New Emergency Center on the Way
In case of emergency - the City of Monterey will soon be even better prepared.
Thanks to our Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP) and residents throughout the City, a new 1300-square-foot Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is being built.
“It will make the difference between life and death,” said Richard Ruccello, the NIP representative who spearheaded the project. “During an emergency the EOC manages all of the City’s resources, including its volunteer base. The bottom line is, it will save lives.”
The new EOC, located behind the Police Department, is the City’s emergency management headquarters during disasters. Scheduled to be completed in late August, its construction is being financed through NIP.
Mike Ventimiglia, a division chief for the City’s Fire Department, said the EOC is a tool that allows City leaders to make quick decisions during an emergency and ensure that information immediately gets to the right people.
With backup power and state-of-the-art technology - radios, computers and telephones - the EOC will house everything we need to communicate with crews anywhere in the City, analyze emergency situations, develop action plans and dispatch crews to areas in need.

City Volunteers Make a Difference
Thanks to the efforts of 45 volunteers, City crews were able to concentrate on clearing clogged drain inlets and preventing more flooding during the storms that came through this year.
Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) members, all volunteers, alerted City crews to 16 locations in need of attention during their four-hour patrol. The volunteer assistance allowed the City to focus on fixing problems rather than identifying them.
Team members also reopened minor clogs themselves during their inspection.
The City of Monterey has many volunteer opportunities. Some of the ongoing assignments include:

• Monterey’s storm-water monitoring program allows the City to focus more attention on the source of pollutants entering the storm-drain system. Staffed by volunteers, the program runs through the dry-weather season - May to November. Under the program, volunteers take samples of flows in the storm-drain system at various locations around the City. These samples are tested for various chemicals including chlorine, ammonia-nitrate, copper and detergents. The effort helps the City to concentrate on educating the public about the sources of pollution that are most prevalent in various parts of town.
• Monterey’s storm-drain stenciling program needs summer volunteers to help label storm drains with the warning, “No Dumping - Flows to Bay.” Many people don’t realize that storm drains empty into Monterey Bay untreated. By marking the storm drains, we reduce the illegal dumping of used motor oil, yard clippings and other pollutants into the storm-drain system.

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New City Program Targets At-Risk Youth
Staff counselor plans to work directly with teens to help get them back on track
Kathy Miller is committed to preventing today’s young first-time offender from becoming tomorrow’s hardened criminal. She doesn’t want to see a youngster - who can benefit from a program that directs them away from crime or anti-social behavior - fall through the cracks of an overcrowded juvenile justice system concentrated on locking up serious offenders.
Under a new program adopted by the Monterey Police Department, Kathy, a long-time counselor, has the opportunity to steer Monterey youth back on track.
As the City department’s Youth Diversion Coordinator, Miller says requiring the under-18 crowd to take responsibility for their conduct is the first step.
“The program offers us the opportunity to step in and help in ways that others cannot,” Kathy said. “My goal for this program is to offer the youth a new direction, one of hope and success.”
Through the program, the Police Department and City hope to prevent youngsters from entering the imperfect juvenile justice system and becoming lost. Youth who have committed misdemeanors or infractions or have exhibited behavior associated with criminal activity are eligible for referral to the program, where they receive counseling for up to a year.
The program emphasizes:

• restitution to victim and community
• individual and/or family counseling
• adherence to program rules
• community service
• follow-up visitations; e.g., tutoring, mentoring, job placement or simply talking through the issues. It aims to match youth with mentors and allow them to work at jobs they enjoy. Another goal is to introduce them to police officers in a non-threatening setting. Police Chief Gary Brown based the program on similar ones he developed in other departments. “If we get two kids to turn their lives around, it will be worth it,” Chief Brown said. “I’d do it for even one!”

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Additional Housing Units May be Subject to New Laws
Separate housing structures on your property may be illegal under new City regulations. The new regulations, approved by the City Council April 7, establish criteria for undocumented or illegal housing units based on when and where they were built. They outline conditions under which extra housing units are allowed. Under these regulations, undocumented units are defined as those not recorded at the City which may be legal if they meet certain criteria. Illegal units are housing units built without the City’s approval in areas zoned for single-family or multi-family (apartment) residences. Housing units created without the appropriate planning and building permits violate City zoning standards and may also pose health and safety threats to residents.
In general:

• Owners of undocumented units able to clearly establish that a unit was built prior to 1964 in single-family or apartment zones could be allowed to retain a dwelling if it meets building codes as well as health and safety requirements.
• Illegal housing units built in 1964 or later in single-family zones must be removed. No variances or exceptions are allowed.

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Rev 02/19/08 L. Huelga http://www.monterey.org/focus/summer98/news.html