Downey Insight - City of Downey

DOWNEY INSIGHT
MAY-JUNE 2015
JUNE / JULY 2015
The
Downey Insight
City of Downey Newsletter
The City of Downey will be hosting 128 athletes and coaches,
from Ireland, who will be participating in the Special Olympics
LA2015 Games. The athletes and coaches will be staying in
Downey for 4 days prior to the start of the LA 2015 Games to
train and become acclimated to the time and weather. During that
time the City of Downey will be responsible for lodging, meals,
training facilities, events and showing the athletes and coaches
what Downey is all about.
In welcoming the Irish Delegation to the City of Downey we have
planned a Community Concert, Wednesday, July 22 nd from 7:00 10:00 pm at the Downey Civic Center. At this event there will be
a live performance by Kerry Dance Troupe, an Irish Dance
performance, Knyght Ryder, a cover band and La Charanga, a
Latin Band. The event will also feature food trucks, sponsor
information booths and much much more.
The City of Downey will also be hosting an Official Farewell
Ceremony for the Irish Delegation as we send them on their way
to the games and wish them luck in competition. This will be held
at the Downey Civic Theatre’s “Champion Plaza” on Friday, July
24th at 10:00 am.
Save the Date! Rooftop Concerts & Summer Fun!
Community
Concert
July 22, 2015
Kerry Dance Troupe
Knyght Ryder
La Charanga
DJBeat Drop
Sounds of America
August 12th
Rooftop Public Parking
Structure
Smith the Band
Contemporary/ Vintage
Country & Rock
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Summer Music &
Movie
August 15th
International Food
& Music Festival
September 12th
Golden Park
Featured Film: Big Hero 6
The Band Fresh: Top 40’s/
Latin Music
Downtown Downey
Downey Avenue between
2nd & 4th Streets
DOWNEY INSIGHT
JUNE—JULY 2015
Community Development
Construction work continues at a brisk pace. The main road that traverses the center, Apollo
Way, has gotten closer to being completed. The exterior architectural treatments and colors for
the 24hr Fitness building are underway. The neighboring building that will host the 14 screen
multiplex theater has been erected, and the interior work is underway. The buildings outside of
the Theater that comprise the “entertainment plaza” are being erected. On the opposite side of
the shopping center, the Floor & Décor building shell has also been completed, and interior
work is underway. Work has commenced on the site pads for both restaurants that will front
Lakewood Blvd., Lazy Dog and Benihana; and the buildings hosting the other restaurant and
commercial uses within the site off Apollo Way have been framed. The tenant mix continues to
grow and we’ve heard the following tenants are in the mix: Rock & Brews, Coffee Bean & Tea
Leaf, Panera, MOD Pizza, Gaucho Grill, Jersey Mikes, Five Guys, Pick-Up Stix, Ruby’s Dinner,
What the Funnel, Dickey’s BBQ and Jumping Crab Cajun.
Penske Toyota
Champion Dodge
Downey Nissan
Toyota will be constructing a 473
square foot addition to the main
building, a 17,398 square foot
interior remodel to the showroom
and offices, and a complete
façade renovation to complement
the improvement of Firestone
Boulevard. Construction of the
interior remodel and addition is
progressing. The façade
improvements have commenced
with the construction of the new
entry tower. Construction is
expected to be completed by Fall
of 2015.
The owner submitted plans to
demolish the existing 5,000
square foot showroom and offices
and build a new 16,000 square
foot showroom and offices.
Demolition of the existing building
has been completed and
underground work for the new
showroom and offices has
begun. The new building is
expected to be completed by
Summer of 2016.
Downey Nissan has submitted plans to
construct a new 49,000 square foot
building on the northwest corner of
Firestone Boulevard and Old River
School Road (formerly My Choice
Auction Car Dealership). This new
location is larger than their existing
facility (across from Bob’s Big Boy) and
will include a showroom, office space,
repair shop, and a vehicle display
area. The proposed development will
further the beautification of Firestone
Boulevard. The application is
currently under review and is
anticipated for Nissan to break ground
by Spring of 2016.
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DOWNEY INSIGHT
JUNE—JULY 2015
Parks & Recreation
STEAMWorks
This summer the ASPIRE program partnered with the DUSD
in providing the summer school STEAMWorks program.
The STEAMWorks program is funded by DUSD. The district
will provide staffing and activities in the morning and the City
will provide staff and activities from 11:40 am until 6:00 pm.
Students have been invited by DUSD to participate based
on criteria such as: English language learners, free lunch
need, or foster youth. The goal is to prevent summer
learning loss so these students can continue learning
throughout the summer and are not starting the school year
behind.
Play Ground
Adventures
Play Ground Adventures is a FREE summer
program offered at Apollo, Brookshire, Dennis
the Menace, Furman, Golden and Rio San
Gabriel parks. The program runs from June
22nd through August 14th, Monday – Friday
from 12:00-5:00pm (Brookshire Park 12:304:30pm). At this program children, aged 6-12
years, have the opportunity to play outdoors in
a safe, fun and supervised summer drop-in
program. Outdoor group games, sports, arts &
crafts, special events and field trips are offered.
At this time 226 children are enrolled at the
various parks.
Human Resources
The City would like to welcome the following
recent, new employees!
Alicia Duarte, Deputy City Clerk
Erik Hempe, Police Officer Recruit
And congratulate former part time employees
who are now full time:
The program operates for 19 days from June 29th – July 24th
and was closed on July 3rd for the Fourth of July holiday.
There are three school locations: Rio Hondo Elementary,
Gauldin Elementary, and Sussman Middle School and
participating students are from all schools in the
district. There are about 850 total students being served
through the STEAMWorks program and 78 part time staff.
Students will receive various STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Art, and Math) lessons and activities. A theme
has been selected for the summer and students will do one
activity a day based on this theme. For elementary it will be
“Wonders of Water” and students will learn things like how
ducks stay dry in water and how clouds make rain. For
middle school the theme will be “Investigators” and students
will learn things like how to dust for fingerprints and the
science of blood. Activities are tied to the common core
state standards as well.
Arturo Barba, Ambulance Operator
Bernabe Ibarra, Transit Driver
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DOWNEY INSIGHT
$5,000 Keep America
Beautiful/ Lowe’s Community
Improvement Grant
JUNE—JULY 2015
Public Works News
City Mandated Water Use Restrictions
The Public Works Department was awarded a
$5,000 grant through the Keep America
Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Improvement
Grant in May 2015. The grant funds will be
used towards transforming City Hall’s front
lawn into a drought tolerant demonstration
garden. The funds will help offset the cost of
converting the turf area into an educational
garden that will provide opportunity for visitors
to learn about various California native
plants. This will not only contribute to the state
-wide water conservation mandate but will also
become a great resource and public
awareness tool.
Due to the severe drought, the City recently adopted an
Urgency Ordinance in response to California’s State of
Emergency and the State-mandated 20% reduction in
potable water use for all City water users.
The City has taken additional steps to help comply with this
mandate which have included reducing potable water
irrigation at City parks to 2-3 days per week, City Hall to 2
days per week, other City facilities to 1-2 days per week, and
completely turning off potable water to medians that contain
grass.
Lakewood Blvd. Improvement
Project from Florence Avenue
to Gallatin Road completed
In May 2015 another phase of Lakewood
Boulevard Improvement Project was
completed. This phase involved street
improvements from Florence Avenue to
Gallatin Road. The project consisted of street
widening, pavement rehabilitation and restriping, new curbs, gutters, sidewalks and
curb ramps; storm drain modifications and
water system improvements; new raised
landscaped median islands; ornamental street
and pedestrian lighting, traffic signal
upgrades; and new parkway trees. The
project was funded by combination of grant
and local funds. The final phase of Lakewood
Boulevard Improvement Project from Gallatin
Road to Telegraph Road is under design and is
anticipated to be completed by June 2016.
It is important to note that eco-friendly recycled water is
exempt from the State’s mandates. Many of the City’s
medians and parks are irrigated with the exempted recycled
water and are subsequently marked with purple recycled
water signs. Additionally, the City continues to expand
recycled water use to other sites, replace old water service
lines and mains prone to leaking.
All measures taken by the City and its water customers, no
matter how large or small, have a cumulative effect of
helping achieve compliance with the State’s requirement for
Downey to reduce potable water usage by 20%. Although
there are varying degrees of water use reduction achievable
depending on the type of water customer, each customer is
being asked to cut all non-essential water use. The primary
means of accomplishing this is to immediately reduce the
number of days and duration of landscape irrigation which is
the primary focus of the City’s recently adopted Urgency
Ordinance which can be found on the City’s website under
http://www.downeyca.org/.
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DOWNEY INSIGHT
JUNE—JULY 2015
Downey Fire Department
News
The City of Downey has announced the release of a Request for
Proposals for Emergency Management Consultant Services regarding
a single jurisdiction local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP). Proposals
are due by 4:00 pm on Friday, July 17, 2015. Local Hazard Mitigation
Plans are required by the Federal government to be reviewed and
approved every five years. The Fire Department was awarded grant
funds from FEMA to support this preparedness plan.
Illegal fireworks are being
blamed for igniting two fires in
Downey on June 30th, including
one blaze that scorched a home
and displaced three residents.
Education
Ambulance operators provided automatic
external defibrillator (AED) & CPR training
to City Staff as well as 62 residents in
preparation of implementing the City's
Community AED program.
New Recruits John Bugay, Jimmy
Macaraeg, Justin Medina, Anthony
Silva & Samuel Turpin completed
their 8-week Drill School .
Illegal fireworks caused
numerous fires throughout the
City over the Independence Day
holiday weekend. Additionally,
on July 5th Downey Firefighters
assisted Compton Fire Department on a 2nd alarm commercial fire in
their city.
On July 9th at 2:11 pm, Downey Fire Department responded to 11823
Downey Avenue on a commercial fire. Upon arrival, heavy fire and
smoke was reported in a vacant single story dental office. Reports of
roof collapse forced firefighters to switch to a defensive strategy and a
second alarm was requested. Downed energized Edison power lines
further hampered firefighting operations. Assisting units responded
from Vernon, Santa Fe Springs,
Compton, and Los Angeles County Fire
Departments. Downey Police
Department, Public Works Department,
and Building Department responded to
the incident. Fire Investigator Grounds
is currently determining the cause of
the fire. The building was a total loss.
Downey Police News
On July 4th, 2015, Downey Police
Officers responded to 157 calls for
service between the hours of 6PM
and midnight. Of those calls, 112
were related to fireworks. During that
evening, officers also issued 20
citations for the unlawful possession/
discharge of illegal fireworks.
On May 29, 2015, the Downey Police Department
conducted a DUI & Driver’s License checkpoint in
conjunction with an approved “Office Of Traffic Safety”
grant. The checkpoint was held on Lakewood Blvd and
Cleta St. During the operating hours of 7PM to
2:30AM, 1042 vehicles were stopped and their drivers
contacted. Field sobriety tests were conducted on four
drivers, with one driver arrested for DUI. Additionally,
35 citations were issued to unlicensed drivers and 13
were issued to those driving on a suspended license.
One driver was also arrested when he was found to be
in possession of an illegal firearm.
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DOWNEY INSIGHT
JUNE—JULY 2015
Downey City Library
Book Your Summer
Monday Performances
Monday summer programming continues to break
records for the Downey City Library. The Downey
Theatre has graciously partnered with us so that
kids and caregivers can enjoy the all-ages
programming offered every Monday at 2:30. We
only have two left: Bubble Magic on July 20 and
Flights of Fantasy Storytelling on July 27.
Come see what all the fuss is about!
Reading Class
This summer the Downey City Library launched a reading practice
class for six and seven year olds dedicated to summer fun and
learning. Thirty students have participated in the program by
rehearsing The Guinea Pig Song, Three Little Pigs and Popsicle
Boy. The students are having fun along with learning through
educational activities, games and tools for building and reinforcing a
better foundation of reading, language skills that elementary school
curriculum requires.
Mini-Comicon
Couldn’t make it to San Diego to rub
elbows with your favorite comic book
heroes? The library has you covered.
As our final Book Your Summer event,
we are hosting a mini comic book
convention in the library from 12:00
pm to 5:00 pm - Art activities, drawing
workshops, a game truck and a
discussion of the history of comic
books! All while supplies last. Some
programs require registration due to
room capacity. Please call the
Downey City Library Children’s
Information desk for more information
at 562-904-7360 x127
www.downeyca.org
/cityofdowney
Book Your Summer Million Minute Challenge
Have you and your family
and friends signed up for
Book Your Summer at the
library yet? In addition to
fabulous events, we are
challenging the community
read ONE MILLION
MINUTES! And like all
community efforts, your
individual contributions of
400 minutes should help us
reach our goal quickly.
Sign up at the library or
online at downeylibrary.org
to
11111 Brookshire Avenue
Downey, California
562.869.7331
Monday through Friday
7:30 AM—5:30 PM
@cityofdowney
/cityofdowneyca
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