Our meeting began with Jolyn Murphy, the District Director from Congressman Ken Calvert’s office giving us an update. The congressman just returned to Washington DC where he is trying to secure additional transportation funds for our 91 freeway improvements. He is working on a one time act that would charge a small fee for the goods moved in or out of local ports that end up in Riverside County. The fees would be collected at the ports and used here in Riverside County for road improvements. Congressman Calvert is also working to improve the E-Verify system. This system allows employers to check on the immigration status of their employees. It’s a free service but not all businesses are utilizing this system. For more information or to sign up for the E-newsletter, go to www.calvert.house.gov or call Jolyn at (951)784-4300.
Sheriff’s Update
Captain Mayman from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department gave us an update for Eastvale. Stolen vehicles have decreased almost by half but theft in general increased slightly last quarter. Captain Mayman believes it might have to do with the holiday season as we have seen a decline in every other quarter. House alarm calls have decreased again from 648 in 4th qtr 2008 to 511 last quarter 2009. Our parks officer, Deputy Cleveland has been reassigned in the department’s normal rotation. We now have a new parks Officer, Deputy Colon. Make sure you say “Hello” to him and let all the Deputies here in Eastvale know that they are welcome.
In early January, the Sheriff’s Department arrested some thieves who had been targeting the Eastvale Gateway shopping center. Captain Mayman said that they were drug addicts who were stealing to support their habit. Also, last December a robbery suspect was tackled by an off duty corrections officer in our Eastvale Albertsons. Captain Mayman reiterated that the Sheriff’s Department cannot be successful without our citizen’s help. If you see something suspicious, call the Sheriff’s Department. Their non emergency number is (951)776-1099.
CHP Update
The CHP gave a brief update that through their patrol area there was a 10% decrease in accidents and deaths and a 10% increase in DUI arrests for last quarter. There were 50 fatalities n 2009. The CHP said they are mostly caused by driving too fast, not wearing a seat belt, DUI and being distracted while driving (cell phones, texting, etc.).
Fire Department Update
The Battalion Chief for Cal Fire who also represents Riverside County Fire gave us an update. There are 95 fire stations and three fire camps that can collaborate and use all their resources to handle threats. At any time there are 1300 Cal Fire, 200 Riverside County and 700 volunteer firefighters available. Eighteen cities are in this network and ready to be dispatched regardless of county affiliation. If Eastvale were to have a large problem, we could receive help from many areas regardless of county and city lines. There were 115,000 calls last year and 82% were for medical aid, 14% for fires and the rest were technical calls. Eastvale’s fire station #27 handles calls from the Santa Ana River as the southern border, the SB County line as the northern border, Hellman as the western border and the 15fwy as the eastern border. Station 27 employs a Captain, an Engineer and a Paramedic at this location. But because of our agreement with Cal Fire we can pull resources from any surrounding station. Eastvale’s permanent fire station has had construction delayed because of easement issues. They are hoping to be back on track this spring and are hoping for a 2011 completion date. A push to have more citizens achieve their Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) certification is being made in case of a large scale disaster where first responders in Eastvale wouldn’t be able to provide services to all in need. And first responders from other stations wouldn’t be available to help residents in Eastvale. For more information, go to www.citizencorp.gov.
Master Development Presentation
Ward Mace from Master Development gave a brief presentation on their project, the Ranch at Eastvale, located at Hellman and Kimball on the west side of Eastvale. They will be centrally located 2 miles east of Euclid and 2 miles west of the 15fwy. The project is 100 acres and will include an extension of Limonite Avenue and connecting to Kimball in Chino. This property is adjacent to the new American Hero’s park. The Ranch will provide 15-20 acres of retail space, small office buildings and possibly a self storage area. There will be over 3,600 parking spaces and they can build to suit. Master Development can sell the land to you or another developer and/or build the building. This project does not have the final approval from the Board of Supervisors and is not as far along as the Birtcher project. Some residents voiced a concern over the trucking routes as there will be an undetermined number of truck bays at this location. The proposed truck route will once again be Limonite Avenue to the 15fwy. This concern was also brought up with Supervisor Tavaglione and Mr. Birtcher at a meeting last year. The County Transportation Department indicated that it would analyze a truck route on the outside of Eastvale’s boundaries along Bellgrave. Mr. Mace suggested submitting our tenant suggestions to their website at bbentrott@masterdevelopment.com.
Code Enforcement Update
Mickey Parmele from Riverside County Code Enforcement gave an update on their activity for Eastvale. In the 4th quarter 2009 there were 708 inspections resulting in 237 notices of violation (NOV). Of those NOV’s, there were 115 citations issued for non-compliance. Please call (951) 280-4100 to report a violation. You can do so anonymously or you can leave your contact information for updates on the progress of compliance.
CNUSD Update
Bob Taylor from the Corona Norco School District gave us the grim update on the district’s budget. There was $54 million cut from the budget the previous two years and they were anticipating a cut of $18 million for the 2010/2011 school year. The district was trying to achieve that cut by mandating 5 furlough days for the next year. However, the state’s budget was released and now the district must cut an additional $13 million. In order to cut those additional funds approximately $230 per student will have to be eliminated. We can expect that over 100 teachers will be laid off and that our class size reduction in Kindergarten through third grade will be eliminated. The 2009/2010 school year saw K-3 class sizes increase from 20 students per class to over 24. 2010/2011 could see 28 to 32 students per class in the primary grades. Eastvale teachers might be hit the hardest as our schools are new and some teachers transferred into our district.
Mr. Taylor stated that the District, with the exception of Eastvale schools, would be going to a modified traditional schedule (view schedules online at www.cnusd.k12.ca.us). Eastvale schools are still too impacted to go to a single schedule. All of our Eastvale elementary schools have an API score of over 800. This is a very good rating. Harada and Eastvale Elementary schools are both recipients of the California Business for Educational Excellence. Rosa Parks Elementary is viewed as a model school where other cities in the state come to view and replicate in their own schools. Clara Barton Elementary was just nominated as a California Distinguished School. VanderMolen Elementary school is a demonstration school for Pearson Publishing for mathematical instruction.
River Heights Intermediate is now the largest in the district with over 1600 students. Auggie Ramirez Intermediate located just south of Rosa Parks Elementary will begin construction this spring with an anticipated opening date of the 2011/2012 school year. Our high school, Eleanor Roosevelt will see its first graduating class who completed 9th-12th grade at this school. There are currently 3300 students at ERHS and the capacity is over 4,000. The athletic program is excelling. Their football team and both boys and girls basketball teams made the playoffs this year.
Cityhood Update
Jeff Degrandpre from the Eastvale Incorporation Committee gave us the news that the LAFCO board approved our bid for cityhood on January 21, 2010. The meeting was tense with presentations both for and against and a tied vote by the board before lunch. The tie seemed to originate from a question of staffing throughout Eastvale’s first 10 years. After the numbers were adjusted and presented to the board, they approved 6-0. There will be an election on June 8, 2010 to decide for or against cityhood. There will be three issues on the ballot: yes or no for cityhood, voting for 5 city council members and whether elections for council members are at large or by district. The cityhood effort needs your help in spreading the word and getting out the vote.
Visit www.GoEastvale.com for the latest information about the Yes on Cityhood campaign.
Be sure to attend the next Town Hall meeting, April 27, where we will have a city council candidate’s forum. Come meet and hear what Eastvale’s first potential city council members have to say and make your decision.