The Costa Mesa City Council gave unanimous approval Tuesday night March, 21 to enter into a 10-year use agreement with the Los Angeles Chargers to practice at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex during the NFL team’s training camp this summer.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that will benefit both the Chargers and the Costa Mesa community at large while addressing the concerns of the neighbors,” Mayor Pro tem Sandra Genis said. “Along with other fans, I’m looking forward to watching the Chargers in action on our fields.”

The Chargers announced in January that the team is moving from San Diego to Los Angeles and  also announced that it was moving its headquarters into the Hive office complex in Costa Mesa.

Chargers owner Dean Spanos spoke to the City Council and thanked City Manager Tom Hatch and the Costa Mesa staff for working hard to make this agreement happen. Spanos invited the community to come to the camp to meet the football players.

“We are very proud and very honored to be a part of Costa Mesa and call this our home,” Spanos said. “This camp is an opportunity for everyone in Costa Mesa to come out and see what it’s all about. I hope the whole city comes out.”

Because the Jack Hammett Sports Complex fields are refurbished during the summer months, no youth sports teams will be displaced during the time the team will use the fields. Starting around mid-July, the team will hold its camp on fields No. 3 and 4 and bring the turf on those fields up to NFL standards. Training camp will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will finish about mid August.

As part of this training camp agreement, the team will provide Costa Mesa with $150,000 a year to use the site for a potential $1.5 million over 10 years.

In addition, the Chargers will give the city $50,000 to be used for a recently approved Mobile Recreation Program. Also, because field refurbishments need to happen as early as April, the Chargers have agreed to give the AYSO soccer organization a one-time payment of $10,000 to assist with finding field space.

The city and the Chargers plan to work closely together to ensure there are minimal disruptions to the nearby homes and neighborhoods. Because the training camp will coincide with the annual OC Fair, the city and the team will also develop a comprehensive plan for managing parking and traffic in the area.

City of Costa Mesa Principal Planner Minoo Ashabi attended the FAA on John Wayne Airport flight changes meeting on Wednesday Feb. 1 that was held at Newport Beach Oasis Senior Center.

The meeting was well attended and set up as an open house. There were  two stations where residents could get the noise readings at their properties using this Google Earth application. 

The arrival and departure routes have been published and will be fully implemented by April of this year.

As far as noise impacts to east Cost Mesa, there seems to be a pattern of slight decrease (0.1 dB variations); this is based on their noise model and assumptions of full compliance with the latest arrival and departure patterns.

The Fire & Rescue staff has happily reported that 16 community members recently graduated from the CERT training hosted by Greenleaf Mobile Home Park.

Participants learned skills in preparedness, fire safety and utility control, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue techniques, homeland security awareness and disaster emotional first aid.

Members of the instructional team included Fire Capt. Fred McDowell and Costa Mesa Police Lt. Vic Bakkila as well as volunteer instructors, Georgette Quinn, Cindy Brenneman, Dee Chester and program manager Brenda Emrick.

The next CERT class will be offered in March.

When Mariners Christian School student’s came back from Christmas break, they were welcomed by a New Year’s surprise: a brand new, state-of-the-art 57,000-square-foot AstroTurf athletic field.

To help celebrate this new addition, on Wednesday, Jan. 25 over 150 students, parents and teachers gathered for a special after school event to dedicate the new athletic facilities. The ceremony included remarks by the Head of School, Troy Moore, a prayer dedication by an 8th grader, Levi Darrow, a ribbon cutting ceremony and finally, fun field games that included the participation of students, teachers, and parents.

In April 2016, MCS launched a fundraising campaign to replace the natural grass field, which was 30 years old and significantly impacted by the extended drought conditions, with professional-grade AstroTurf.  The total project cost was $440,000.

By October 2016, the fundraising goal was reached, and construction commenced in November.  The new field, now featuring AstroTurf with a 2-star FIFA rating, includes permanent zoning stripes for flag football, soccer (small and full sided), and PE/recess lines.

Three new members of the City Council were sworn in Tuesday night Dec. 13 and the council chose Katrina Foley as the new mayor and Sandra Genis as the new mayor pro-tem.

Joining the council for four-year terms is returning Council Member Genis, former Councilman and Assemblyman Allan Mansoor and longtime community leader and attorney John Stephens.

The trio of new council members join Mayor Foley and Council Member Jim Righeimer on the five-member body.

“I am so honored and blessed to be serving as mayor in a city that I love so dearly,” Mayor Foley said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on the council to create an inclusive environment at City Hall for residents and businesses alike. I look forward to partnering with the business, tourism and arts community to enhance and further define our community as the City of the Arts.”

Foley, who was elected to the council in 2014, has a long history of community involvement and was first elected to City Council in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 before running successfully for the Newport-Mesa school board in 2010.

Foley is president of The Foley Group, a Professional Law Corporation in Newport Beach. The Foley Group, PLC provides services in artist and athlete management, employment litigation, family law, education advocacy and non-profit compliance matters.

Genis, who was raised in Costa Mesa and attended Estancia High School, was first elected to the City Council in 1988 and served as mayor from 1989 to 1990. She was re-elected in 1992 and ran again in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and both times was the top vote getter.

She is a retired city planner and has worked on a number of community causes, such as the preservation of Fairview Park and keeping the OC Fairgrounds in public ownership.

Mansoor was first elected to the City Council in 2002 and was appointed mayor in 2005 and again in 2007 and 2009. Also an Estancia graduate, Mansoor served as an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy. He was elected to the 74^th District of the State Assembly in 2010 and served until 2014.

This is Stephens’ first stint on the City Council after a narrow loss in 2012. As a resident of Costa Mesa since 1989, he has deep community ties and has served on the city’s Pension Oversight Committee, the Costa Mesa High School Foundation, Costa Mesans for Responsible Government and is a founding member of the St. John the Baptist Finance Council and Pastoral Council.

He was a leader of the “No” on the Charter campaigns in 2012 and 2014, including intervening in a lawsuit between the City of Costa Mesa and the Orange County Registrar of Voters in 2012 and is a member of the Orange County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee, which evaluates judicial candidates for the governor.

A longtime attorney, his firm Stephens Friedland LLP employees four full‐time lawyers and a staff of 10 employees.

Both Stephen Mensinger and Gary Monahan officially ended their council terms on Tuesday. Mensinger was most recently mayor beginning in 2014, and Monahan was appointed mayor three times in 1998, 2003 and 2011.

Fire Chief Dan Stefano received a distinguished career honor this week, as he became the 32nd Certified Fire Chief in California.

Stefano was presented the award at the Dec. 6 City Council Meeting by Chief Mike Richwine, California’s Acting State Fire Marshal, which also included receiving a set of Certified Fire Chief collar brass.

Candidates are thoroughly vetted through the Office of the State Fire Marshal and must successfully pass a rigorous set of comprehensive performance and professional standards evaluations by a Peer Assessment Committee.  The final phase includes an extensive, half-day interactive assessment and interview by a panel of professionals including an elected official, a Certified Fire Chief, and the State Fire Marshal.

Among the qualifications required to merit the award, candidates must demonstrate  significant leadership and Chief Officer experience, technical and operational expertise, higher education and advanced training, community involvement, professional organization affiliations and recommendations from other fire chiefs and non-fire service professionals.

To learn more about this award click here.

“I am truly honored and humbled to become the 32nd Certified Fire Chief in California,” Chief Stefano said. “This recognition is just a small example of much greater things that the men and women of the Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue Department are accomplishing and demonstrating everyday in professionally serving the community through our core values of respect, integrity, and compassion.”

The Fire Chief certification was established by the State Board of Fire Services in the 1990’s as the capstone for the State’s professional certification and qualification system. Today, there are over 900 fire departments in the state with fire chiefs eligible to complete the process.

This year, the iconic Snoopy House will mark its 50-year anniversary in Costa Mesa and fifth year at City Hall with an expanded holiday display that will feature a new Main Street look and three nights of snow.

Snoopy House, which features holiday scenes populated by “Peanuts” characters, is a free event available for viewing at City Hall from 5:30 to 9 p.m. nightly from Dec. 10 through Dec. 23.

“It has been an honor to have Snoopy House here these past five years,” Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger said. “It’s a wonderful tradition that now further connects the community to City Hall.”

The opening night of Snoopy House will begin with a formal presentation by the mayor and City Council members at 5:30 p.m.

In addition, Jim Jordan, whose family started the display at their Eastside Costa Mesa home in 1966, will be honored for the 50-year tradition.

The Jordan family members and friends put together a series of Christmas scenes that eventually took up most of their front yard, side yard and even the roof of their home.

Since its inception, the display has attracted an estimated 80,000 visitors annually.

Snoopy House moved to Costa Mesa City Hall in 2011, when city officials learned the fate of the annual tradition was in jeopardy.

The city of Costa Mesa agreed to host the display and provide other assistance and has been doing so every year since with the help of devoted staff members as well as Jim Jordan and his wife Linda, who have worked to help create the City Hall display for the last five years.

Over the last five years, Snoopy House has added several new features including nightly live music, snow, free apple cider, free photos with Santa and free train rides for children.

To complement the Snoopy House, the city also puts on a nightly light show on the façade of City Hall.

The Santa visits take place each night between 7 to 9 p.m. beginning opening night, Dec. 10, through Dec. 23. Children and their families will have opportunities to receive free photos with Santa.

In addition, several youth nonprofit groups will have booths at the Snoopy House display each night selling beverages and snacks.

A local resident reported some hazardous conditions relating to drug use at Davis Field at Lions Park and noted that it was potentially unsafe for children who use the field for soccer practice.To better protect the kids who use the field, the city has installed screens along the existing walls to deter drug use or paraphernalia from being left on the field.

In addition, city parks maintenance workers will conduct a manual foot sweep of the field each day to ensure it is safe for youth sports activities.

Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack welcomed four new members of the Police Department on Monday during an official badge-pinning and swearing-in ceremony outside his office.

“Obviously this is an awesome day for the department,” Chief Sharpnack said. “This really sets the momentum for the next year. The spirit of police work, teamwork and excellence is continuing to grow here in this department.”

Joining the department this week are Officers Frank Nguyen and Bunnath Phot both of whom are lateral transfers from Fullerton Police Department.

Also, welcomed on Monday were two recent graduates from the Sheriff Academy, Eric Molina and Mark Garcia.

Nguyen has a degree in criminal justice from Cal State Fullerton and has worked for Fullerton PD for the last 10 years. He has earned a MADD Award for DUI arrests and in 2010 received an award from the Chief of Police for exemplary service.

Phot is currently attending Cal State Fullerton and is working on a degree in kinesiology. He has been a Marine Corps reserve since 2012 and has worked for Fullerton Police Department since 2014.

Molina grew up in Costa Mesa and is an Estancia High graduate. He served as a Police Explorer for five years and later as a part-time aide in the traffic bureau. He has completed course work at Golden West college.

Garcia is a 2013 graduate from the University of California Riverside with bachelor’s in sociology. He also volunteers in the evening hours after work helping children with psychological challenges.

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Costa Mesa Police officers recently attempted 19 residential home checks of Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS), Formal Probation and Gang Terms Probation offenders. Over the course of the evening, the team made multiple contacts, which included 21 offenders, 15 of whom were classified as being on formal supervised probation or were PRCS/Probation offenders living in Costa Mesa.

An additional six offenders on Supervised Gang Terms Probation were also contacted. The compliance checks resulted in 14 offenders being arrested for violations of conditions of their probation and/or new criminal law violations. Teams also assisted patrol on a felony battery investigation and searched a hoarder/unsafe nuisance house at 769 W. Wilson Street where they contacted 17 persons inside.

Code Enforcement will have to follow up due to numerous violations and safety issues at the home.

The public is invited to view some of Costa Mesa’s finest homes decked out for the holidays as well as the new Heroes Hall museum at the OC Fair & Event Center at the third annual Costa Mesa Home Tour on Dec. 1.

The event dubbed “Home for the Holidays” is presented by the Costa Mesa Middle and High School Foundation and takes place from 3 to 8 p.m. and will finish with a closing reception at the Room & Board store at SOCO.

Tickets to the event are $50 and proceeds will benefit high school arts programs as well as help provide transportation for Orange County students who are visiting Heroes Hall on field trips.

In addition to Heroes Hall, those taking part in the event will get to visit five local homes that are decorated for the holiday season.

Sponsors for this year’s event includes the City of Costa Mesa, Greenleaf Gourmet Chop Shop, Room & Board, Gatehouse, SOCO, Pottery Barn and realtors from RE/MAX and Star Real Estate.

For more information on the Home Tour please click here.

Below is a video of last year’s Home Tour

The OC Fair & Event Center  will celebrate the Nov. 11 Veterans Day holiday Friday with a public dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Heroes Hall veterans museum at 1 p.m. at the OC Fair & Event Center.

Heroes Hall at the OC Fair & Event Center will be a permanent, year-round museum with exhibitions, performances and educational programs that celebrate the legacy of Orange County veterans and others who have served our nation. The two-story exhibition space will rotate themes semi-annually with each focusing on an aspect of the personal stories and experiences of veterans.

The event free to the public.

The fairgrounds property was once part of the Santa Ana Army Air Base, a 1,300-plus-acre training facility active during World War II. Orange Coast College, Vanguard University, Costa Mesa High School, Davis Elementary School, Tewinkle Park and several commercial and residential areas are also on former army air base land.

The dedication ceremony will be a salute to local veterans and veterans groups including Vincent Okamoto – the most decorated Japanese American veteran of the Vietnam War and a Los Angeles Superior Court judge – and Santa Ana Army Air Base veterans.

Approved by the OC Fair & Event Center Board of Directors in 2014, Heroes Hall is expected to encompass more than 12,000 square feet with indoor/outdoor exhibit space. Crews broke ground in March and the former “Memorial Gardens,” a two-story, 5,000-square-foot WWII-era building, was placed on the site in April to house exhibitions.

Crews have been diligently working on the building and the surrounding courtyard which includes a 50-foot-wide centerpiece designed after the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration that is awarded by Congress for gallantry and bravery in combat at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The City of Costa Mesa donated $50,000 toward the construction of Heroes Hall.

Attendees on Friday are also invited to attend the free Veterans + Labor Community Celebration scheduled at the OC Fair & Event Center on the same day from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Details for the community event are available here.

The Heroes Hall Veterans Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, provides fundraising support for exhibitions, education, programs and operation. Information about how to become involved and make a contribution is available at ocheroeshall.org.

For more information about Heroes Hall  visit ocfair.com/heroeshall.

Heroes Hall is at the OC Fair & Event Center, which is located off the 405 and 55 freeways at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa. For more information about the event center, please visit ocfair.com, become a fan on Facebook.com/OCFair, follow us at twitter.com/ocfair or call (714) 708-1500.