Malibu High fire causes $100K in damages
A fire at Malibu High School on July 25 destroyed a classroom, causing $100,000 in damages, Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesperson Maria Grycan said.
The fire occurred at 6:47 p.m. and originated in an aquarium equipment cabinet. The cause, Grycan said, was a malfunction of an aquarium filter and pump. Several reptiles and fish were lost in the fire, which occurred in room 106, the school’s science classroom.
Council to vote on next phases for stormwater projects and new city hall
The Malibu City Council at its Aug. 10 meeting will vote whether to execute two construction contracts: one in the amount of $6.3 million for the construction of Legacy Park, and the other totaling $1.1 million for the construction of the Paradise Cove Stormwater Treatment Facility Project.
The council will then decide whether to negotiate and execute a $64,000 professional services agreement for architectural design services for the eventual new Malibu City Hall (the former Malibu Performing Arts Center).
Though city staff recommends the council execute a $6.3 million contract with LH Engineering Company, Inc. for the construction phase of the 15-acre Legacy Park, an additional $370,447 may need to be extracted from the city’s general fund to complete it. The park intends to treat stormwater runoff in the Civic Center area.
Public bidding on construction services for the Paradise Cove Stormwater Treatment Facility Project will begin Sept. 10, but because a grant requires the construction of the project to begin prior to Oct. 1, staff has asked the council to approve the contract if it is within the city’s allocated $1.1 million budget. The city anticipates project completion by March 2010, and expects it to improve ocean water quality at Paradise Cove.
The city has reserved $1.7 million for renovation services to transform the former Malibu Performing Arts Center into its new city hall. With the council’s blessing, $64,000 will be spent on the schematic design phase. The building went into foreclosure and was bought at auction by the city for $15 million in June.
Corral Canyon Fire hearing postponed
Attorneys representing two of the five men accused of starting the 2007 Corral Canyon Fire appeared in Van Nuys Superior Court on Tuesday to discuss a motion they filed to dismiss the case. However, the hearing was postponed to Sept. 15 after defendants Eric Matthew Ullman and Dean Allen Lavorante requested more time to prepare a response, said Corral Canyon resident Beverly Taki, who has been closely following court proceedings.
A trial for suspects Brian Alan Anderson and William Thomas Coppock is scheduled to take place in October, Taki said. The remaining suspect, Brian David Franks, was sentenced to five years probation and 300 hours community service in February by Van Nuys Superior Court, after pleading no contest to a felony charge of recklessly causing a fire.
The Corral Fire, Malibu’s worst since 1993, started after an illegal campfire in an area on State Parks property known as “the cave” got out of control. The fire burned 4,900 acres and destroyed 86 structures, including 53 homes.
Planning considers permits for Trancas mall, farmers’ market
The Planning Commission continued debating the issuance of a coastal development permit to allow the proposed expansion and renovation of Trancas Country Market at its meeting Tuesday at city hall.
The commission also considered a request for a conditional use permit by nonprofit Cornucopia Foundation that would allow it to operate a farmers’ market in the Civic Center area, though staff has recommended postponing discussion to the commission’s Sept. 15 regular meeting.
Malibu resident and Trancas Country Market owner Dan Bercu had intended to add 37,372 square feet in new buildings to the 14-acre shopping center and a new 11,000-square-foot shopping center to be built on the former Riders and Ropers 6.44-acre property located east of Trancas Creek, as well as other construction. But a zoning inconsistency and lack of support from the community at the last July 21 planning meeting forced Bercu to withdraw plans to develop the Riders and Ropers site, decreasing the project’s potential area to 22,000 square feet. Staff has recommended approval of the modified project, though many local area residents remain opposed to it.
The Planning Commission has repeatedly postponed scheduled hearings on the Cornucopia Foundation’s application for a farmers’ market permit until a later date, one by which Raw Inspiration, the competing entity, would also be ready for a hearing. The commission is torn between the desire to give both organizations an equal chance and empathy for Cornucopia, which applied first and has been trying for a hearing for some time.
Trial date set for paparazzi battery case
The trial for the paparazzi battery case against Malibu residents Skylar Martin Peak and Philip John Hildebrand is scheduled to begin Friday at the Malibu Courthouse, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
Hildebrand, 30, and Peak, 24, are each charged with one misdemeanor count of battery involving the June 2008 paparazzi-surfer beach fights.
Shark pen installed off Malibu coast
The Monterey Bay Aquarium set up its four-million-gallon shark pen this week off the coast from Corral Canyon. The aquarium catches or takes in juvenile white sharks caught accidentally and puts them in the pen for a while before transferring them to the aquarium for further study. It then tags and releases the sharks to study where they travel and their habitat.
Ken Peterson, communications director for Monterey Bay Aquarium, said next week a collecting team will begin to try catching a shark either through spotting one or possibly using “attractants,” or what is know as chum-fish bait. However, addressing concerns about attracting sharks to swimming waters, Peterson said if attractants were used, it would be far from shore.
A circle hook and line is used to catch the sharks, which “don’t’ do a lot of damage,” Peterson said. “[The] goal is to bring in a shark in great condition … so we know from the get go, if we catch it,” what is its true condition.
The aquarium sets up a cage in Malibu every summer in August. Since the inception of the Juvenile White Shark program in 2002, it has caught and displayed four sharks. One of the four sharks did not feed consistently, Peterson said, and after 11 days it was tagged and put back in Santa Barbara ocean waters, where it was caught. “By coincidence it was caught within in a month by a commercial fisherman,” Peterson said, “who said it looked good.” The fisherman released the shark.
The other three sharks had grown up within four to six months, Peterson said, and were feeding and swimming regularly. They were released into Monterey waters with 30-day, 90-day and 150-day tags to monitor the difference in movement throughout the range of days, Peterson said.
One, a female, traveled more than 100 miles offshore within 30 days of her release and dove to 800 feet before the tag popped free near Santa Barbara. This shark had the longest stay, 198 days, at the aquarium. Another shark, a male, traveled more than 2,000 miles and to depths of 1,000 feet as it was tracked to the southern tip of Baja California. The third traveled past Cabo San Lucas almost to Mazatlan, Peterson said.
The goal of the aquarium’s shark project is to get data on “what they’re doing in the wild, what habitat they are using, and where to protect them,” Peterson said.
The shark cage will remain off the coast of Malibu until September.
Safety tip of the week: fire extinguishers
Residents should keep “A-B-C type” fire extinguishers close at hand in the house and garage. A fire extinguisher should be checked once a year to make sure it is well maintained and will work when needed.
You can learn how to properly use it by practicing and by watching videos that are available on the Internet. If you experience a fire, first call 9-1-1. Then remember the word PASS to guide you in using your fire extinguisher:
P- Pull the arming pin
A -Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire
S-Squeeze the handles together to start the flow
S-Sweep the stream side to side until the fire is out
Learn how to be safe. Sign up for one of the City of Malibu’s regularly scheduled, free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training classes or call Brad Davis, Emergency Services Coordinator, at 310.456.2489, ext. 260, if you have questions.
Tip provided by Malibu’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
-Olivia Damavandi, Laura Tate