Plan to spend more money to play golf, remove a tree or park at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove this coming year.
Along with increasing fees, the city will not fill open vacancies in the police and recreation departments in an effort to help balance the 2007-08 budget.
Cost reductions|
· Eliminate a fire chief position and contract with Monterey for incident command services instead.· Keep the museum director position open for half of the year and hire a part-time employee at a quarter of the director’s annual salary. The current director, Paul Finnegan, has said he will retire in December.
· Keep vacant two police officer and one recreation department office assistant positions.
· Eliminate a $10,000 contract to check remodeling/building permits.
New revenue|
· Contract to provide additional fire management services for Carmel.
· Implement a new $200 tree removal/trimming permit application fee.
· Increase golf course fees.
· Modify the golf clubhouse use permit to allow for private parties and meetings.
· Increase rents from recreation facilities and parks.
· Raise $60,000 through the museum, potentially by charging admission.
· Install parking meters at Lovers Point and Central and Eardley avenues.
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Marine Mammals, Birds Affected by Algae Bloom
Large blooms of algae in Monterey Bay are releasing a toxin that has apparently been poisoning large numbers of marine mammals and birds.
Blooms of the algae produce a neurotoxin called domoic acid, said Tim Stephens of the University of California-Santa Cruz, whose scientists report that the blooms which first appeared in Southern California earlier this spring are now occurring along the Central Coast.
Researchers have detected high levels of the toxin in the bay, he said, and large numbers of dead seabirds, as well as sea lions with symptoms of domoic acid poisoning, have been turning up on Monterey Bay beaches.
“The impact on marine life depends on how much of the toxin gets into the food web,” said Raphael Kudela, associate professor of ocean sciences at UC-Santa Cruz. “But in terms of toxin production and the size of the bloom, this event is similar to the large blooms we saw in Monterey Bay in 2000 and 2002.”
Serious – nature does things that appear cruel.
Silly – maybe Round-Up herbicide in the ocean would kill the algae.
Willoughby Whines Over Property Use
First the tidepools, now the streets where we live
From the Council Agenda
B. Consider Claim for Damages No. L2007-05 ~ J. W. Willoughby
Council will consider a claim from an injured party and determine whether to approve the claim or deny and refer the matter back to staff. If the claim is denied as recommended, the claimant will have six (6) months to file legal action.
Reference: Executive Assistant Kirchhofer
Recommended Action: Deny and Refer the Claim to Staff
The yard. Looks like a happy PG family lives here. Nothing like the life endangering, environment threatening situation Willoughby cries about.
Willoughby goes on to whine about a vacant lot that has a boat on a trailer parked there, and the home next door that may not be in “open house” condition, lowering the property values
.
Would having fringe kooks in the neighborhood that may sue you for anything you do that does not agree with him also lower your property values?
Big Screen Coming To Cannery Row
A “tourist hot spot” gahhh. Can’t wait.
Bella Cinema announced Tuesday that they will re-develop a historic cannery building into a 290-seat IMAX 3D theater totaling 16,000 square feet, KSBW Action News reported.
Developers said they are hoping to turn the area into a tourist hot spot.
P.G. Chamber Of Commerce, What’s Your Job?
By 7:30 a.m., however, Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, was already fielding phone calls from Measure A supporters wondering why news reports said the rally would take place at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History.
Pacific Grove forbids political events in city facilities, let alone campaign signs on city property. City Manager Jim Colangelo said group events at the museum are supposed to benefit the facility.
Ammar, a 20-year resident of Pacific Grove, knows well the local rules. He said a news release announcing Thursday’s event apparently was misinterpreted. The rally was planned for the sidewalk in front of the museum — a public location perfectly acceptable for the event.
Measure A or no measure A, PG is not going to be growing much, given the degree of build out. But really, this should not be the PG Chamber’s focus.
Anyway, that unaccredited announcement was in the same paper reporting this story. It looks very much like the protest was going to be at the Mvsevm.
Art Galleries Attracting Crime?
Three Eastern Europeans from Sacramento took a $40,000 painting from a San Carlos Street gallery Monday and then returned late that night to break in and steal more artwork, according to Carmel Police Sgt. John Nyunt.
But it was officer Rachelle Lightfoot, responding alone to an alarm at Simic New Renaissance Galleries just before midnight May 7, who captured two of the burglars at gunpoint.
“Officer Lightfoot found these individuals setting up to break into Simic gallery,” Nyunt said. After padding the glass in the gallery’s front door with newspaper to deaden the noise as they broke it, the burglars struck the glass with an unknown object. . .
When a shop sold hardware, shoes or magazines no one would think of making a big get away robbing them. But when the goods are “valuable” art, all kinds of riff raff come out to visit. Are more art galleries really what we want all over town?
Art Galleries Go Dry
A ban on serving wine during a regular showcase of Pacific Grove art galleries has uncorked spirited protests in the once-dry town.
Back at his art gallery, Robert Lewis said the wine caper is just a symptom of a greater problem: The city doesn’t have a clear vision for itself.
Hah! Chug some wine and wander in the fog – no one has a clear vision.
High Gas Costs Won’t Detour Tourists
“Naturally people are always concerned, but Californians continue to travel despite an increase in fuel prices,” said John McMahon, president of the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re keeping an eye on it, but we’re not alarmed by it.”
“The last time we saw a price increase, we were nervous about it, but we didn’t see an impact like we feared,” McMahon said. “Being that most visitors live within 150 miles, it’s not going to be a dramatic effect.”
Darn.
Lillian King’s Niece Back In Jail
Cynthia Hurley was arrested last week after making threats against her great aunt, Lillian King, King’s attorney, Robert Rosenthal, and Nader Agha, co-conservator of King’s estate, said Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Poll.
One [threat] was verbalized to [Hurley’s] counselor and involved all three of those individuals, Poll said. And the second incident just involved Nader Agha on April 23. Poll said details of the threats aren’t public now but could be revealed at a May 10 court hearing in Salinas. Hurley was in a courtroom Tuesday for appointment of a public defender and remains in custody at Monterey County Jail.One of the terms of [Hurley’s] probation is not to harass, threaten or harm the victim or co-conservators in the case, Poll said.
Lighthouse Cinema Decision Delayed
The old Lighthouse Cinema closed in September, less than two years after a 13-screen theater opened at Del Monte Center in Monterey. That left the 11,000-square-foot downtown spot empty, though it is currently being used on a temporary basis for Sunday services by a church congregation.
Along with two shops, Enea proposes to retain a two-story office space and create three new apartments.
“Come back soon with more details”. That’s what the Pacific Grove City Council told developer Robert Enea on Wednesday. He is talking to at least four potential retailers but said he couldn’t reveal their identities to the council because of confidentiality agreements.
Several council members said they were uncomfortable giving the project a green light without knowing the type of businesses that would fill the space. Without that information, they couldn’t gauge the project’s potential traffic and noise impacts.
Pft. Look at what’s been brought to PG lately. Carmalodorous bistros and art galleries. I’d let Enea put a bowling alley there if it would bring tax revenue to town.