The Capistrano Insider

Capistrano Residents Can Trade Christmas Lights for LEDs

San Diego Gas & Electric

The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) are offering complimentary energy-efficient holiday lights to customers at this year’s first LED Holiday Light Exchange in San Juan Capistrano on Nov. 14. Along with new holiday lights, customers will receive a no-cost Home Energy & Water Savings Kit in an eco-friendly reusable shopping bag! The kit includes a low-flow showerhead and three faucet aerators.

The City of San Juan Capistrano and its community partners are supporting the light exchange, ringing in energy savings and increased safety for the holiday season. SDG&E customers will be able to exchange up to three incandescent holiday light strands for multi-colored LED holiday light strands by simply presenting a copy of their current SDG&E bill or bringing their California ID.

“This is the first exchange in San Juan Capistrano and we expect a strong turnout,” said Mark Gaines, director of customer programs for SDG&E. “During last year’s holiday lights program in San Diego County we exchanged 5,757 LED light strands for 2,500 energy-conscious SDG&E customers. That is an increase of 31 percent from 4,000 LEDs exchanged in 2007!”

LED holiday lights can save customers energy and money, when compared to traditional incandescent holiday lights. They cost up to 90 percent less to run, are cool to the touch, reduce fire risk, and are safer for use both inside and outside the home. LED lights also shine brighter and last up to 100 times longer than incandescent holiday lights.

SDG&E is putting on nine light exchanges in their service territory with the first beginning on Nov. 14 in San Juan Capistrano, and the final taking place on December 5, at the 32nd annual December Nights at Balboa Park. SDG&E will have booths set up for SDG&E customers to attend and exchange their lights. The complete schedule includes:

 

• San Juan Capistrano LED Holiday Light Exchange

Sat., Nov. 14, 2009 – 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Ecology Center, 32701 Alipaz St., San Juan Capistrano

AT&T: Capistrano Service to Get Better

This is good news for San Juan Capistrano AT&T users -- which includes me. Over the past few months, I haven't been able to get service inside City Hall, which makes it hard to blog and tweet about the ... wonderful ... things the council does.

The site will be near Camino Capistrano and Del Obispo.

From AT&T:

As part of its continuing network investment to support growing demand for advanced mobile devices and applications, AT&T* today announced the activation of five new 3G cell sites in Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Buena Park, and Garden Grove that will enhance coverage for area residents and businesses.

The new cell sites are one part of AT&T’s ongoing efforts to drive innovation and extend its 3G wireless network – the fastest in the nation, according to independent testing.  It is also part of AT&T’s ongoing investment to build the broadband networks that will fuel economic growth and create jobs, and enable the its customers to quickly access the content, applications and services that matter most to them.

“We have a long history of investing in our network throughout Orange County to improve the quality of service we provide to our customers,” said Richard Porras, AT&T External Affairs, Orange County. “Our customers will experience enhanced wireless coverage and an improved user experience as a direct result of the activation of these five new cell sites.”

 AT&T plans to add more than 200 cell sites in California this year and upgrade nearly 320 more sites to 3G. From 2006 to 2008, AT&T’s total capital investment in its California network was nearly $7.9 billion.

The AT&T 3G network opens the door to a new era of advanced mobile services, devices and feature-rich content.  With 3G speeds, you can surf the Web, download files faster than ever, and enjoy the very latest interactive mobile applications.

AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most open and widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T offers 3G data roaming in more than 100 countries, as well as voice calling in more than 215 countries.

AT&T offers unsurpassed choice in the range of devices, services and applications compatible with its 3G network. AT&T offers a wide variety of devices from more than a dozen manufacturers, including handsets that are compatible with six different operating systems and five different e-mail applications. AT&T’s Media Mall 2.0 offers more than 90,000 content options, and customers can download virtually any application over the Internet.  Additionally, AT&T supports a community of more than 20,000 application developers via its devCentral portal.

For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit www.att.com/networknews.

County Extends Regional Watershed Study

From Supervisor Pat Bates

Board Approves San Juan Watershed Study Extension

The Board of Supervisors has extended an agreement with Rancho Mission Viejo (RMV) and Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering to conduct and prepare a study of the San Juan Creek Watershed. This study will focus on issues surrounding hydrology, river hydraulics, sedimentation accumulation and stream bed erosion. The original agreement approved in 2005 required RMV to fund $950,000 of this study, with RMV and Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering performing the work.

The original agreement allowed two years to complete the study; however it has been extended twice to allow additional time to perform the required work. The amendment approved by the Board of Supervisors this week will allow this study to continue for an additional year until July 31, 2009.

Council Holds Off on Wielding Water Stick

Capistrano officials on Tuesday rejected a staff recommendation to declare  a Stage 2 water emergency—which would have prohibited the public from washing their vehicles at home and mandated even the Mission’s koi-filled fountains be shut down—and instead declared a Stage 1 alert that relies more on voluntary cutbacks. The council split 3-2 on the measure, with members Laura Freese and Londres Uso unsuccessfully arguing for the more stringent measure. They said residents wouldn't cut back unless forced to.

 

But Mayor Mark Nielsen said some of the Stage 2 restrictions were “potentially draconian,” and that he was worried about unintended consequences of the action—such as a die-off of the fish in the Mission fountains.

 

Capistrano expects an 8 percent water reduction will be necessary: The council will lower the public’s allotment by 5 percent, and use building inspectors as water inspectors to ensure current water-saving regulations are followed. The move accomplishes two things: It allows the city to keep the inspectors on the payroll while construction is off, and also allows a portion of their salaries to be paid out of a $500,000 fund built up with a portion of the rates paid by those who use more than their monthly water allocation.

 

The city sets allocations basically on the lot size of residents' homes. The lowest users, Tier 1, pay the lowest rates, while those in Tier 3 are essentially considered water wasters. A new rate study is coming back in June or July that will likely change the allocations and rates -- look for an increase.

 

Wash Your Driveway and Your Car This Weekend

Because the City Council on Tuesday is expected to declare a "Stage 2" water emergency, meaning it will be illegal to hose off hard surfaces (unless its' a health/safety issue), as well as wash your car at home. There's other rules, too, about running your sprinklers and fountains.

Here's the city's release:

The City Council on Tuesday will consider declaring a “Stage 2” water shortage effective July 1, along with financial incentives for residents in support of mandatory water conservation.

Considering mandatory measures comes on the heels of the 10 percent water use reduction the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California ordered last month. Policymakers and scientists are increasingly concerned about the long-term drought. Several parched years, including some of the driest seasons on record, and an environmental ruling impacting imported supplies have reduced Southern California’s water supply.  

The City updated its drought response last year with the City Council-adopted water conservation ordinance. The ordinance, which put in place a four-stage plan for water shortages, provides guidelines for prudent water use along with the tools to enforce year-round water conservation. The ordinance restricts such things as restaurants serving water unless a customer asks for it and the hours residents can run their sprinklers. The law also bans pools from being emptied or refilled, barring repairs and health and safety issues. Stage 2 moves from the voluntary conservation mode to the mandatory, adding additional prohibited uses. Those include requiring all major water users to reduce their usage by a percentage deemed necessary by staff to sustain adequate water supply; prohibiting residents from washing pavement, and from washing their cars other than at a commercial car wash; turning off decorative fountains; and reducing lawn watering and landscape irrigation. New construction permits for pools and spas will not be issued. The full water conservation ordinance is available at www.sanjuancapistrano.org.

Council members on Tuesday will also consider approving $10,000 in funding for a toilet retrofit incentive program to support conservation efforts. In homes without water-conserving fixtures, toilet flushing accounts for one third of indoor water use. By retrofitting all pre-1993 toilets, the total potential water savings to all customers per year is estimated at $370,000.

The City Council meets at  6:30 p.m. May 19 in Council Chambers at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto.  

Here's the staff report.