Nature Park Clean-ups

We just completed the third Wednesday morning work day at the park. I am thinking of continuing this from August through November on a weekly basis. We may also have one Saturday (or Sunday, if there is interest) morning work day each month from September through November. Let me know if there are other days/times that you would be able to come. I will try to be flexible.

I posted pictures of the central area of the park (the mounds) from early 2005 to date on my other blog. We have made a great deal of progress! - though of course there is much more to do. In addition to keeping the weeds under control, we will work on finishing the path through the mounds. Some day I would also love to have an artist carve the large pieces of wood (from the Dec 1 storm) that I asked the city to deliver to the park. It would be wonderful if we could use these beautiful reminders of that powerful storm for natural seating. Thoughts?

Anyway, no more cleanups until August. Have a great summer.

Barbara

Nature Park Cleanup, Wednesday, June 27, 8:30 - 10 am

I know that some of you cannot make it to the Saturday morning cleanups. This summer I am trying to get into the park early on Wednesdays to do some weeding. Please join us if you are free. It gets hot, so we will start at 8:30 am and work until ... we are too hot and tired, probably around 10 am.


View Larger Map

Meet in the park to pull weeds, pick up litter, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello.

Nature Park entrance on Pasadena Ave., east of the York St. Bridge

Remember to:
- wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
- bring water
- bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
- comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots)
- binoculars for bird watching (optional)

Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park, which we will point out before we start.

Please pass this info along to anyone else you think might be interested in the park. If you know of anyone who doesn't use the internet, let me know so we can be sure they are kept in the loop.

PARK CLEANUP - Wednesday, June 20, 8:30 am - around 10ish

I know that some of you cannot make it to the Saturday morning cleanups. This summer I am trying to get into the park early on Wednesdays to do some weeding. Please join us if you are free. It gets hot, so we will start at 8:30 am and work until ... we are too hot and tired, probably around 10 am.


View Larger Map

Meet in the park to pull weeds, pick up litter, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello.

Nature Park entrance on Pasadena Ave., east of the York St. Bridge

Remember to:
- wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
- bring water
- bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
- comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots)
- binoculars for bird watching (optional)

Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park, which we will point out before we start.

Please pass this info along to anyone else you think might be interested in the park. If you know of anyone who doesn't use the internet, let me know so we can be sure they are kept in the loop.

PARK CLEANUP - Saturday, May 26, 9 am - noon

Yes, I know it is Memorial Day Weekend, but what better way to spend it than weeding in the park? I don't have plans for cleanups during the summer, though I am sure I will not be able to stay away. If any of you want to join me, send me an email and we can set something up. If I do plan to go down on a Saturday morning, I will send an email to the Nature Park group. Hope to see some of you on Saturday. If not, have a great holiday weekend.


View Larger Map

Meet at the park info sign on Pasadena Ave and then head down into the park. The group will pull weeds, pick up litter, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello.

Nature Park entrance on Pasadena Ave., east of the York St. Bridge

Remember to:
- wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
- bring water
- bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
- comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots)
- binoculars for bird watching (optional)

Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park, which we will point out before we start.

Please pass this info along to anyone else you think might be interested in the park. If you know of anyone who doesn't use the internet, let me know so we can be sure they are kept in the loop.

PARK CLEANUP - Saturday, May 5, 9 am - noon

More pulling, pulling, pulling of weeds. We will win the "War on Weeds." If you can't come on Saturday, stop by any time and pull, pull, pull. For pictures of the weeds we are concentrating on see the previous post.


View Larger Map

Meet at the park info sign on Pasadena Ave and then head down into the park. The group will pull weeds, pick up litter, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello.

Nature Park entrance on Pasadena Ave., east of the York St. Bridge

Remember to:
- wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
- bring water
- bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
- comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots)
- binoculars for bird watching (optional)

Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park, which we will point out before we start.

Please pass this info along to anyone else you think might be interested in the park. If you know of anyone who doesn't use the internet, let me know so we can be sure they are kept in the loop.

City staff to recommend no driving range expansion!

Wanted to update everyone on the golf course lease and the driving range expansion. The Draft of the Initial Study for the Golf Course Lease recommended a Mitigated Negative Declaration. This means that as long as the study is not contested and they answer everyone's questions and comments satisfactorily, they could go ahead with the lease and the expansion.

Now for the good news. City staff is recommending (p. 229, http://www.cityofsouthpasadena.us/government/PDFs/packet/Agenda_Packet.pdf) the following:

Instead, it is recommended that the City Council:
1) Direct staff to modifY the existing management agreement with Donovan to delete references about a proposed lease agreement; and
 2) Direct staff to revise the MND to reflect that the City would implement the capital improvement program for the golf course instead of Donovan; and
3) Provide direction whether to delete or leave in place the option to expand the driving range expansion

The analysis below (p. 231) indicates that the city is going to try to continue having the golf course managed by Donovan rather than entering into a long term lease agreement. Furthermore, they are recommending that the driving range expansion not be part of the capital improvements, but rather to use money for needed improvements to kitchen, rest rooms, etc.

Analysis
Staff recommends that the City continue with a Management Agreement with Donovan because it is advantageous for the City from a financial standpoint. Although the driving range expansion was expected to "enhance" the golf experience, staff recommends that this component be eliminated. Shifting the funds from the driving range expansion to other improvements, such as the kitchen and restroom upgrades, would result in greater value to the golf course operations. If the City Council is inclined to remain in the management agreement, staff will request that the City Council approve a 5-year capital improvement program for the golf course at a future meeting. It would include all of the items listed above (under "lease agreement") except for the driving range expansion. At that time, the City Council will have a revised Initial Study IMND that has removed all references to a lease agreement and eliminates the driving range expansion from the capital improvements list. Once this CEQA document is revised and made available, there will be a new 3D-day review period prior to the City Council meeting.

To be on the safe side, I sent my concerns about the MND, Initial Study. This will put it on record, just in case something changes. I will also be going to the city council meeting and will make comment as such. Others who feel strongly may want to attend the city council meeting, though I think the only important comment, other than - THANK YOU! - is to bring up any objection to the Initial Study, in the unlikely event that the city staff recommendation is not followed. If we do not have our objections to the study as part of the public record by the date of the public hearing (this Wed.) then we cannot bring them up later.

Enjoy South Pasadena's only habitat park!

So now we can turn our attention to the weeds. With all of these late rains they are thriving. It is very therapeutic to pull weeds, so once the rain stops, mozie on down and give a pull or two.

PARK CLEANUP - Saturday, April 21, 9 am - noon

This Saturday we will be pulling, pulling, pulling. The weeds are all over but we will win the "War on Weeds." If you can't come on Saturday, stop by any time and pull, pull, pull. For pictures of the weeds we are concentrating on see the previous post.


View Larger Map

Meet at the park info sign on Pasadena Ave and then head down into the park. The group will pull weeds, pick up litter, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello.

Nature Park entrance on Pasadena Ave., east of the York St. Bridge

Remember to:
- wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
- bring water
- bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
- comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots)
- binoculars for bird watching (optional)

Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park, which we will point out before we start.

Please pass this info along to anyone else you think might be interested in the park. If you know of anyone who doesn't use the internet, let me know so we can be sure they are kept in the loop.