Yasmin Beers, Glendale’s City Manager has announced her retirement. The City Manager is one of the most important positions in Glendale government. This is a non-elected position so it is critical that we voice our opinions to city council NOW about the process. The decision on who replaces her will change the landscape of every major issue we face as a city.
Fall Echo -- Digital Edition
GOCHA hopes everyone in the canyon is doing well and staying safe. You can find the digital version of the Fall 2020 Echo here. In this edition of the Echo,
The main story in this edition of the Echo is about the proposed Landfill Biogas Project. The public comment period ends September 30 so it is important to act now.
Included in this post is a letter that you can print out to express your thoughts about the project and send directly to Eric Krause, Deputy Director of Community Development, City of Glendale. You can download the letter here.
Watch the Full 2020 GOCHA Annual Meeting Here
GOCHA Annual Meeting (Virtual) Happening September 9th, 2020
Please join us for the GOCHA Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 9th, at 7:30 PM. Due to LA County health restrictions and for the safety of all our canyon residents, this will be a Zoom meeting so please use the link below to join us.
We are facing a grave issue that concerns every member of our canyon community, namely, the proposal to build a power plant that would burn landfill gas less than a mile from our neighborhood. Two Glenoaks Canyon residents, Jackie Gish and Jack Walworth, will discuss the impact of this proposal as well as provide information on a safer, cleaner alternative. Your input on this project is essential! We hope you will use the information you learn from this presentation to send in your comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Biogas Power Plant to Mr. Erik Krause, Deputy Director of Community Development, City of Glendale, 633 East Broadway, Room 103, Glendale, CA 91206-4386 or you can email him at ekrause@glendaleca.gov . The public comment period ends at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, September 30th.
Please click on the Zoom link here for the Annual Meeting on Wed. Sept. 9th at 7:30 PM. Please note that this link will only work during the meeting on the 9th. Hope to see you there.
GOCHA Annual Meeting
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
7:30-9:00pm
Click Here to Join Meeting: GOCHA Virtual Annual Meeting
Meeting ID: 913 8769 5718
Passcode: 677395
If you would prefer to just dial-in with your phone, you can do so at the numbers below (you will need to enter the Meeting ID and Passcode when prompted)
One tap mobile +16699009128,,91387695718#,,,,,,0#,,677395# US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 913 8769 5718 Passcode: 677395
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aAmfzdjvj
Draft EIR for Biogas Project at Scholl Landfill Released
The draft Environmental Impact Report for the Biogas Renewable Generation (power plant) project at the Scholl Canyon Landfill was released on July 2, 2020. It can be found at glendalebiogasgeneration.com/#draft-eir. The public response period will be open for 90 days, until September 30, 2020.
Members of the Coalition for Landfill Alternatives and other volunteer experts have been working on responses to the EIR…
Mountain Lion Siting in Canyon
A beautiful mountain lion has been in the area spotted both in Chevy Chase Canyon (near the country club) as well as in Glenoaks Canyon. Thanks to today’s technology, we have photos and even a video of the cat.
While these animals are beautiful, they are hunters and we should be cautious with our pets and while walking the trails especially during twilight hours (just after sunrise, and just before sunset).
This is a picture of our neighborhood visitor taken up near Chevy Chase Country Club.
This video was captured by a neighbor’s Ring camera on Glenoaks Blvd. near Bywood.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A MOUNTAIN LION
STAY CALM. HOLD YOUR GROUND.
SEEM AS LARGE AS POSSIBLE. STAND TALL. DO NOT CROUCH OR BEND OVER
MAKE NOISE
ACT DEFIANT, NOT AFRAID
Maintain eye contact. Don’t run. Agressively wave arms, throw stones. Do not turn away.BACK AWAY SLOWLY
Do not run and trigger chase instinct.PROTECT YOURSELF
If attacked, fight back.
For more information you can visit these website resources:
GOCHA Mourns the Loss of One of Our Longtime Residents and GOCHA Board Member
The GOCHA Board is very sorry to inform you that our neighbor, Gerry Rankin, passed away recently after battling leukemia, colon cancer and a broken hip. Most of you will recognize him as the kind, gentle, and friendly neighbor who walked his cocker spaniel, Carter, around the park or up on the fire roads. As a lifelong Glenoaks Canyon resident, Gerry invested much of his free time and energy into the canyon: delivering the ECHO, tirelessly investigating new construction in the canyon which he reported back to the Homeowner's Board where code or permits were being side-stepped. He also worked to defeat various Landfill concerns such as the proposal to the 2015 expansion plan for the landfill and the current proposal to burn off gas on the landfill site. He attended Occidental College and U.C. Berkeley and worked at U.S. Customs near the Los Angeles Port. He is survived by his wife, Mary, his daughters, Martha and Karen, their spouses, and two grandchildren.
New LTE Cell Tower Being Proposed at Scholl Canyon Landfill
Apologies for the last minute post, but today, May 12, 2020 at 6:00pm there will be a virtual meeting held by the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) to discuss the construction of the proposed cell tower. This is not a City of Glendale project and does not require approval of the City Council. LA-RICS is inviting the public to join the meeting to find out more about this initiative.
The link to join the meeting can be found below.
The presentation that will be shown in the meeting can be found here:
It does appear that the proposed cell tower will be seen from parts of our canyon. The presentation does not say what cellular companies will take advantage of this tower. Hopefully that will be discussed in the meeting tonight.
Spring Echo -- Digital Edition
GOCHA hopes everyone is doing well and being safe in these trying times. As some of you may have already figured out, we decided not to distribute the Spring Echo this year. We made this decision for two reasons: Firstly, by the time we were ready to distribute the Echo, many of the events listed within were already cancelled. And, secondly, we decided to err on the side of safety and not expose our canyon walkers to any unnecessary risk.
We are including the Spring 2020 Echo here with the caveat that many of the events and information in the Echo is either out of date or no longer relevant as news changes daily. But, since the Echo had already been completed, we decided to put it on the website for posterity.
Please note the following events listed in this Echo have been cancelled. Any events not mentioned below are still pending, but for now, are still scheduled to happen on the dates indicated.
CANCELLED - Dog Parade - April 18
CANCELLED - Spring Clean Up Day - May 2
POSTPONED - National Night Out - TBD
STILL SCHEDULED - Annual Meeting - Sep 9
STILL SCHEDULED - Pancake Breakfast - Oct 17
Disaster Preparedness Questionnaire Now Online
Given the current state of the world as we all face the Coronavirus pandemic, GOCHA thought it would be a good idea to give folks the option of filling out or updating their information for the canyon disaster preparedness program. Normally, this questionnaire is distributed every two years in the Echo, but now that the health and safety of canyon residents is at top of mind for all of us, we thought it would be a good idea to allow everyone to fill out information through the website.
You can access the questionnaire here:
The information is completely voluntary and you can fill out as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. The information is kept completely confidential and is only shared with the Disaster Preparedness volunteers in the canyon.