Drain

Residents poured complaints into the ears of the City Council at the Nov.19 meeting about the city's handling of water and mud flows on private property, which were rebutted by the city manager. North Laguna resident John Kreber complained that overgrazing by goats had stripped the hillside near his Panorama home, and dirt from what he called a shoddy repair of the fire road had cascaded down the hill. He blamed the Laguna Beach County Water District for an impasse, which has prevented a solution from being implemented, even at the property owner's expense.

The city will be performing street construction work over the next few weeks, which will affect traffic at various times. For more information please call (949) 497-0351. Mystic Way/Hilledge Drive storm drain: Construction of a storm drain along Mystic Way at the point where it joins Blumont Drive, will cause road closures during weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 9 through Dec. 20. Detours to alternate routes will be indicated by signage. Crestview and Gainsborough drives road widening: Road widening at two places on these streets will cause temporary delays of up to five minutes weekdays throughout December.

The city will be performing street construction work over the next few weeks that will affect traffic at various times. Due to the holidays, most construction will be suspended for the next two weeks. The specific locations of projects expected to cause some traffic delays are described below: Mystic Way/Hilledge Drive storm drain: Work on this project will be suspended through the first week in January. Crestview and Gainsborough drives road widening: Road widening at two locations on these streets will cause temporary delays of up to five minutes during weekdays through December.

Barbara Diamond City officials said "Thanks but no thanks" Tuesday to $10 million in federal and county money earmarked for the flood control channel project on Broadway. "We'd be doing [the project] to prevent a natural disaster by creating an unnatural disaster," said City Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who never favored the project because of its effects on business, traffic and particularly Main Beach. The council voted 4-1 to abandon the proposed construction of a new flood control channel beneath Broadway, for which the Army Corps of Engineers and the county would have put up most of the money.

Asphalt repaving is planned for next week as part of the Downtown Area Street Rehabilitation Project. Resurfacing work on Third Street and Ocean Avenue is scheduled for April 28. Repaving on Second, Beach and Mermaid streets, as well as Park and lower Forest avenues and El Paseo is planned for April 29. More paving is planned in an alley off Third Street and the city's downtown parking lots on April 30. Repaving on...

In addition to the sewer reconstruction work and the underground placement of utility poles already in progress in the Downtown area, projects planned for next week include work at the intersections of Beach Street and Ocean Avenue, Forest and Ocean avenues and Forest Avenue and Glenneyre Street. Asphalt repaving on Third Street and Ocean Avenue is scheduled for April 27. Resurfacing on 2nd, Beach and Mermaid streets is planned for April 28. Repaving on Forest Avenue is scheduled for the first week of May. Work is scheduled to continue on the Downtown rehabilitation project through May. Installation of the Louise Street storm drain will result in a lane closure on North Coast Highway through mid-May.

Last Monday evening was my last as a member of the Environmental Committee, and I'm happy to report that the group has been left in good hands, judging by last week's turnout in which a number of people spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. All the speakers challenged our great town to become more environmentally focused. Given that more and more people are getting involved by taking part and voicing their opinion in how to do just that, this is a great step in the right direction.

As I lay in bed in the afternoon, recovering from a recent surgery, I listened to the cars zooming past our house and thought, for probably the 100th time, ?Why can?t our street be like a normal residential street?? Don?t we deserve some protection? Yes, the signs are posted ?25 miles an hour,? as on other residential streets. What a joke! It isn?t as if we haven?t tried, my neighbors and I, over the years ? through the stays of three police chiefs, now the fourth in place. When I see the faces of the drivers racing past at 45 mph (or more)

Laguna Beach cannot control storms, but flooding can be reduced and measures can be taken to better prepare residents and businesses for the next deluge, according to a task force report. With a presentation at Tuesday's City Council meeting, the Laguna Canyon Flood Task Force culminated eight months of reviewing floods in the canyon and considering ways to shore up the city's defense against the next deluge. "A recent study revealed that the ocean-facing slopes of Laguna have only about 7 inches of topsoil overlaying steep, impermeable rock," task force Chairman Eric Jessen told the council.

The city has challenged a 100-year floodplain map prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that adversely affects Canyon Acres property owners. FEMA's map is based on aerial photographs of areas that generate enough run-off to create a problem in a flood. City officials claim the map relied on outdated information and have submitted a hydrology study to make their case. "The map was done on an extremely broad-brushed level," said City Engineer Steve May, director of the Public Works Department.

Residents poured complaints into the ears of the City Council at the Nov.19 meeting about the city's handling of water and mud flows on private property, which were rebutted by the city manager. North Laguna resident John Kreber complained that overgrazing by goats had stripped the hillside near his Panorama home, and dirt from what he called a shoddy repair of the fire road had cascaded down the hill. He blamed the Laguna Beach County Water District for an impasse, which has prevented a solution from being implemented, even at the property owner's expense.

As I lay in bed in the afternoon, recovering from a recent surgery, I listened to the cars zooming past our house and thought, for probably the 100th time, ?Why can?t our street be like a normal residential street?? Don?t we deserve some protection? Yes, the signs are posted ?25 miles an hour,? as on other residential streets. What a joke! It isn?t as if we haven?t tried, my neighbors and I, over the years ? through the stays of three police chiefs, now the fourth in place. When I see the faces of the drivers racing past at 45 mph (or more)

Laguna Beach is reeling from a staggering half-million-gallon sewage spill that closed a 4-mile stretch of beach to swimming from 2:30 a.m. Wednesday through at least today. It?s believed to be the biggest spill in Southern California since a 2-million-gallon sewage leak in Manhattan Beach two years ago. It certainly is the largest since the last ?big? spill in Laguna, only six months ago, April 17, which closed the Coast Highway for 24 hours when a valve in the North Coast Interceptor ?

Construction of a new sewer line along South Coast Highway continues to snarl traffic and dampen businesses near Nyes Place, but an end is in sight. The project, known as the North Coast Interceptor, was originally slated to be finished by February, but rain delays have pushed back that date to early March, Laguna Beach Director of Water Quality David Shissler said. The 25-year-old pipeline will be replaced along the area of Coast Highway where there is a dip in the road and sewage would pool.

If you live long enough, you get a taste of most of life's mishaps. The latest taste at our house involved plumbing. I use the upstairs shower because the water pressure up there is intense and manly. Patti Jo and our daughter Katie take their showers in the girlie shower downstairs. The other day, Patti Jo said something about the downstairs shower draining slowly. I noticed no problem when I took my upstairs shower, but when I came down afterward, I did notice that the downstairs bathroom, hallway and master bedroom were all flooded.

Last Monday evening was my last as a member of the Environmental Committee, and I'm happy to report that the group has been left in good hands, judging by last week's turnout in which a number of people spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. All the speakers challenged our great town to become more environmentally focused. Given that more and more people are getting involved by taking part and voicing their opinion in how to do just that, this is a great step in the right direction.

With her pet dog Pedro in tow, Laguna artist and Arts Commissioner Joan Corman laid the ceremonial first storm drain marker Wednesday at the corner of Forest Ave. and Glenneyre Street. "When I read the call for entries in our local newspapers, I felt it was the perfect competition for me," Corman said. "Growing up in Laguna Beach, the daughter of an artist, I naturally respected our ocean, loved our tide pools and currently teach watercolor tide pool journaling classes." Corman, who won the marker design competition in May, teaches the classes to visitors at area hotels in addition to working and teaching at her studio.

David Shissler, Laguna's director of water quality, used to walk past a faded storm drain marker near City Hall each day. The marker served as a reminder that his department needed to do something about the deteriorating state of the markers ? reminders to the public not to throw trash or pollutants down the city's storm drains, which lead to the ocean. "We are always looking to improve our ways of providing public education regarding water quality and urban runoff," Shissler said.