BROADCAST MESSAGE-APRIL 2003
Ken Pulskamp, City Manager

Greetings from beautiful (and green) City of Santa Clarita. With all of the rain we received recently, our Valley is truly a vision of beauty this spring!

As many of you already know, our police chief, Captain Don Rodriguez has been promoted to Commander and has left the Santa Clarita Station. Right now, I am working to select a new Chief of Police. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs’ Department has provided us with a list of four candidates from which to select our new chief. As I write this, we are underway with a series of panels, including a community panel, which will interview the four finalists. I hope to have a new chief appointed this month.

On Saturday April 5, at 10 a.m., the new Oak Spring Canyon Park opens to the public. Located just off Soledad Canyon Road and Oak Spring Canyon Road, in the eastern part of Canyon Country, this beautiful new 5-acre park with a grassy turf area, covered picnic facilities, climbing rock, children’s play area and landscaping has actually transformed this neighborhood! I encourage you to check out the park—don’t forget to bring the kids!

Our third in a series of “Milk and Cookies with the Mayor and Council” community meetings will commence on Wednesday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at Santa Clarita Park multi-purpose room. These meetings provide an opportunity for residents to chat informally with their locally elected officials. Led by Mayor Cameron Smyth, the Milk and Cookies meetings are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Public Information Office at 661/255-4314.

As of March 27, 2003, ordinances prohibiting Santa Clarita Valley residents from installing self-regenerating water softeners, including new and replacement units are in effect. The ordinances, which were unanimously, approved by the Boards of Directors for Sanitation Districts Nos. 26 and 32 last month, aim to reduce the amount of chloride going into the Santa Clara River. Residential selfregenerating water softeners are among the leading causes of high chloride levels in the river.

If the amount of chloride entering the river in the Santa Clarita Valley is not reduced, the Sanitation Districts may have to install costly new treatment equipment at the Saugus and Valencia Water Reclamation Plants to remove the chloride. These costs would be passed on to residences and businesses, and could increase their sewer bills by four to five times the current rate, or $400 to $500 per year. The City is working hard to prevent this from happening.

Residents who violate the new ordinances are subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment not to exceed 30 days. Only residences served by Sanitation Districts Nos. 26 and 32, which provide for the wastewater treatment and disposal needs of the Santa Clarita Valley, are affected by the ordinances. (Those homes that use septic tanks are not affected by the new ordinances.) Santa Clarita businesses have been banned from using self-regenerating water softeners since 1961. For more information, contact our Environmental Services Division at 661/286-4066.