GREETINGS FROM THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER KEN PULSKAMP

I hope you are managing to catch a few cool breezes this summer…over at City Hall, we’ve been breezing through a very busy time. Let me share with you a few of the things that are happening right now.

In July, the City and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy closed escrow on Whitney Canyon, a 442-acre, undeveloped property with outstanding examples of coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and chaparral. Its location at the end of San Fernando Road, just south of State Route 14, is the gateway to the Angeles National Forest and the Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor.

The property was purchased through a joint powers agreement for $4.9 million. Assemblyman George Runner was instrumental in making the purchase possible with legislation that added Whitney Canyon to the Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor and by seeking funding from Proposition 12. The next step is to ready the property for public use, a process that should take a few months. Future public uses for the property include hiking, horseback riding, mountain bicycling, and picnicking. The canyon will be owned by the Santa Clarita Watershed Recreation and Conservation Authority (SCWRCA), the joint powers agency formed by the City and Conservancy in 1993.

At the end of July, the City selected Hilton Farnkopf and Hobson as the consultants who will assist the City in structuring of its new trash franchise agreement. They will provide technical advice to help shape the contract for the pick up and recycling of waste from Santa Clarita homes, businesses and government agencies. The City and the consultants will be working over the next few months to create a request for proposal (RFP) for the new trash franchise agreement that will go out to bid for local trash services in the City of Santa Clarita. The City Council has placed a high priority on moving this project along and going out to bid for local trash services. We will go out to bid early next year.

A series of community meetings is currently underway to discuss plans for the Newhall Community Center. At this time, the City is committed to improving the existing facility on San Fernando Road until other arrangements can be made to build a new Community Center in the area. Residents in the area and community center users are being asked to tell the City what types of facilities and amenities they would like to see in the new Community Center. If you have some thoughts about this, we encourage you to let us know!

The City continues to make excellent progress on efforts to design and construct the Cross Valley Connector (CVC) Road. Identified as one of the City Council's top priorities for our community, the Cross Valley Connector will ultimately provide a second east-west major roadway that will connect State Route 14 to Interstate 5. The roadway is comprised of eight individual segments and represents a joint public/private collaborative efforts.

Key components include the Interchange connection over Soledad Canyon Road and the portion of Golden Valley Road that will connect to State Route 14. The Interchange connection is currently at 50% design, with construction to begin in late 2003. Grading for the portion of Golden Valley Road from Sierra Hwy to SR-14 continues as the outline of the road takes shape. This portion of the Cross Valley Connector remains on schedule and the City looks forward to paving the road in the spring of 2004.

Progress is being made on the Bermite/Whittaker property (Porta Bella project). The City has hired its experts (legal and technical) and is proceeding to evaluate several strategies for next steps. In addition, staff continues to coordinate with DTSC (Dept. Toxic Substance Control) and CLWA (Castaic Lake Water Agency) to make sure we continue to work together as agencies concerned about the clean up of this site.

Thank you for signing up to receive this monthly message from me. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at kpulskamp@santa-clarita.com or by phone at 661/255-4900.

Best Regards


Ken Pulskamp
Interim City Manager