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 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. 

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.

Public Services recently completed the installation of new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant wheelchair ramps at the intersection of Carnegie Avenue and Swarthmore Lane.

This was part of the city’s ongoing effort to enhance citywide accessibility and meet ADA requirements. In addition to installing wheelchair ramps, the project also included reconstruction of the cross-gutter and splash pad to improve drainage at this location.

Public Services also recently completed the reconstruction of the parkway drain at Wellesley Lane near Fairview Road (see before and after photos). The project entailed demolition of the deteriorated parkway culvert and reconstruction of a parkway drain to meet the city’s standards. In addition to improving drainage conditions in the cul-de-sac, the project also included minor improvements to deteriorated sidewalk to eliminate displacements.

Improvements to the Harbor Boulevard Cornerstone Bicycle Trail at Fairview Development Center was also completed recently. The improvements included the Fairview Developmental Center planter reconfiguration that reduced the planter size and the installation of concrete in its place to ultimately provide a larger turning radius for bicyclists.

The city’s move to the new Newport Center Animal Hospital for shelter services has so far yielded favorable results and improved customer service.

As part of this new operation, the city has also partnered with Priceless Pet Rescue to handle pet adoptions because Newport Center Animal Hospital is currently not set up to do adoptions.

City staff facilitated the first pet adoption out of the shelter through the no-kill Priceless Pet Rescue. Jack the schnauzer mix was adopted by Danielle Rudd, pictured above on the right.

“Already Jack is fitting in perfectly and is loving going to the park for walks and getting tons of cuddles,” Rudd said. “Words cannot express how thankful I am to welcome Jack in my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for working tirelessly to ensure she was placed in an awesome home with me and my mom.”

Residents interested in adopting pets can visit this page for more information

The first deployment shift change for 2018 for the Costa Mesa Police Department has taken place, resulting in some exciting and new additions to several key specialty assignments.

The Traffic Safety Bureau gained a second traffic sergeant position to fill a long-time vacancy. This sergeant position will functionally oversee the department’s traffic officers, part-time traffic aides, and the traffic investigator position. With the breadth and volume of traffic-related issues throughout Costa Mesa, this additional sergeant will provide considerable expertise and oversight to a unit that continues to see growth.

The Police Department also saw expansion of the Community Policing Unit with the addition of a third officer. The Community Policing Unit was relaunched in late 2016 with new priorities and responsibilities to include, first and foremost, concentration on homeless outreach and liaison with the city’s Homeless Outreach Team. They also tackle other community issues and provide support to Patrol Services and other units throughout the department. For the first time, the Community Policing Unit will now have officers in the field seven days a week.

The Gang Investigations Unit also experienced milestone growth with the return of a gang sergeant and addition of two gang investigators, for a total of four. Enhanced staffing will allow the Gang Investigation Unit to return to an independently operating unit under the Investigative Services Bureau. Much like the Community Policing Unit, the Gang Investigative Unit has expanded its presence and impact throughout the week.

The City Council received numerous safety concerns from residents adjacent to the wall openings on both Raleigh Avenue and Victoria Street related to transients who sleep and/or loiter, use drugs and alcohol consumption, public urination and graffiti vandalism.

Additionally, concerns were also brought up to city staff regarding the use of neighborhoods containing such wall openings for additional parking for the apartments located on the other side of the wall. Consequently, the City identified seven wall opening locations on Victoria Street and one wall opening location on Fairview Avenue to close off.

Public Services contracted with Horizons Construction Company, Inc. to close off arterial wall openings at these locations. The project consisted of demolishing the existing sound wall obstructions, curb and gutter, and sidewalks; and the construction of new, reinforced masonry-block sound walls, wall foundations, sidewalks, curb and gutter, and other work required to properly transition to the new improvements.

During December 2017, Public Services contracted with Express Energy Services to upgrade 374 existing intersection safety lights from high pressure sodium to light emitting diode (LED) fixtures.

The fixtures were replaced between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. The LED’s will enhance the visibility at the intersections and are more energy efficient and sustainable, thereby reducing the City’s electrical and maintenance costs.

The installed LED’s are eligible for rebates through the Southern California Edison rebate program. The City anticipates receiving an estimated rebate amount of $95,145.

The 51st annual Snoopy House display ended with another successful year of bringing holiday cheer and joy to Costa Mesa residents and beyond.

The event, which ran from Dec. 14 through Dec. 23, drew about 8,000 total visitors to the display, which sits on the front lawn of City Hall. The provided hot apple cider and took 2,000 photos of children and families posing with Santa Claus.

There were eight performances by Newport-Mesa school groups and 12 non-profit youth groups sold treats raising $3,000. And this year, a new facility called Brad’s Bungalow was added to the display (pictured above) that allowed children to color and write letters to Santa Clause. The bungalow was informally named after longtime city employee Brad Long, who passed away near the Thanksgiving holiday and who was a huge Snoopy House fan. A total of 2,500 letters were written to St. Nick in the bungalow.

Snoopy house would not be possible without the hard work of the city’s facilities and maintenance workers as well as the planning and dedication of Dan Baker, Jennifer Christ and McKenna Ewing from the City Manager’s office. Special thanks to the four volunteer Santa Claus helpers who pitched in, which included Council Member John Stephens and city employees Andy Godinez, Tony Dodero and Dan Baker.

The city of Costa Mesa has now added a John Wayne Airport flight tracking system to the Airport Noise and Concerns page on the city’s main website.

That page can be seen here.

By viewing the flight tracker, website viewers can track arriving and departing flights by airline, altitude, destination and more.

Click here to see the tracking system. 

City officials will continue to monitor issues regarding aircraft noise and increasing traffic reported by residents and will continue to be engaged at the regional level to advocate for protecting Costa Mesa.

On Nov. 22 the city released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new Land Management System software program.

The city’s Land Management System rests at the core of all data related to building permits, entitlements, code enforcement cases and general plan zoning, and specific plan amendment applications and more.

The Land Management System is used every day to enter, retrieve, or update thousands of records. The city’s current system is old and in need of replacement, so a project management consulting team has been retained to guide the city through the selection of a new system.

To ensure its broadest use and functionality, a stakeholder group spanning all city departments conducted workshops with the project management consultants to develop a project scope to meet the disparate needs of multiple city departments.

The RFP is open until Jan. 3, 2018. Staff provided a longer window than normal for applicants to respond due to the holiday season. Release of the RFP represents a major step forward in the update of this critical information system. Goals for the new software system include greater connectivity, enhanced analytical abilities, and easier data entry and retrieval.

This process will continue to require time and attention throughout the city, however, the update is critical and will allow city staff to better serve the public through speed, efficiencies and advanced technologies, and the city will have the flexibility to add increased functionality in the future. Stay tuned for more updates in this exciting process.