Architect Michael Graves to Sign off on Library Addition

LETTERS TO SANTA: Letters to Santa have been arriving and were answered by Santa’s Helpers through Dec. 21. Please allow one week for delivery of a return letter.

COTTON CANDY PROCEEDS: The Youth Advisory Board did very well selling cotton candy at the city’s tree-lighting event on Saturday, Dec. 1. The board sold $410 worth of cotton candy, making this one of its most successful fundraisers. The money will be used to distribute presents to needy San Juan Capistrano families this Christmas season.

You can bookmark the YAB Facebook page to see what the youth of San Juan Capistrano are up to.

HOLIDAY CLOSURE: City offices will be closed Dec. 24-Jan.1. We will reopen on Jan. 2.  Though our offices will be closed, you may drop a check off in our payment drop box located in the City Hall parking lot. Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOKSTORE: The project includes enclosing the existing Bland Garden into a 735 square foot bookstore with new building entry, walkways, and landscaping. Revised plans have been submitted and forwarded to famed architect Michael Graves for comments and approval before review by the Design Review Committee and City Council. 

COMMUNITY CENTER REPAIRS: The Community Hall at the Community Center will be closed for one week in order for the floor to be refinished. The closure will be in effect the week of Jan. 2-6. The Community Hall will re-open on Monday, Jan. 7. The Community Center will be open for business during that time frame, even though the Community Hall is closed.

FORD TOWER: The Design Review Committee considered the following application Dec. 19:  an  architectural control modification for Tuttle-Click Ford to add a tower element to the existing building, 38-feet in height.

ATHLETIC FIELDS: The Development Advisory Board conducted a pre-application review of the following on Dec. 19: St. Margaret’s Episcopal School Master Plan Phase 4, development of athletic fields and courts at the existing Ortega Equestrian Center.

PROPOSED NEW HOME: The zoning administrator conducted a public hearing to consider the following application on Dec. 19: request for a lot coverage variance to develop a single family residence at 31632 Paseo Rita.

MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO GIFT SHOP: The Mission is tentatively scheduling a grand opening event for March 5 and is working with staff on a street closure request for Ortega Highway at Camino Capistrano and a special activity permit. In addition, the Mission will be submitting a sign program application to be reviewed by the Design Review Committee and approval by the Planning Commission.

BUSINESS LICENCE RENEWALS: Business license renewals were mailed out to 3,629 business owners on Friday, Dec. 7. To avoid penalties, be sure to pay by Jan. 31. If you have any questions or do not receive your renewal form, please call Customer Service at 949-493-1515.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AT JSERRA: On Dec. 5, representatives from the city’s Community Emergency Response Team executive board made presentations on emergency preparedness to about 100 faculty and administrative personnel from JSerra Catholic High School. The school is actively seeking information on how to improve its disaster response plans. The CERT group set up informational presentation boards regarding the importance of being prepared and provided information on all types of hazards, including an emphasis on emergency situations that might be encountered at a school. The school was encouraged to direct personnel to sign up for the next free CERT class to help train its personnel, as well as seeking other professional services to improve its disaster plans for the school.

LA SALA ENTRY REPAIRS: The city and its insurance provider awarded the contract for the repairs to the La Sala entry structure to Insley Construction in the amount of $27,250. Work commenced on Dec. 11, and will take approximately one month to complete. In the meantime, the La Sala Auditorium will remain closed for the public’s safety.

I-5/CAMINO CAPISTRANO INTERCHANGE: Phase 1 of the construction was completed on Dec. 5. Completion of this phase allows additional through and right-turn traffic lanes to be opened for northbound Camino Capistrano, south of the I-5 ramps. In addition, the extended auxiliary off-ramp deceleration lane on the freeway was opened.

Phase 2 shifts construction to the west side of Camino Capistrano to construct an additional southbound lane from south of San Juan Creek Road to the widened portion of Camino Capistrano by the car wash. To accommodate this work, southbound Camino Capistrano, south of Avenida Padre, has been narrowed from two lanes to one lane. Because of the reduction to one southbound lane, the westbound lanes of San Juan Creek Road at Camino Capistrano have been restriped for only one left turn lane and two right turn lanes. This work will be performed at night. The project construction is scheduled for completion by mid-February.

For more information, contact Caltrans Public Information Officer, David Richardson, at (949) 724-2341.

I-5/ORTEGA HIGHWAY INTERCHANGE: Construction is scheduled to begin mid-February 2013, and to be completed in spring 2015. Additionally, demolition of the Jack-in-the-Box and the Chevron buildings is expected in January.

For more information, contact Caltrans Public Information Officer, David Richardson, at (949) 724-2341, or visit the project website. A link to this website is also on the homepage of the city’s website.

REHABILITATION OF THREE GREENSAND FILTER VESSELS: The work began on Monday, Dec. 3. Work has been progressing nicely and we are on schedule. We are expecting the work to take 20 working days (26 total days), so we will be working on the plant for the entire month of December.

The City Council on Dec. 11, 2012, authorized the purchase of the new membrane filters. Staff is in the process of ordering the membrane filters and the work to be coordinated with the greensand filter rehabilitation.

Thus far, many of the air scour valves and effluent valves from the greensand filter vessels have been replaced as part of the greensand rehabilitation project. The influent valves into the greensand filter vessels are still in need of replacement.

DEL OBISPO STREET BRIDGE WIDENING: In the past week, the contractor potholed utilities for the irrigation lines crossing Del Obispo Street east and west of the bridge, and workers drilled to install conduits for the irrigation lines. They also laid out the alignment for the bio-swales east and west of the bridge; they also constructed the trench and installed the sub-drain for it. Archeological monitoring was performed during the bio-swale grading.

The traffic signal contractor, Steiny, completed installing the controller switch at the intersection of Alipaz and Del Obispo streets, and Hartzog and Crabill programmed the switches. Steiny also painted the traffic signal heads, performed wiring and removed an existing controller pedestal footing and base. The project is expected to be completed by the end of January.

SUN RANCH CREEK PROJECT: Work on the project continues on schedule to be completed in early March. Spiess Construction has completed the over-excavation and installation of the canyon sub-drain. Backfilling of the over excavation has been completed. The 48-inch storm drain is nearing completion. Staff anticipates completion of the storm drain prior to the holiday break. Installation of the decomposed granite access road, retaining wall and streambed will follow the pipeline construction.