The California Department of Transportation will begin a four-month full closure of I-405/Red Hill Avenue Overcrossing from Main Street to Pullman Avenue tentatively starting Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 at 9 p.m. through Friday, Dec, 30, 2016.

The closure is needed to construct retaining walls and perform other bridge repair work.

This closure is part of a $9 million Embankment Stabilization project in the cities of Irvine and Costa Mesa.

Changeable Message Signs will be used to alert motorists two weeks prior to the closure.

Motorist may experience delays and are advised to avoid the area, use alternate routes, and check traffic conditions before traveling.

Once complete in early 2018, the project will reinforce the soil embankment along the local arterial surface street system.

For more on the Caltrans Red Hill project click here.

At a recent City Council meeting a resident inquired as to how the City uses recycled water in parks and landscaped areas and whether the use of recycled water could be expanded to more facilities to achieve greater water savings.

Costa Mesa has been a leader in the use of recycled water for years and has been taking part in the Orange County Water District’s (OCWD) “Green Acres” project since 1991. The City currently uses recycled water at four large parks, two golf courses, a bike trail, several medians on arterial streets and riparian areas.

They include: Jack Hammett Sports Complex, TeWinkle Park, Fairview Park and Wetlands, Civic Center Park, the Costa Mesa Golf Courses (Los Lagos and Mesa Linda), the Joann Street Bike Trail, including Harbor Boulevard segment and medians on Harbor Boulevard, Fairview Road, and Sunflower Avenue.

Recycled water accounts for approximately 75% of the total irrigation water used by the City. Currently, there does not appear to be any plans by OCWD to expand the distribution system or add additional customers to the system. There is a limited supply of recycled water available. The City does use recycled water on new landscape installations or renovation projects whenever there is an opportunity.

Joann Street and Harbor Boulevard bike trails are an example of this, as well as the conversion of several turf medians on Harbor Boulevard to water efficient plant materials. All of these projects are connected to existing recycled water sources.

Currently, there are no plans to connect additional parks, medians, or roadway landscapes to reclaimed water sources due to limited supplies and costs.

Last week the Association of California Cities, Orange County, announced a new partnership with UC Irvine to study and quantify the costs of homelessness on cities in the county.

The study comes on the heels of a collaborative meeting Assistant CEO Rick Francis participated in with the ACC-OC Working Group on Homeless Issues in which he unveiled Five Pillars, including State Advocacy, Research and Data, Outreach and Sharing, Housing Options and Communications to Constituents, to combat the problem of homelessness. These Five Pillars were later shared with a countywide group of city leaders in May. Costa Mesa is viewed by many county leaders as a model approach in addressing the complexities of homelessness, and the city has already been using many facets of the Five Pillars.

The UCI study falls under the Research and Data pillar and will analyze a comprehensive set of costs and services provided to the homeless population by cities, agencies, and hospitals. This includes emergency health care services, public safety, administrative services, parks and recreation, mental health services, and a number of other elements along the continuum of care.

The study is expected to be completed by next year and will be a helpful tool in the effort to understand existing costs and that data can be used to better deploy public resources.

UPDATE: Costa Mesa Police Department has found 11-year-old Diego Garcia.

The Costa Mesa Police Department is searching for an 11-year old autistic boy.

Monday August 1, 2016, an 11-year old autistic boy named Diego Garcia was reported missing by his parents in Costa Mesa. Earlier this morning, Garcia’s parents reported to police they noticed him missing from their apartment, located at 1250 Adams Avenue, shortly before 7 a.m.

Garcia  is autistic, however, he has limited communication skills and answers by his first name “Diego.” Garcia is not fearful of police or others.

Garcia has no known history of running away, and there is no indication of suspicious circumstances at this time. Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter crew, aboard “Duke”, assisted with making public address announcements in the surrounding vicinity to attempt to locate the child.

OCSD’s bloodhound search team also assisted officers on scene at the location.

Diego Garcia is 4 foot 11 inches tall, weighs about 110 pounds and has long brown hair. He was last seen wearing a green shirt, black shorts and red sandals.

He has no immediate means of accessing transportation. CMPD officers and detectives are actively seeking the public’s assistance to help immediately locate Garcia.

Anyone with possible information should contact CMPD Dispatch at 714-754-5252.

Alley reconstruction, street rehabilitation and slurry seal projects awarded by the City Council are currently under construction. Work has begun and this month is going to be a busy one for Public Services staff.

These projects will construct 800 cubic yards of concrete alleyway, repair 573,700 square feet of roadway utilizing 17,500 tons of new asphalt concrete and apply 1,200 extra-long tons of slurry seal. Work also involves adjustment of utility manholes and valves to new grade, replacement of traffic signal loop detectors, lane markings, striping and new pavement legends.

The following areas are scheduled for improvements:

• Flower Street Alley (Alley No. 81) located between Flower Street and Broadway, from Tustin Avenue to Irvine Avenue and 18th Street Alley (Alley No. 96) located between 18th Street and Abbie Way, from 18th Street to Irvine Avenue will be reconstructed.

In addition, 36 streets located within the following neighborhoods will be rehabilitated:

• Freedom Homes Neighborhood bounded by Victoria Street to the North, 19th Street to the South, Aviemore Terrace to the West, and Placentia Avenue to the East.
• Eastside Neighborhood bounded by Santa Isabel Avenue to the North, 21st Street to the South, Newport Boulevard to the West, and Tustin Avenue to the East.
• Bristol East Neighborhood bounded by I-405 Freeway to the North, Baker Street to the South, Bristol Street to the West, and SR-55 Freeway to the East.
• Halecrest Neighborhood bounded by I-405 Freeway to the North, Adams Avenue to the South, Harbor Boulevard to the West, and Fairview Road to the East.

Work on these projects is expected to be completed over the next four to six weeks.

In the city’s recent settlement agreement with Solid Landings, the rehab home operator was to close 15 of 33 facilities within 30 days of the settlement agreement date.

City Code Enforcement staff has verified that Solid Landings has closed (left the location/lease) and or sold these locations.

During the monitoring of these locations, code enforcement staff identified four new operations in Solid Landings previously leased locations.

These operators were noticed and cited for running facilities without City approvals.

They were required to terminate their operation within 30 days.

Three of the four facilities agreed to cease their operations and paid the fines.

Only one of the four contested their fines and in a recent citation appeal hearing, the City’s fine was upheld by a third party hearing officer.

The operator was found liable for the violation.

Code Enforcement staff will be following up with all these locations, which includes additional fines and possible civil action if these locations are not in compliance

Since 2006, the home at 276 E. 19th Street had been cited for trash and debris promoting calls to Code Enforcement and several court hearings taking place to address the problem.

Some of the issues were resolved at the time, but in 2013, Code Enforcement Officer Mike Brumbaugh was assigned the case following reports of people living in the home while the ceiling was falling in. After speaking to neighbors and inspecting the property he could see it was in substandard condition.

The city tried to contact the owner to do a walk-through. All of the city’s requests were ignored and walk-through was never scheduled. The city attorney’s office then went to court for an inspections warrant, which was granted. Police and fire personnel accompanied code enforcement on the inspections, where the home was discovered to be unlivable due to health and safety issues.

Ultimately, the home was red-tagged and boarded up. After it was put into receivership, trash and debris was removed. The case was extended by the courts for several years until recently when the home was leveled and is now just a dirt lot. The lot will be sold and money will be divvied up between the receiver and owner.

Earlier this week, Mariners Christian School held its graduation ceremony for the eighth-grade Class of 2016.

On Wednesday June 15, eighth-grade students, families, friends, and the entire MCS faculty and staff gathered in the beautiful sanctuary at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach.

The graduation ceremony was comprised of the presentation of diplomas, listening of music and keynote speakers, a slideshow of middle school memories, and the acknowledgement of key student accomplishments and leadership awards. Some program highlights included:

• Welcome by Head of School, Troy Moore
• Invocation by Student Council Vice President, Alexandra Ianni
• Student Welcome by Student Council Co-President, Caroline Brewster
• Worship music by MCS Student Worship Band
• Special Gift to 8^th Grade Class, Middle School Principal, Heather Harrison

Sixty eight eighth-grade students received their diplomas.

Interim Recreation Manager Justin Martin has been named as the city’s new Recreation Manger.

Assistant Chief Executive Officer Tamara Letourneau announced that the vacant Recreation Manager position would be filled by Martin. Serving as Interim Recreation Manager for the past several months and with extensive knowledge in youth programming, teen programming, camps, contract classes, recreation needs and parks, Martin is the perfect candidate.

Martin has been the city’s Recreation Supervisor since December 2014 and filled the roll of Interim Recreation Manger over the last few months with a seamless transition.

“Justin brings many years of experience in recreation to this position,” Letourneau said. “He has shown the ability to create a vision and lead a team to accomplish that vision with the utmost professionalism, integrity and creativity.”

With his extensive knowledge of the community and programming, Martin will continue to shape the city and it’s recreation needs through his new role.

The Public Services Engineering Division received news that longtime fellow employee, Bart Mejia, has been promoted to City Engineer.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch, alongside Public Service Director Ernesto Munoz, announced earlier today that the vacant City Engineer position would be filled by Mejia. With more than 28 years of professional experience in engineering and project management, including the past 25 years of dedicated service to the City of Costa Mesa, Mejia will make a smooth transition into his new role.

“His soft but firm personality, professionalism and dedication make Bart an ideal choice to lead the Engineering Division of our Department,” Munoz said. “He has been intimately involved with the development of the Fairview Park Master Plan and managed the construction of many of the Plan’s elements.”

Mejia is a registered engineer in the State of California and a graduate from California State University Long Beach, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. Mejia has also completed post baccalaureate courses from the Water Resources Specialization in the Master of Science in Civil Engineering Program.

With his already active role in many of the city’s public works projects, Mejia will continue to shape the city through his vision.

Newport Harbor High School student, Baylee Bakkila, daughter of longtime Costa Mesa Police Lt. Victor Bakkila, was recently honored at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) student award ceremony.

On June 7, more than 200 guests attended the awards ceremony at the Corona Del Mar High School Performing Arts Center where among the 1,669 seniors graduating later this month, a few standout students were recognized. The areas of recognition included:

• Perfect ACT/SAT scores
• Simon Scholar designation
• Seals of Excellence

Bakkila was one of five students honored at the ceremony for a perfect ACT/SAT. Also recognized were:

• Shane Gooding of Corona Del Mar High School, Perfect score on ACT
• Matthew Paragas of Corona Del Mar High School, Perfect score on ACT
• Abigal Peterson of Corona Del Mar High School (class of 2017), Perfect score on ACT
• Hikaru Masuda of Corona Del Mar, Perfect score on SAT

In addition 17 students were recognized as part of the Simon Scholars Program and 12 students received the Seal of Excellence.

Simon Scholars allows students facing difficult life and economic circumstances to graduate from high school with enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence. Simon Scholars is a unique six-year program that begins during a student’s junior year in high school and continues through four years of college.

Seal of Excellence honors students who took the most rigorous academic path. Qualifying students are designated as “AP Scholars”, which is achieved when a student passes three or more Advanced Placement tests with a score of three or better.

These students will be honored with a special seal on their diploma, notation on their transcript and highlighted in the graduation program.

Mariners Christian School has earned the highest accreditation status, a six-year renewal from the dual accrediting organizations of Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

“Dual accreditation is often more difficult to achieve because there are broader and deeper evaluations of school performance, including a higher requirement for teacher and administrator training, and a detailed focus on biblical elements of instruction and organizational practice,” said Head of School Troy Moore. “When a school achieves dual accreditation, it has demonstrated its ability to meet rigorous standards, both secular and biblical in nature.”

The entire accreditation process required two years of preparation, with Vice Principal Megan Shahabi leading the effort.

The visiting committee from ACSI/WASC, which included delegates from other private schools in the Southern California region, toured the school extensively in April, with a formal accreditation being granted on May 4.