October 2009 Archives
Here's a link to the Montclair City Manager's report for Oct. 23-29
Yesterday I posted an entry about Montclair Yamaha's unexpected closing and move out.
I just got a message from Steve Lustro, the city's community development director, explaining the loss to the city.
"Any loss to the City's sales tax base in this economy is significant. Our hope is that the store reopens soon," he said.
If you're wondering about Montclair Yamaha's unexpected closing and move out, you might have to continue scratching your head.
I contacted Steve Lustro, the city's community development director, via e-mail to see if he happened to know anything about this and he said, "Actually, it came as a surprise to us too."
"There are signs in the windows that say something about the store being closed "temporarily" because of a change of ownership, but to my knowledge, nobody here at the City has spoken with anyone regarding what will happen with the store," the Lustro's e-mail read.
He said the city was not notified in advance about the store closure.
I'm waiting to see if there is any significant loss to the city's revenue or what the city is now going to do.
I'll keep you posted as more news comes in.
Chino Basin Water Conservation District, in partnership with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and local water agencies, will host the fourth annual Regional Water Conservation and Landscape Fair.
This fair is free from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 24 at Chino Basin Water Conservation District's facility, 4594 San Bernardino Ave., Montclair.
There will be free water saving devices and raffles throughout the day with the grand prize -- at 1:30 p.m. a high efficient clothes washer will be raffled.
Since outdoor water use accounts for approximately 50 - 70 percent of a typical home's water consumption, the fair will focus on outdoor water conservation with information provided by vendors on water wise landscaping, efficient irrigation practices and rebate programs.
In addition drought tolerant plants for sale.
There will also be various information booths demonstrating ways to reduce your indoor water use.
The event will include a performance by the National Children's Theatre, a petting zoo and pumpkin patch, a giant slide, face painting, and exhibits by the local police and fire departments.
Information: (909) 626-2711 or Dfigoni@cbwcd.org
MONTCLAIR -- The city is currently updating the Housing Element of its General Plan for the period 2006-2014.
The Housing Element establishes city policies and programs regarding maintenance of existing housing stock, affordable housing, creation of new housing, and providing resources to help residents meet their housing needs.
An important part of the Housing Element update process is determining the housing needs of Montclair's residents.
The city will conduct a Housing Element Workshop on from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Community Room at the Montclair Police Department, 4870 Arrow Highway.
Workshop attendees will have the opportunity to provide input on current and future housing needs, challenges and opportunities.
Further information about the Housing Element update may be obtained by calling Michael Diaz, city planner, (909) 625-9432.
Family fun and raising funds for a worthy cause is what Care and Company's Fall Harvest Fiesta is all about.
The event -- from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 10 at Bethany Baptist Church, 9950 Monte Vista Ave. -- will offer games for children, food, vendor booths as well as provide information about the nonprofit and its hygiene pantry.
Entrance fee is $1 per person. Children under 3 can get in free.
For more information, call (909) 240-1551 or visit www. careandcompany.org.
The Montclair Fire Department will host its annual open house/pancake breakfast on Saturday.
The open house is from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and the breakfast is from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Station No. 1, 8901 Monte Vista Ave., Montclair.
The Montclair Fire Fighters Association will host the breakfast. The breakfast is $3 a plate; all proceeds will be donated to local charity groups.
Come join the department for breakfast, tour of the station, and learn about fire safety and prevention.
There will be periodic demonstrations of firefighting tools and equipment as well.
Fire crews completes roof-top training
During September, all Montclair Fire Department suppression crews participated in roof-top ventilation training.
The training was done at a city-owned residential structure scheduled for demolition -- the same structure that was used for urban search and rescue training in July.
Because the entire roof of the structure was still intact, it was the perfect location for this hands-on training.
Each crew had many opportunities to make openings in the roof with a variety of ventilation tools and equipment.
Included in the training exercise was instruction on ladder placement, chainsaw safety and use, where to cut, and communications. They practiced sizing-up the structure, sounding the roof, and puncturing the interior ceiling.
Neither props nor simulated training could ever be as effective as practicing on the real thing.
E-mail system keeping out unwanted items
The city's Barracuda spam and virus firewall, purchased in 2004, is keeping the e-mail system free of viruses and spam.
The system is an integrated hardware and software solution designed to protect the organization's e-mail server from spam, viruses, spoofing, phishing, and spyware attacks.
For every business and organization worldwide, e-mails are an essential form of communication.
Following are some interesting facts about our e-mail system:
Since 2004, the city has received more than 10 million e-mails (10,017,330, to be exact)
- 8.6 million e-mails have been blocked as spam
- More than 17,000 e-mail messages have been blocked because of viruses
- The city receives an average of 6,000 e-mails daily
Information Technology staff continuously updates the system with current spam and virus definition to monitor and block the latest Internet threats.
Bowling tournament for Special Olympics
The Special Olympics of the west San Bernardino area, along with the Kiwanis Club hosted a bowling tournament for the Special Olympics late last month.
Held at the Montclair Bowlium on Sept. 26, 180 Special Olympics athletes from Southern California participated.
Police reserve officers Randy Ortiz and Joe Kuskie and Reserve Captain Ron Foss participated in the tournament and were honored to present medals to all of the athletes.
Islands Restaurant in Montclair will be the site of a fundraiser for Steven's Hope.
Simply print out the coupon and bring it to the Island's restaurant between 4 and 9 p.m. Oct. 14 to 5220 Moreno Street, Montclair.
Islands will present Steven's Hope 20 percent of you bill to support Steven's Hope The offer is good for dine in or take out orders.
Information: (909) 399-9331
