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

The La Palma City Council recently approved a Permit Fee Holiday Program to encourage and promote investment and improvements to existing single family residential properties throughout the City. The La Palma City Council recently approved a Permit Fee Holiday Program to encourage and promote investment and improvements to existing single family residential properties throughout the City.

Beginning July 1, all City charged permit fees for building, planning, and related public works permits will be waived for single family residential home remodels, additions, or improvements. Residents are encourged to take advanatage of this opportunity and consider completing resource saving "green improvements" such as changing out old windows, installing tankless water heaters, or adding skylights. Fees charges 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 and residents are encouraged to take advantage of the program early.

For further information, please contact the Community Development Department at (714) 690-3340.

The City of La Palma will conduct a community meeting on February 9, 2010, to discuss the results of a recently completed water and sewer rate study, which recommends increasing rates and implementing a tiered water rate structure... The workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Royal Palm Room of the La Palma Community Center, 7821 Walker Street, La Palma.

The community meeting will be an opportunity for the residents of La Palma to hear about the proposals and provide comments before they are considered by the City Council. Depending on which rate model is ultimately selected, the typical residential customer in La Palma would pay between 13% and 30% more per month for water.

The City of La Palma's current water and sewer rates were established in 2005 and have not been increased since then. Over the last five years, wholesale water costs have increased approximately 50%. Further, California is experiencing one of the worst water shortages in recent times and water supplies are being limited due to the drought and environmental restrictions. The tiered rate structure is intended to help encourage water conservation by charging higher rates for increased levels of consumption. Consumers using the least amount of water will pay the lowest per unit rates.

The water and sewer study also noted that it will be necessary to complete significant capital improvement projects in the coming years. The proposed rate structures would make it possible to complete those projects. Public Works Director/City Engineer Jeff Moneda said, “Our goal is to be proactive in our efforts to adequately maintain the City’s water and sewer systems in order to continue delivering the best possible water quality to our customers.”

For more information about the proposed water and sewer rates, please attend the community meeting on February 9 at 6:30 p.m. or visit the City’s water rate website.
[La Palma Water Rates...]

The City of La Palma is pleased to announce that the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority (SEAACA) will begin providing animal control services to the City starting January 1st... SEAACA was founded in 1975 and provides animal control and care services to 14 cities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. La Palma City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said, “We are very excited about the new agreement because SEAACA has such a positive reputation. They will be providing a dedicated officer in La Palma 40 hours per week, which will improve response times and enhance the overall level of service to our residents.”

The City of La Palma had contracted with the County of Orange for animal care services since 1968. The County animal care facility, located in Orange, was built in 1941 and is scheduled for replacement in the next few years. The new County facility will likely be located in Tustin, nearly 20 miles away from La Palma. Due to the increased costs of the new shelter and the greater distance from La Palma, the City Council authorized the change from services with the County to SEAACA. The new agreement reflects the City Council’s commitment to providing the highest quality animal care services for La Palma residents.

Residents are reminded that all dogs are required to have a valid pet license. The City Council has approved a reduced animal licensing fee, effective January 1. Dog owners will now pay $20 for altered animals and $40 for unaltered animals. Seniors (any person over the age of 55) will receive a 50% discount for altered pets. If you currently have a pet license issued by the County of Orange, SEAACA will honor that license until it expires. The SEAACA licensing period is from July 1 to June 30 and residents who license new pets between January 1 and June 30 will pay a pro-rated rate. Please note that all dogs must be licensed within 30 days of becoming 4 months of age or moving into the City.

SEAACA’s state-of-the-art animal shelter is located just 9.8 miles from the City of La Palma, at 9777 Seaaca Street in Downey. The shelter is equipped with stainless steel kennels, skylights, a temperature controlled environment, a veterinary clinic, grooming facilities, and a low cost wellness clinic that is open to the public, Tuesday through Saturday.

Starting January 1, all calls for animal related services within the City of La Palma should be directed to SEAACA at (562) 803-3301. For more information about SEAACA’s animal care services, please visit www.seaaca.org. [SEAACA Website]

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, 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 and also consider completing resource saving “green improvements” such as 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.

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 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.
[Additional info...]

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.