It’s easy being Green for new H.B. mayor

The wind howled outside as City Councilwoman Cathy Green was elected mayor of Huntington Beach by the council, but inside there was nothing but applause and smiles.

Green stood in front of the dais Monday with her right hand raised and repeated the oath as the city clerk recited it to her. Green was sworn in as mayor for the next year as part of a rotation among City Council members. This will be Green’s last year on the council.

“This is a good way to close out,” she said.

Councilwoman Jill Hardy was also chosen as Mayor Pro Tempore.

Outgoing Mayor Keith Bohr recapped his time, going over the high points of his mayorship with a PowerPoint presentation.

“It was my lucky honor and pleasure to be the centennial mayor,” Bohr said.

Street changes

Some Huntington Beach residents’ street names or street numbers will be changing after the City Council approved a resolution to create a uniform address system.

The council approved a change to modify or clarify 5,100 street names or addresses to correct inconsistencies on maps and street signs or in various databases. The resolution was approved 5 to 1 with councilman Devin Dwyer voting no and Bohr out of the room.

“We fully understand that for a few people, there is going to be a larger impact than for some of the others, but I truly believe this is the right time to do this,” said Police Chief Ken Small.

One hundred and eleven properties will have their street numbers changed, 57 street names will be changed to “Lane” for north-south and “Drive” for east-west; and the prefixes for Adams, Springfield and Utica avenues will be dropped, according to city documents.

The changes are a recommendation by the Addressing Initiative Committee to create a standardized address system to tackle long-term public safety concerns.

“While not critical now, technology is moving toward more automated response routing for emergency vehicles, and resolving these inconsistencies will help prevent future confusion and programming database challenges,” said Transportation Manager Bob Stachelski.

The city’s addresses have been a problem for the U.S. Postal Service and other agencies, according to the documents.

The city contends the changes will improve public safety, but some residents are unhappy about the possible change. Pacomo Petelo has been living in his home on Sims Street for the last 19 years and is upset over the idea of it becoming Sims Lane. Petelo, who spoke against the change at the meeting, said the proposed changes are “ridiculous.”

“This whole thing is intended to avoid inconsistencies . . . but I think it’s only going to cause confusion,” Petelo said. “I think it’s actually going to be counterproductive.”

Petelo said residents will have to update their employers, banks and the DMV and change any business cards, address labels and stationery if the changes are approved.

Leslie Edwards, a Geographic Information Systems analyst for the city, contended that there will be some changes, but said they won’t be major for the majority of people affected.

The changes will be implemented over time, Stachelski said. Most of the changes are not critical to public safety and will be updated during normal sign maintenance, he said. The Public Works department will cover the cost of changing and replacing existing signs, which is estimated to cost about $3,000 for materials.

School safety

Walking or biking to Spring View Middle School and St. Bonaventure School may become safer for students now that the City Council approved a resolution to accept state funding.

The Safe Routes to School program will improve traffic safety in the vicinity by updating sidewalks, street signs and street markings. The key element of the plan is the installation of a traffic signal at the complicated intersection of Heil Avenue and Trudy Lane, Stachelski said.

“This is a crossing that has fairly large numbers of school pedestrians mixed with heavy school vehicle traffic,” Stachelski said in an e-mail.

The program also calls for improvements to curb ramps, or wheelchair ramps, to meet ADA requirements.

Spring View Principal John Drake said in his three years at the school, there haven’t been any particular safety incidents, but the improvements would be a move in a positive direction.

“Anything that’s going to make it safer for kids to get to school is going to make them feel more comfortable from the start,” Drake said.

The city applied for the grant in April and the project has already been authorized by the California Department of Transportation. The grant is for $306,900, which will cover the majority of the estimated $341,000 project.

City staff is accelerating its schedule to complete design and construction bidding to allow construction to begin over the summer, Stachelski said.