In effort to maintain higher-quality housing stock in the City, the code enforcement/community improvement division on a regular basis addresses simple property maintenance issues such as deteriorated paint. Small improvements make a big difference.

In this example, Code officer Uriel Sanchez worked with a property owner on the 600 block of Plumer street to address some paint issues on his building. The end result was a drastic transformation not only of the building but of the attitude of the tenants and property owner.

They all agreed that the transformation brought a new sense of pride to the neighborhood which motivated the property owner to paint another building he owns in the same neighborhood.

Sloan, a 5-year old Pit Bull mix is a big girl with an even bigger heart. This girl has lots of love to give but can be selective, so for that reason, Sloan would do best in a calm household with no other pets and minimum visitors. Click here to contact the Orange County Humane Society, and schedule your visit with Sloan today.

City Council Member Sandra Genis and City staff, along with more than 400 local leaders from throughout California, gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 11 for the Southern California Association of Governments’ California Housing Summit, “The Cost of Not Housing.”

The event brought government, business and community leaders together to address the state’s housing crisis and share strategies for addressing it. The summit opened with a panel of experts familiar with the housing crisis, who discussed why California is experiencing a housing deficit, and the extent of its economic, environmental and social costs.

Breakout sessions investigated different avenues for mitigating the housing shortage: funding strategies including incentive programs state-authorized systems, integrating housing into planning at all levels and public engagement to demonstrate community benefits of housing projects.

The summit concluded with a call to decision-makers across the state to build stakeholder partnerships and say “yes” to housing.

The Public Services Department advertised the “Bristol Street Improvement project” for construction with a scheduled bid date of Oct. 31, 2016. This much-needed improvement project will extend along Bristol Street from the I-405 Freeway to Newport Boulevard and includes roadway resurfacing, new storm drain catch basins, new landscaped medians, new traffic signal installation, and a storm water diversion project.

This project represents more than $6.5 million in improvements with funding coming from various sources including Federal, State and County agencies, gas tax and local funds.

This project will provide a smoother ride along this stretch of Bristol Street, better operational conditions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and improve the water quality of the Back Bay area by providing treatment for some of the storm water runoff.

Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2017.

A beautiful 6-year old brindle Boxer/Lab mix. Liberty is sweet, friendly and loves people of all ages. She has previously lived with cats and various small pets, knows her basic commands and is house trained. She is a wonderful dog and will fit seamlessly with your family.

The Fire Station Reconstruction Project has been advertised for construction bids. The bid opening is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24. The Public Services Department has been working closely with the Fire Department and WLC Architects for more than a year to develop construction documents for this reconstruction.

The scope of work includes demolition of the existing station, and construction of a new, 12,000-square-foot station equipped with a three-bay and double-deep apparatus room, dorm rooms, administrative offices, kitchen, dining room, day room, physical training room, EMS training room, mechanic shop area, and emergency medical supply room. Additional site features include an emergency generator, fuel station, hose drying tower, and a City emergency supply storage unit.

Construction will commence shortly after the holidays in the first quarter of 2017.

A 2-year old Terrier mix, Chapoline looks scruffy, but his personality is anything but- this little guy loves going for walks, is very curious and would make the perfect cuddle buddy. For more information on Chapoline or to schedule a visit today, please click here.

The OC Public Works department has begun work on the Lower Santa Ana River Sand Management project. The project involves removing up to 840,000 cubic yards of accumulated sand in the lowest 3.5 miles of the Santa Ana River to maintain design flood protection. Beach compatible sand will be taken to various beaches within Orange County for beach nourishment. This is a reoccurring maintenance project that was last done by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2004/05.

This current maintenance effort began late August/early September this year and will take about six months to complete. As part of the 2004/05 maintenance work and this current work, the county’s contractor needs to close off the east bike path between PCH and Victoria/Hamilton bridge to the public because the contractor will be using this reach of the bike path for access to adjacent staging areas and access to equipment within the river. The west side bike path/trail will remain open. The contractor will prepare and implement a bike/pedestrian detour plan.

A bike detour plan sign will be installed at various locations along the Santa Ana River east levee. The metal sign will be installed at both ends of the closure and three locations upstream for advance notification to trail users. The county will post this detour map on the OC Parks website and OC Public Works website to inform the public of the upcoming closure. This sign is in addition to the DETOUR and TRAIL CLOSURE signs installed at both ends of the closure.

Adopt a friend fur-life, like Mabel. She is a sweet 6 pound Chihuahua with a calm and quiet demeanor. She is the sort that would love to spend her days cuddled up on a lap or just hanging out.

Contact the Orange County Humane Society for more information and to schedule your visit with Mabel today.

Students and teachers at Mariners Christian School are not deterred in their goal to help their peers on the other side of the world.  As of June 2016, they had collected $25,000 for Christ the Center Ministries in Gulu, Uganda, to build two classrooms in their brand new middle school, as well as support their feeding program.  In year two, their goal is to help build a chapel and auditorium as part of the new school in Africa.

Middle School Principal Heather Harrison is encouraged that this service project is continuing in its second year – prompted by the students themselves. Mrs. Harrison had met with the United States Directors for Christ the Center Ministries based in Uganda, and learned of their vision to provide educational opportunities for the very least in a third world area and the powerful mission of their faith-based organization.  Harrison’s original vision for this effort did not include two consecutive years of partnership.

The enthusiasm is just as strong among students and staff at MCS in this second year.  To kick off the fundraising, MCS is hosted a “Lunch on the Lawn” event on Friday, September 23, where families were invited to join their students for lunch.  Proceeds from the event will directly benefit the school in Gulu.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to continue teaching our students to look beyond their current ‘world’ and see how Christ’s love through them can impact others,” commented Head of School Troy Moore.

 This year marks the 30^th Anniversary of the Community Emergency Response Team program and to celebrate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency partnered with California Volunteers, NBC Universal, and other CERT partners across nation to host a National CERT conference in Universal City earlier this month.

CERT Program Coordinators from Costa Mesa (Brenda Emrick), Newport Beach (Matt Brisbois), Huntington Beach (Brevyn Mettler) and Laguna Beach (Jordan Villwock) were an integral part of the National CERT Conference and have all played key roles in the success of CERT.

The recent CERT conference provided an opportunity to pay tribute to the contributions of the extraordinary community volunteers locally and across the globe, as well as an opportunity to recognize the leaders of the CERT programs they serve locally, and at the state and national levels.

“Brenda, Matt, Brevyn, and Jordan have individually and collectively gone well above and beyond to represent our respective agencies and the communities we serve in an exemplary manner,” Costa Mesa Fire Chief Dan Stefano said.  “We are extremely fortunate to have this talented foursome working together to train and develop our CERT volunteers to assist our first responders in making our communities and the entire region more actively prepared for any emergency or disaster.”

CERT program partners from throughout Orange County in fire and law enforcement have supported and taken part in state-sponsored instructor training courses and are assets in the development of citizen preparedness drills and exercises to improve and enhance the resiliency of the people in Orange County.

There are more than 28 Orange County city-sponsored CERT programs including Teen, Campus and Workplace programs registered on the National CERT website. Orange County CERT programs have been recognized nationally by FEMA for their training, best practices activities, and program organization.  For additional information on a CERT program near you, please contact your local fire department or law enforcement agency.

A curious and spunky guy, Jordan is a 12-year old Jack Russell who loves being outside. To visit with Jordan or for more information, contact the Orange County Humane Society today.