Residents looking at more costs

Yorba Lindans will pay more for trash, water and sewer services in the next few weeks, based on actions taken by the city’s various elected representatives.

First, the City Council approved a four percent increase in the residential trash rate for 18,853 city and 1,192 county island customers. The new monthly rate effective July 1 will be $17.99, up from $17.30.

Commercial rates will increase up to 2.84 percent, with the most common three-yard bin boosted from $125.43 to $126.76 once per month. A larger increase is expected in 2010.

The increased fees will help pay for 10 new trucks, at $239,250 each. The city bought 10 trucks for Yorba Linda Disposal in 2001, but these “are at the end of their functionality,” as stated in a city staff report, which recommended the trash firm buy the trucks this time.

Salvage value for the old trucks is estimated at $2,250 each. The per-home cost for new trucks is $1.07 monthly, but other factors reduced the per month rate increase to 69 cents.

Second, the Yorba Linda Water District might increase rates paid by 20,554 Yorba Linda accounts twice, with a “pass through” boost beginning July 1 and a pricing revision Sept. 1, depending on the outcome of two public hearings.

The “pass through” increase would collect $2,188,061 assessed by the county Municipal Water District for imported water and the Orange County Water District for groundwater.

A public hearing is set June 25 at 8:30 a.m. at the district office, 1717 E. Miraloma Ave., Placentia, but adherence to strict Proposition 218 provisions won’t be needed because the district previously adopted a “pass through” policy.

However, Proposition 218’s public input requirements must be met at a later hearing as directors plan to “restructure all rates and incorporate a conservation tiered-rate system” to raise $7,570,268 for water-related overhead expenses beginning Sept. 1.

The same hearing would seek $462,077 more for sewer expenses, since the district owns and maintains the west side’s wastewater system. Current sewer fees are $5.50 monthly.

Third, as previously mentioned in this column, charges for city-owned sewers east of San Antonio Road would jump from $1.62 to $7.19 monthly, unless a majority of owners file protests prior to a July 21 hearing before council members.

A FINAL NOTE

Council also voted to increase fines for the 85 violations listed in the city’s Uniform Parking Bail Schedule from $1 to $63 per ticket.

Fines from the 1,040 citations written in 2008 totaled $34,924, an amount that would increase by $18,740, if a similar number of tickets are issued under the new schedule.

Coyotes, barking dogs and stalled issues

Updates on programs, policies and people mentioned in past columns:

First, a six-month public education program to address coyote problems is successful, according to a follow-up report prepared for the City Council, and a suggestion to pay trappers to kill intruding coyotes apparently shelved.

A spike in coyote sightings as a result of the Freeway Complex fire did not result in an increase in attacks on pets, and sightings have decreased since the November firestorm, the report noted.

Residents and police reported 57 coyotes in October before the fire, jumping to 134 in November before dropping to 59 in December. The downward drift continued with 66 sightings in January, 35 in February and 18 in March.

The trapper plan would have cost $2,500 per month to patrol one area or $3,500 for two to four areas. Ten attacks on pets were reported to city officials October through March.

Second, council members might revert to a past policy regarding barking dog complaints. A new barking dog ordinance was approved in 2007 in an effort to “focus on expediency, fairness and resolution.”

Council renewed an Orange County Animal Care Services pact in January, but interim City Manager Bill Kelly suggests council rescind the 10-page ordinance and opt out of the barking dog program that cost the city $10,338 the last fiscal year.

About 250 complaints were filed under the ordinance July 2007-March 2009, more than the 100 for 2005 and 2006 under the previous “nuisance abatement” process that doesn’t cost extra.

The council still hasn’t taken action on several key issues—with some languishing on council agendas for months—including Black Gold Golf Club turf repairs, city-owned Old Town property rehabilitation, equestrian facility feasibility study, ethics ordinance and open government regulations and proposals to cut council member pay and expenses.

Third, former Mayor Hank Wedaa is back from Sacramento, where he received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award for “significant contributions toward improving air quality through…lifetime commitment, perseverance, leadership and innovation….”

Two state Assemblymen representing Yorba Linda have been appointed deputy floor managers for the Assembly GOP caucus. Westside rep Mike Duvall and eastside rep Curt Hagman began duties for the 29 Republicans in the 80-member body June 1.

Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation are distributing information the city-owned Black Gold Golf Club finances and potential rezoning for affordable housing at local Vons and Stater Brothers supermarkets through Sunday.

Parking issue is a part of city's rural identity

Residents intent on preserving remnants of Yorba Linda’s semi-rural past are ever-vigilant in tracking proposals for change—both large and small.

Widespread opposition to a higher-density, 40-acre Town Center redevelopment plan led to the election of four City Council members: John Anderson and Jan Horton in 2006 and Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing in 2008.

And concern about the identification of 48 acres for potential rezoning to 10, 20 and 30 units per acre to meet state-mandated housing requirements could be a major factor in a spirited contest in 2010, when Anderson’s and Horton’s terms expire.

Meanwhile, on a much smaller scale, a seemingly insignificant “no parking” proposal for one side of a block-long, Eucalyptus-lined roadway illustrates the difficulty of preserving an idyllic past while still addressing changing community needs.

At issue is the portion of Grandview Avenue between Buena Vista Avenue and Linda Verde Street near Linda Vista Elementary School southeast of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Imperial Highway.

Some Grandview homeowners decry “no parking” signs recommended by city staff and the Traffic Commission as “not in keeping with our semi-rural atmosphere” and argue a parking ban would spoil “our relaxed, comfortable…surroundings.”

Other residents say a 14-foot-wide southbound roadway is too narrow for parking and two-way traffic without crossing the double-yellow centerline, and some cite potential city liability, although no accidents have been reported the last three years.

One homeowner complained that people using the nearby school field park in front of driveways and “use my property to climb trees, to have picnics and to evacuate bodily fluids and refuse, both human and pet.”

After much discussion, council voted 4-1, with Jim Winder dissenting, to change the double-yellow line to broken yellow, allowing traffic to legally pass parked cars.

Similar votes pitting a semi-rural versus a more urban look have confronted city leaders since the first council was elected in 1967, and residents have chosen the 15 individuals re-elected to the council the past 42 years based in part on their semi-rural vote records.

A FINAL NOTE

Fees for 73 miles of city-owned sewers serving 5,723 homes east of San Antonio Road will jump from $1.62 to $7.19 per month unless a majority of owners file protests for a July 21 hearing. Rates for 112 multi-family and 202 commercial units also will increase.

Currently, eastside sewers are partly subsidized from the city’s general fund. Westsiders pay $5.50 monthly for sewers owned and maintained by the Yorba Linda Water District.