City of Cathedral City
68700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero
Cathedral City, CA 92234
(760) 770-0340
Weekly Briefs

From: Allen Howe
June 11, 2008

Cathedral City: A Leader in Energy Conservation

Energy Conservation and Green Building practices are much in the news. Cathedral City has been in the forefront of these important initiatives for years.

One of the reasons that City Hall a four day work week back in 1999 was to reduce the energy needed to “fire up” the heating or cooling of City Hall another day. In addition City Hall was designed and built to meet energy conservation standards. All municipal buildings have been retrofitted to meet energy efficiency standards.

In 2004, Cathedral City was the first city in the Valley to participate in a program to construct a photovoltaic cell (solar panels) carport-like system on the roof of the parking structure that helps offset the cost of energy for the Civic Center. As part of this energy initiative, the City also incorporated occupancy sensors in all buildings to shut off lights when offices are not in use, and, installed reflective film on all windows – thus reducing air conditioning needs.

The City was selected as one of only ten cities in California to participate in the Community Energy Partnership program, a non-profit organization established to support energy efficiency practices in the community – particularly low income residential, senior and small business users.

Assembly Bill 939, passed in 1989, requires California cities to divert 50% of their jurisdiction’s waste stream from landfill disposal each year. Since 2000, Cathedral City has continued to surpass the 50% diversion goal through innovative and award winning programs.

Cathedral City was the first city in California to develop the “Stop Identity Theft” mobile shredding program. Shredding events both at City Hall and in senior communities are held throughout the year. The program won the California League of Cities Grand Prize and has served as the model for other cities in the Valley and around the country.

Cathedral City was the first city in the Valley to develop a Watersmart Landscape Grant program. The grant program provides matching funds up to $500 per household for homeowners to convert water-thirsty grass to Xeriscape, lush water efficient landscape in the front yards of residential properties.

The City works closely with Palm Springs Unified School district to encourage awareness of recycling, reusing and waste reduction among students. Deanna Pressgrove, the City’s Environmental Conservation Manager, works with each school to develop a recycling program specialized to the needs of each school. The popular program teaches students the benefits of protecting their environment and also encourages their creativity by creating art from recycled materials.

Cathedral City offers recycling bins throughout city offices for paper, metal, glass and toner cartridges. Information on recycling is emphasized to all employees. Also the City makes every effort to utilize and purchase recycled materials.

Recyclable materials recovered from City demolition projects – largely concrete, asphalt and metal – is removed from deconstruction sites and crushed into reusable roadway base. The City recycles about 30,000 tons of material a year. This has saved the City’s Redevelopment Agency over $900,000 in disposal and transportation fees and the Public Works Department over half-a-million dollars in disposal and transportation fees.

Cathedral City created the “Refuse & Recycling Guide,” a national 3CMA SAVVY award winning guide, which is updated and distributed annually to all city residents providing information on the refuse and recycling resources available to them.

The City’s “Sharps Disposal B y Mailing Program” is the first of its kind in the nation. Persons are given specially designed “sharps” containers and a mail-back box free of charge. The program provides city residents an easy to use and safe method for disposing of needles and syringes. This program is confidential and protects the residents as well as the community.

Cathedral City has a backyard composting/mulching program, a business waste reduction program, commercial on-site recycling pick-up program, recyclable material collection events, plus many other programs.

Most recently, Cathedral City joined the Coachella Valley Energy Conservation Initiative in adopting a resolution agreeing to help reduce valley wide per capita energy consumption by 10% by 2012.

Cathedral City recently adopted a “green building” ordinance to help support energy efficient construction.

Leading the away with award winning programs to protect the environment, save energy and to increase awareness about recycling, reuse and waste reduction, energy conservation is just another way Cathedral City demonstrates that it is “The Spirit of the Desert.”

Cathedral City Police Department Hosts Community Meeting

The Cathedral City Police Department is hosting a Community Meeting, June 12, 6pm at Agua Caliente Elementary School, 30-800 San Luis Rey. The meeting will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room.

The meeting and open forum will focus on issues, concerns and questions related to police services in the Dream Homes neighborhood. All Dream Homes’ residents and business owners are invited to attend.

For more information call the Cathedral City Police Dept. at 770-0300.

New Trail Maps Available June 12th

The Friends of the Desert Mountains and the Wilderness Society will be hosting a premiere event for new trail maps on June 12th at 10 AM at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitors Center, located at 51-500 Highway 74 in Palm Desert. The unveiling of the new trail maps and distribution of new brochures promotes and encourages use of trails in the 272,000-acre national monument. The brochure is also available online at www.desertmuntains.org and www.wilderness.org/california .

COVE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT PHASE 1 AND 2
PROJECT UPDATE

The Cove Improvement District Sewer and Street Project is being constructed in two phases. The project also includes water line upgrades funded by Desert Water Agency and storm drain work being done through Riverside County Flood Control and Cathedral City Redevelopment Agency.

Cove Phase 1 Project:

Phase 1 construction, which covers 8 miles of streets and approximately 800 properties, is now substantially complete. All properties in Phase 1 can now connect to the sewer. Approximately 250 property owners in Phase 1 have already completed the connection process and are using the new sewer. Many other connections are in process and will soon be done.

Cove project Information, including the Phase 1 Sewer Availability Map below, is available on the City’s website at www.cathedralcity.gov/cove/ .

COVE PHASE 2 PROJECT:

In May, the City Council awarded the Phase 2 work to General Contractor Sukut Construction, Inc., from Santa Ana, California. Sukut’s bid for the project was within the engineer’s estimate and the project budget. Sukut is an experienced contractor and has been in business for over 40 years. Sukut is nationally recognized for its work on public works projects, residential developments and many other types of large construction projects.

For the past several years, Sukut has worked on multi-million dollar projects for the Irvine Company installing underground utilities and off-site improvements for major land developments. Sukut has also recently done work in the Coachella Valley.

Sukut is now providing all the required documentation to the City in order to proceed with the Phase 2 work. Once all the information is processed, Sukut will order materials and start construction. It is estimated that the construction work for Phase 2 will begin in late June/early July. Once the work starts, the project will be done over an approximate two year period.

This report will continue to provide updates on the Phase 2 Cove project as information becomes available.

CITY HOUSING DEPARTMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE:

Property owners, who also occupy their home in the Cove neighborhood, may qualify for financial assistance for the sewer connection process from Cathedral City Redevelopment Agency Affordable Housing funds. Please call the City’s Housing Department at 760-770-0376 for more information.

MORE PROJECT INFORMATION:

Information about the Cove Improvement District project is available at the City of Cathedral City website: www.cathedralcity.gov by clicking the quick-link titled “Cove Improvement District” on the right-hand side of the homepage or by calling the Cove Helpline at (760) 250-8673.

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