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Monrovia WEEKLY monroviaweekly.com
Thursday, JUNE 16 - JUNE 22, 2011
South Pasadena Police Officer, 23, Dies During Training Exercise
Governor Brown Issues Statement
Sheriff’s Homicide detectives responded to 22100 East East Fork Road, Azusa Tuesday, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a South Pasadena Police officer. The officer was at a training exercise at Burro Canyon Shooting Park. Detectives learned that while participating in an onduty training exercise, the officer fell and hit his head. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Kevin Sandoval, 23, was pronounced dead at about 3 p.m. following a training accident. Sandoval was doing firearms training when he fell for an unknown reason and hit his head according to sources. The officer was airlifted to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora and was pronouced dead shorthly thereafter.
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Alverno High School Forty-Eighth Commencement Alverno School in Sierra Madre had a perfect record of 62 graduates Friday with 100% of these 62 girls attending college this fall. Some of the colleges that graduated were accepted to include
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READERS CHOICE 2011
V TE ONLINE
(THIS WEEK VOTE ON PAGE 8)
Volume XXXVII, No. XXIII
Community News, Arts & Opinions Since 1996
Metro Gold Line Chairman Says Developments Duarte ‘Pose a Significant Risk to the Viability of the Council Entire Project’ - Meanwhile Monrovia City Manger Votes 5-0 Says GLAC ‘Attacks Monrovia’ to Appeal Recent Denial of Vulcan Materials Lawsuit
Tracks of My Tears - This area at South Shamrock and Duarte is where the proposed maintenance yard was slated to be built to accommodate the coming Gold Line Extension. Monrovia was the only city who offered land for this purpose. The project is now in jeaopardy – Photo by Terry Miller
BY TERRY MILLER The City of Monrovia and the Gold Line Construction Authority are, perhaps, at a defining moment over the sale of land slated for a railway maintenance yard for the new Gold Line extension which is scheduled to roll through Monrovia in the coming years en route to the County line. During a meeting of the Gold Line Joint Powers Association in Arcadia last week, Monrovia Mayor Mary Ann Lutz accused the GLCA board of going back on an agreement to buy 13.8-acres of city land at Shamrock Avenue and Duarte Road which had been slated for the maintenance yard for the GLAC. The city is now questioning GLCA’s motives and has issued public statements and letters which we print here in entirety: After last week’s GLJPA meeting, Chairman of the Board for GLCA Doug Tessitor posted the following opinion on their website: In 2010 the Construction Authority learned it was required to build a maintenance and operations facil-
ity to complete the Foothill Extension from Pasadena to Azusa as a requirement of the Funding Agreement between the Authority and Metro. Since then the Authority proceeded to environmentally review the facility alternatives. In January 2011, the Authority Board certified the final environmental document and selected a 24-acre site in the City of Monrovia for the facility. This decision was supported by the City. We then began negotiating to purchase the land within the selected site, including 14 acres owned by the City of Monrovia and its Redevelopment Agency and 10 more owned by multiple private property owners. By March 2011, the Authority and City had come close to agreeing on a $56 million deal for the city-owned properties, based entirely on, of course, the City’s ability to sell its land free and clear without litigation or other encumbrance. In fact, the draft Purchase and Sale Agreement stated there was no threatened litigation. It was not until March 22, 2011 that the
Authority was made aware of a 2004 covenant between the City of Monrovia and an adjacent property owner allegedly prohibiting the transaction between the City and the Authority, and that the City would not be able to sell its land without embroiling the Authority in very costly and schedule-threatening litigation. This property owner has since filed 2 lawsuits, one challenging CEQA and the other against the City of Monrovia contesting the sale and purchase of the City’s properties. These facts materially change the Authority’s ability to pay $56 million as part of a deal for the City’s properties and pose a significant risk to the viability of the entire project. The Authority very much believes that the City should be involved in resolving this situation. Given the new conditions, the Authority is seeking the City’s partnership in sharing some of the costs to settle with the private property owner and resolve the City’s lawsuit regarding its 2004 covenant with the same property owner. At this point, howev-
er, it does not appear that the City considers that it has any responsibility in the litigation or the cloud over its property. The Authority’s options are clear: we can give into the demands of a few property owners and possibly bankrupt, shorten and/or significantly delay the project; or we can take every step reasonably necessary to complete the project to Azusa on time and within budget while preserving resources to extend light rail to the county line. Doug Tessitor Board Chairman Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority” Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa responded to GLAC with the following: “GLCA Attacks Monrovia At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the City Council/Redevelopment Agency Board held a joint public hearing to consider a proposed purchase and sale agreement (PSA) between Monrovia and the Gold
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The Duarte City Council voted unanimously on June 14 to continue its challenge to the City of Azusa’s 2010 approval of the Vulcan Materials Co. mining expansion project by authorizing an appeal to the State Court of Appeal. The lawsuit, originally filed in August of 2010 and first heard in late March of this year, was denied by the Superior Court on May 9. The City has until August 8 to file its appeal. “The Council’s decision to appeal continues
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Sierra Madre Farmer’s Market May Resume in July Closed nearly one year ago, the Sierra Madre Farmer’s Market is slated to start selling organic produce again later this summer, but under new mangement. The city council voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve the new project. Councilmember MacGillivray voted against the 5 year lease by saying her main concern was the competition a farmer’s market might bring to local, established businesses.