City Circus Update

Residents whose streets were recently resurfaced are reporting the old damage is already reappearing. An email circulated last week regarding a street near Lake Mission Viejo:

“On Friday morning I walked part of my neighborhood and was surprised to see the asphalt cracking again. This overlay was just completed last month and should not be failing. Many of our streets contained large cracks – almost fissures – that I felt required repairing prior to the sealing. The location is the Corralejo cul-de-sac.”

Another email describes a rough section of Olympiad Road between Alicia Parkway and Jeronimo Road:

“Olympiad Road has been resurfaced three times in the past two years. Following each of the first two attempts, strips of asphalt were flying off the road, and the city admitted the work was defective. After the third try, the road is extremely rough and adds to wear and tear on tires. Since the city will not fix the road, the best use for it is test drives. Anyone trying out a new car will know right away if the car has rattles or bad suspension.”

The city’s street maintenance program calls for resurfacing once every seven years, and that’s inadequate. The writer of the first email points out the problem – streets with serious deterioration are getting a cosmetic coat of slurry. With each seven-year cycle, underlying conditions grow worse, calling for more extensive reconstruction. Instead of saving money, this approach is estimated to cost seven times the amount of properly maintaining roads. http://roughroads.transportation.org/RoughRoads_FullReport.pdf

During a 2009 Planning Commission meeting, a city employee stated $85 million would be needed to bring city streets up to standards. Slopes and trees are similarly neglected, and the city’s maintenance policies rely on luck that heavy rains and high winds won’t ever happen. Instead of uniformly maintaining the city’s infrastructure, a few showcase medians are beautified, and luxury projects such as a tennis club renovation suck up millions of dollars.

On Nov. 14, the Planning Commission will take up the issue of a dog park. City Hall has already wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars during the past 10 years to avoid building one. The current proposal has a price tag of more than $1 million to build a dog park on a site that isn’t entirely owned by the city. The commission will also address reports the site is prone to landslides, which could add significantly to the cost.

The dog park is a potential campaign issue for Councilman Frank Ury, who is up for reelection in November 2012. If he votes to spend $1 million on a dog park, he can face voters who are tired of irresponsible spending. If he votes against it, he’ll need to persuade dog park proponents that the elusive dog park will be built “next year.”

Monday is the first Planning meeting following the removal of Commissioner Bob Bruchmann from his position as chairman. After years of his inappropriate comments and antagonism, Bruchmann was demoted by his fellow commissioners. Some followers of city doings hoped he would resign. If he returns on Monday, bets are on whether he will be sullen and quiet or his usual abrasive self.