Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 11, 2010

6


Mountain Views News Saturday, December 11, 2010

MONROVIA 
CITY 
COUNCIL 
DECEMBER 7 
RECAP

By Vivianne Parker

Special city 
business news 
mentioned the 
awarding of a 
$1 million grant 
to the City of 
Monrovia to be 
used for creating 
a park at Station 
Park area. At 
Monrovia’s City 
Council meeting 
Tuesday night, 
Mayor Mary Ann 
Lutz explained 
how the city 
earned this 
honor. “About 
four or five weeks 
ago, myself, Scott 
Ochoa and staff 
met with the State 
of California 
about the Urban 
Green Grant. 
This is a grant that targets open 
space. We showed them a space 
where we would like to have a 
park in the new Station Park 
area. It’s not a huge park, but 
we received over $1 million 
of grant money so that we can 
have the park down in that 
space.” 

 In other city news, the City 
Council heard the new revisions 
for the Park Ordinances. 
Whenever the Park Rangers 
have had to talk with guests 
about park violations, they have 
tried to educate them rather 
than have them cited. Now, 
they will soon have authority 
to issue citations as either an 
infraction, misdemeanor, or 
administrative charge due. 
This new authority is due to an 
Ordinance 2010-17, which is an 
amendment of Chapter 12.32 of 
the Monrovia Municipal Code 
relating to parks. 

 In the first administrative 
report, Michele Tompkins, 
Recreational Division Manager, 
presented the ordinance, which 
is expected to be adopted at the 
December 21 council meeting. 
From December 22 to January 
22, the public will be given 
written warnings of the new 
authority procedure prior to 
it becoming effective March 
4. The ordinance has over 
35 violations in the code from 
pouring motor oil to littering to 
violating park hours. Concern 
about the park curfews was 
expressed by motorcyclists who 
like to travel through Canyon 
Park on late night rides, as well 
as the issue of wearing helmets 
at the skate park. Education 
for parents with junior high 
and high school students was 
stressed to inform the parents 
of how the new procedures may 
effect them. 

 This new procedure will give 
the police, fire, and rangers 
equal authority to issue tickets. 
Training will be provided to 
standardize the efforts. 

 The council also heard a 
report to extend the six-month 
contract with Athens to allow 
time to determine the next 
street-sweeping contract, which 
the city has already experienced 
savings in their charge from 
Athens. 

 Ron Bow, Director of Public 
Works, presented the Water 
4 Life program, which 
encourages user incentives for 
water conservation 10% below 
their anticipated levels. The 
reduction would help the City 
meet its overall conservation 
goals to reduce usage by 10% 
by 2015, 20% by 2020, and 
35% by 2035. The program 
has goals to improve operating 
costs, reduce the demand, 
improve water supply level, 
reduce or eliminate the need for 
alternative water sources while 
educating the public about the 
need for conservation. Earlier 
at the meeting, the department 
honored fifth graders from 
Monrovia schools for their 
water conservation ideas 
submitted in an art contest. 

 In community news, the 
Monrovia Green Team 
has designed a way to help 
Monrovians with their New 
Year’s resolutions and to find 
way to go green at the same 
time. The program called 
“Reducing Our Waste Line” 
will feature a topic each week to 
encourage the residents to get 
involved with recycling efforts. 
From January 3 to 9, the focus 
will be on learning about 
recycling. From January 10 - 
16, the topic is Yard Sales. The 
city will be offering free yard 
sale permits. From January 17 
to 23, the Salvation Army will 
give free pickups. From January 
24 to January 30, Athens has 
arranged to pick up Bulk Items 
for free. 

 Eileen Frost, nurse at 
Arcadia Methodist Hospital, 
presented a new approach for 
CPR techniques to the City 
Council that stresses a Hands 
Only approach where the 
focus is to immediately apply 
compressions to their chest for 
someone who suddenly passes 
out. 

 For Holiday news, The 
Monrovia Municipal Employees 
Association continues its food 
drive through December 17 in 
the city departments to benefit 
the efforts of Foothill Unity 
Center holiday distribution to 
the public. 

 The council also had a special 
visitor at the meeting. Santa 
Claus announced his upcoming 
visit to Monrovian homes 
during the week of December 
13 to December 17. Each night, 
Santa will leave the Fire Station 
101 at 5:30 as he tours designated 
neighborhoods. December 13, 
he will travel the streets south 
of Huntington, west of Myrtle 
to Fifth. December 14, he will 
travel east of Myrtle, north of 
Foothill. December 15, he will 
travel west of Myrtle, north of 
Foothill. December 16, he will 
travel east of Myrtle, south of 
Foothill, and north of Duarte 
Road. December 17, he travels 
west of Myrtle, south of Foothill 
to Huntington between Myrtle 
and Fifth. 

 Santa also brought 
the game Monroviopoly, 
which celebrates the 125th 
year anniversary of the City of 
Monrovia which will occur in 
May 2011. The game is available 
for $25.00 at City Hall and the 
Community Center. 

 Other holiday events 
to schedule on the calendar 
feature:

The 2nd Holiday Sing-a-long 
December 15th at 6:30 p.m. at 
the Library Park Fountain. 

December 18, the Monrovia 
Library will feature concerts 
by the Filipino American 
Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Duarte Documents to District Attorney 
Rebut Chagnon Allegations

 The City of Duarte has 
submitted documentation to 
the office of the Los Angeles 
County District Attorney that 
conclusively rebuts allegations 
made by former Azusa Mayor 
Diane Chagnon that Duarte 
spent public funds to promote 
a referendum challenging the 
Azusa City Council’s approval 
of the Vulcan mining expansion 
project.

 In her complaint to the 
District Attorney, Chagnon, 
a member of the pro-Vulcan 
mining expansion group 
Canyon City Alliance, alleged 
Duarte hired the public relations 
firm, Englander Knabe & Allen, 
to promote a referendum. But 
the documents submitted by 
Duarte to the District Attorney 
confirm the work performed 
by the firm was not related to 
the referendum but rather to 
inform Azusa residents about 
the adverse environmental 
impacts the Vulcan mining 
expansion project would have 
and to encourage residents to 
attend the Azusa City Council’s 
public hearings on the project 
on May 17, 2010 and July 6, 
2010. Englander Knabe & 
Allen completed all of its work 
for Duarte prior to the July 6, 
2010 decision by the Azusa 
City Council to approve the 
Vulcan project and therefore 
prior to the referendum effort 
undertaken by Azusa residents. 

 “It’s unfortunate that 
Vulcan, through its supporters, 
has chosen to smear Duarte as 
a public relations ploy when 
the volumes of public records 
released to them and provided 
to the District Attorney confirm 
that Duarte has not spent public 
funds on the referendum,” said 
Duarte City Manager Darrell 
George. “Vulcan’s supporters 
know full well what the truth is 
and yet filed the complaint with 
the District Attorney anyway. 
We are fully confident the 
District Attorney will find Ms. 
Chagnon’s complaint to have 
absolutely no merit.”

 The complaint also 
alleged that Duarte spent 
public funds on the referendum 
because Englander Knabe & 
Allen submitted a proposal 
to Duarte to work on the 
referendum. But that proposal 
was rejected by Duarte and 
never implemented. 

 “Duarte never engaged 
the Englander firm or anyone 
else to work on or affect the 
Azusa referendum,” said 
George.

 Chagnon also alleged 
that the Duarte City Council 
illegally met in secret to discuss 
the Vulcan mining expansion 
project. 

 “Again the allegation is 
false. Any discussion the Duarte 
City Council had in closed 
session concerning the Vulcan 
matter were proper under the 
Brown Act, California’s open 
meeting law, and were listed 
on the City Council agenda as 
required by the Brown Act,” said 
George.

“This is just one more attempt 
by a group of people who will 
benefit financially from the 
mining expansion to distract 
the public from the real issue 
Duarte cares about—the 
degrading of the environmental 
quality of Duarte and the San 
Gabriel Valley because of the 
adverse environmental impacts 
that will occur from the mining 
expansion, including destroying 
our mountains, worsening our 
air quality, and injuring the 
health of all of us especially our 
children,” said Duarte Council 
member Margaret Finlay.

On July 6, 2010, the Azusa City 
Council voted 4 to 1 to approve a 
revised conditional use permit, 
revised reclamation plan and 
accompanying development 
agreement to allow Vulcan 
Materials Company to move 
its mining operations from a 
partially mined 80 acres on the 
east side of its 270 acre property 
to a pristine mountain ridge 
on the western portion of its 
property above Duarte homes 
and schools. The approval 
allows Vulcan to blast 600 feet 
off Van Tassel Ridge over the 
next 28 years to extract 105.6 
million tons of aggregate from 
the mountain. In exchange, 
Azusa stands to reap in excess of 
$67 million in advance mining 
fees, additional extraction 
surcharges and other financial 
incentives for Azusa over the 
life of the agreement to extend 
to 2038. The deal is also 
expected to generate hundreds 
of millions of dollars for the 
Birmingham, Alabama-based 
Vulcan, the nation’s largest 
producer of aggregate. 

After Azusa’s decision, 
the Duarte City Council 
unanimously voted to 
commence litigation against 
the City of Azusa and Vulcan 
Materials Company. Duarte’s 
lawsuit, scheduled to be heard 
by Los Angeles County Superior 
Court in mid-February, 2011, 
seeks to overturn the City of 
Azusa’s certification of the Final 
Environment Impact Report 
and other approvals that allow 
Vulcan Materials Company to 
expand its mining project to 
Duarte’s border.

 In 2008, the Duarte City 
Council established a $700,000 
fund entitled the “Fight Against 
Vulcan Expansion” fund (FAVE) 
in response to the anticipated 
expansion plans by Vulcan and 
its potential adverse impact on 
Duarte residents. 

For more information about the 
City of Duarte’s Fight Against 
Vulcan Expansion, call Duarte 
Deputy City Manager, Karen 
Herrera at (626) 357-7931, ext. 
221.


Azusa Mayor Diane Chagnon (l) alleges that the 
City of Duarte spent public funds to fight the Azusa’s 
Vulcan mining expansion project. File Photo


APARTMENT 
FOR RENT

753D Arcadia Avenue 
Arcadia

1 BR Refrigerator/Stove 
A/C - Carport

$1095 per month 

Call 626-893-0473

Monrovia Police Blotter

During the last seven day period, the Police Department handled 454 service events, resulting in 81 investigations. 
Following are the last week's highlighted issues and events:

Commercial Burglary

On November 26 at 8:50 a.m., an officer responded to a business in the 500 block of East Evergreen 
regarding a burglary. The reporting party said someone had broken into the business either the day 
before or overnight. The suspects cut part of a corrugated steel panel to gain entry. A loss was not 
established and the investigation is continuing.

Gang Graffiti

On November 26 at 12:21 p.m., an officer went to the 400 block of East Duarte on the report of graffiti 
in the area. The officer located the new graffiti on the southeast corner. The graffiti was gang-related 
writing in black paint. 

Grand Theft Auto

On November 26 at 4:26 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a business in the 100 block of East Live 
Oak on the report of a stolen vehicle. An employee had parked the vehicle inside the fenced yard and 
locked it. In the afternoon, they went to use the vehicle and could not find it. All keys are accounted for 
and no one had permission to take the vehicle. The vehicle is a white, 2004, Ford F350 truck.

Child Endangering

On November 27 at 8:59 a.m., a subject called to report finding a two-year-old, male child in the 
middle of the street at Shamrock and Ocean View. Officers responded and a door-to-door canvass 
revealed an open front door to a two story home. The residents did not respond to officers knocking. 
A contact for the location was called and this person responded to the location. The father of the boy 
was found to be asleep in the residence. Apparently, the parents know the child can open the door, but 
did not take any measures to ensure he could not get out. A report will be completed and forwarded 
to the Department of Child and Family Services.

Grand Theft Auto - Suspect Arrested

On November 29 at 8:09 p.m., an officer on patrol received a LoJack hit on a stolen vehicle. With the 
assistance of the Foothill Air Support Team helicopter, officers tracked the hit to the area of Mayflower 
and Duarte Road. The signal was very inconsistent and officers had difficulty locating the stolen truck, 
but after a lengthy search, the truck was eventually located at a residence in the 500 block of Genoa 
inside a garage. The officer was able to see the truck through a crack in the garage door. The activity 
drew the resident out and she was questioned. She signed a consent to search for the garage and house. 
The garage was searched and the vehicle was recovered. The VIN number had been removed and was 
found on a workbench in the garage. The woman eventually admitted her husband had driven the 
truck there and put it in the garage. She claimed she did not know the vehicle was stolen. The wife 
called and asked the husband to come home, which he did. He was arrested and taken into custody. 

Receiving Stolen Property - Suspects Arrested

On December 1 at 11:22 p.m., a resident in the 200 block of North May reported two subjects in the 
area looking into cars and checking car doors to see if they were unlocked. Officers arrived and detained 
two female juveniles, 15 and 16 years old, both where in possession of stolen property. They 
claimed to have received the property from another female subject. Officers were able to locate some 
of the victims and their property was returned; however, all of the victims could not be located. Some 
of the property taken included: several pairs of sunglasses, an iPod, CDs, and a resident's wallet and 
driver's license. 

Grand Theft Auto

On December 2 at 1 a.m., a resident in the 400 block of West Maple called police to report his truck 
had just been stolen by unknown suspects who left in an unknown direction. The vehicle is a silver, 
2007, Chevy Silverado truck. Officers responded but the suspect could not be located. Investigation 
continuing.

Duarte Dedicates Encanto Nature Park, 
Bioswale & Outdoor Classroom Project Funded

Nature and the public got an early Christmas 
gift from the City of Duarte with the long 
awaited dedication of the Encanto Nature 
Park, Bioswale and Outdoor Classroom. The 
newest jewel in the regional Emerald Necklace 
Project to reinvigorate urban river corridors, 
it is destined to be one of the most innovative 
recreational opportunities for Duarte residents 
and all those who love the San Gabriel River. 

A bioswale is a constructed stream channel 
that conveys storm water to the ocean slowly 
allowing water to infiltrate locally. It also 
replenishes groundwater and reduces flooding 
along the main channels and rivers. The 
1,000 foot long bioswale along the western 
perimeter of the 12-acre City owned Encanto 
Park is a “naturalized” bioswale designed to 
look and function as a natural stream. The 
bioswale treats and filtrates stormwater before 
it flows into the San Gabriel River. It also 
creates a natural habitat through the planting of native 
California plants. The bioswale ends in a small basin 
containing a thick layer of biologically active soil that 
further cleans and infiltrates local water.

Along the path, dotted with interpretive signage and 
sculptures, river rock provides natural seating areas 
to allow visitors to the park to relax and enjoy the 
environment. 

Los Angeles based BlueGreen Consulting Open Space 
& Design, designed the bioswale project.

A group of 5th and 6th grade students from Valley 
View School in Duarte were among the first to tour the 
bioswale and hear from experts in the Outdoor Nature 
Classroom.

“We’ve seen the loss of tremendous amounts of 
brush land and woodlands being cleared, rivers being 
channelized, open country, grasslands being built 
on, particularly in our valleys and lowland areas. 
So every time we see a real effort to restore or build 
habitats that are good for birds and other wildlife it’s 
really something to celebrate,” said Kimball Garrett, 
Ornithology Collections Manager of the Natural 
History Museum.

 Other components of the project include the 
previously completed Encanto Nature Walk; a 1500 
foot in length multi use path with interpretive signage 
along the west bank of the San Gabriel River. The walk 
includes a river overlook that projects nearly 200 feet 
out into the river channel with stone benches, and 
attractive drought tolerant native landscaping. The 
area has been transformed from a previously fenced 
off and inaccessible space into a pleasant walk 
culminating at the historic Puente Largo Bridge. 

Total cost of the projects was $758,000 with grant 
funding coming from three primary sources the San 
Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains 
Conservancy at $508,000, and Prop A funds of $100,000 
from Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. 
Antonovich and $150,000 from Los Angeles County 
Supervisor Gloria Molina. Funds were originally 
allocated in 2008 but were suspended for a period of 
time as a result of the ongoing budget crisis in the State 
of California. 

Duarte’s street maintenance staff will provide long-
term maintenance of the project. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com