NEWS

Playground Celebration June 2008
Castlebay Students Clean Up Graffiti March 2008
Telephone Tax Discussion January 2008
Red Cross Needs Donors November 2007
Mike Dobry Honored by City Council November 2007
Porter Ranch School Moves Forward October 2007
Windstorm Takes Its Toll On Porter Ranch October 2007
Cell Phone Towers Proposed October 2007
Castlebay API at 917 Fall 2007
How to Get on the Street Repair List September 2007
PRNC to Go Green September 2007
Earthquake Preparation August 2007
PRNC Planning Retreat Results August 2007
Porter Ranch Welcome Center Opens August 2007
New Officers Elected July 2007
Election Committee Report June 2007
Holleigh Bernson Park Shade Approved April 2007
School Site Approved April 2007
Captain Casper Retirement Celebration April 2007
Nathan Shapell Dies March 2007
National Clean Up Day March 2007
Shift Happens March 2007
Tampa Off Ramp January 2007

School Approved December 2006
AYSO Team Supported by PRNC October 2006
Proposed YMCA Expansion September 2006
Porter Ranch Projects April 2006
Northridge Pool Construction February 2006

Playground Celebration & Disaster Preparedness Fair
June 7, 2008, 11am-2pm
The PRNC sponsored a celebration of the new shade covering at Holleigh Bernson Park. The board heard many complaints about the lack of shade at the new park, and partnered with Councilman Greig Smith to solve the problem. The PRNC spent $17,000 which was matched by Smith to provide the two beautiful coverings. And just in time for summer.

The event was kicked off by Mrs. Dorfman's Castlebay Kindergarten Class of Indefatigable Winners who led everyone in the pledge of allegiance and sang several patriotic songs. Many attendees received I love Porter Ranch T-Shirts and reusable PRNC shopping bags. Lunch was provided by the PRNC and prepared by the Red Cross as part of their continuing emergency training.

Also on hand were Brownies, Cub Scouts, Girl and Boy Scouts, Boy Scout Venturing, Fire Explorers, Red Cross Youth Volunteers and the YMCA.

Sponsors include Councilman Greig Smith, American Red Cross Disaster & Preparation, Castlebay Lane Elementary School .

Chris Cooper, Mrs. Drogichen & Vas Singh give out reusable shopping bags.	Paula Cracium & Paul Drogichen	Boy Scout Table
Girl Scout Table	New Shade Covering	Mrs. Dorfman's Class of Indefatigable Winners
Councilman Greig Smith, PRNC & Castlebay Singers	Greig Smith celebrates Porter Ranch	Becky Leveque thanks Greg Smith for the PRNC
Sue Hammarlund, event organizer and the lead from the Red Cross	Red Cross chefs	Head Chef in action

Castlebay Students Participate in Graffiti Clean Up

Mike Dobry (front row, left) organized a clean up of graffiti with Castlebay students and neighborhood volunteers on Saturday, March 29, 2008. 20-30 volunteers painted out graffiti at Limekiln Canyon (just west of Tampa) and Rinaldi. Deputy Chief Mike Moore (back row in blue) who is in charge of the Operations for the Valley Bureau came out to see first hand who has been defacing our neighborhood. Sponsors for this event were: Whole Foods, Starbucks, and Lowes.

PRNC Hosted Telephone Tax Discussion - January 2008
Ray Ciranna, Assistant City Administrative Officer, made a presentation about the proposed Telephone User's Tax at the January 2008 meeting. He outlined the previous telephone taxes, the reason for this proposed tax and the potential impact of not passing this tax on the February ballot.

Red Cross Needs Blood Donors
Scott Hayman of the American Red Cross spoke at our November 13, 2007 meeting: Blood isn’t just needed in a disaster. The fact is, every two seconds, someone in America needs blood. In the Southern California area, there is such a need that about 40% of the blood supply must be imported from other regions of the country.

If you have never given blood before, now is a great time to start. If you’ve given blood before, please give again.

Type A or AB blood donors are encouraged to make a specialized platelet donation. Type O or B blood donors are encouraged to make whole blood donations.

Our local Red Cross Donor Center is located a mere ten miles away from Shepherd of the Hills, at 6338 Variel Avenue, in Woodland Hills. Variel is situated between DeSoto Avenue and Canoga Avenue, just south of Victory Boulevard, and across from Home Depot. The center is open six days a week for your convenience in making a donation.

SAVE LIVES.  CALL FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY.

 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or 1-800-448-3543

Outstanding Resident for Contributions to Public Safety Honored - November 2, 2007

Mike Dobry was honored in City Council this week to congratulate him for being named 2007 Community Partner of the Year by the California Crime Prevention Officer's Association.

A resident of Porter Ranch, Mike was awarded for his outstanding commitment to improving the public safety in our community. He was recognized for his contributions as an LAPD Reserve Officer, as a State and National Parks Mountain Bike Unit member, in Neighborhood Watch groups, and by leading volunteer graffiti clean-ups.

He has also dedicated a great deal of time and effort to Supporters of Law Enforcement in Devonshire (SOLID) and always volunteers at community events.

Porter Ranch School Moves Forward - October 23, 2007
The LAUSD School Board considered a motion on October 23rd which affects the continued funding of schools approved by voters under Measure Y. This includes the Porter Ranch K-8 span school.

Stakeholder Wendy L. Moore went to the board meeting and spoke on behalf of the community about our need for and support of funding neighborhood schools as promised under Measure Y. Dave Hasson, from Shappell was also on hand.

The School Board approved the motion, allowing our school to move forward. The school site has been approved and LAUSD is currently completing the Environmental Impact Study. Once that is finished, architectural designs can begin. It is expected to take at least four years before the school is operational.

Windstorm Takes Its Toll On Porter Ranch -
October 22, 2007

View of Porter Ranch Mountains Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 5pm with smoke from the Aqua Dulce Fire

Los Angeles Firefighters responded to a fire in the LA County Fire District at the top of Oat Mountain in Porter Ranch before 6am Sunday, October 21, 2007. The fire was small and quickly contained. By 8am no smoke could be seen coming from the fire by residents near Sesnon. The cause of fire is under investigation, but is believed to be triggered by equipment on the Getty Oil Land. Thank you for a job well done! For more on this fire, see LAFD Blogspot.

The winds also have downed a number of trees in Porter Ranch. Monday morning an engine from Fire Station #8 was on hand in front of Castlebay Lane Elementary to deal with 2 Crape Myrtle trees that had fallen and were blocking school traffic. Three trees were also down on Killoch Way. One of them crushed the back end of a black SUV.


Brush Clearance: The City of Los Angeles Sanitation Department of Public Works provides for "one time brush collection/year" which you can use to get brush that was blown down in the winds removed. Residences can go to the City site and fill out a refuse service request form which is submitted electronically to the department. You can also contact them at 800-773-2489. Residences requiring this service should select their trash collection day as the pick up day. Special trucks will be routed to our area based the the requests that have been received therefore, you are urged to completed this form as far in advance of your pick up day as possible.

"Please Note: Brush Items must be tied in bundles or placed in bags. Each bundle or bag must weigh no more than 30 pounds and must be tied securely and be 4 feet or less in length.

Brush Item Pick-Ups are limited to one pick-up per year for each household (year is designated as a 12-month period from the last pick-up requested)."

Proposed Cell Phone Towers - October 2, 2007
There are 3 cell phone towers proposed for installation in Porter Ranch. These were discussed at the October 2, 2007 meeting. Towers are proposed for:

1. T-Mobile Tower on Sesnon west of Tampa. This tower would be a "pine tree" tower located in the private property of Northridge Country HOA. It would blend in with surrounding trees and be available to other cell phone providers to co-locate. The HOA will receive compensation for the use of their land.
Map of coverage with the tower.
Images of proposed tower. (2.7 mg file)

2. T-Mobile Tower near the YMCA on Corbin. These cells would be mounted on the roof of the YMCA and have a screen in front of them. These units have a 1 mile radius of coverage.
Map of coverage with the tower.
Map of coverage without the tower.
Images of proposed cells.
Hearing Notice.

3. Verizon Tower on Sesnon at Holleigh Bernson Park. This is a single company tower that was planned for a location that Renaissance residents were concerned would block their view. A secondary location was recommended about 50' to the East, located closer to the bridge just East of the park. It would move to the North side of the street.
Image of initially proposed pole location
Image of initially proposed equipment location

We had about 30 stakeholders at the meeting. Some expressed a concern about minimizing polls. However, there was broad support for these new towers. 

Castlebay Lane Elementary School API at 917!
Vivian Ihori, Principal of our own Castlebay Lane Elementary school, is proud to announce in September 2007 that the school's Academic Performance Index (API) rose 7 points over the previous year to 917. This score puts Castlebay in the top 10% of California schools. Castlebay is also a California Distinguished School.

The PRNC has supported the school over the last several years providing funds for computer lab CPUs, projectors and dvd players. Congratulations on a job well done!

How to Get on the Street Repair List - September 2007

Brian Davis, Chief Coordinator - Street Resurfacing for the City of Los Angeles, explained how the City selects streets for resurfacing to a packed house at the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Meeting on Tuesday, September 11, 2007.

According to Mr. Davis, the City streets currently have a C- rating. There are a total of 6,500 miles of streets in Los Angeles, 1,000 miles of which are considered “failed” streets. Based on the City’s budget, the City will only able to address 175 miles of streets in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Many Porter Ranch residents came to the meeting wanting to know how to get on “The List” for street repair, frustrated with trying for many years with phone calls and letters. Streets of particular concern were Sesnon, Tampa, Reseda, Wilbur and Stewarton Drive.

Replacing a failed street, and removing everything down to the dirt, costs five times more than just replacing the top 2 inches. The City has determined the most cost effective manner to repair streets is to resurface them before they are deemed failed. 80% of the budget is for resurfacing and providing a slurry coat and 20% is for complete reconstruction. The most economical approach is to repair contiguous streets in a grid format.

Mr. Davis explained that Los Angeles is considered a world leader in street paving technology, with foreign delegations coming to learn from the City. Los Angeles has a state of the art machine that removes the asphalt, recycles and reuses it as a base course.

Because street repair has been prioritized after fire, police and homeland security, and their budget is woefully small, the City is seeking a bond initiative to bring streets to acceptable levels in the next ten years. Some Porter Ranch residents spoke out that it was unfair to burden property owners to pay for street repair, when they are not the only ones using the streets.

When Mr. Davis revealed his committed paving list, there was more than one sigh of relief when residents heard the names of their requested projects. Here is the list of streets to be repaired by the City some time during the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
PRNC to Go Green - September 2007
There has been a lot of talk lately about “Going Green”, taking action to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions, thereby reversing global warming. But is it all talk or has anybody taken any action? The PRNC challenges all Porter Ranch residents to Go Green.


We would like to recommend one step each household can take to be a little bit greener: stop using supermarket provided bags. According to myownbag.com, Americans use 14 billion plastic bags a year and recycle 1% of them. This costs us $4 billion in additional costs at the store and uses 12 million barrels of oil to produce the bags, which we use for less than one hour. Paper bags aren’t a good solution, because they use up 14 million trees a year.

What to do? The best approach is to buy reusable shopping bags and bring them with you to the store. Stores providing plastic bags are now required to offer reusable bags for sale. They are typically $1-2. Or if you don’t want to actually buy reusable bags, you could bring back the paper bags from your last purchase. Ralphs and Whole Foods will credit you 5 cents for each bag that you reuse. And Trader Joes awards a prize each week in a drawing of people who bring their own bags.

The best way to remember them is to keep them in your car or collect them when you make your shopping list.

To encourage the greening of your shopping habits, at the November 13th meeting the PRNC will give you a reusable shopping bag when you present this article or your market receipt showing that you used a reusable shopping bag.

With the holidays coming up, a reusable bag would make a great stocking stuffer.

How Big Was That Earthquake?
Porter Ranch has experienced several earthquakes lately including a 3.5 on Thursday, August 16th at 12:23pm and a 4.6 on Thursday, August 9th at 1am. If you think you feel an earthquake, you can check the magnitude on the USGS Real Time Earthquake Map. See a list of recent local quakes in the USGS Archive.

But better yet, get prepared!
How to secure your stuff.
Materials to gather in advance.
What to do during an earthquake FAQ.

August Retreat / Planning Meeting - August 4th

The regularly scheduled meeting for the first Tuesday in August was been replaced with a planning meeting on Saturday, August 4, 2007, at the Porter Valley Country Club. This meeting served as a retreat and planning meeting for the board and newly elected officers and stakeholders, shown above.

The Board discussed many potential projects and issues including: community events, traffic, street resurfacing, the new school, Porter Ranch identity, neighborhood clean ups, public art, playground equipment and more. A chief discussion point was that if the Board chooses to focus on outreach, there will be less money to pay for things in the neighborhood. This would be a paradigm shift in thinking.

Mel Mitchell, the President, outlined some of his vision for the upcoming year:

• Community Events

• Meetings with Speakers

• Public Relations Efforts

• Participating in City Efforts

• Working with other Neighborhood Councils

• Involving Porter Ranch HOAs

• Involving Porter Ranch Youth

• Go Green Initiative

Retreat notes

S&S Welcome Center Opening - August 5, 2007

Porter Ranch Development Company (S&S) held their grand opening of their new Welcome Center located on Porter Ranch drive across from Toys R Us on Saturday, August 5th. They served hot dogs and ice cream to the community. There was also face painting, balloons, children's IDs. Trucks from Fire Station 28 were on hand for kids young and old to check out.

New Officers Elected - July 2007
At the July 10, 2007 meeting we elected new officers for the 2007-2008 year. They are:

President-Mel Mitchell
Vice President-Paula Cracium
Secretary-Pat Pope
Treasurer-Paul Drogichen

Thanks to Becky Leveque, outgoing president and the rest of the team for their leadership and hard work this last year.

Elections Committee Report - June 2007
The elections committee announced that with the changes in the bylaws, terms will be extended from two years to four years. Our next election will be in 2008. They are planning on implementing some new tactics to increase stakeholder participation, including multi-day voting and absentee ballots. See Elections for more information.

Proposed Shade for Holleigh Bernson Park - April 24, 2007
The Beautification Committee sought community input at its meeting on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. The committee approved spending $17,000 for a shade covering for the Holleigh Bernson Playground. The balance of approximately $17,000.00 will be paid through Quimby Funds at the request of Councilman Greig Smith.

PORTER RANCH SCHOOL SITE APPROVED! - April 24, 2007
The LAUSD school board approved the proposed K-8 span school for Porter Ranch at their meeting on December 13, 2006. And they approved the proposed site at their meeting on April 24, 2007. At that meeting we were represented by comments made by Becky Leveque, PRNC President, Mel Mitchell and Chris Cooper, PRNC Board Members. S&S also presented comments in support of the school.

The next steps in the process are hiring the architect, making changes to the Specific Plan and concurrent design and Environmental Impact Report process.

Read more about the school. Information is from the community outreach meeting held on October 16, 2006. There have been two community meetings. The other was on February 22, 2007 at Germaine Elementary School.

PRNC Sponsors Celebration at LAFD #28- Captain Casper Retires After 50 Years - April 22, 2007


On Sunday, April 22, 2007 the PRNC sponsored a celebration for Captain Casper and the local firefighters upon his retirement after 50 years of service. More than 250 people enjoyed the festivities.


Captain Casper received a commendation from President Bush and a flag from Congressman Sherman. The flag was flown over the Capitol on September 11, 2006. These were presented by PRNC Secretary Pat Pope.

Jim Dellinger presented a proclamation from the City Council on behalf of Councilman Greig Smith. Becky Leveque, PRNC President presented a certification on behalf of the PRNC.

Children from Castlebay Lane, Mrs. Dorfman's kindergarten class of Indefatigable Winners led everyone in the pledge of allegiance and sang God Bless America and Grand Old Flag.

Captain Casper celebrated his 50 years of service with his mother and family.

The event was sponsored by the PRNC, S&S Construction, Jack in the Box, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Ameci Pizza, Ralphs and Baja Fresh.

You may view larger images below by clicking on them.

Nathan Shapell, founder of S&S and developer of Porter Ranch, passed away Sunday March 11, 2007 in his sleep. He was 85.

National Clean Up Day - March 17, 2007

The PRNC held two clean up days this March on March 10 in Aliso Canyon and March 17 at the Braemore Cliff park. On the 17th, Fire trucks secured Fire Explorers who repelled off the cliff and picked up trash. They were guided by Firemen who supervised their progress and safety. Other community members helped in picking up trash at the park.

Getting ready to repel	Securing the ropes	Picking up trash
Headed down	Watching the action	Support crew
Becky Leveque, Chris Cooper and the community	Braemore cliff

Shift Happens - Secure Your Place - March 2007
About 70-80 people were present at our March 2007 board meeting for Mark Benthien's presentation about the latest information of the potential Great Earthquake happening sooner rather than later and how it will affect us in Porter Ranch. You can watch a video online about the future of earthquakes in Porter Ranch.

Mark Benthien is the Director of Communication, Education and Outreach for the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California. This center was established in 1991 for the purpose of gathering new information about earthquakes in southern Calif. and to communicate an understanding of this phenomena to the general public in order to increase awareness, reduce economic losses and save lives.

Carol Parks, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles, presented tips to help us prepare for the "Big One". Read about what to do in an earthquake.

Fire Captain Stacy Gerlich spoke about CERTS (Community Emergency Response Teams) and the effort being made to prepare Porter Ranch. Remeber the CERTS motto is "You Can't Predict...But You Can Prepare"

Tampa Off Ramp - January 2007
John Bwarie from Councilman's Smith office discussed the possibility of using State funds to widen the Tampa Off Ramp of the 118 freeway at our January 2007 meeting. The Board voted to support moving to the next step in the process, which is to have the City Council file a request with the State Department of Transportation. DOT would need to evaluate the ramp and solicit public opinion.

PORTER RANCH SCHOOL APPROVED!
The LAUSD school board approved the proposed K-8 span school for Porter Ranch at their meeting on December 13, 2006. The next steps in the process are final approval by the City of the changes to the Specific Plan and concurrent design and Environmental Impact Report process. Read more about the school. Information is from the community outreach meeting held on October 16, 2006.

Local AYSO Team won a tournament in Chicago in October 2006. The PRNC helped buy their new uniforms.

Proposed YMCA Expansion September 2006 The YMCA is proposing to expand the Porter Ranch facility. Read about it and see the floorplans. Read the PRNC letter about the proposal.

Porter Ranch Projects
The PRNC met on April 11, 2006 to prioritize the list of projects proposed by stakeholders at the April 4th meeting. Please see the attached list and send any thoughts to Mel Mitchell.

Northridge Pool Under Construction
The Northridge Pool groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 2006 and the project is now under construction. The new $5.8 million pool will include a large lap pool, a shallow wading pool and new changing facilities. It is expected to reopen in 2007. Details and Rendering.