Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue recruits continue to progress in their academy training. Recently, the academy cadre was led by Captain Joe Noceti and the recruits trained with live fire. Recruits learned about fire behavior, fire attack principles and the dangers of attacking a fire.
Some of the recruits had eyes as wide as saucers as this was their first time attacking a fire in a controlled environment.
The former Souplantation at 1555 Adams, in the Mesa Verde Shopping Center, will be demolished and replaced by a new, three to four restaurant tenant building.
The building will face the south and will be located at the end of a new walkway to connect this building with the rest of the shopping center as well as the Azulon Apartments.
As required by the California Environmental Quality Act, an Initial Study and Negative Declaration have been prepared for the project and is available for review and comment from through April 17, 2017 either online or at City Hall or the city’s two public libraries.
Please contact the Planning Division at 714-754-5245 if you need any information.
On Friday, April 14, John Wayne Airport will be conducting a Triennial Emergency Operations Exercise from the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. This full-scale exercise is mandated by the FAA and is designed to evaluate the operational capability of the emergency management system in a stressful environment.
The Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department will be an active participant with a number of other agencies in this drill since we share a border with the John Wayne Airport and routinely respond to emergencies on the airport campus.
The public should be aware that Airway Avenue will be shut down from Baker to Paularino from approximately 8 a.m. to 12 noon to accommodate the exercise. Also, the CMPD Helipad will be used during the exercise.
This is an excellent readiness exercise for the airport and CMF&R is a proud participant. It will increase interagency operations and communication between all the public and private resources. Most importantly it will enhance the safety and security for the tenants and passengers using the airport.
The City Council approved moving forward with the Placentia Avenue Median Improvement Project. Public services was able to secure a grant in the amount of $738,400 from the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program to begin construction on the project.
The project will result in new landscaped medians on Placentia Avenue between Wilson Street and Adams Avenue. This project will improve the streetscape and also the traffic operations along this corridor. Due to the wide nature of Placentia Avenue, there have been numerous accidents as a result of high vehicle speeds.
Implementation of medians will provide a narrow feel for the street and minimize high-risk accidents.
Costa Mesa once again proves that when it comes to the best restaurants in Orange County, we are the leaders of the pack.
The Orange County Register just published its annual 75 Best Places to Eat by food critic Brad A. Johnson and the top four restaurants are also Costa Mesa eateries.
Topping the list at No. 1, again, is Taco Maria located in the SoCo center. South Coast Plaza’s Vaca is No. 2 followed by Hana re and Arc at Nos. 3 and 4.
The 75 Best includes 10 more Costa Mesa restaurants, including Mastro’s Steakhouse, Restaurant Marin, The Capital Grille, Shunka Sushi, Water Grill, Din Tai Fung, Manpuku Tokyo BBQ, Filomena’s Italian Kitchen and Rance’s Chicago Pizza.
Congrats to all those winners and we know that those restaurants just scratch the surface of all the great places to eat in Costa Mesa.
Spot, a 5- year old black and white Chihuahua Mix is sweet, outgoing and happy. He walks well on a leash and is very friendly. This spunky boy was surrendered to the shelter because his owners were moving and didn’t take him along. Spot is looking for a family that will love him forever and never let him go. Visit with him today and see how quickly he takes up a “Spot” in your heart!
Nappy, a 6- year old Cairn Terrier is looking for his fur-ever home. He walks well on a leash and is always happy to make new friends. Nappy’s laid back personality makes him easy to get along with and a pleasure to be around. He’s not asking for much, just a human to love and a place to call home. Visit with Nappy today!
Meet Cheddar, a 1-year old Pit Bull mix known for his funny personality and eagerness to play and socialize. He is great on a leash and very loving with other dogs and children. Contact the Orange County Humane Society and set up your visit with this Cheese Ball today.
The City of Costa Mesa received its first round of school board approved athletic facility grant requests from the school district last week.
Some of the improvements at Estancia High include new bleachers for the multipurpose fields, various sports training equipment and all new outdoor basketball rims and nets for the exterior courts.
Newport Harbor is requesting a new scoreboard for their Varsity Baseball field.
More grants are slated later in the year for Costa Mesa High School
City of Costa Mesa Principal Planner Minoo Ashabi attended the FAA on John Wayne Airport flight changes meeting on Wednesday Feb. 1 that was held at Newport Beach Oasis Senior Center.
The meeting was well attended and set up as an open house. There were two stations where residents could get the noise readings at their properties using this Google Earth application.
The arrival and departure routes have been published and will be fully implemented by April of this year.
As far as noise impacts to east Cost Mesa, there seems to be a pattern of slight decrease (0.1 dB variations); this is based on their noise model and assumptions of full compliance with the latest arrival and departure patterns.
Costa Mesa Finance Department staffers are celebrating the news that they have won two awards for their work on the Fiscal Year 2016-17 Operating Budget.
The Government Finance Officer’s Associations recently announced that the City of Costa Mesa has received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the second year in a row.
In a statement from the GFOA, the award represents a significant achievement for the City of Costa Mesa’s Finance Department and is the greatest form of recognition in governmental budgeting an organization can earn.
In addition to this prestigious honor, the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2016-17 earned the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers Certificate of Excellence Award.
The award is recognition of meeting the program’s required criteria and established professional standards in financial reporting and is a true testament to the hard work being applied.
A big congratulations to the Finance Department staff for their continued dedication and ability to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation and their excellence in financial reporting.
The Fire & Rescue staff has happily reported that 16 community members recently graduated from the CERT training hosted by Greenleaf Mobile Home Park.
Participants learned skills in preparedness, fire safety and utility control, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue techniques, homeland security awareness and disaster emotional first aid.
Members of the instructional team included Fire Capt. Fred McDowell and Costa Mesa Police Lt. Vic Bakkila as well as volunteer instructors, Georgette Quinn, Cindy Brenneman, Dee Chester and program manager Brenda Emrick.
The next CERT class will be offered in March.