Author: Roger Bloom

Having closed the All American Asphalt plant last year, Irvine is now moving to head off what City Manager Oliver Chi called “one of the last quality-of-life issue in North Irvine”: increasing truck traffic to and from the Bowerman Landfill about a mile east of the 241 toll road along Bee Canyon Road.

The County is planning to phase out the Olinda Alpha Landfill in Brea starting next year, and the hundreds of trash trucks now topping off that facility will be diverted to the two remaining landfills in OC, the Prima Deshecha Landfill in San Juan Capistrano and Bowerman.

 
In January, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva and State Senator Tom Umberg released a report from the California Department of General Services estimating the direct costs of the Gypsum Canyon plan at $126 million. In an accompanying press release, Quirk-Silva invited public analysis of the report.

Many of the City’s workers who perform critical services — including childcare workers, maintenance workers, and seasonal park & recreation workers — currently earn about $16.50 an hour. Under Agran’s proposal, those workers would earn a “living wage” of $20 per hour.

Agran estimated the cost to the City for the pay raise to be between $200,000 and $300,000. That money would come from the City’s reserve fund, which currently stands at nearly $70 million — which is a very healthy 24% above the City’s annual operating budget.

The proposed museum will be one of the main attractions of the Cultural Terrace West area of the Great Park, adjacent to the existing Sports Complex.

The museum will total some 220,000 square feet — including 94,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 125,000 square-foot sculpture garden and plaza.

It will also feature a 300-seat auditorium, a gift shop and conference rooms, and an Asian Food Hall, which will be added in the second phase.