Board cancels street sweeping, vetoes window replacement
GRF BOARD
by Ruth Osborn
Communications Director
The GRF Board of Directors’ April 22 meeting was disrupted by two residents who made inappropriate remarks during member comment time and were promptly escorted out by Security. Fourteen people made comments. To view the meeting in its entirety, visit lwsb.com and click on “livestream.”
Meeting highlights include:
Traffic Light Upgrade Change Order
The GRF Board voted to approve a $37,651 change order from reserve funding to cover an unexpected cost in the project at St. Andrews Drive and Golden Rain Road. The change was needed to accommodate a larger underground pipe size, which was not part of the original scope of work.
The $347,000 intersection upgrade includes replacing the traffi c signal, which will include new pedestrian signals and dedicated left-turn lanes over the channel. The change order cost will cover the cost of replacing underground conduits with larger 3-inch diameter pipes to handle the new cabling needed for the project.
Seal Beach Street Sweeping Service The board voted 9-6 to cancel street sweeping provided by the City of Seal Beach. Street sweeping in Leisure World is typically done on the fourth Thursday of each month and costs $371.75 a month
GRF BOARD, page 3 or $4,461 a year.
Vehicles are supposed to be moved from Trust streets as of the midnight the night before, but many are not. This leads to sweeping at the center of the streets but not the gutters. Even when vehicles are moved, the sweepers leave behind debris, according to GRF Director Mike Banfield, who represents Mutual 8. Carol Levine, representing Mutual 10, agreed: “I have shareholders in my Mutual who complain that they do move their cars, and the leaves are still there.”
The purpose of street sweeping is to keep areas free of dirt and debris, plus keep harmful substances from storm drains, which empty into streams and waterways.
Levine pointed out that LW storm drains are already protected as part of a joint project between the Orange County Transportation Authority and the City of Seal Beach.
More than 100 full-capture catch basin inserts were installed throughout the community in August 2023. These inserts substantially reduce the amount of litter flowing into waterways and onto beaches. Service Maintenance operates and maintain the drains.
Landscape at Shuffleboard Court The board voted 13-3 to award a contract to J& J Landscaping to upgrade the landscaping in front of the shuffleboard building at Clubhouse 1.
The sprawling junipers were planted decades ago and provide shade to the building, which is not air-conditioned. The majority of directors agreed the shrubs were unsightly and overgrown. The board voted to spend $9,250 to remove the junipers and the cement in the garden area and plant 65 five-gallon plants plus install a rip sprinklers system.
Administration Building Window Replacement The GRF Board voted 8-8 on a motion to spend $109,780 to replace 64 failing windows in the Administration Building. Because of the tie vote, it was not adopted.
The current single-frame windows are 38 years old, structurally unsound, leaky, unscreened, unable to open in some cases, energy-sucking and discolored with worn hardware. This is the third time the project has come before the board in the last five years.
“It’s only a matter of time, eventually they going to have to be replaced,” said GRF President Janet Isom.
Sewer Lift Emergency Generator The board unanimously voted to award a $14,110 contract to California Generator for the replacement of the sewer lift station generator. The generator would power the sewer lift station adjacent to Clubhouse 2 in the event of an outage.
The station moves wastewater from lower to higher elevations using pumps to convey wastewater to the treatment plant.
