Citizens of the City of La Palma are invited to submit applications for current vacancies on the Community Activities and Beautification Committee.

The Community Activities and Beautification (CAB) Committee works with City staff to coordinate City special events including Memorial Day, Concerts in the Park, and the annual Holiday Tree Lighting event. CAB committee members also assist the City in planning the annual La Palma Days event. CAB members meet on the second Tuesday of each month from September to June. The CAB Committee currently has one vacancy with a two-year term and three vacancies with four-year terms.

Applications for all vacancies are available online at www.cityoflapalma.org or at City Hall and are due by March 31, 2010. If you have any questions or for further information, please contact the City Clerk’s office at (714) 690-3334.
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In March of 2010, census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United States. When you receive yours, just answer the 10 short questions and then mail the form back in the postage-paid envelope provided. [Additional info...]

In order to better serve La Palma residents and businesses, La Palma has joined the Orange County emergency notification system... AlertOC is a joint County and City mass notification system designed to keep residents and businesses informed of emergencies and significant community events. Residents and businesses are strongly encouraged to register their personal contact information into its confidential database. By registering with AlertOC, time-sensitive voice messages from the County or City may be sent to your home, cell or business phone. Text messages may also be sent to cell phones, e-mail accounts, or hearing impaired receiving devices. To receive these important messages from AlertOC, please register your contact information today! [AlertOC Registration Page...]

The “Annual Bulky Item Spring Clean-up” for large household and yard items will be conducted the week of April 26 through April 30, 2010... Collection will occur on your normal trash collection day. All items will be collected at the curb. While this clean-up event includes most large or bulky items, please note that the following types of items cannot be collected:

• Tree branches longer than four feet (please cut them down to smaller sizes).
• Construction materials including: concrete, asphalt, dirt, rocks, sod, etc.
• Automobile-related items including: motor oil, auto parts, engines, tires, etc.
• Household hazardous waste including: all batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, paints, pesticides, etc.
• E-Waste items including: TVs, computers, monitors, VCR/DVD players, etc.

For information regarding the proper disposal of Household Hazardous Waste or E-waste items, please visit the City’s website at www.cityoflapalma.org/recycling or call (714) 834-6752. If you want to know whether a specific item can be collected as a part of this clean-up event or if you have questions about your weekly trash collection, please call Park Disposal directly at (714) 522-3577.

The La Palma City Council recently approved a Residential Tree Planting Rebate Program to encourage residents to plant trees in their front yards... This program is an effort to increase the aesthetics of La Palma’s residential neighborhoods, provide for potential energy savings, and add to the City’s urban forest. This new program is a partnership with Southern California Edison, who has agreed to provide initial funding for the program.

Property owners of single-family detached homes throughout La Palma can apply for a one-time rebate of up to $75 for the cost of the trees, including planting and staking materials. The homeowner must purchase and plant the trees following the City’s guidelines and is responsible for all future maintenance and care of the tree. Program guidelines are available at City Hall and on the City’s website.

Community Development Director John Di Mario said, “By taking advantage of the new tree planting rebate program, residents can add to the attractiveness of their front yards and the City’s neighborhoods.” For further information about the program, please contact the Community Development Department at (714) 690-3340.
Tree Planting Rebate Program Guidelines

The City of La Palma Building Permit Fee Holiday Program is underway. This program, which began on July 1, 2009, waives all City charged permit fees for building, planning, and related public works permits... for existing single family residential home remodels, additions, or improvements. Residents are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity soon, before funding runs out. Some suggested “green improvements” include: changing out old windows, installing tankless water heaters, or adding solar panels. Fees charged by other agencies and collected by the City on their behalf are not eligible under the program. A homeowner can expect to save approximately $1,647 in plan check and permit fees for a typical 360 square foot master bedroom and bathroom addition. This program is expected to run through June 30, 2010; however, funding has been limited to the first $50,000 in permit fees and residents are encouraged to take advantage of the program early. Mayor Mark Waldman said, “Even in these difficult economic times, we have a large budget surplus due to prudent financial management. The Permit Fee Holiday Program is an excellent way to return our residents’ money and encourage home improvements that may lead to higher property values in La Palma.” For further information, please contact the Community Development Department at (714) 690-3340.

The City offers residents a free local Universal Waste Recycling Program for household batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, including compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s).

The program is funded by a grant from the County of Orange, in partnership with the cities of Cypress, Los Alamitos, and Stanton. Residents can drop-off all household batteries (no vehicle batteries) at La Palma City Hall in the designated “battery box”. Additionally, small bags are available at City Hall to store batteries or CFL’s until they can be properly recycled. Please note, all fluorescent light bulbs must be recycled at one of the following participating commercial locations:

• Ganahl Lumber, 10742 Los Alamitos Blvd, Los Alamitos
• Jiffy Lube, 4942 Lincoln Ave, Cypress
• Jiffy Lube, 3311 Katella Ave, Los Alamitos
• True-Value Hardware, 7612 Katella Ave, Stanton

Should you have any additional questions regarding this local universal waste recycling program, please contact the recycling coordinator at (714) 690-3337.
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The City of La Palma Building Permit Fee Holiday Program is underway. This program, waives all City charged permit fees for building, planning, and related public works permits... The City of La Palma Building Permit Fee Holiday Program is underway. This program, which began on July 1, 2009, waives all City charged permit fees for building, planning, and related public works permits... for existing single family residential home remodels, additions, or improvements. Residents are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity soon, before funding runs out. Some suggested “green improvements” include: changing out old windows, installing tankless water heaters, or adding solar panels. Fees charged by other agencies and collected by the City on their behalf are not eligible under the program. A homeowner can expect to save approximately $1,647 in plan check and permit fees for a typical 360 square foot master bedroom and bathroom addition. This program is expected to run through June 30, 2010; however, funding has been limited to the first $50,000 in permit fees and residents are encouraged to take advantage of the program early. Mayor Mark Waldman said, “Even in these difficult economic times, we have a large budget surplus due to prudent financial management. The Permit Fee Holiday Program is an excellent way to return our residents’ money and encourage home improvements that may lead to higher property values in La Palma.” For further information, please contact the Community Development Department at (714) 690-3340.

The La Palma City Council recently approved a Residential Tree Planting Rebate Program to encourage residents to plant trees in their front yards. The La Palma City Council recently approved a Residential Tree Planting Rebate Program to encourage residents to plant trees in their front yards... This program is an effort to increase the aesthetics of La Palma’s residential neighborhoods, provide for potential energy savings, and add to the City’s urban forest. This new program is a partnership with Southern California Edison, who has agreed to provide initial funding for the program.

Property owners of single-family detached homes throughout La Palma can apply for a one-time rebate of up to $75 for the cost of the trees, including planting and staking materials. The homeowner must purchase and plant the trees following the City’s guidelines and is responsible for all future maintenance and care of the tree. Program guidelines are available at City Hall and on the City’s website.

Community Development Director John Di Mario said, “By taking advantage of the new tree planting rebate program, residents can add to the attractiveness of their front yards and the City’s neighborhoods.” For further information about the program, please contact the Community Development Department at (714) 690-3340.
Tree Planting Rebate Program Guidelines

In order to better serve La Palma residents and businesses, La Palma has joined the Orange County emergency notification system. In order to better serve La Palma residents and businesses, La Palma has joined the Orange County emergency notification system... AlertOC is a joint County and City mass notification system designed to keep residents and businesses informed of emergencies and significant community events. Residents and businesses are strongly encouraged to register their personal contact information into its confidential database. By registering with AlertOC, time-sensitive voice messages from the County or City may be sent to your home, cell or business phone. Text messages may also be sent to cell phones, e-mail accounts, or hearing impaired receiving devices. To receive these important messages from AlertOC, please register your contact information today! [AlertOC Registration Page...]

The City of La Palma was recently notified that a $25,000 Clean Transportation Funding grant has been awarded from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) to partially fund the replacement of an aging street sweeper...

At its meeting on March 17, 2009, the City Council authorized the replacement of the City’s 1987 Tymco Model 600 Street Sweeper with the newer generation Liquid Propane Gas (LPG) Tymco 600 sweeper, at a cost of $215,829.53. The street sweeper is used for cleaning streets of spills, blowing of sidewalks, event cleaning, storm drain cleaning, and emergency response.

The new Tymco 600 LPG sweeper utilizes fuel that is 90% domestically produced, which reduces the dependence of imported fuel. In addition, the use of LPG provides the best balance of fuel economy, performance, and emissions. Other alternative clean fuel sweepers to the Tymco 600 LPG sweeper were considered, including a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sweeper. However, fueling stations for CNG are sparse and require several hours to fuel. LPG fueling stations are available at the City of Cypress, local stations, and other locations. The City continuously seeks to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.