Happy Independence Day!

Independence Day (4th of July) is one of the most significant days in in the history of the United States as our country became free and declared its independence on this special day! 

May this Fourth of July be a symbol of prosperity, joy, and happiness to you and your family. Make this Fourth of July memorable by counting your blessings and appreciating your freedom!

Happy Fourth of July!

Parks Update

The Parks Department continues to make progress on summer projects. Due to numerous break-ins that have occurred at the Furber Park Snack Shack, City staff implemented measures to improve the security of the building.  The City Council allocated funds toward the three windows that have been targeted by vandals. Heavy duty anti-theft security blinds were installed at the Furber Park snack shack this week (see photo below).  Future projects to further secure the building including improving the lighting around the building as well as installing a security camera system are in progress for later this summer.

  
Two blocks of landscaping was performed at the L&L district The Cottages. Weed abatement in the form of string weed eating was performed as well as hedging of several shrubs and irrigation replaced, there were several broken sprinklers.
 
Daily park traffic has increased the last several months. Our staff is responding to the demand incurred by a greater amount of visitors in our City parks and open spaces, whether folks are looking for a pick-up game of basketball, to jog around trails or allow children use of play structures.  Daily restroom facility checkups, more frequent playground equipment and trail inspections, all to minimize hazards and provide a measure of safety for our resdients and park users!
 
Several Arborist requests were addressed as well as mowing of all City parks to a higher designated height to minimize evaporation of soil moisture.

Drought Continues to Impact Park Trees and Landscaping

A fruitless Mulberry tree at located at Vintage Meadows Park impacted by the ongoing drought  was removed by Parks staff this week. The tree was determined to be failing after a tree assessment was conducted by City Arborist Héctor Galván.

The effect of drought on trees and shrubs can often be seen in both natural and manmade landscapes. Drought conditions, or more specifically, soil water deficits, can influence the normal physiology and growth of plants in different ways. Immediate visible effects of drought damage include wilting, scorch and some defoliation, due to loss of water in plant cells, and irreversible shrinkage of cell membranes. As the long-term symptoms of drought continue, trees and plant capacity to absorb water is limited, which leads to expiration. Future plans are in place to replant better suited drought tolerant trees for Vintage Meadows Park in the fall.

New Accessible Pedestrian Signals Installed

The City completed replacement of existing pedestrian signal push-buttons with Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) at two of the City's signalized intersections:

1.) S. Cloverdale Blvd. & Citrus Fair
2.) Cloverdale Blvd. & 1st St. 

What Is An APS?

Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) are devices that communicate information about the WALK and DON’T WALK intervals at signalized intersections, in non-visual formats, to pedestrians who are visually impaired or have low vision. APS' provide benefit to visually impaired and all pedestrians by alerting them to when the walk sign turns on and the status of the walk cycle.

Each of the intersections were updated with new Polara 2-Wire APS push-button stations (with touchless iDetect “wave” feature). The City's Electrical contractor also installed two (2) Polara iCCU Control Units, one in each of the subject signal cabinets and program all buttons with custom voice messages. On the button is a raised tactile arrow pointing in the direction of the crosswalk (see picture below). This helps a visually impaired pedestrian to orient themself in the direction of the crosswalk. Each time the button is pushed one should hear the word “wait”. The button also vibrates to aid the visually impaired during the walk cycle.