Blair Hills Association
Meeting, January 21, 2020

(minutes prepared by Angela Arnold)

 

 

Minutes of the Blair Hills Association, Culver City, California, held at the Stoneview Nature Center at 7:00 p.m. on the 21st day of January 2020.

 

I.             CALL TO ORDER

                Kerri Payne-Lui called the meeting to order at 7:05pm.

 

II.            ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS

                Present: Annie Wilson, Kerri Payne-Lui, Angela Arnold, Antoinette Lowe, Andrea Parra

                Absent:

 

III.           APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING  

No minutes to approve

               

IV.          Current Financial Condition 

 

V.            Announcements

·         Register to vote before February 18th. There will be 11 days to vote and you can vote at any voting center in LA County.

·         Next City Council election will be in November, concurrent with the presidential election. Blair Hills will have a candidate forum with City Council and Board of Supervisor candidates.

·         Santa’s Sleigh had the biggest turnout ever this year

 

VI.          New business

·         Marissa Yabko, Community Relations Officer

o   73 calls for service from Blair Hills (most generated by police, e.g., traffic stops)

o   Examples of neighborhood generated calls: Family disturbance call, subject stop resulting in narcotics arrest, attempted residential burglary

o   Theft of catalytic converters is up across the county; Be aware and keep your car in a garage if possible

o   SET (Special Enforcement Team) – Tasked with covering any special issues across the city. Typically patrol on bike and often patrol at the Culver City Steps and Downtown.

o   Questions from audience:

§  Can Culver City do anything about the RVs parked on Bowcroft? Bowcroft is LA County and therefore Culver City PD cannot enforce the street parking laws on that street.

§  Does Culver City allow homeless encampments on sidewalks? A federal law has been passed that says as long as a pedestrian has room to pass (36 inches) people can set up tents on the sidewalks.

§  Can people camp in Blair Hills Park? Because the park has specific posted hours, people can’t camp overnight.

§  Does Blair Hills still have a neighborhood watch program? Not currently. Partnerships in Policing (PIP) team – Jonathan Flores is the PIP officer for our neighborhood. Officer Flores can help Blair Hills set up a neighborhood watch team.

§  What is the non-emergency line for CCPD? 310-253-6244

§  What can we do about cut through traffic in the neighborhood? CCPD is not involved in changes to traffic patterns. However, CCPD can have officers out to give tickets at stop signs in the neighborhood.

·         Richard Smart, New Superintendent of the Stoneview Nature Center

o   Previously at the Natural History Museum, responsible for getting community members involved in science projects

o   Work hours: Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm

o   Questions from audience:

§  Are park hours changing? Richard is just learning about the request for longer hours. If you would like to see extended hours email the Board of Supervisors (e.g., Mark Ridley Thomas). The funds were initially approved, but it is no longer in the budget.

·         Ryan Kristan, Project Manager for Capital Projects Division, Leading the work on the Park to Playa bridge (rkristan@dpw.lacounty.gov)

o   Southern California Edison finished their work in September

o   Contractor (Griffith) has now set up a base in Kenneth Hahn and has removed some trees and begun grading for the bridge

o   Bridge is made of concrete and Corten steel, with planters to allow small wildlife to cross the bridge

o   Plantings will not be completed for 3-5 years

o   Substantial completion (we will be able to use the bridge) is expected in November 2020

o   La Cienega will be closed overnight (9pm-5am) on ten individual days, not concurrent

o   Three-week schedule is available each week to learn more about the work being done

o   Noise at night will be slightly higher than ambient noise in the area. Team is trying to mitigate any excessive noise issues.

o   Questions:

§  Neighbors right next to the bridge had agreements with LA County that have not been met. Those agreements have not been met What has happened? There will be a follow up meeting with the county.

§  Will there be a gate that closes at a certain hour? There will be a gate at Kenneth Hahn that closes at night.

§  Will closures be northbound or southbound? They will be both.

§  LAPD surveyed the neighborhood to ask about noise at night. Why were they doing that? It’s part of the permitting process.

§  Parking is free here and paid at Kenneth Hahn on the weekends. Has anyone considered how it will impact the neighborhood? There will be free parking in Kenneth Hahn for the trail. The labyrinth area of Stoneview Nature Center is available for overflow parking.

·         Suggestion to discuss a neighborhood watch at the next BHA meeting

·         Further discussion of the RV parking on Bowcroft and the possible safe parking site across the street from Holdridge and Jefferson. For more information on safe parking site assessment: https://culver-city.legistar.com/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Master&GID=535&ID=4271036&GUID=45AB4450-BAAC-49F0-8583-E4E371341BD7&Extra=WithText&Title=Staff+Report+Details+(With+Text)

 

VII.         Old business

 

Kerri made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:47pm. Seconded by Annie. Motion Carried.

 

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