Council waives fees for MHS’s Christmas tree lot; city manager gives update on the Broad Fire
The Malibu City Council held its meeting last week on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and received an update on the school separation, waived the fees for the Malibu High School’s Christmas Tree lot, and honored the Malibu Outreach Team.
“It cannot begin to honor the work that you do, so we thank you very much for it,” Mayor Doug Stewart said while honoring the Malibu Outreach Team.
“I just want to say a special thank you, you really humanize everything, you make sure your know everyone who is living out there and I think that’s great that you take such a personal interest and care for everyone involved,” Mayor Pro Tem Marianne Riggins said.
In a separate interview with The Malibu Times, Public Safety Director Susan Dueñas acknowledged the team’s hard work after being recognized.
“I have so much admiration for what they do, it’s very hard and you have to have so much patience and empathy andthey have what it takes and it shows,” she said. “It’s very effective, and every month when I get the report of the people that have moved into temporary or permanent housing — they’re just amazing.”
City Manager Steve McClary provided updates on city events and the recent Broad Fire that occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
McClary said one of the issues they experienced during that fire was cellular service.
“This is an issue that we raised, especially in the past, directly with the companies, they are required to bring out generators to power up those sites, but we have not been able to get any real indication as to when they will bring those out or any schedule on that, and that remains a real frustration for us because that obviously impacts communities throughout town,” McClary said.
McClary said there were five structures that were damaged in the fire and one severely damaged.
“I have not heard any information as to the cause, it appears that it started near Pacific Coast Highway, next to Bluffs Park,” he said. “We did have some damage to some of the city’s recreational equipment, and some of our fields got singed, but we don’t have any report of damage to the facility, but we are cleaning it out because of the smoke, that will remain closed until we can ensure that it is ready for the public.”
McClary also said that the city met with supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Caltrans to receive an update on PCH improvements and safety.
“It was a good meeting, we were able to outline a number of areas that were working together with Caltrans and of course the supervisor expressed her support for all that she can do,” he said.
McClary said they’ll be receiving an update from Caltrans by next month.
After a break, the City Council gave updates and Councilmember Bruce Silverstein acknowledged the fire department for their efficient efforts in clearing the fire that occurred on Nov. 6.
“It was extremely efficient and effective,” he said. “It was just very impressive to watch; it was completely under control, so we owe a debt of gratitude to the fire department for that one.”
Silverstein gave a few suggestions on what the city can do to support the community, such as creating an ad hoc committee during an emergency or power outage. Silverstein also suggests to create a community food storage center, provide dry ice for residents and generators for commercial establishments.
“I think the circuits need to be reconfigured, and I spoke about this to the SCE representative who was here at the last meeting,” he said. “The power shutoffs are a reality — we are not going to be able to stop the power shutoffs — so andwe have to find a way to live with the power shutoffs or minimize their occurrence in the city, and I think it needs to be looked at by the city.”
The council also mentioned the Veterans Day event that occured the day before, but Silverstein was disappointed with the comment made by one of the speakers about the presidential election.
“Unfortunately, there were multiple references about the election, which I found disrespectful to the many attendees who were dismayed by the election results,” he said. “I’m hopeful that the organizer of this event will see that this isn’trepeated in the future.”
Riggins thanked Councilmember Paul Grisanti for his service to the community.
As of Sunday, Nov. 10, Bruce Lee Silverstein led with 24.57% of the vote, totaling 2,701 votes; Steve Uhring followed closely with 23.00%, securing 2,508 votes; Haylynn Conrad earned 20.55% of the votes, totaling 2,243 votes; Paul Grisanti came in fourth with 19.46%, receiving 2,131 votes; and Dr. C. Channing Frykman rounded out the results with 12.47%, totaling 1,365 votes.
“I have enjoyed working with him these last two years on the council,” she said.
The last item on the agenda was the request from the Malibu Education Foundation to waive the facility use fees for the Ioki Property for the Annual Community Christmas Tree Lot. This year, the Malibu Education Foundation (Foundation) has taken over the Tree Lot operation and will use it as a fundraiser for all Malibu Public Schools. The council waved the fees. The Christmas tree lot will be running from Nov. 20 to Dec. 22.
The next City Council meeting is on Monday, Nov. 25.