently on the City Hall

lawn is a parking meter.

“It couldn’t have passed design review,” contractor Gregg Abel

said. “It’s awful.”

The City Hall maxi-meter and a couple of others tucked into

parking lots are being tested for 60 days at no cost to the city as

replacements for the old-style meters.

“This is a pilot program to judge how the public reacts to a

single meter in lieu of multiple meters, the color and the ease of

use,” City Manager Ken Frank said.

The City Hall meter has fizzled twice since it was installed a

week ago.

“It has not been reliable to date,” Frank said. “It doesn’t

instill a lot of confidence in me.”

Repairs were expected to be completed this week.

Two attention-getting signs touting the meter will sprout again on

the City Hall lawn when the meter is operational. Numbers have been

painted on the curb of the parking spaces to correspond to the

numbered slots on the meter panel.

Each machine is good for 15 to 20 parking spaces, unless there are

only eight or nine spaces on the street, and would cost $10,000 each,

according to Public Works Director Steve May. That would mean at

least two, if not more, on each side of Forest Avenue between South

Coast Highway and Third Street.

“Maintenance is a push,” May said. “It would take about the same

level of effort to maintain them and collect the money.”

The meters are also being tested in New York City and San

Francisco.

So far it has failed with locals.

“When I saw it go in, I wondered how long it would stay,” said

City Clerk Verna Rollinger, whose office looks directly out at the

city’s new lawn ornament.

Steve Kawaratani said Design Review Board members stopped in their

tracks Thursday before their weekly meeting and gaped.

“From my perspective, the location and the color would not get my

vote,” Kawaratani said.

Planning Commissioner Norm Grossman said the meters might not

require review by the commission in the Downtown or the board in the

rest of town.

“It’s not a structure,” Grossman said. “But I would hope the

location and the color could be as unobtrusive as possible.

“The Downtown Specific Plan does encourage getting rid of parking

meters, but it doesn’t encourage ugly ones,” he said.

The maxi-meter takes dollar bills and quarters, which City

Treasurer Laura Parisi will reconcile with the meter count.

“Instead of the quarters going straight to the bank, the bills and

the coins will come to my office once a week,” Parisi said. “It makes

more work for us, but I would think it would be more convenient for

customers who are parking.

A quarter gets you 15 minutes. Old-style meters only take

quarters.

“If it’s a choice between that color and that location and the old

parking meters, I’ll take the old ones,” Mayor Cheryl Kinsman said.

Frank said that public comment would be welcomed.

Written comments can be delivered to City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.

Oral comments may be made during the public communication period at

the beginning of City Council meetings.

-- Barbara Diamond

City will take on hazardous pond

A stagnant pool of urban runoff below Bluebird Park could become

an unpleasant memory as early as today with the scheduled completion

of a plan to eliminate the foul puddle.

The pond, at the bottom of a grassy ravine just outside of the

south end of Bluebird Park, was a dark, cloudy pool covered with a

green layer of algae. A large metal pipe empties to the base of the

ravine and the water collected below.

The artificial pond probably formed after someone placed large

rocks at the end of the pipe preventing the water from flowing out

from the puddle, City Engineer Steve May said. The water has stood

about 2 feet deep and 10 feet in diameter.

“People like to see if they can change the face of the earth in

their own small way,” May said.

The plan to get rid of the unwanted pond was fairly simple, a

contractor was hired to clear rocks that prevented water from flowing

away and more granite was added to raise the ground level, allowing

runoff to trickle down from the pipe, parks and buildings manager

Victor Hillstead said.

Work started Monday, and by Wednesday, four tons of granite had

been laid down, Hillstead said. He anticipated the total amount of

rock used would come to about nine tons, all of which had to be

carried down the steep hill leading to the water.

The cost to install the rocks was about $2,000 Hillstead said.

At the Sept. 14 City Council meeting, Councilman Wayne Baglin

called the pond a drowning hazard and called for immediate work to

eliminate it. Local environmentalist and City Hall regular Roger von

Butow also spoke against the pool at the meeting, and held up a sign

that had been posted to warn that the water could be hazardous.

-- Andrew Edwards

Flea Market will benefit Village Laguna

Village Laguna will hold a flea market with items including

antiques, collectibles, toys clothing and electronics.

The group is a local nonprofit that supports slow growth

development policies. Village Laguna’s civic activities have included

aid to disaster victims, providing scholarships to high school

students and supporting candidates running for city and school

offices.

The flea market will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the

parking lot at the Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann’s

Drive. Donations may be dropped off at the flea market by 7:45 a.m.

Saturday. For more information, call (949) 494-4137.

Financial planner to speak at eague

Certified financial planner and Laguna Beach resident Laura Tarbox

will discuss financial planning at sessions of the “It’s Your Money”

workshop series.

The seminars will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. today and Oct. 1 at the

Assistance League Center, 547 Catalina St. For reservations and

information, call the Laguna Canyon Foundation, (949) 497-8324.

Garden Club hosts monthly meeting

The Laguna Beach Garden Club will hold its monthly meeting with

guest Robert Smaus, who has worked as gardening editor for Sunset

Magazine and The Los Angeles Times.

He is the author of “52 Weeks in the California Garden” and will

discuss “Gardening by the Seasons.” The meeting will begin at 9:30

a.m. Oct. 8 at the Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann’s

Drive. For more information, call Nancy Englund at (949) 497-9086.