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All council members were present for the Tuesday, May 3 City Council meeting. Open session started at 5:00 p.m. and ended at 8:50 p.m. Here's what you missed:
Captain Jones warns residents not to fall for tax scams. Since tax season was in April, the Carson Sheriff Station received a high number of calls from individuals who got duped though tax-scams. Captain Damon Jones warned the council and the public of the different types of tax-scams which circulate this time every year, "Those same tax scams are going around again, where they are sending text messages/emails/phone calls saying you are either going to be arrested, we got a warrant out for you, we are going to come to your front door, we are going to garnish your check, [...] these are all tax scams." If you do receive a scam from someone claiming to be from the IRS and soliciting money from you, Captain Jones urges you to avoid giving any information to any non-trusted sources:
Do not share any personal information.
Do not give any banking information.
Do not wire or send any money no matter who they claim to be or if they reference the name of someone you know.
Do not click any hyperlinks
Cal Water presents information on how to be "Water-Wise". Representatives from the California Water Service provided a presentation emphasizing the severity of drought in the state, warning of its impact to water customers. Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation back in May 2021 declaring a drought state of emergency in 41 counties and called on water suppliers to develop water shortage contingency plans. As of March 2022, 37.69% of the state is in 'extreme' or 'exceptional' drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor. In January of this year, just a couple of months ago, the state only had 1.39% extreme drought.
With the implementation of Cal Water's Stage 2 Water Shortage Contingency Plan comes additional irrigation regulations and increased penalties but also increased rebate amounts for both residents and businesses. Residents are now limited to 2 lawn watering days a week and are prohibited from turning on their sprinklers between 8am and 6pm every day. If your street address ends in an odd number, you can water your lawn on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If your address ends in even numbers or has no number, then you can water your lawn on Wednesdays and Sundays. Any leaks or plumbing malfunctions that result in a waste of water must be repaired within five business days. The first violation of the stage 2 contingency plan will result in a real-time water measurement device installed on the customer's meter. Any sequential violations result in monetary penalties and having a flow restricting device installed.
The presentation also included information about conservation rebates for residents who have purchased high efficiency clothes washers, toilets and/or sprinkler nozzles; smart irrigation controllers; or have participated in the lawn to garden and/or spray to drip programs. More information about water conservation tips, rebates, the landscape tune-up program, and more can be found at www.calwater.com/conservation-rebates
California Water Services Co. also announced the winner of CalWater's H2O challenge. Tiffany Rachal's Bonita Street Elementary STEAM Academy 4th grade class won the grand prize with their "Make Our Oceans Blue Again" project. The grand prize consists of $35,000 classroom grant, $1,000 scholarship grant for each student, and a gift card for the teacher and students.
Slogan chosen for City's 55th Anniversary: “Celebrating our Heritage and Embracing our Future” The council decided on the logo and slogan which will be used to represent and promote the City's 55th Anniversary. After some deliberation, and a joke where someone suggested the slogan be "55 and still alive," the council ultimately decided on "Celebrating our Heritage and Embracing our Future." According to Councilmember Cedric Hicks, the 55th anniversary ad-hoc committee is planning an event during the City's anniversary month in February and then 3 more anniversary-related events throughout the year. The ad-hoc committee will present a budget at the next council meeting as Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes express concern that costs have risen significantly this year.
Ordinance Regulating Storage of CalARP substances and other hazardous material passes introduction. Driven by the chemical fire which likely caused the foul odor in the Dominguez Channel last year and the discovery of extremely hazardous acids contained by Inland Star near an elementary school in 2019, the council introduced and passed an ordinance that would add extra regulations regarding the amount of California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) and other regulated materials stored in the City. The proposed ordinance aims to give the City some authority by prohibiting any new uses involving the most hazardous substances, imposing a minimum conditional use permit requirement for regulated materials, and requiring disclosures and reporting for existing businesses. The ordinance will also establish routine inspections which CUPA (Certified Unified Program Agency) only did once every three years. Any suspected violations would be reported back to CUPA for investigation and enforcement. While the City can not determine how businesses deal with hazardous materials, according to the City Attorney's department the ordinance can be passed under the City's authority on its land use zoning rules. City staff will prepare a resolution to impose heightened fines for violating proposed ordinance for council deliberation at next council meeting.
The council made the following Proclamations:
Recognizing the 5th of May as Cinco De Mayo.
Recognizing May 1-7, 2022 as Teacher Appreciation Week.
Recognizing May 1-7, 2022 as Municipal Clerk's Week.
Recognizing May 1-7, 2022 as Small Business Week.
*Note: The council meeting was continued to May 23 at 5 p.m.
Events:
Virtual Mental Health Resource Forum: Saturday, May 7th, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. For more information visit: carsonca.gov/mentalhealth
Faith, Family, and Friends Festival: Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at Stevenson Park.
Memorial Day Tribute 2022: Thursday, May 26, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Veterans Sports Complex
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