Infrastructure

The following programs will be broadcast on Glendale Government Access Channel 6 on Charter Cable. For more information, call 548-4844. TODAY 6 a.m. - Glendale Sports Summit 2000 8 a.m. - Inside Public Works: "Infrastructure" 9 a.m. - NSTV: "Making a Difference" 10 a.m. - Community Calendar 11 a.m. - Community Calendar Noon - Community Calendar 1 p.m. - Community Calendar 2 p.m. - LIVE: Glendale Water & Power Commission 5 p.m. - Inside Public Works: "Infrastructure" 6 p.m. - LIVE: Transportation & Parking Commission 9 p.m. - NSTV: "Making A Difference" 10 p.m. - REPLAY: Glendale Water & Power Commission TUESDAY 6 a.m. - Glendale Sports Summit 2000 8 a.m. - Inside Public Works: "Infrastructure" 9 a.m. - NSTV: "Making A Difference" 10:30 a.m. - LIVE: Long Range Financial Plan Study Session 2 p.m. - Community Calendar 3:30 p.m. - LIVE: Housing Authority & Glendale Redevelopment Agency 5 p.m. - Inside Public Works: "Infrastructure" 6 p.m. - LIVE: City Council Midnight - Community Calendar WEDNESDAY 6 a.m. - Glendale Sports Summit 2000 8 a.m. - Inside Public Works: "Infrastructure" 9:30 a.m. - LIVE: Zoning Administration Hearing Noon - REPLAY: Long Range Financial Plan Study Session 4 p.m. - REPLAY: Zoning Administration Hearing 6 p.m. - REPLAY: Housing, GRA & Council Midnight...

Proposition 53 is one of the two measures on today's ballot, accompanying the governor's recall election. Crescenta Valley Water District's Board of Directors, at their last meeting, adopted a resolution in support of Proposition 53, identifying its importance and encouraging local voters to investigate its potential benefits and cast their ballots accordingly. If approved by voters, the legislative, constitutional amendment will set aside what eventually will be a maximum of 3% of the state's general fund for pay-as-you-go capital expenditures for state and local infrastructure.

News of a planned bike lane for a portion of Foothill Boulevard was more than just a pleasant surprise for the community: It was the first concrete commitment for such badly needed infrastructure. Glendale has been working for months to quantify its severe lack of bike-friendly infrastructure and hammer out a plan to address it, and so the announcement from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s office that a bike plan’s coming for Foothill Boulevard is welcome big first step, especially if it’s extended through county lines and into the city.

Former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian was reappointed this week to a second four-year term on the California Transportation Commission, securing Glendale’s seat at the transit table at a time when dollars for infrastructure projects are becoming more scarce, officials said. Zarian, whose appointment was announced by the governor’s office Thursday evening, will serve as vice chairman, setting him up to lead the commission, which plays a major role in doling out state money to transportation projects, next year.

I totally agree with Mayor Dave Weaver that we have no vacancy. As the population has grown, the infrastructure to accommodate that growth has not. When I came to Glendale, we had 100,000 population, it has now doubled. Has the width of our streets and roads doubled to accommodate that growth? No. Glendale Avenue has the same number of traffic lanes as it had 100,000 people ago. The streets and roads are for the movement of traffic. To nearly double the capacity of those streets and roads without spending a penny, I would eliminate on-street parking.

Tim Willert GLENDALE CITY HALL -- The city's Public Works Division, in recognition of National Public Works Week, is hosting an event from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today in Parcher Plaza behind City Hall. Public Works Day is designed to educate the community -- specifically youth -- about the operations and functions of the division. Tours of public works facilities will be given, and equipment will be displayed. Activities and games will be available for young people.

LA CAÑADA — Foothill Municipal Water District officials have settled on a $63-million plan — to be presented to the public next month — for projects that a voter-approved bond would help fund. The series of projects, which also include $7 million in rehabilitation to the district’s aging infrastructure, are aimed at reducing the region’s reliance on expensive imports through recycled water and groundwater capture projects. “The more independent we are, the more reliable we are,” said Foothill Municipal General Manager Nina Jazmadarian.

The Toll Middle School students rallying to defend their teachers against layoffs was heartwarming (“Students rally for teachers,” March 12), but I admit that the signs in the photograph struck a negative chord with me. Obviously, cutting foreign aid, which is a federal function, would not resolve California’s fiscal crisis that has brought on the threat of teacher layoffs along with numerous other serious damage to the state’s infrastructure. Yet the signs the youths brandished are emblematic of the commonly held assumption that the solution is to cut spending.

Chuck Sambar California has a $10.3-billion surplus, and state economists are projecting a similar surplus next year. The question that the governor and Legislature face is what to do with this windfall. Most taxpayers would suggest that the surplus should be refunded to those who paid it in the first place. And while a tax refund may make good sense, there are taxpayers who hold the view that our nation has prospered as a result of capital investment in people and in initiatives and programs that improve education.

Getting around on two wheels is becoming a little easier in Glendale, with city officials installing censors to improve the flow of bicycle traffic through intersections and planning a series of other pedal-friendly infrastructure upgrades. About a quarter of Glendale's 234 signal-controlled intersections now include bicycle detectors that trigger traffic-light changes for riders, and more are on the way, said city engineer Roubik Golanian. Previously, bicyclists would have to wait for an automobile to arrive at an intersection for a light to change, causing delays that forced riders to use pedestrian crosswalks, tempting some to pedal past red lights.

Glendale has finished upgrading its largest reservoir after getting ensnared by extra bills and a legal settlement. The city spent $4.9 million on improving Diederich Reservoir, about $600,000 more than originally planned, due to several unexpected modifications to the project. And last week, officials agreed to a $300,000 settlement with the construction company that did the work. The extra costs come as Glendale Water & Power endures a strict spending diet brought on by thin operating margins.

Keenly aware that Glendale is being watched closely by credit-rating agencies, the City Council this week narrowly approved issuing $35 million in water bonds to improve the city-owned utility's liquidity. The flush of cash is set to be used over the next five years to cover part of a $46-million plan to improve “bread and butter” infrastructure like pipes and groundwater wells - projects once pushed to the sidelines as the city focused on big-budget items, such as reservoirs. But as those capacity projects moved forward, the money to pay for them wasn't really there, and bond ratings agencies took note.

With Glendale's bond rating under scrutiny, the City Council this week moved toward issuing $35 million in water bonds to cover the cost of planned infrastructure work. In October, Moody's Investors Service put Glendale and dozens of other California cities on credit watch as it reviews possibly downgrading bonds. And in July, Fitch Ratings downgraded $50 million worth of water bonds issued in 2008, partially due to Glendale Water & Power's lack of liquidity. A bond downgrade signals a deterioration of an agency's financial stability.

Glendale Unified officials this week set in motion a new wave of school-bond funded projects, including a $5.9-million overhaul of the district's computer network. It signals growing momentum in the rollout of Measure S, a $270-million school bond passed by voters in April 2011 that will finance major capital projects throughout the district. Also among the projects school board members approved on Tuesday was $74,870 for the abatement of the Wilson Middle School gym floor, $160,850 to re-carpet the district administration building, and $310,569 for a new media lab at Clark Magnet High School.

Glendale and Burbank have been awarded nearly $900,000 to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety around school sites, the latest wave of grant money aimed at addressing local traffic congestion and the dangers it poses to students. The combined amount was announced by the California Department of Transportation last week as part of $48.5 million in grants to be filtered via the Safe Routes to School Program that will fund 139 projects up and down the state. The city of Glendale was awarded $449,200 to improve sidewalks, and install crosswalks, bike racks and pavement markings around Balboa, Verdugo Woodlands, R.D. White and Dunsmore elementary schools.

The Crescenta Valley Water District this week settled on a plan to raise water and sewage rates in order to pay for badly needed infrastructure improvements and to keep pace with what utility officials say is the rising cost of doing business. The rate changes - an 8.9% increase for water and a combined 16.6% for sewer service - are slated to take effect at different stages by July 2013, with officials planning public input meetings prior to implementing each hike. But the end result will be the same for customers: higher bills as utility officials struggle to cope with aging infrastructure and ever higher costs of imported water and sewage treatment.

Glendale's plan to improve infrastructure for bicycle transportation was welcomed with open arms Tuesday by most on the City Council, which, despite differing opinions, gave city officials the OK to move forward with the upgrades. The first of its kind in 15 years, Glendale's new draft Bicycle Transportation Plan includes recommendations for new bike lanes and routes, coloring in some lanes, adding more shared lane markings - known as sharrows - and even slimming down some roads to make way for dedicated bicycle lanes.

For the second time in four years, the Crescenta Valley Water District is considering a multimillion-dollar bond - and a rate increase to pay for it - as officials work to upgrade aging infrastructure and reduce reliance on more expensive water imports. Officials say the money is needed for capital improvement projects, which include replacing old pipes and pumping water at maximum capacity so the district buys less water from outside sources. Board members directed district officials to come back with various bond options.

Residents near Columbus Elementary this week said that the densely populated neighborhood cannot support a new $3.5-million soccer field currently being considered for the school site. “We think it is an excellent project, we just don’t think it is an excellent place for it,” said neighbor Cooper Coleman. Three years ago, the Glendale Unified School District proposed building the field along the southern perimeter of the campus at 425 West Milford St. It would serve as a joint-use facility for the district and city-supported recreational activities, such as AYSO soccer, although the city would cover the costs of construction, city planners said.