PRESS RELEASE

City of Yorba Linda

PO Box 87014, Yorba Linda CA  92885  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 5, 2009

CONTACT: Public Works Department  (714) 961-7170

Regional Water Use Reductions Required – City of Yorba Linda Will Conserve Water By Reducing Landscape Maintenance Area

Yorba Linda, CA – California is in its third consecutive year of drought.  Water allocations to the Southern California region have been reduced.  On May 14, 2009, the Yorba Linda Water District adopted their Water Conservation Ordinance and announced a Stage 2 Water Supply

Shortage effective July 1, 2009.  

Based on this ordinance, water reduction thresholds must be met to avoid significant penalties.   To meet the water reduction mandates, the City must reduce the amount of landscape area it maintains.  A reduction in landscape area will preserve the health of the remaining landscape material while meeting the water reduction requirements.  Area reductions also provide for potential monetary savings to be used towards the renovation of irrigation systems and replacement of existing plants with drought tolerant varieties in the remaining areas. 

On June 16, 2009, the Yorba Linda City Council will consider the disposition of numerous public landscape areas throughout the City.  Some areas will be allowed to return to natural conditions while others could have maintenance responsibilities turned over to underlying property owners or available homeowners associations.   

Regional Water Use Reductions Required – City of Yorba Linda Will Conserve Water By Reducing Landscape Maintenance Area 2

This item will be heard at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting on June 16, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers, located at 4845 Casa Loma Avenue.  You may contact the City of Yorba Linda Public Works Department at (714) 961-7170 or visit the City’s website at www.ci.yorba-linda.ca.us for more information.  

We have a variety of important issues coming before Council that deserves everyone attention!  Read below for specifics!

June 9-  starting at 6:30 pm at City Hall  
This is a joint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission to look at the specific plan for our Town Center project. The consultant will present their first set of ideas regarding our downtown. If you would like to be part of the process, plan on attending.

 June 10- Special Council Meeting regarding our budget, 6:30 pm at the Yorba Linda Community Center.
 We have a budget shortfall of about $3M before the state raids our coffers for an additional approximate $1.5 M. There are significant cuts being proposed. You can review the report presented at Council June 2 by going to: http://www.ylonline.org/export/MG43181/AgendaFrame.htm
It is important to understand this fiscal challenge and its effects on our community.

June 16 – Decisions regarding the Landscape maintenance Arterial District (LMAD)- 6:30
 At our next regularly scheduled Council meeting we will dedicate a major portion of the time discussing and making decisions regarding the Landscape Maintenance Arterial District. Last year we held a special election to increase  the LMAD fees we pay on our property tax bills once a year. That election measure failed necessitating  balancing the shortfall by backfilling that account with General Funds. This year we are mandated by the Water District to reduce water use 20% due to the drought. We held a Special Council meeting June 3 to discuss how to accomplish this reduction.  There are significant changes we need to make to meet the mandate and also to balance the budget. It is estimated with all of the staff recommendations, which are significant, we have not met the 20% water use reduction mandate.  The presentation we viewed will be posted on the City website early next week.
It is important to pay attention to this meeting. If you wish to make comments regarding the  LMAD presentation and the proposed changes to our community be sure to come to the meeting.  If you are unable to come to the meeting, be sure to watch the discussion via your computer on the City Website or if you have cable television, on channel 3.

June 17- 6:30 pm – continuation of Council meeting of June 16 for those items that would have been addressed at the normally scheduled Council meeting. This is in an effort to make progress on agenda items that we are usually unable to complete.