Local News Beat

JPL continues to need internet

JPL enters a new 5 year contract with the city of Pasadena for use of its fiber optic network. JPL first entered into contract with the city in 2003, less than 10 years after the original instillation of the network in the late 1990s. The new contract will earn the city $794,774 over the 5 years, or $158,955 per year. (July 31)

Pasadena supports hazing

Pasadena recently considered changing their urban wildlife management plan to include trapping urban coyotes to curb the population. However, as a report from the public safety committee details, removing coyotes can have the counterintuitive effect of overall increasing coyote populations as outside coyotes will come fill the gaps in the pack structure and more coyotes will breed to replenish their numbers. Torrance, California is the only city in the area to have adopted such a program and reports of coyote sightings increased by 14 percent after implementing the lethal control program. They spent over $256,000 to kill 78 coyotes, or just over 3,000 per coyote. The city received over 100 pieces of correspondence about this proposed change, overwhelmingly against it (~110 against it, ~10 for trapping and relocating, and 2 for trapping and killing). After some discussion, the city council voted anonymously to adopt the recommendations of the public safety committee and not trap or kill any coyotes. The recommendations are: increase public outreach services, improve local coyote reporting systems, convene a panel of coyote experts to improve the city’s understanding of effective approaches, hire consultants to conduce field studies, and support residents to strength. The main public outreach involves teaching residents how to handle coyote interactions including the use of “hazing” or the use of deterrents such as water or loud noises to discourage an animal from undesirable activity. (July 17)

A Lake you can walk on

A new city project is set to make a 1.06-mile stretch of Lake more walkable. The project has a budget of ~$3,000,000 with improvements between California Boulevard and the Gold Line station at Corson Street. The project includes 64 new pedestrian streetlights, curb extensions and ADA compliant curbs in addition to the modifications listed in the figure below. The project is set to start construction in September 2023 and finish by spring 2024.

The intersection at union street has what the city dubs a “pork chop island” so called due to its tenuous resemblance to the food.

Earth powered heating: coming soon to a home near you

After some contract modifications, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) has entered a contract with Calpine Geysers. The contract gives the city 25 megawatts of power for 15 years between 2027 and 2041. This is part of Pasadena’s larger plan to be carbon free by 2030. The annual cost is around $19,000,000 with the total cost not to exceed ~$300,000,000 and a cost of $95.00 per MW hour.

Local man mildly annoyed

In response to a motion to designate an art deco style building currently being used as a auto shop as a historic building, a resident of Pasadena wrote in to say “I am not concerned enough with this designation to spend more time opposing it than this note will take.” The motion passed.