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Meeting Planned for Freeway Fire Aftermath

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According to The818now.com, a meeting will be held Monday night at 8pm at the Joe Bridges Club House to discuss winter weather preparations for those residents effected by the Freeway Fire.

City officials announced plans to hold a meeting for residents who live near the footprint of a brush fire that swept along the hillsides above our canyon.

The meeting will go over winter weather preparations for potential debris flows. City officials will also brief residents on plans to put up concrete barriers, known as K-rails, in the Glenoaks Canyon neighborhood and where to pick up sandbags.

The public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Joe Bridges Club House, 2531 E. Glenoaks Blvd.

For more information on the meeting, call (818) 548-3900. [the818now.com]

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Glenoaks Canyon Beeline Issue Gets Some Attention

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Thanks go out to Barry Allen and Vanguard (www.vanguardians.org) - a weekly non-profit watchdog paper that comments on City Hall activities - for commenting on the current Beeline route cuts that will affect our canyon. In his paper he states:

Beeline service cuts are coming with little community input. The folks in Glenoaks Canyon have route 13 available but it will probably be cut without the input from the users; without an alternative plan; without their testimony reaching Council, Staff or Transportation and Parking Commissioners. These folks can‘t or don‘t drive especially at night when those meetings are held. There is no bus service to get them to a meeting to express their need. What will the Staff do? Were these people interviewed? Bottom-line is that a lot of money was spent on a study for a trolley on Brand and zip for the Canyons. This week Council voted to accept a new contract for the Nextbus system that has no practical purpose for the expense. There are solutions to the problem but it takes a willingness to look for them.

If you haven't already, please read the post regarding the Beeline service issues and voice your concerns to the city.

Halloween on Hollister is Upon Us

Halloween in Glenoaks Canyon 2008It's that time again. GOCHA is once again going to close Hollister Terrace to auto traffic for a safe and super fun Halloween. From 5:30pm until 9:30pm this Saturday (October 31st), Hollister Terrace will be closed between Tryon and Edwards Place.

Come join the festivities, mingle with your neighbors, and get ready to hang out with some pretty goulish creatures.

Look out for the magician who will be practicing his prestidigitations along the street near Tryon.

Halloween Photos to be Posted Here

And, this year, after the event, if you email your photos, we'll post them here for all to see. Stay tuned.

On behalf of the entire GOCHA board, we hope you have a fun...and safe Halloween!

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Safe and Healthy Community Meeting Wednesday October 21

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bike coalitionAttention all Glenoaks Canyon cyclists and pedestrians. The next meeting of the LA County Bike Coalition focusing on Glendale is happening this Wednesday, October 21st from 7pm - 8:30pm at the Brand Library Recital Hall. Come and share your thoughts about what is good or bad about walking and biking in Glendale.

To find out more, visit www.la-bike.org/glendale. This is one in a series of meetings regarding pedestrian and biking issues in Glendale.

Click here for the flier.

Glendale Beeline Needs Your Comments

On October 1st, we reported about the possibility that Glendale Beeline 13, the line that comes into our canyon, may be discontinued. The Glendale Transportation & Parking Commission is collecting comments from the community through October 20th that they will incorporate into a report to the City Council later this fall.

As many of us feel that this is a vital service to many canyon residents, we urge you to make a comment by emailing beeline@ci.glendale.ca.us before October 2oth.

Speak out Against the Planned Hillside Development

Last month we posted a story about a proposed development on the ridge overlooking our canyon. While there is no imminent threat to our canyon's tranquility, GOCHA is recommending that we all send emails to the city and state officials that should hear what we think about this hillside development.

By clicking on each of the links below, you can send an email directly from your email program. The email will have a suggested message already pasted in. Please feel free to modify in any way you like. Also, please remember to sign your email at the bottom.

Councilman Jose Huizar

Senior Planner Eric Krause

Mayor Frank Quintero

Councilman John Drayman

Councilwoman Laura Friedman

Councilman Ara Najarian

Councilman Dave Weaver

Senator Carol Liu

Assembly Representative Anthony Portantino

Assembly Representative Paul Krekorian

Congressman Adam Schiff, 29th District must be contacted through a form on his website.

We will be posting any new information we receive about this development at Glenoakscanyon.org.

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Beeline Bus Service Into Glenoaks Canyon May Be Discontinued

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We have just received information advising us that the Glendale Traffic & Transportation Department held a meeting regarding Beeline service in Glendale.  They are recommending that our shuttle into Glenoaks Canyon, Beeline #13, be discontinued. To avoid this loss of transportation, our suggestions are to either continue the current service of  Beeline #13, restore Metro Line 201 service up the canyon or, at a minimum, schedule a short connection to the Metro Line 201 at Chevy Chase and Glenoaks. Without one of these options, our canyon will be without any public transportation, cutting off vital transportation options for residents, housekeepers, nannies, and others that work and live in our canyon and rely on public transportation.  By the way, Metro Service is provided at no cost to the city of Glendale.

We strongly recommend that you please e-mail both beeline@ci.glendale.ca.us and customerrelations@metro.net as soon as possible because they are keeping a record and counting comments received from us regarding Beeline # 13 and Metro Line 201 which will have  a bearing on their final decision.

When they make a decision, their recommendations will be presented to the Glendale City Council.  Therefore we also urge you to contact the City Council to become involved in this matter. Councilman Ara Najarian is on the Metro Board and former Mayor Larry Zarian is on the State Transportation Department. Email addresses of our Mayor and Councilmen are: fquintero@ci.glendale.ca.us, dweaver@ci.glendale.ca.us, anajarian@ci.glendale.ca.us, jdrayman@ci.glendale.ca.us and lfriedman@ci.glendale.us.  The City of Glendale Traffic and Transportation Department is located at 633 E. Broadway, Room 300, Glendale, CA 91206,  (818) 548-3960 in case you wish to contact them directly.

We are 760 homes in this canyon with a population of about 2500.  If we do not take action now, we will possibly lose our public transportation forever.  This will have a devastating impact on our students, seniors and our community.

If you have any questions, kindly call Angela Vukos at (818) 247-2781.  Thank you.

New Beeline 13 Schedule

beelineThe Glendale Beeline Route 13 bus schedule has been changed to coincide better with the connecting schedule of Metro 201. The new timetable can be found here.

Thanks to canyon resident Angie Vukos' efforts, the city of Glendale has agreed to change the timetable for the Beeline into the canyon to coincide with the newly changed timetable for the Metro 201 line. Apparently the Metro 201 schedule was changed to improve the connection to the bell times for Virgil Jr. High School. Before the change, the bus would come by the school before the students were let out for the day forcing students needing to catch the bus to have to wait 40 minutes for the next bus to come by. When Metro changed the 201 schedule, it no longer coincided with the Beeline schedule for line 13 into the canyon.

Of course, Angie continues to try and get the Metro line 201 service back into the canyon as it has been, until recently, for the last 70 plus years. Her most recent letter to Congressman Schiff can be seen here. Thanks to Angie for all her efforts.