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City of Laguna Beach

MEMORANDUM

 

 

DATE:           November 21, 2008

 

TO:                 City Council

 

FROM:           Kenneth Frank, City Manager

 

SUBJECT:    FRIDAY UPDATES

 

 

New Police Officer – We have recently hired Henry Duchene as our newest Police Officer.  Mr. Duchene has 25 years of experience with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.  He lives in South County.

 

Complex Construction Projects – Last week I toured the Diamond Street stair replacement project and the Zimmerman storm drain on Coast Highway in South Laguna.  Both of these projects are extremely difficult.  The space is very constrained.  Both have problems with high tides.  They both require a lot of hand work.  These types of projects are so much more difficult than building on a nice piece of farmland.  If any Councilmember would like to take a tour of these two projects to see their complexity, I would be happy to do so.

 

FEMA Audit – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has apparently changed its policy and is starting to do audits of significant disasters as soon as possible once the project has been completed.  We have been notified that the Inspector General’s office will start its audit for the Bluebird Canyon Disaster on December 1.  This is good news because very shortly we will know whether there are any possible issues with the audit.  This is much better than having FEMA wait two to three years after the audit when everyone has moved onto other jobs and we don’t have the staff or knowledge to respond to questions from the auditor.

 

Bluebird SOCWA Lift Station Repairs – The emergency bypass system set up on Galen Drive was used on Wednesday to allow for recovery work to continue.  Replacing a key isolation valve was successful.  This operation will be followed by the installation of a replacement to the pipe section responsible for the October 29th incident and start up of the third pump.  The third pump to the lift station will be tested and put into operation by the end of the week.  Subsequently, the emergency bypass will be removed.  These efforts will complete the most significant repairs toward recovery.