Monterey Going After Wharf Leaseholders

wharf night

Somehow that phrase “proper lease and code enforcement” sounds like turning Fisherman’s Wharf into another fake charm like the ‘Row.

The leases, some of them for 50 years, run too long and don’t bring in rentals at the market rate, said Commissioner Willard “Bill” McCrone. The council should seek to change them, he said.

“The public,” he said, “is not getting a fair shake.”

Wharf businesses aren’t being charged enough to cover utilities and wharf repairs, he said. In many cases, properties leased from the city long ago have been subleased to others at much higher rates, with the original lessor pocketing the difference, he said.

The city owns the buildings on the wharf, McCrone said, and with proper lease and code enforcement, its revenues could double from $1million to $2 million a year.

Monterey Going After Wharf Leaseholders

Golf Course Grill Operator Has Debt Forgiven By P.G.

Can we all say ‘money pit’?

In the case of Point Pinos Grill at 77 Asilomar Blvd., which serves Pacific Grove Golf Links, the council voted 5-2 to transfer the city’s lease from operator Chris D’Amelio to Aqua Terra Culinary, a Peninsula-based firm.

A condition laid on the transfer was that Aqua Terra not provide off-site food catering from the grill.

Transfer of the beer and wine license for the premises from D’Amelio to Aqua Terra would be up to the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board, said City Attorney David Laredo.

D’Amelio’s lease was due to expire at the end of this month, but it carries a provision allowing a five-year renewal.

Another condition of the transfer was that the city forgive a debt of $106,142 owed for back rent and penalties. Councilman Bill Kampe defended that as necessary to ensure continuity of operation at the golf clubhouse.


Golf Course Grill Operator Hast Debt Forgiven By P.G.

Apartment Residents Forced To Flee

“Courtyard by the Bay Apartments” is such a nice sounding name. Rent must be higher than an Arkwright Court apartment next to them.

Courtyard 7 Moreland

Signs warning of danger at the Courtyard by the Bay Apartments on Moreland Avenue in Pacific Grove.

A retaining wall collapsed Saturday night forcing residents to leave.

“Apparently water, too much water got in the soil and put too much pressure on a failing retaining wall and the retaining wall cracked and leaned over against the apartment building down below it,” says John Kuehl, Building Official for Pacific Grove and Monterey.

Apartment Residents Forced To Flee

Banks Must Keep Foreclosed Properties Neat

If a mortgage holder walks away from a property, the bank will be responsible for keeping it up, according to an ordinance approved by the Pacific Grove City Council on Wednesday.

The ordinance, presented by Deputy City Attorney Alex Lorca, would require lenders to register properties considered “abandoned” by their buyers with the city within 10 days of a code enforcement officer notifying them.

That solves that. There’s little to no code enforcement.

Anyone see these rotting steps at the city owned old Old Bath House?
Old Bath House Steps

Banks Must Keep Foreclosed Properties Neat

Mvsevm Board Member Quits

Who is true here, someone with years of experience in operating many of the Mvsevm’s functions – or out of towners with none at all.

The Mvsevm

In June 2009, the City Council approved a public-private partnership between the city and the Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove Inc., in which the city leased the museum and its collection for 15 years, while retaining ownership of the museum’s property and its collections.

The foundation is responsible for operations, planning and management.

The Pacific Grove Museum Foundation board “in reality is a private organization unwilling to work with the city board,” Trosow wrote. “We have been accused of micromanagement of the museum; we have not had the executive director of the foundation present at a single meeting and we have been ham-stringed by Byzantine rules about communicating with the foundation.”

She also contended that substantive reports on museum activities are not given in a timely manner and described executive director Lori Mannel’s monthly reports as “generally void of useful information about operations at the museum, contain questionable statistics, and lag behind two or three months between the time period they cover and the time they are shared with the board.”

Other documents posted on the Museum Foundation’s website, she said, including business plans and exhibit plans, “are vague and lacking in specifics,” and in some cases have been edited after being posted and information on them deleted.

Mannel disagreed.

The foundation, she said, “is fulfilling its obligations under the lease agreement, and working hard to support the mission of the museum.”

Mvsevm Board Member Quits

Counterfeit Thwarted

Good work, Save Mart.

A clerk at a SaveMart store refused to accept the bogus bill, and police were called about 8:20 p.m. The suspect was found nearby, and police said he had five counterfeit $100 bills.

Brendon McCloskey, 29, was booked into Monterey County Jail on a parole hold and suspicion of burglary, attempting to pass a fictitious note and providing false identification.


Counterfeit Thwarted

Lost Wallet Returned After 20 Years

Now if we can just find some sensible city leaders we lost 20 years ago..

A soldier’s wallet was returned 20 years after he lost it in California.

A volunteer who was doing some restoration work in Pacific Grove, CA, said he found a wallet belonging to Tom Moss Jr.

After doing some detective work, he was able to track down the owner.

Moss said he was stationed in nearby Fort Ord in Monterey, CA, in the late 1980s and probably lost his wallet during group runs.

Lost Wallet Returned After 20 Years (CNN)

Aaron Corn Gets 7 Years In Felony DUI

Aaron Corn Headshot

Should never be allowed to drive again for life.

Aaron Corn, 19, was sentenced to seven years and four months for driving under the influence and causing great bodily injury, and vehicle theft in connection with the Feb. 21, 2010, crash after a night of partying at a Pacific Grove home. Corn, who has been in jail since the accident, gets credit for about a year and a month time served. He pleaded no contest to the charges in January as part of a plea deal.

The former Pacific Grove High School baseball player faced a maximum of about 10 years in prison, which prosecutor Todd Hornik requested. Defense attorney Frank Dice asked for felony probation and substance abuse treatment.

Aaron Corn Gets 7 Years In Felony DUI