Culver City Observer -

Community Development Department

• Hayden–Higuera Properties, LLC – The following photo shows the progress on the construction of a 31,651 square foot tenant improvement at 8600 Hayden Place.

• Hayden-Higuera Properties, LLC – The following photo shows the progress on a new 5-level, 556-space parking structure at 8550 Higuera Street.

• 4043 Irving Place – This project is approximately 94% complete and within budget. Scheduled for completion in December 2013.

A photo from the north side:

• 7-Eleven store – The new 2,500 square foot store at 4436 Sepulveda Boulevard is now open.

• Tilden Terrace – A new rooftop screening has been added to both ends of the building.

• Platform Project – Building Plans for 8810 Washington Boulevard have been approved for a partial demolition of an existing single story building (Building F); the remodel of an existing parking structure (Building D); and the construction of a new three-story building (Building E).

Building plans for 8840 Washington Boulevard have been approved for a 6,040 square foot partial demolition and the remodel of an existing 5,090 square foot two story auto repair facility and a single story retail building (Building C) and construction of a new 36,940 square feet, four-story mixed use structure (Building A) to include retail and restaurant on the ground floor, offices on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors.

Building Plans for 8850 Washington Boulevard have been approved to demolish the existing auto dealership and to construct a new mixed-use five-story parking structure (Building B) with retail on the first floor and artist lofts on the third and fourth floors.

• Sony Pictures Entertainment – Building plans have been submitted for the construction of a new 24,163 square foot four-story office building to replace a construction trailer.

• Farmers’ Market Holidays Hours – This holiday season, both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on a Tuesday, which is Culver City’s Farmers’ Market day. In recognition of both holidays and an anticipated reduction in patronage and farmer and vendor participation, the Market will be closed on Tuesday, December 24th and will be open from 1 pm to 5 pm on Tuesday, December 31. Market hours will return to 2 pm to 7 pm each Tuesday beginning on January 7, 2014.

Fire Department

• Annual Company Evaluations – The Fire Department recently completed the 2013 Company Evaluations. Every Company on every shift was brought down to the Drill Yard and had to perform a variety of different tasks to demonstrate their individual and Company’s competency. The tasks performed included the donning of their personal protective gear, the self-contained breathing apparatus, the personal rope bag, and the demonstration of a variety of radio communication features. Lastly, this year’s evaluations focused on the deployment and operation of high-rise firefighting Strategy and Tactics. All of the events were timed in order to ensure the individual and companies were meeting Department standards and to provide the organization realistic timelines to assist them in actual emergencies. Based on the performances, it was very apparent that the individual members and crews had done a lot of training leading up to the evaluations.

• Tree Lighting Ceremony – On December 6 members of the Culver City Fire Department gave Santa Claus a ride to the Veterans Memorial Park on the Hook-and-Ladder Truck. A huge crowd gathered in and around the entrance to Veterans Memorial Park in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. At approximately 7:15 pm Santa arrived on the Fire Truck with the lights and siren on. As he stepped off the truck with a Ho-Ho-Ho, St. Nick was greeted by the awaiting kids and their families. As Santa made his way to the front of the Veterans Building, with the kids on his heels, the fire truck quietly drove off. Fire Department personnel are already looking forward to next year should Santa need a ride again…

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) LINKS Children’s Party – On Saturday December 7 members of the Fire Department participated in the SPE LINKS (comprised of employee volunteers) children’s party program hosted by SPE. The firefighters helped the children make snow globes, talked about fire safety, and handed out firefighter sticker badges. Apparently the firefighters were a hit, because an email was sent to the Fire Department thanking them for their participation and said “the kids loved it.”

• SPE Holiday Party – On December 12 SPE held its annual Holiday Party. Prior to this year’s event, SPE reached out to the Fire Department regarding its desire to collect toys and donate them to the Fire Department’s toy drive. Members from the Fire Department attended SPE’s evening event and were presented with a large number of toys for kids of all ages. Their generous toy contributions, along with all those already collected, will be distributed throughout the community to those in need. Once again, Firefighter/Paramedic Mauricio Blanco is coordinating the collection and distribution of all the toys donated.

• Toys For Smiles Chili – On December 12 members of the Culver City Fire Department hosted a “free” chili luncheon, at Fire Station #1, for those attendees who donated a toy. There were a variety of different chili recipes to choose from ranging from mild to hot, or vegetarian to meaty. The event was very well attended, and all donated toys will be distributed to a variety of charities within the area.

• Westside Children’s Center Holiday Party – On December 14 members of the Culver City Fire Department hosted the Westside Children’s Center Holiday Party. For more than 10 years the Fire Department has been hosting this special event for the foster children and their foster families. This event resulted in more than 40 kids and their families enjoying a day at a fire station. Activities included face painting, coloring, and an opportunity to play in the portable jump-up along with food, a variety of desserts, and presents. From the size of the event and the number of smiles, it appeared that this year’s event was a huge success.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

• Veterans Memorial Building (VMB) Rental Operation – The VMB will have adjusted hours this holiday season. The Rental Office will be open from 11 am to 4 pm on December 24, and the VMB will be closed on Wednesday, December 25. The Rental Office will be open from 11 am to 4 pm on December 31 and the VMB will be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2014. Appointments may be made by contacting the Rental Office at 310-253-6625 or by emailing vmc.booking@culvercity.org.

• Veterans Memorial Building – The Culver City Chamber Orchestra will present A Night in Vienna, featuring the music of Johann Strauss and Franz Von Suppé, in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, January 4 at 8 pm. The concert, which is supported through the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program, also includes performances by professional dancers. More information is available at http://www.ccchamberorchestra.com.

• Senior Center Vision Support Group – The Senior Center will offer a new Low Vision Support Group starting Friday, January 24. The group is open to anyone with low vision, including macular degeneration, who is seeking support, information and resources. The group will meet each Friday from 1 pm to 3 pm in Room C-71 and is facilitated by the Center for the Partially Sighted.

• Senior Center Volunteers – The Senior Center volunteers in the Wednesday Work Project have processed more than a million pieces in 2013. This dedicated group meets Wednesday mornings to process mailings for local non-profit organizations. The volunteers also wrap presents, assemble goodie bags, make safety kits and fulfill many other needs.

• Holiday Certificate Program – The 2013 Holiday Certificate Program served its largest amount of clients ever this December. This City partnership with the Culver City Senior Citizens Association, Inc. offers supermarket scrip to eligible low-income families and individuals. This year, there were 171 households served, with a total of 421 individual family members. Thank you to everyone who donated and made this program possible.

• Culver City Senior Center – Through November 2013, the Congregate Meals hot lunch site at the Culver City Senior Center served more than 25,500 meals and delivered more than 6,600 home-delivered meals to our local senior population.

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Event – The annual Dr. King Event will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2014 at the Culver City Senior Center. The theme for this year’s event is “What Did Dr. King Say and What Will We Do?” The Keynote Speaker is Rev. Michael Beckwith from AGAPE International. There will be a panel discussion featuring Dr. Scot Brown, Ms. Candace Carnicelli, Dr. Kimberly King, and Ms. Nana Gyamfi, JD. The event is free to the public. Doors open at 10:30 am.

• The Culver City Teen Center – The Culver City Teen Center, in partnership with the Common Peace Center for the Advancement of Non-Violence, recently finished a project about non-violence education. The participants of this project are excited about the work they did and will do a presentation at this year’s Dr. King Event on January 18.

• Culver City Plunge – December is among the busiest times of year at the Plunge in terms of rentals and drop-in admissions, due largely to several pool closures on the Westside. Groups such as Southern California Aquatics, West Hollywood Aquatics, and Team Santa Monica are among the users with the largest rental increases. Surrounding communities have come to rely on the service and dependability of the Plunge during the winter season and staff looks forward to serving these groups, as well as all other patrons.

• Plunge Enhancement Project – December is the kick-off to the 2014 Plunge Enhancement Project, a collaborative fundraising effort between the Culver City Senior Center Association, the Culver City Unified School District and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services. The goal of the Plunge Enhancement Project is to raise much needed funds to be used to provide enriching programs and pool enhancements at the Plunge to improve safety and accessibility. In 2013, the funds were used to recondition the diving blocks and purchase new kickboards, pull-buoys, and several replacement lane lines.

• The Aquatics Division – The Aquatics Division will be conducting Adult and Child CPR with First Aid to the PRCS Recreation Staff as part of the Department’s yearly training initiative. This will ensure that frontline staff members are able to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a medical emergency.

Police Department

• Santa Visits Culver City - During the week of December 9 through December 16 the Culver City Police Officers Association in conjunction with Santa Claus, paid visits to many of the children in the City. This annual event helps Santa spread the word to all of the residents to have a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season.

• Coffee with a Cop Event - On December 12 the Police Department held its first Coffee with a Cop event at the new Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf located at the intersection of Overland Avenue and Washington Boulevard. The event provides the community with a forum to meet and discuss concerns with a Police Officer over a cup of coffee. The event was well attended by community members and was a provided a great opportunity for the Police Department to meet our residents and business owners.

Public Works

• Watseka Lighting Upgrade Project - The existing high pressure sodium lights at the Watseka Parking Structure will be replaced with more energy efficient induction fixtures resulting in energy savings of approximately 56%. This project will be similar to the one completed at the City Hall and Cardiff parking structures last year and will utilize the same type of induction fixtures. The work began on December 17 and is scheduled to be completed by December 23rd. The project is being funded with remaining Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

As the work is occurring, parking at the structure will be impacted as the contractor will need to block off sections of the structure to replace the fixtures. Staff has placed notification signs at the entrances of the structure alerting the public of the work and directing them to nearby Cardiff Parking Structure. Public Works and Community Development are working with Modern Parking to coordinate traffic at the structure while the work is being done and to accommodate the monthly users of the structure.

• Trash Collection Suspended During Upcoming Holidays - Trash collection will be temporarily suspended on December 25 and January 1, in observation of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Collection services will resume the following day with the schedule adjusted by one day. For example, if your trash collection day is on Wednesday, December 25, it will change to Thursday; Thursday collections will occur on Friday; and Friday collections will occur on Saturday.

• Sewer Main Rehabilitation Project Update – In December, the contractor (Insituform) completed the rehabilitation of the abandoned 10-inch sewer force main on Braddock Drive from Sawtelle to Overland Avenue. The reactivated 10-inch main will provide a redundant sewer force main from City’s Braddock pump station, which serves a large area of Culver City, to the City of Los Angeles’ sewer truck line. In addition, the contractor has installed approximately 6 miles of Cured in Place Pipe (CIPP) liner out of the 19 miles of sewer to be lined in this phase of the sewer main rehabilitation project. The project is scheduled to be completed by Mid-2014.

The citywide sewer main Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) inspection project is ongoing. So far, eight miles of sewer line have been cleaned and inspected. Staff will review each sewer CCTV report and use them to prioritize and select sewer lines to be included in next year Capital Improvement Program.

Staff would like to thank the residents and businesses for their patience and understanding during construction process.

• Expo Line Update - As part of the construction of Phase 2 of the Expo Light Rail Line, work crews from the general contractor, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. (BBII), and its subcontractor will begin the relocation of an existing waterline along Venice Boulevard. The work will continue until February 24.

For more information, please visit: http://www.culvercity.org/Government/Transportation/Bus/ServiceAlerts.aspx.