With the unusual June rains today, some are wondering about the TGIF event tonight at the Westlake Village Civic Center located at 31200 Oak Crest Drive. It is on, rain or shine.

Both Lindero Canyon Middle School and Agoura High School Jazz Bands will be playing starting at 7pm. Participants are welcome to bring food to enjoy at the sites or food is available for purchase starting at 6pm by Mama Rita's.

If it is raining, the event will be inside the community room at the Civic Center.

Synopsis

This Friday, the City of Westlake Village kicks off its 6th season of its TGIF series. The schedule this year includes 7 events that take place at either the Westlake Village Civic Center or Berniece Bennett Park. Full schedule below.

Hosted in the past by the Westlake Village Junior Women's Club, this year's 4th of July event will be hosted now by the City of Westlake Village. Starting with the Rotary Club sponsored pancake breakfast at 7:30am, the parade will start at 9:45am. The festivities continue as the parade feeds into Berniece Bennett Park.

This year, there will also be a U.S. Flag Retirement Ceremony by Boy Scout Troop #752. For those that don't know, the U.S. Flag Code states, "The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." A variety of organizations, from the U.S. Army to the Boy Scouts have ceremonies to properly retire a flag.

Synopsis

If you get your water from Las Virgenes Metropolitan Water District, you should have recently gotten a letter in the mail about water budgets and your allotment of water. LVMWD gets all of its water from Metropolitan Water District of So. California. MWD is cutting LVMWD's supply by 20%, and that's how much local area use must decrease by.

LVWMD is 2nd only to Beverly Hills in per capita water use in all of MWD. Westlake Village residents use a bit less than Agoura and Calabasas, but Westlake Village is also slightly cooler too.

Rather than an across the board 20% cut which would penalize those that are already water efficient, LVMWD chose to give an allotment to each household for indoor use, and then additional allotment based on property size. Commercial properties are reduced by a fixed percentage. The new program begins July 1, but you won't pay your first bill on the new setup until September.

The surcharges for exceeding the budgeted amount are $3 per billing unit, but this is not about the money. LVMWD cannot get additional base allocations from MWD. And, the water shortage is not just about below average rainfall, but also it's due to judicial limitations that severely limit the amount of water that can be transferred from North to South.

There are a variety of ways to reduce water usage, but the first focus is clearly outdoor irrigation. The key factor to look for is runoff. If you see runoff, you are definitely watering too much, but there are a number of other resources at: http://www.lvmwd.com/

Synopsis

Tomorrow night, Tue, the City of Westlake Village's City Council will vote on the final approval for the city to refinance some existing debt along with some new financing for the previously approved City Park/Sports Fields/Triunfo YMCA Project.

In Fall 2007, City staff and Council did extensive evaluation and analysis of the possibilities of financing the park project. And, the park financing and the refinancing of existing debt was deliberated, and budgeted for, in this year's fiscal budget (voted on in June 2008).

With the falling of interest rates, the City will save $700,000 on existing debt. The new debt will come at a cost of approximately $500,000 per year (already budgeted for) which comes to 6.8% of the City's operating budget.

Lindero Canyon Middle School's Jazz A class took a trip to the Reno Jazz Festival (http://www.unr.edu/rjf/) on Fri, and for the first time in the school's history, Jazz A won. Lindero's Combo group took 2nd place (and has won in the past) amongst 8 middle school combo groups at Reno.

The festival is for middle schools, multiple sizes of high schools, and junior and four-year colleges for Jazz, Jazz Combo, and Choir. Participants come from Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California. Several of the schools attending are private and magnet schools, as well as public schools like LCMS.

Final race times are now available for 2009 Soap Box Derby.

2009 Winners
Soap Box Derby Winners
First place: Trevor Campbell, Mohicans - 13.60 seconds
Second place: Chris Diaz, Mohicans - 13.89 seconds
Third Place: Paul Bouchez, Mohicans - 13.98 seconds

Full list of times listed at http://www.westlakerevelations.com/?q=node/161

Car Show Winners:
People's Choice: Richard Rutherford,1955 Porsche 550 Spyder
Driver's Choice: Max Schulze, 1955 Packard Caribbean Convertible

** Disclaimer: Westlake Revelations is a sponsor of Soap Box Derby

Soap Box Derby 2009 Weekend is Here

This Sunday, April 19th, 2009 is the the Triunfo YMCA Soap Box Derby and Healthy Kids Day, sponsored by the City of Westlake Village. This year's event is jam packed with:

* Over 75 racers registered, a "heat" every 2 minutes
* Healthy Kids Day exhibitors
* Antique and Classic Car Show
* Community BBQ by Boy Scout National Jamboree Troop 831
* Obstacle course
* Rock Wall sponsored by City of Agoura Hills
* Close Up Magic by Society of American Magicians

Synopsis

The Thousand Oaks City Council voted on Tue night to overturn the decision of the Planning Commission to approve the new Home Depot to replace the old, vacant K-Mart building. While reports vary, the 7 hour meeting had an approximately equal mix of those both for and against the appeal.

In the end, those Council members who voted to overturn the Planning Commission, and not allow Home Depot's project. The members made comments leading up to their decisions which were focused on zoning, traffic, noise and day laborers.

As has happened more often in California in recent years, the Council's decision was made despite the decision possibly opening up the City to liability and litigation by the applicant due to denial of a property owner's rights.

As a simplified example to understand this, take a homeowner who owns a piece of land with a house on it. In most cases, the law says that, you can tear down the house, and build another one if you follow the rules. That's your right as a property owner.

Synopsis

The City of Thousand Oaks is holding a special meeting on March 31, 2009 at 6pm to hold a public hearing on an appeal of the Planning Commissions's decision to approve Home Depot's development permit.

The permit, which was approved by the planning commission on January 26th, is to allow demolition of the 121,360 sq ft. former K-Mart and in-line stores, and to replace it with 96,973 sq. ft. Home Depot with attached 13,669 sq. ft. Outdoor Garden Center. (Total project is 10,718 sq. ft. smaller than former K-Mart and in-line stores.)

City of Thousand Oaks staff is recommending to the council that it deny the appeal for a variety of reasons stated in full in this document:
http://www.toaks.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=14786

Essentially, they take each of the arguments submitted in the appeal, and respond to them ending with the conclusion that "The Planning Commission determined that the proposed use is consistent with the C-1 zoning," and "Although the Planning Commission granted waivers for this project, the waivers were considered necessary because they either improved existing site conditions or enhanced public safety." "Finally, the EIR found no evidence that there would be any significant impacts that could not be mitigated."

Disclaimer: Westlake Revelations is a sponsor of Soap Box Derby

Soap Box Derby 2009 is 3 weeks from tomorrow -- Sunday, April 19th. As you may know, ANYONE ages 7-17 can race -- it's open to the public. But, if you've not already signed up, now is your last chance. Your paperwork needs to be received by end of day Monday, March 30th.

Those that have raced before can use their previous car if it follows the rules (which are similar to prior years). There may even have cars to borrow from others if you are without a car.

If you are interested, here's what you need to know.

Xplain Corp. Releases First in Stimulus Road Map eBook Series
- "Your Mortgage: Explaining The Federal Making Home Affordable Plan"
- Many readers surprised to find they are eligible for mortgage relief
- First in series is 20-page eBook available immediately
- "This is a 'must read' for anyone who has a mortgage" says Councilmember

Synopsis

With the central conversation for many being the economy, there's a lot of discussion about budgets and spending in state and city government, as well as schools and other public organizations. One of the things that's difficult for many to understand is how money can be spent in one area, when cuts are made in another.

In reality, there are different "pots of money" within these public entities. And, they are intentionally kept separate and cannot be intermingled.

For example, at the city level, monies may be required to be spent upgrading roads while there may not be monies in other places. Or, for schools, there may be bond monies for buildings or technology, even in the face of teacher pay cuts or layoffs. With costs dropping, it can even save money if this restricted money is spent during a down economy.

At the last moment before the deadline, four residents of Thousand Oaks filed an appeal to the Thousand Oaks City Council of a Planning Commission decision regarding Home Depot's project at the old Kmart site on Hampshire Road. The project will now go before the Thousand Oaks City Council for a vote, expected some time in the next 1-2 months.

Triunfo YMCA Announces 2009 Soap Box Derby & Healthy Kids Day
- Soap Box races again open to the public to enter
- Healthy Kids Day to promote healthy living for the children
- Antique and Classic Car Show with community participation
- Boy Scout BBQ, attractions for the whole family, and more

January 29, 2009 -- Westlake Village, CA -- Triunfo YMCA has announced the return of Soap Box Derby and Healthy Kids Day in Westlake Village. Sponsored by the City of Westlake Village, Farmers Insurance, and others, the event is set for Sunday, April 19th, 2009.

Synopsis

Just to keep you in the loop, there's a couple of things that have been announced in the past week or so regarding Home Depot on Hampshire, the Lindero Freeway Overpass Project, and Costco in Newbury Park.

The Final Environmental Impact Report on The Home Depot project on Hampshire Road has been released. There will be a public hearing at the end of the month to approve the demolition of the old K-Mart, and the building of a new Home Depot store slated to open in 2010. See below.

The City of Westlake Village has postponed the vote to award the freeway overpass contract on Lindero Canyon until it can determine if Federal monies may be available. The proposed economic stimulus package being considered by the U.S. Congress may make additional funding available. See (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jan/16/westlake-delays-contra...)

Costco has withdrawn their application to open another store in Newbury Park. Reportedly, Costco was unable to finalize a lease with the property owner. See (http://www.toacorn.com/news/2009/0115/editorials/009.html) for more information.

The Breckenridge Group which owns Applebee's from Ventura to Santa Clarita, is closing the Applebee's franchises in the area. Applebee's is hoping there will be a new franchisee that will come in and re-open them.

Westlake Revelations Readers:
This is an editorial -- aka an opinion piece. Obviously, it's a departure from the typical Westlake Revelations content and style -- but you should not take it as a new direction for Westlake Revelations.

Let us know if you would periodically like to see this type of content or not.

How individuals can make a difference in the crises at hand

On Tuesday, as we do every 4-8 years, the country starts a new chapter. Regardless of who one voted for, Americans are behind the peaceful transition of power; never demonstrated better than the efforts between the Bush and Obama teams these past few weeks.

This time, however, we have a particularly important changeover as it gives all of us, from all political parties, the ability to draw a line in time that as we pass it, we can each be part of solving the crises at hand.

Synopsis

The Las Virgenes Education Foundation announced today the line up for the LVUSD Benefit Concert. Held at the Fred Kavli Theater in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Friday, February 27, 2009, the concert will highlight not only LVUSD students and artwork, but the talents of Tommy Shaw (of the band Styx), Michael McDonald (formerly of the Doobie Brothers), and the band Venice.

Tickets start at $30, with 100% of the proceeds going to LVEF to benefit local schools. Contact TicketMaster, the TO Civic Arts Plaza Box Office, or go online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0B00416AF2F048C3 for ticket availability and purchase.

Superintendent's Bi-Monthly Forums Scheduled

As part of its outreach effort to the community, the Las Virgenes Unified School District will continue sponsoring bi-monthly Superintendent's Forums open to the community. The sessions are unstructured and allow community members to raise issues and ask questions of district senior management. The meetings will be held at school sites to afford community members the opportunity to visit their neighborhood schools and have a window into the community's outstanding school system.

Synopsis

Tonight (Fri December 12th, 2009), is the biggest full moon of the year. Also,tonight and Saturday nights are the annual Geminid meteor showers. Early morning Wednesday next week, the International Space Station will be visible.

Synopsis

It's the time of year for the city council to vote for a new mayor. As covered in earlier Westlake Revelations articles, the residents elect the city council for four year terms. The city council, in turn, once a year elects a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem.

The outgoing mayor, Philippa Klessig, made a number of comments (below). The council elected Robert Slavin as the new Mayor, and Mark Rutherford as the Mayor Pro Tem. Both Mayor Slavin and Mayor Pro Tem have served in these roles in prior years. Judge Larry Myra swore in the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. Judge Myra has honored the city in this role for the past 22 years.

For more information on the responsibility of the mayor and the selection process and history, see the prior Westlake Revelations article at http://www.westlakerevelations.com/?q=node/5