FRIDAY LETTER
US Open Preparation
City Staff put the final touches on the preparation for the US Open Golf Tournament next week. The Police Department has completed a comprehensive Operations Plan outlining the entire week with an emphasis on Parking and Traffic throughout the City. No Parking signs will be put into place today in the Northwest portion of the City to maintain passage for emergency vehicles. Monday Morning Del Mar Parking lot will be converted to 2-hour parking for visitors and 3-hour parking for residents (with a valid residential sticker). The Police Department has increased their staffing levels and we will have security guards on duty working the beach next week. The goal is to manage traffic flow and minimize the impact on the residents of our Village. Even with all of these modifications we can still expect a significant increase in traffic in and out of the Village this next week. Patience is going to be important. Expect that it will take longer to get places and if possible avoid traveling around the Peninsula between the hours of 7:00 am to 11:00 am, and 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm. And as the City Administrator said in the Monterey Herald earlier this week - be kind.
Here's a very helpful guide prepared by Jenny MacMurdo, President and CEO of the Carmel Chamber of Commerce:
Farmer's Market - June 13, 2019 - Cancelled
In light of the potential for commute issues during the US Open, the Farmer's Market for June 13, 2019 has been cancelled. Please rejoin us on June 20, 2019.
Roadway Beautification
Beautification of median islands, shoulders, trails, and other landscaped areas has been ongoing for several months to help make the Village look great for the US Open. Special thanks goes to Mike Tope who converted many islands filled with weeds and debris to sharp looking areas with wood chips and pruned vegetation.
Michelin Guide (Finally) Acknowledges CBTS
The Michelin (first-ever) state guide is coming out for California, and we now know that in addition to Aubergine receiving a coveted Michelin star, seven (7) other CBTS' restaurants are included in the guide:
Seventh & Dolores
Yafa
Akaoni
Casanova
Dametra Cafe
La Bicyclette
Cultura comida y bebida
More here: https://www.ediblemontereybay.com/blog/michelin-comes-to-monterey/
This is big news for Carmel and very timely for the Carmel Restaurant Improvement District. Thanks to Executive Director Amy Herzog for highlighting these honors.
LED Retrofit
This week, the City Council approved a project to replace all fluorescent tube lighting in eight (8) City facilities with LED lights. Over the past few months, the City coordinated with the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) Energy Watch Program to complete an energy audit of City facilities including City Hall, Harrison Memorial Library, Park Branch Library, Vista Lobos, Fire Station, Norton Court Parking Garage, and the Del Mar bathroom. We will be replacing a total of 870 fluorescent lights with new LED fixtures. In addition, while Sunset Center is owned by the City, existing lighting will also be replaced there with LED lights under contract with the Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. All new LED lights provide better lighting, last longer, and use less energy than fluorescent bulbs.
Oops!
You may have noticed some additional work being done on San Antonio, between Second and Fourth Avenues, this week. Just when we all thought that PG&E was substantially finished with the installation of their new, 6-inch gas pipeline, and recently paved the road, it turns out that one house sewer lateral was intentional removed to install the new gas pipe, but someone forgot to restore the sewer lateral. Oops! The repairs were made on Wednesday, within six hours of discovery.
City Council Modifies Beach Fire Pilot Program
On Tuesday, the City Council approved modifications to the Beach Fire Management Program that will prohibit wood-fueled fire and allow user-supplied propane devices only for a period of one year. The Council also modified the Pilot Program to allow propane fires from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm (the previous rules did not allow any fires until 4:00 pm). The modifications were made through the approval of a Coastal Development Permit and concurrent adoption of an Ordinance. The modifications cannot be implemented until we are through the Coastal Development Appeal period as well as the Ordinance adoption process. For this reason, the restriction on wood fires is not likely to occur until the 2020 summer season.
During the propane-only pilot, the City will evaluate whether replacing wood-fueled fires with propane-fueled can be a viable and successful option, which will inform the City on potential future Local Coastal Program amendments intended to address beach fire rules. We appreciate the passion and concern of the community regarding this issue and we ask for your patience as we continue to explore opportunities through the most recent program modifications.
Norton Parking Garage
Did you know that the City of Carmel owns an underground parking garage, located on the west side of Dolores north of Fifth Avenue? This parking garage requires a permit from City Hall and is totally booked up at this time. On occasion, someone tries to be sneaky and park there without a permit because, well, no one will ever notice - Not so! This week, Facilities Maintenance installed new signs which makes it clear that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the vehicle owner’s expense.
Carmel High Students Field Work
Students under the guidance of Rose Ashbach, the student coordinator for MEarth, in collaboration with Friends of the Mission Trail Nature Preserve did it again. This is the 10th year in a row that classes from MEarth and the high school ROP and AP programs have worked on various environmental projects in the Preserve. Well done, thank you very much.
What’s Going On?
A) Weed whacking
B) Using a metal detector to locate a gold watch lost by a visitor
C) Dowsing to find new sources of water
D) Imitating a Public Works employee, poorly
E) Illegally cutting a tree
F) Marking out underground electrical lines
G) Measuring the distance from the shrub to the split rail fence
Answer: Just weed whacking.
More Pavement Resurfacing Gets Underway
In May, the City Council awarded a $881,374 contract to the Don Chapin Company for pavement resurfacing along 25 street segments all over the Village. Work will begin on Monday, June 17 and is anticipated to be complete prior to Car Week in August. Over $380,000 of this amount comes from external sources via the Transportation Agency of Monterey County, including Measure X, SB-1- the Road Repair and Accountability Act, gas tax, and other sources.
Following notification to abutting property owners, each street segment will be closed during construction and reopened as soon as possible. Unlike projects of the last few years which focused on asphalt pavement overlays, much of this year’s project includes slurry sealing the streets. A slurry seal is the application of a mixture of water, asphalt emulsion, very small crushed rock, and additives, to an existing asphalt pavement surface, and can extend the life of a residential street up to 10 years.
Street segments to be treated with Slurry Seal:
1. Second Avenue between Carpenter and Monterey Streets
2. Fourth Avenue between Santa Fe and Santa Rita Streets
3. Fifth Avenue between Dolores and San Carlos Streets
4. Sixth Avenue between Mission and Torres Streets
5. Sixth Avenue between Monte Verde and Lincoln Street
6. Seventh Avenue between Guadalupe Street and Forest Road
7. Seventh Avenue between San Carlos Street and Junipero Avenue
8. Tenth Avenue between Junipero Avenue and Torres Street
9. Eleventh Avenue between Junipero Avenue and East End
10. Thirteenth Avenue between San Carlos Street and Junipero Avenue
11. Dolores Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues
12. Dolores Street between Franciscan and south City limits
13. Lincoln Street between Fifth Avenue and Ocean Avenue
14. Lobos Street between Second and Fourth Avenues
15. Mission Street between Third and Fourth Avenues
16. Santa Lucia Avenue between Dolores and Camino Real
17. Torres Street between Second Avenue and north City limits
Street segments to receive an asphalt pavement overlay:
18. First Avenue between Lobos and Monterey Street
19. Lobos Street between 1st Avenue and north City limits
20. Eighth Avenue between San Carlos and Junipero Avenue
21. Camino Del Monte between Third and Junipero Avenue
22. Forest Road between Mountain View to Seventh Avenue
23. Junipero Avenue between Eighth and Twelfth Avenue
24. Junipero Avenue between Camino Del Monte and Second Avenue
25. Santa Fe Street between Ocean and Eighth Avenues
Finally, the City gets questions from the public asking why certain streets were selected while other streets, sometimes in worse condition, were not selected. Like most California agencies, the City uses an analytical pavement management computer system that optimizes the use of limited public funds to extend the life of paved streets. This program is scientific, objective, and bases its recommendations on actual field information which, for our City, was collected in the summer of 2018. The program also recommends the optimal, most cost-effective treatment, (i.e., slurry seal or overlay).
Carmel River School - Lessons from Fire Fighters
On Monday, Station 15 crews conducted a station tour and fire safety talk with the Carmel River School 1st grade class. Maybe a few future firefighters in the group?
Public Works Yard Repairs
After 30+ years of service in the Public Works Yard, the high-pressure water hose was replaced by our Facilities Maintenance team. In the process, we discovered a faulty switch for a pump to the water/oil/sediment separator system. The separator treats and recycles surface water into non-potable water for use to clean the street sweeper, wash trucks, etc. After troubleshooting, phone calls, and research, we replaced the switch successfully, avoiding the need to contract the work.
Art Gallery Gets a Rare Visitor
On Saturday, Animal Control officer Cindi Mitchel responded to a downtown art gallery for a surprising call. A long tailed weasel found its way into the gallery and appeared to be enjoying the artwork. The weasel was captured and released back into the wild. The Long Tailed Weasel (Confirmed by the SPCA) is native to North America but have rarely been seen in this area. In Cindi's 30 years of work here in Carmel this was her first weasel call. We're not making this up.
Happening at Sunset Center and Forest Theater
- Reminder: Last week the 2019/2020 Season of Sunset Presents was announced to include performances by such exciting acts as The Chieftains, Sergio Mendes and Bebel Gilberto, Darlene Love, Joanna Newsom, Ballet Hispánico, BEAUTIFUL (the smash Broadway hit Carole King Musical), Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, comedian Tig Notaro, and more! Bravo! Member pre-sale for Level Act III & Above begins on Monday, June 24, 2019 at 12PM, and single event tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 12PM. Show details can be found at www.sunsetcenter.org.
- Monday, June 10, the prestigious World Golf Hall of Fame 2019 Induction Ceremony will take place at Sunset Center. Live coverage will begin at 4:30PM on the Golf Channel. Please note that this is a private event and that the North Parking on 8th Avenue between San Carlos and Mission Streets and the Sunset Center theater lot will be closed to the public all day and evening. The Sunset Center grounds and Box Office will also be closed to the public that day and evening.
- Sunset Center’s fun, free Locals Lunch Concert Series returns on Friday, June 14 with talented singer/songwriter Moshe Vilozny from 12:30-1:15PM. It’s a wonderful way to kick off the weekend and support our talented local performers!
It's going to be a really warm weekend as well as being exceedingly busy. So: hydrate, plan ahead, be kind and patient, and take good care. If it gets chilly in the evening, consider experimenting with a propane fire device.
CR
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