Arcadia City Council approves Water Master Plan update, presented by Pat Malloy, Public Works Services Director. The guide outlines a ten-year improvement program for over $44 million.
Since Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Santa Anita Park, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The race track will be auctioned off in September. That land is zoned for horse racing. Jason Kruckeberg, Arcadia's Development Services Director, said it will remain as a race track.
As ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court, Arcadia city officials were expected to finalize the repeal of all approvals related to the Shops at Santa Anita mall project and the decertification of the environmental impact report (EIR). Jason Kruckeberg, Development Services Director for the City of Arcadia, said city officials are just starting the potentially year-long process of fixing the 11 faulty areas of the EIR. City officials have begun talks with CalTrans and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts asking for their cooperation in fleshing out traffic and sewage studies.
Public Services Director Pat Malloy met with the Highland Homeowners Association to update the residents on the work that has been done after the fire that denuded the hillsides above their homes.
Westfield, Santa Anita Shoppingtown, and Santa Anita Fashion Park, are the three plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the City of Arcadia, the City Council, and developer Rick Caruso, aimed at stopping the new mall The Shops at Santa Anita. Plaintiffs allege the environmental study done was flawed. Assistant City Manager Don Penman said the study was the most thorough one he had ever seen.
Ambassador Jason C. Yuen, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, will be grand marshal of the 49th Festival of Bands Parade in Arcadia.
The City Council approved a contract with Rokni Electric for a new 800 Kilowatt generator and a new telephone system (not to exceed $342,251) from SBC-Pacific Bell for City Hall. A contract with Systems Source Inc. for furnishings for the new police station was also approved. The City Librarian job title was changed to Director of Library and Museum Services.
Debra Amos, Food Services Director for the Arcadia Unified School District for the last 20 years, recently earned the Silver Special Achievement Award from the National Food Service Achievement Management Excellence program. She discusses her job and how tastes have changed over the years.
A state law scheduled to take effect in September is expected to set standards in the massage industry. Arcadia City Manager Don Penman commented that the new law may not stop people who want to commit a crime and do illegal acts. In the last few months of 2008, Arcadia shut down seven massage busineses for illegal activities.
The city has hired an outside consultant, Cooperative Personnel Services, to look at the Arcadia Public Library and make recommendations on upgrading of services.
The Arcadia City Council matched a $20,000 reward offered by Los Angeles County, making a combined reward of $40,000, for information about the 2007 killing of restaurant owner Jason Wei.
An armed robbery Wednesday led to an all-night standoff with the police when the two suspects fled to an Arcadia home and held resident Pat Plumley hostage.
The city of Arcadia hired Animal Pest Control Management Services to conduct a census of the city's peafowl. This was in response to the many complaints of the loose birds vandalizing residential properties.
Arcadia City Manager Bill Kelly, 58, is leaving his job to be a consultant in the private sector. He feels it is time to leave because many of the projects he had overseen in recent years have been completed or are on track to be completed.