BY JENNIFER MADRIGAL AND TIANA GOEGEBUER
Eastvale – The Eastvale Town Hall Meeting took place on Tues., July 29 at Rosa Parks Elementary. Various agencies within our community attended and gave updates concerning their respective departments.
The Meeting was emceed by Kathy Bogart of JCSD. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Ike Bootsma gave an update on the City. According to Bootsma, there will be a special session City Council meeting on Wed., Aug. 6, 6:30 p.m., at Rosa Parks Elementary. The meeting will be held to interview the 14 candidates for the vacant council position. A candidate will be chosen that same night.
Eastvale also launched the “E-Citizen” app, where residents can report graffiti and code enforcements issues, citing a specific geographical location.
The Mayor invited the City to attend the upcoming National Night Out on August 12. This is a collaboration between local law enforcement, fire fighters and other agencies, and will be held in the Eastvale Gateway shopping center parking lot by Target.
Eastvale now officially owns the land for the future Fire Station #2, as ownership was successfully transferred over from Riverside County. The Mayor also announced the realignment of Schleisman Avenue and a new traffic signal.
The Leal Property continues to move forward with an environmental report expected in late August. The Goodman-Bircher Project should be back on the council agenda in October.
San Antonio Hospital Medical Center is expected to open in late 2014, as well as few other local businesses.
Tyler Madary, a field rep from Senator Roth’s office, announced that his office has been eagerly working on SB 69 to restore funding to newly incorporated cities like Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, Wildomar, etc. Although the assembly is on summer break, he is hopeful that the bill be passed by the Assembly and then passed on concurrence from the Senate. The bill will go in front of the Governor on August 8 and the office remains “very optimistic that Governor Brown will sign it”.
The newest addition to Eastvale’s Police Department, Lt. Evan Petersen – who recently took over Lt. Michael Yates position – gave an update on crime and safety in Eastvale. Most of the crime statistics have stayed the same as last quarter, but there was a slight raise in robberies. Car burglaries continue to be mostly “crimes of opportunity” with people continuing to leave valuables in their vehicles out in the open. Most break-ins, in both homes and vehicles, continue to occur Tuesdays through Fridays, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastvale has had approximately 13,886 calls for service this year so far, as well as 4,121 traffic and parking violations, 24 DUI arrests, 30 injury accidents, 64 non-injury accidents and 2 fatal accidents (both fatalities were DUI related). Response times for the Riverside Sheriff’s Department continue to improve, ranging from 5.5 to 20 minutes depending on the priority of the call. At this time last year we had 31 indoor marijuana grow houses, whereas at this point we have had only ten. This does not mean we have got them all, it just means that all the work the residents, the City and the Sheriff’s Department are doing is having a positive effect on lowering the number.
Bill Newberry, from the CNUSD School Board, announced that the district has approved a separate Sheriff’s patrol officer for the Eastvale Middle and Elementary schools starting this school year. This will free up other officers from the Eastvale Police Department and alleviate some of the school related calls. The district continues to make progress on Yorba Elementary, which should be open by fall 2015, as well as the purchase of a site for elementary school number seven, which would realistically open in six to eight years. The district has also been working on the alleviation of school overcrowding by more careful planning for the future. At this time, all of the schools in Eastvale have room for students. With a few exceptions, the number of children being bused outside of their home school has greatly diminished. When Yorba opens it will relieve Barton and Rosa Parks elementary schools of about 700 students. Boundaries for the elementary schools will need to be redrawn and residents should expect to see this item discussed more clearly early next year. New Asst. Superintendent, Mike Cobarrubias, announced that CNUSD has been working on establishing an Emergency Operations Center to help keep the 54,000 students and 5,000 employees of the district safe.
Ric Welch, Parks Director at JCSD said they will continue to hold their very successful Concerts in the Park through August. They will also be releasing information about Movies in the Park soon. Visit http://www.parks.jcsd.us for more information about upcoming community events.
Jackie Williams, Battalion Chief from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department’s Eastvale Station, announced that medical calls continue to be the station’s highest number of calls for service. She also reminded the community to be alert and watch children when they swim as drowning can occur very quickly. There is also an Arson Hotline that you can call to report arson anonymously, (800) 633-2836. Chief Williams hopes to see everyone at the National Night Out, and is excited for the community to see all the different fire trucks, Haz Mat, and all the equipment that they use.
The July 9 City Council meeting was attended by council members William Link and Ric Welch, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Adam Rush and Mayor Ike Bootsma. The invocation was led by Eastvale Police Captain Jason Horton, who also introduced new Lieutenant, Evan Peterson. Shirley Zink gave a presentation on Simple Acts of Kindness World Youth, who will be hosting an anti-bullying and depression event on July 17. Sharon Link then proceeded to give an update on the current projects and progress being made by the Eastvale Community Foundation.
During the Public Comment/Citizen Participation portion of the meeting, a citizen came forward to talk about a festival that their business will be putting on at the Mid-Hill Golf Center on Aug. 2. The festival will focus on showing appreciation for the people who keep the City of Eastvale safe, including but not limited to police officers, firemen, and members of the Public Safety Commission. The festival will be open to the public.
All items on the Consent Calendar were approved, 4-0.
There were no Public Hearings or Old Business Items, so the meeting progressed to the New Business portion. The New Business Items were as follows: 8.1 – Project Management Services approved 4-0 for the budget adjustment amount, and to appoint Bob Williamson to help manage the Fire Station No. 2 project; 8.2 – Options for Filling the Vacancy for the Unexpired Term of Former Councilmember DeGrandpre, voted 3-1 to appoint a new council member to fill the vacancy before the November elections; 8.3 – Approval of a Resolution Calling and Giving Notice of a General Municipal Election was removed from the Agenda based on the results of the previous item.
The City Manager did not give a report, and the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. with closing statements from the Council.
The July 23 meeting was attended by council members William Link and Ric Welch, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Adam Rush and Mayor Ike Bootsma. The invocation was led by Pastor Dennis Morales from Calvary Chapel. Eastvale Police Captain Jason Horton presented Lt. Michael Yates with an award, and Melody Cruise updated the Council on the status of projects for the Public Safety Commission.
During the Public Comment/Citizen Participation portion of the meeting, Hari Dhiman gave an update on the upcoming safety expo that will take place on August 2, and Caesar Morales discussed some possibilities of beautifying the vacant lots around the City.
There were no Public Hearings or Old Business Items, so the meeting moved on to the New Business Items. The New Business Items were as follows: 8.1 – Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of Deeds or Grants of Interests or Easements in Real Property, passed 4-0; and 8.2 – Cash Account Application, Non-Corporate Resolution Form for Multi-Bank Securities, passed 4-0.
The City Manager did not give a report, and the meeting adjourned at 7 p.m. with closing statements from the Council.
