The Costa Mesa Police Department has concluded that a proposal by the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) to distribute syringes in the Westside of Costa Mesa has the potential to increase discarded needles in the city and present a safety risk to residents and others.

According to the Department of Public Health website, the Orange County Needle Exchange Program has submitted an application to operate its needle exchange program daily in Costa Mesa from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an area bounded by (N) West 18th Street, (E) Monrovia Avenue, (S) West 16th Street, (W) the outer border of Armstrong Petroleum.

The Costa Mesa Police Department submitted a response to the California Department of Public Health opposing the program.

Click here to read the response.

Members of the public who are interested in more information or commenting on this program can visit the California Department of Public Health’s application page here.

Responses can be sent to this email address SEPApplication@cdph.ca.gov.

Click here to read the full application by the Orange County Needle Exchange Program. 

Public Services Maintenance staff recently completed the rehabilitation of the pedestrian bridge at Shiffer Park.

The original wood bridge had termites and rotted wood, which required staff to regularly make repairs. The TeWinkle Park Bridge Replacement Project provided an opportunity for staff to salvage material from the existing bridges.

The material was repurposed to replace the Shiffer Park bridge, thereby reducing the cost to replace the Shiffer Park bridge and diverting the debris from a local landfill. The bridge replacement was completed in April and a fresh coat of stain was applied.

Public Services recently reached another major milestone with the reconstruction of Fire Station No. 1.

The new LEED Gold station is in the final stages of construction with the installation of architectural finishes and permanent power being supplied to the building. Southern California Edison (SCE) is onsite delivering the new electrical transformer and installing cables and wiring to provide electrical service to the building.

This major milestone will provide the utility necessary to begin the early stages of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing testing, preparations for energizing these systems, ensuring proper system functionality, and conformance with energy standards to meet LEED Gold certification.

Due to the observation of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 28, there will be no residential street sweeping the entire week.

This coincides with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, which also observes this holiday by pushing trash collection back one day.

This results in residential gutter lines being cluttered with trash cans making it impossible for street sweeper operators to do an efficient job.

Street sweeping will resume back to normal schedule starting the week of June 4.

In lieu of sweeping streets, the following are a list of task that clean streets operators will be conducting next week.

• City wide alley street sweeping
• Sweeping of park parking lots and other city owned facilities
• Accident call outs and special request
• Night route sweeping on all arterial streets

 For more information, residents can call the city’s street sweeping hotline at (714) 327-7471, which has been updated with this information.

Local restaurants continue to receive high praise as both the LA Times and OC Register recently named Costa Mesa restaurants to prestigious awards and lists.

Taco Maria was named the Times’ 2018 Restaurant of the Year by renowned LA Times food critic Jonathon Gold, who noted that “no restaurant in years may have had quite the impact that Taco María and its chef Carlos Salgado have had on the Southern California scene.”

The OC Register recently published their list of the Top 75 places to Eat in Orange County and not only did Brad A. Johnson name 7 Costa Mesa restaurants in his top 13, but his list of top 75 restaurants includes 13 from Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa eateries placing in the top 10 include #2 Vaca, #3 Arc, #5 Hana Re, #9 The Capital Grille and #10 Taco Maria.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters is in need of poll workers throughout Orange County. Election Day is June 5, 2018 and hundreds of poll workers are still needed as Inspectors and Clerks. As long as an individual is registered to vote in California they are eligible to volunteer in Orange County.

The Polling Place Inspector has the responsibility of overseeing the Election Day operations at an assigned polling place. This includes managing and working with poll workers assigned to the polling place, coordination of site access, picking up supplies, setting up equipment, assisting and processing voters, completing the closing procedures, and transporting the results and supplies to a collection center on Election Night. The stipend for serving as a Polling Place Inspector is $160. A training course is required and are offered throughout Orange County.

The Polling Place Clerk has the responsibility to assist the Inspector in the polling place operations. This includes setting up equipment and supplies, assisting and processing voters, and assisting in the closing procedures. Individuals are needed who are bilingual in Chinese, Korean, Spanish or Vietnamese, which is required under federal law. The stipend for service as a Polling Place Clerk is $120. A training course is required and are offered throughout Orange County.

Interested individuals can volunteer by calling 714-954-1901 or visiting ocvote.com/volunteer.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday May 15, Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis accepted a check in the amount of $75,000  that was donated by the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries to be used for the Community Information Media Wall for the new facility currently being constructed at Lions Park.

Presenting the check was Donna Stapleton, president of the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries. She noted that the Friends donate approximately $60,000 a year to the city’s libraries.

“It is with great joy that we present the city another giant check,” Stapleton said.

Stapleton was joined by members Barbara Steck, Charlene Ashendorf, Art and Mary Ellen Goddard, Bob Ooten, Judith and Andy Lamb, Katie Crawford, Darrell and Sherrie Neft, and Kristina Jones, Donald Dungan Branch Manager.

“On behalf of the City of Costa Mesa, I want to thank the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries for your generous contribution of $75,000 to the new library,” Mayor Genis said. “Your donation will fund the Media Wall inside the library entrance that will enhance the experience of children, teens, and adults. Thank you for investing in our community and most importantly thank you for your strong support. We truly value your partnership.”

Public Services recently contracted with R.E. Schultz Construction for the replacement of two pedestrian bridges at TeWinkle Park.

Last week, the contractor installed both pedestrian rustic style bridges. Over the next two weeks, sidewalk adjacent to the bridge will be constructed along with the concrete platform for both bridges.

Following completion of the concrete improvements, the TeWinkle Park Lake system water levels will be restored.

Audi Fletcher Jones has opened a new auto dealership at the former Autoplex site located at 375 Bristol Street in Costa Mesa.

“We welcome Audi Fletcher Jones to our community and are delighted to have them join the many successful auto dealerships who call Costa Mesa home,” Mayor Sandy Genis said.

Audi Fletcher Jones revamped the existing building with a variety of improvements.

The dealership occupies a majority of the site, retaining a few of the existing tenants such as Sandwich World.

Public Services Maintenance staff recently completed upgrades to the lighting at Ketchum Libolt Park.

The existing high pressure sodium lights were inefficient and did not provide a sufficient amount of light.

Rear portions of the park are lit dimly at night. Staff replaced the inefficient lights with high efficiency, brighter LED lights. The rear of the park now has a quad multi-directional light mount, which can illuminate several areas of the park simultaneously. Staff also painted the light posts for an overall aesthetic improvement to the park.

Eagle Paving is well underway with the city’s street rehabilitation project. The city continues to receive compliments from the community regarding the contractor’s construction operations.

The street rehabilitation work includes grinding the existing asphalt concrete street and the placement of a new asphalt concrete driving surface. Last week, Eagle Paving completed improvements on several Eastside Costa Mesa streets scheduled for repair. 

Work is now underway on streets located in Northside Costa Mesa. The upcoming phase of street improvements is in the central portion of the city and includes Logan Avenue, Pinecreek Drive, Village Way, Dale Way, College Avenue (Baker Street to Village Way), and Monterey Avenue (Salvador Street to El Camino Drive).

Once Eagle Paving has completed the street rehabilitation work, another contractor is scheduled to move into many of these same areas to slurry seal the remaining streets that did not require complete street rehabilitation, thus completing the street maintenance work in these neighborhoods.

Public Services Maintenance staff recently completed painting improvements at TeWinkle Park.

The painting project included the arbors that encircle Angel’s Playground, the arbor at the entrance to the restrooms, and the Skate Park’s perimeter wrought iron fence.

The wrought iron fence and arbors were faded, the original paint was peeling off, and portions of the fence were rusting. Staff coordinated with the Parks and Community Services Department to ensure there was minimal inconvenience to park users. The painting project provides an overall safety and aesthetic improvement to the park while also extending the anticipated life of the structures.