The reconstruction of Fire Station No. 1 reached another major milestone.

The new station is in the final stages of construction with the installation of architectural finishes and site landscaping.

Cabinetry, carpeting, tiling and exterior finishes are putting the final touches on the beautiful new building.

As Public Services prepares to commission the building for occupancy, the station’s emergency generator is ready for testing and the associated 2,000-gallon fuel tank has been filled with diesel fuel.

This milestone will commence the start-up and testing of various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in preparation for certification as a Gold level energy efficient building and occupancy for fire crews.

On Thursday Aug. 16, local residents reported a strong odor emanating through the air that could be smelled in several Orange County cities including Costa Mesa.

According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the source of the odor at this time is unknown, however, it was erroneously reported in local media and other areas that the source was OC Vector Control.

The odor did not come from OC Vector Control and officials there issued the following statement Friday regarding this misinformation:

“The Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District has not conducted any aerial spraying and this year’s data does not support such drastic measures. The District’s campaign against mosquitoes involve the use of public health pesticides that are registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and is conducted to prevent human illness or to suppress a heavy nuisance infestation of mosquitoes.”

Vector Control officials also confirmed that the product they use to spray for mosquitoes is water-based and odorless.

Officials at the South Coast Air Quality Management District confirmed they are aware of the odor and have dispatched inspectors to conduct an investigation into the source of the odor.

The South Coast AQMD web page has information about similar odors that have been noticed by residents in the past. Click here to learn about the source of these odors.

Last week during a routine morning patrol, Costa Mesa Senior Code Enforcement Officer Mike Brumbaugh came across an older woman and her two dogs sitting in her car near a motel.

She had been staying at the motel.  Unfortunately, she ran out of money and her husband left her. She had no other options and began living out of her vehicle. She was frightened and staying in an area known for some questionable activity.

Brumbaugh did not want to leave the woman in this situation, so he reached out to Muriel Ullman, an outreach coordinator for the city’s Network for Homeless Solutions. Ullman assessed the woman, who disclosed that one of her dogs had cancer and she did not have the money to put the animal to sleep.

Brumbaugh reached out to the city’s Animal Control staff who came out to assist.

“I see many negative things during my day, but this was heartbreaking,” said Brumbaugh. “Watching this lady say her last goodbyes to her life-long pet and put it in the truck and be taken to be put down was tough.”

With the help of NHS and community partners, the woman and her remaining dog were placed in a shelter.

Outreach staff are working with her to get the registration of her vehicle renewed and locate a more permanent place to stay.

“This was one of three similar situations I came across in the same week,” said Brumbaugh. “If I didn’t have NHS and this group available to help me, it would be difficult to assist those in need.”

Interstate 405 through Huntington Beach and Westminster is scheduled to fully close from approximately 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18 and again on Saturday, Aug. 25 as part of the I-405 Improvement Project.

The full freeway closures are necessary to safely demolish the McFadden Avenue bridge. The bridge is the first of more than 18 bridges to be built, widened or replaced as part of the project, which will speed up travel times on I-405 between Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles County line, an area traveled by more than 370,000 vehicles a day.

During the freeway closures, northbound drivers will be detoured off the freeway at Beach Boulevard, and southbound motorists will be detoured off the freeway at Bolsa Avenue/Goldenwest Street.

Nighttime lane closures on I-405 are also expected during the weeks of Aug. 20 and Aug. 27 for additional demolition activities but those will not require the freeway to be fully closed.

Drivers should expect nighttime delays in the area and are encouraged to use alternate routes if possible. Up-to-date closure and construction information is available on the project’s interactive map at www.octa.net/405map.

The $1.9 billion I-405 Improvement Project will add one regular lane in each direction between SR-73 and I-605 and a second lane in each direction in the center of the freeway that will combine with the existing carpool lanes to form the 405 Express Lanes.

This 16-mile segment of I-405 is one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the nation, and both the regular lanes and carpool lanes are heavily congested during rush hour and on weekends. The project is critical to accommodate expected employment, population and housing growth throughout the region.

It currently takes drivers about an hour to travel this section of freeway during rush hour and without the project, the commute is projected to double in the next 20 years. Once the project is finished in 2023, it is expected to take about 30 minutes to drive the 16 miles during rush hour in the regular lanes and about 15 minutes in the 405 Express Lanes.

People are encouraged to visit the project website at www.octa.net/405improvement to sign up for construction alerts via automated call, text message or email.

The City of Costa Mesa recently launched MyCostaMesa, a new mobile app that is replacing the city’s first mobile app, Costa Mesa Connect.

MyCostaMesa is now available for free through the App Store and Google Play.

MyCostaMesa will have all of the same citizen reporting and request for service features of the original app, and the improved reporting and routing features will allow staff to be more efficient and responsive.

MyCostaMesa allows citizens to report issues using their phone’s GPS and camera capabilities, review existing requests, send updates, and receive phone and email notifications of status changes on their issues.

Residents can also submit a service request via the city website and review their submission history and knowledge base articles online.

Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis presented longtime youth baseball coach and volunteer Todd Cowley with the Mayor’s Award at the Tuesday Aug. 7 City Council meeting.

A 24-year Costa Mesa resident, Cowley has volunteered with the Costa Mesa American Little League for years and since 2011 he also served as league president.

“For your years of service to this community, your extraordinary leadership and your passion for Little League Baseball it is my honor and privilege to present you with the Mayor’s Award,” Mayor Genis said.

For more about Cowley’s dedication to the Costa Mesa community watch the video below.

The 128th OC Fair welcomed a record 1,470,636 guests who enjoyed 35 sold-out shows, ate hundreds of thousands of chocolate chip cookies and freed their inner farmers by greeting 11 new piglets at Centennial Farm.

“2018 was a banner year for the OC Fair in so many ways,” said OC Fair & Event Center CEO Kathy Kramer. “We want to thank the community for coming out in record-breaking numbers to enjoy the best celebration of the summer. We’re proud that 87% of guests surveyed said they increased their knowledge of agriculture and gave us a 4.62 overall enjoyment rating (out of 5).”

Through its community programs, the OC Fair collected 11,055 children’s books, 10,769 items of clothing, 8,849 cans of food and 8,229 school supplies for local charities through the We Care Wednesday program during which guests received free admission with their donation.

The Friends of the Fair program welcomed 4,501 guests with special needs for a free VIP experience while the OC Fair Kids Club brought 1,150 children from local Title 1 programs to the Fair for a special experience that included free admission and rides, a gift card and bus service.

The final audited attendance figures show an increase of increase 10% from the 2017 number of 1,334,753. Final revenue numbers will be released in October.

“The annual Fair funds our community give-back programs, agriculture education and supports Centennial Farm and Heroes Hall, so a great year for the Fair pays dividends all year long,” said Kramer.

This year the OC Fair offered more discounts and promotions than ever before to help make the event more accessible. New in 2018 was Overalls Day and 3,140 fairgoers received free admission on Thursdays when they wore the denim classics. And a new carnival wristband deal was added to Sundays.

The most popular one-time promotion was the opening day “Free Till 3” admission and parking deal and 38,091 guests arrived early on July 13 to get the party started. Half-price early-bird weekend admission attracted 73,091 fairgoers. Some 16,610 veterans and active members of the military received free admission during the run of the fair and their family members purchased 22,647 discounted tickets.

On Thursdays, 25,158 children received free admission for Kids Day and more than 13,000 free carnival rides were provided to children who participated in the Read and Ride program.

The previous attendance record for the 23-day event was set in 2011 when 1,400,280 fairgoers turned out for the “Let’s Eat” theme and watched sold-out concerts by Bob Dylan, Selena Gomez, Blake Shelton, Weezer, Chicago and more in Pacific Amphitheatre.

The 2018 OC Fair also broke the previous single-day attendance record when 86,334 fairgoers arrived on Saturday, July 28. That turnout bested the record of 84,986 guests who visited the Fair on July 21, 2001, to see the Orange Crush Demolition Derby debut, the “I Love Lucy” 50th-anniversary exhibit and to ride La Grande Wheel and the Euroslide for the first time at the OC Fair.

The OC Fair is currently the second-largest Fair in California by attendance, behind only the San Diego County Fair which runs three days longer. Nationally, the OC Fair ranks seventh by attendance.

Here are some more wrap-up numbers:

Guests

Survey – Results of the 10-day patron survey showed that 48% rated food as their favorite part of the Fair. Of those surveyed, 25% were first-time fairgoers and 48% are OC residents.

Super Pass – 15,518 guests went for the season’s best deal and received free admission to all 23 days of the Fair and express entry lines along with deals on shows and concerts.

OC Fair Express – The bus service that picks up from nine different OCTA locations on Saturdays and Sundays brought 79,684 guests straight to the Fair.

Food

Cathy’s Cookies – Baked 300,000 chocolate chip cookies.

Chicken Charlie’s – Fried 3,000 pounds of filet mignon, went through a truckload of vegetable oil, two pallets of cookie dough and an actual truckload of chicken.

Bacon-A-Fair – Guests purchased some 400,000 pieces of bacon in all forms.

Noel’s – Sold 20,834 tacos.

Ten Pound Buns – Cooked up 6,500 pounds of Ten Pound Buns.

Hot Dog on Stick – Served 17,200 hot dogs on sticks.

Entertainment

Pacific Amphitheatre – The Toyota Summer Concert Series at Pacific Amphitheatre hosted 34 shows, including four pre-Fair shows and there are seven post-Fair shows coming up. There were nine sold-out shows including Trevor Noah, Steve Martin and Martin Short, Psychedelic Furs/X/The Fixx, Earth, Wind & Fire, Brett Eldredge, Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss, Rebelution (two concerts), Steve Miller Band and Peter Frampton and Stray Cats.

Action Sports Arena – There was a spectacle every night in Action Sports Arena, plus five matinees, totaling 28 adrenaline-pumping shows. The Daredevils & Wheels motorcycle stunt show was new this year. There were 13 sold-out events including Speedway, Broncs & Bulls rodeo, five monster truck shows and all six demolition derbies during which 45 cars and trucks and 12 motorhomes were smashed.

The Hangar – Tribute bands, classic rock bands and mariachi acts brought the fans to The Hangar where there were 12 sold-out shows in 2018: Rumours, Dead Man’s Party, Firefall with Poco, Elton the Early Years, Queen Nation, Hotel California, Journey Unauthorized, Zeppelin Live, Ozomatli, I Am King, Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez and Devotional/Hollywood Erasure.

Community entertainment – There were 524 community entertainers performing throughout the day on five different stages and across the fairgrounds.

Rides and games – La Grande Wheel XL was the No. 1 ride and Bank A Ball was the top game. Ray Cammack Shows reports that nearly 2.5 million fairgoers enjoyed the rides this year.

Exhibits and competitions

My Fair Selfie – OC Fair’s first-ever pop-up palace of photo fun was open for 18 days and featured 11 backdrops made for photography. The limited-run exhibit was visited by 36,003 guests.

Bounty of the County – Three large-scale murals honoring local agriculture enterprises were created by artist John Cerney and installed at the main Fair entry gates.

Outstanding in their Fields – Life-size portraits of 29 people who play a role in California agriculture were placed throughout the fairgrounds and their video stories played for guests who scanned them with an app.

Heroes Hall – Open for its second OC Fair, Heroes Hall welcomed 19,375 visitors and 11,450 of them experienced the new Bravemind exhibit’s VR technology. Taps was performed every evening of the Fair, five times by bugle and 18 times on the harmonica.

Competitions – There were 4,866 entries in the Garden & Floral competition. There were more than 1,300 tomatoes entered and more than 2,000 cut flower entries. At this year’s Junior Livestock Auction, 312 animals were sold for a total of $301,854.

Explorium – During the daily eating contests, 23 Fair food vendors donated food for the 1,035 contest participants. Frank Thurston performed 66 magic shows and 5,616 water balloons helped keep little fairgoers cool. There were 210 entries in the kids’ art competitions.

Arts – Two tons of clay was used in Muddy’s Pottery Studio during demonstrations and 1,104 hours of volunteer time were logged. In visual arts, there were 6,194 competition entries and 4,465 were in the photography category.

The OC Fair Fun Run – Celebrated its 10th anniversary with 2,923 registered runners.

The 2018 OC Fair was held July 13-Aug. 12 at OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, and offered 23 days and nights of entertainment, food, rides, shopping, exhibits and more. OC Fair & Event Center is also home to Centennial Farm and Heroes Hall – both open to the public year-round. For more information, visit ocfair.com.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Network for Homeless Solutions and its community partners, three individuals living on the streets of Costa Mesa were reconnected with their families within a 48-hour period.

Two individuals were sent home to Texas, one who came to Costa Mesa for work and lost his job and the other who suffered mental issues. A third person, who came to a sober living facility in Costa Mesa, was sent home to Ohio.

All three people are now off the streets of Costa Mesa and back home thanks to the hard work of this dedicated team.

The City of Costa Mesa has taken legal action against the owners and operators of four sober living homes who continue to operate the homes in violation of the City’s municipal code.

The City Council unanimously approved taking the action against the owners and operators after the facilities each continued to operate after having failed to obtain the required permits.

“We are putting these unlawful operators on notice that we will not allow them to openly flout our ordinances,” Mayor Sandy Genis said. “We fully support the rights of individuals to seek recovery from addiction, but our ordinances are designed to minimize the concentration of those homes and avoid disrupting the atmosphere of our neighborhoods.”

In the complaint filed in Superior Court, the City maintains that the owners and operators of Casa Capri Recovery Center and Casa Capri, LLC at 269 and 271 16th Place in Costa Mesa are maintaining a public nuisance and should be shut down.

Also named in the complaint are Jeremy Broderick and Mellissa Goodmon based on their role with Casa Capri, and Zackary Irani and Timothy Carr, each as owners of one of the two properties.  Each of the Casa Capri homes consists of 14 recovery beds. The City filed the complaint after their requests for conditional use permits for these properties were ultimately denied by the City Council.

In a separate complaint filed in Superior Court, the City contends that the owners of the two sober living homes operated by Ohio House LLC at 647 and 653 Joann Street in Costa Mesa are maintaining a public nuisance and should be shut down.

Also named in the Ohio House complaint is Brandon Stump based on his role with Ohio House, and Richard Perlin, Nancy Perlin and Dolores Perlin, each as owners of one of the two properties.

The Ohio House properties consist of six recovery beds each. The City filed the complaint after the facilities continued to operate after the property owners withdrew their appeal of the denial of their permit applications.

The City of Costa Mesa agreed in a special City Council meeting Friday to join the County of Orange in their lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) from implementing a needle exchange program that was approved by the state of California’s Department of Public Health earlier this week.

Council also requested the City Attorney’s office bring forward an urgency ordinance for consideration at the August 7 City Council meeting declaring a moratorium against all needle exchange programs in the City of Costa Mesa.

The City Council voted unanimously to pursue the legal action.

“California public heath officials disregarded overwhelming evidence that the group proposing to operate the needle exchange program in our city has been negligent in the past,” Mayor Sandy Genis said. “Their prior record in Santa Ana and increased needle litter that took place once their program began should have been enough to torpedo this bad idea once and for all. Their application grossly misrepresented the nature of the surrounding community and their non-existent community outreach efforts.”

In April of 2018, the City of Costa Mesa learned through social media that a group by the name of the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) had filed an application to distribute needles in Westside Costa Mesa. No member of the OCNEP had previously reached out to city officials or law enforcement staff regarding this application.

The OCNEP had previously operated a needle exchange program at the Santa Ana Civic Center but that operation was shut down by city officials who revoked OCNEP’s permit after a massive increase in needle litter that posed a threat to public safety. Several people were

pricked by discarded needles, including members of the Santa Ana Police Department. The city of Costa Mesa received written and photographic evidence of the needle litter.

Once the public learned of this application, the calls and letters to City Hall were overwhelming in community opposition.

The Costa Mesa Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office submitted evidence and statements to state officials that chronicled the substantial risks to public health the program presents to the Costa Mesa community and asked that the application be denied.

In the City Attorney’s response to the state asking for the application to be denied, the memo stated that OCNEP’s own application was incorrect or incomplete; that there was evidence of projected harm to public safety presented by local law enforcement and that the applicant did not meet all the requirements in the state of California’s Health and Safety Code.

In its approval of the needle exchange program, the state granted OCNEP the right to distribute needles in Costa Mesa on 17th Street, from the intersection of Whittier Avenue and west to the edge of the city boundary at the Banning Ranch property each Wednesday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The state also granted the OCNEP the right to operate needle exchange programs in the City of Orange, Anaheim and Santa Ana.

To see the city’s initial opposition documents go to our Needle Exchange Program Facts webpage here.

The final day of Fire & Rescue Air Operations Training at Fairview Park is Thursday Aug. 2 from 8 a.m to 1 p.m.

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue has been partnering with several local agencies to conduct Air Operations training at Fairview Park to prepare for the potential of wildfires in the area, as well as regional rescues, in addition to improving communications and inter-operability between our respective emergency ground and air resources.

CMF&R is the host of the operations, which has already taken place at the south end of the park in July.

The Orange County Fire Authority and the Orange County Sheriff’s office and several Orange County fire agencies will be taking part in the exercise. The training will only be static in nature, so there will be no active air operations or water drops, other than landing at the onset of the training and departure at the conclusion of the training.

City officials learned today that the California Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS has approved an application for a mobile needle exchange operation in Costa Mesa (and three other Orange County cities) despite overwhelming community opposition and warnings from the Costa Mesa Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office about the substantial risks to public health the program presents to the Costa Mesa community.

“I am appalled that state officials would approve this needle exchange program in our community,” Mayor Sandy Genis said. “The applicants for this program made no public outreach efforts in Costa Mesa and their poor application demonstrates they don’t care about our city. Further, they have a terrible record when it comes to collecting the needles that are passed out at a rate of 20 needles or more for every one collected. We are going to quickly examine our options and will continue to oppose this irresponsible program.”

Mayor Genis noted the area the exchange is being proposed to operate is in very close proximity to housing, businesses and Whittier Elementary School.

In April of 2018, the City of Costa Mesa learned through social media that a group by the name of the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) had filed an application to distribute needles in Westside Costa Mesa. No member of the OCNEP had previously reached out to city officials or law enforcement staff regarding this application.

In its approval of the needle exchange program, the state granted OCNEP the right to distribute needles in Costa Mesa on 17^th Street, from the intersection of Whittier Avenue and west to the edge of the city boundary at the Banning Ranch property each Wednesday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The state also granted the OCNEP the right to operate needle exchange programs in the City of Orange, Anaheim and Santa Ana.

The OCNEP had previously operated a needle exchange program at the Santa Ana Civic Center but that operation was shut down by city officials who revoked OCNEP’s permit after a massive increase in needle litter that posed a threat to public safety. Several people were pricked by discarded needles, including members of the Santa Ana Police Department. The city of Costa Mesa received written and photographic evidence of the needle litter.

In a review of the application and in discussions with local government leaders, the Costa Mesa City Attorney’s office concluded the following regarding the OCNEP’s application:

• The information in the application is incorrect or incomplete.
• There is evidence of projected harm to public safety presented by local law enforcement.
• The applicant does not meet all the requirements in the state of California’s Health and Safety Code.

“As demonstrated in photographs, letters and other documentary evidence of OCNEP’s operation within the Santa Ana Civic Center, it is clear that OCNEP is not able to provide for the safe recovery and disposal of used syringes and sharp waste from all of its participants within a fixed location and that evidence is in the State’s possession,” according to a statement the city attorney provided to the state Department of Public Health.

In addition, the Costa Mesa Police Department conducted thorough research of this needle exchange program based on the experiences in Santa Ana and concluded the threat to the public’s health was far too great to allow this exchange program to operate in Costa Mesa.

“It is clear in discussions with officials from the Santa Ana Police Department and reviewing written correspondence and photographs provided by the City of Santa Ana regarding the prevalence of dangerous and potentially harmful discarded needles within the community, that this needle exchange program poses a serious risk to public safety and health by inadequately accounting for the collection of the volume of needles dispensed,” according to a statement the Costa Mesa Police Department provided the state.

In light of this decision by the state, the City of Costa Mesa will be in contact with officials in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Orange and the City Council will explore all potential options to protect Costa Mesa and its residents, business owners and visitors.

Any residents wishing to express concerns about this approval can call Dr. Karen Smith, Director and State Public Health Officer, at 916-558-1784.

To see the city’s initial opposition documents go to our Needle Exchange Program Facts webpage here. For further questions please contact Costa Mesa’s Public Information Officer Tony Dodero at 714-754-5288 or via email at citynews@costamesaca.gov.