In the News
Community TV Gets New Address
| Please Don't Feed the Birds
Airport Area Contamination
| Civic-Military Partnerships
Volunteers Help
Keep Monterey Beautiful
Community TV
Gets New Address
Look for your Public, Education and Government shows
on AT&T cable channels 24, 25, 26 and 27.
- Ch. 24 provides public access programming, shows
produced and provided by community members. Shows previously broadcast on Ch. 44 are now
on Ch. 24.
-
 Ch. 25 will be televising educational and official
government programs, including City of Monterey activities and updates.
- Watch for Eye on Monterey – your City show
– Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
- Ch. 27 features a 24-hour bulletin board of local
events, community organizations and official announcements.
- Ch. 26 continues to offer programming from the
Monterey County Office of Education.
Channel 24, 25 and 27 are
operated by Access Monterey Peninsula (AMP), a non-profit organization contracted by the
City to provide media services to our community. For more info call AMP at 333-1AMP or
visit ampmedia.org
Please Don't Feed the Birds
While it looks like fun to feed
the ducks and geese at El Estero Park, feeding them actually hurts the animals in the
following ways:
- Providing an artificial food source causes adults to
produce large families, which the natural food supply can’t support. Overpopulation
leads to starvation and disease epidemics, some of which are dangerous to humans also
(bubonic plague, salmonella and rabies, to name a few).
- Animals have specialized diets and can die from the
wrong foods. If a baby animal receives the wrong diet, even for a day or two, developing
bone and muscle can be damaged forever. The wrong foods cause disease, mouth injuries,
throat obstructions and death.
- Feeding causes wild animals to lose their natural fear
of humans. As a result, wildlife can become an easy target, or the bold advances of an
animal may be misinterpreted as an "attack."
- Feeding changes behavior, often with catastrophic
results. Feeding can cause death by preventing a species from migrating. This has happened
at Lake El Estero with Canadian Geese.
- Wildlife can cause injury. They don’t know the
difference between food and your fingers. Once again, animals lose when people complain of
being bitten or "attacked."
Remember it is illegal to feed wildlife. Help the wildlife
and the City make El Estero Park a better place for everyone to enjoy. For more info, call
the City’s Parks Division at 646-3860 (stafford@ci.monterey.ca.us).
Analysis Moves Forward on Airport Area
Contamination
Last summer the City and citizens
learned of environmental contamination on property at and around the Monterey Peninsula
Airport District.
TCE (trichloroethylene, used to degrease metals) has been
found in the groundwater about 30 feet under the Airport. One contamination
"plume" has migrated beneath the Casanova Oak Knoll neighborhood. This does not
affect water provided by the California-American Water Company (CAL-AM). The contamination
happened while the U.S. Navy had an active air base on what is now Airport property. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Regional Water Control Board are the agencies
responsible for making sure that the contamination is found and cleaned up. The City
continues to be an advocate for all affected Monterey citizens to ensure that the
interests and concerns of the neighborhood are addressed.
What is currently happening?
- A Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the entire 455 acres
once leased by the Navy is underway. All activities and sites that contributed to the
contamination will be investigated. The final PA is scheduled to be available in September
2001.
- Monitoring of the groundwater plume will continue in
order to determine the full extent of the contamination.
This schedule may change if new contamination sites are
found. For more details call the Army Corps hotline at 1.800.227.0951. At the City call Public Works at
646.3920 or visit
www.monterey.org.
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Civic-Military
Partnerships: How Do They Work?
The City is currently paid by the U.S. Army to maintain
infrastructure at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of
Monterey (DLIFLC & POM). This includes wastewater, stormwater and street systems and
various buildings and facilities. We are also paid to sweep streets for all U.S. Navy
facilities in the Monterey area. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions
about our civic-military partnerships.
- Does the City recoup all costs from the Army?
Yes. The City bills the Army monthly for all costs
including labor, vehicles, equipment, material and overhead. Our work-management system
tracks all costs by activity and work order.
- Why is the City working for the Army?
Neighboring military communities are important to our
region’s success. They provide many jobs and patrons, and their research and
educational pursuits attract other businesses to the area. City collaborations with local
military installations help retain these key economic players while saving money and
providing benefits – such as new jobs and recreational opportunities for community
members. So far, our services have saved the Army about $1.7 million – about 40% of
their previous costs. In addition, our community has access to the ballfields, historic
park and museum and childcare center on DLIFLC & POM.
- What does the Army do with the cost savings?
Some of the money is reinvested by upgrading and
maintaining the infrastructure at DLIFLC & POM. Local businesses receive additional
work due to these projects. In 2000, local small businesses were awarded more than $1.1
million in Army contracts.
- Are there other benefits for the City and community
members?
Since the City can combine civic-military projects into one
agreement, we can negotiate better prices with contractors. Also we were able to finance
heavy equipment that is used on stormdrain and wastewater systems for both the City and
Army.
- How many people are now working directly or indirectly
for the Army?
DLIFLC & POM is a City "neighborhood." That
means that all employees contribute to the success of this project. Since the start of the
program we have hired about 20 additional employees to support the workload.
VIP’s Help Keep Monterey
Beautiful
Volunteers In Parks, a.k.a. the VIP Gardeners, are often
seen along the Coastal Recreation Trail, in City parks or gardens planting, pulling weeds,
trimming and pruning plants – whatever it takes to keep Monterey’s vegetation
thriving. They are a hard-working crew that say they enjoy every minute of their weekly
gatherings, which began almost 20 years ago.
"We are especially good at making big piles of
debris," says Bev Zavada. "I don’t even like gardening, but I like being
with this group. We have a lot of fun and get satisfaction from what we do."
Dot Renard adds, "We help keep the area beautiful, but
we also share friendship and get some exercise while we are at it."
There’s always room for more VIP’s. The group
meets every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the week’s designated spot. For more
info, call 646.3719 or email sammon@ci.monterey.ca.us
Additional Volunteer Opportunities
Outreach Volunteers take Library resources to the
homebound. Whether you are part of a group or just interested in a half-day project, we
need you to help plant 150 trees this spring. The Fire Department needs a volunteer with
knowledge of CADD to assist in compiling building layout images for emergency service use.
If you are 13 to 17 and have some free time this summer, check out the City’s
Volunteen program. Teens will volunteer up to 10 hours a week and get work experience
while learning about the City. Visit www.monterey.org/volunteen for more details. For info
on these and other opportunities, call the Volunteer Program at 646.3719 (sammon@ci.monterey.ca.us) or visit www.monterey.org/volunteer
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