Public comment At the March 6 meeting of the Bird Rock Community Council (BRCC), resident Mike McNeill spoke on the importance of keeping Bird Rock Elementary School funded, and said he believed the Bird Rock Foundation would be beneficial in the future to aid with teacher salaries and supplies. “The biggest thing for fundraising is recurring revenue — keeping extra funds going to the school,” he said. Civic duty • Erin Demorest, representative for District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, said the city is currently seeing a $16.5 million budget surplus, restoring library and recreational department hours. Demorest said the city will also be hiring about 15 police cadets. Regarding the Midway Bluff repair, an area that had been fenced off and looked “terrible” for the past two years, Demorest said this surplus will finally allow for enhancement of the area. Initially, $60,000 was set aside for the project with the use of a replacement bond, but it was determined that amount was still not enough to completely fund the project. The enhanced Midway Bluff will entail a coastal overlook area, possibly with some benches, and should be completed sometime in 2013. • Lindsey Masukawa spoke on behalf of state Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, who represents a sliver of Bird Rock. Masukawa said Atkins will hold a legislative coffee on Thursday, March 22 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Bird Rock Elementary, where she will discuss the budget and other legislative efforts her office plans to implement. • BRCC President Joe Parker pointed out the benefits of such casual rendezvous. “I think these get-togethers are mutually beneficial, and I’d like to hear from the community how residents feel about presentations such as these you have seen tonight,” said Parker. “The BRCC is constantly moving underfoot in the business of Bird Rock, when we should really get to know each other and visit with our neighbors. I feel that the happy hour on March 20 will be a most ideal forum.” Neighborhood Watch on view • Michelle Fulks, Bird Rock Neighborhood Watch chairwoman presented information about the Bird Rock Elementary Gala. Fulks directed residents to the BRCC’s website (www.birdrock.org) for the time, date, location and updated information. The gala will be held at Anthology in Little Italy, with a charge of $85 per ticket. • Fulks urged citizens to be wary of solicitors and to call the non-emergency police line at (619) 531-2000 if approached by suspicious solicitors. • The BRCC has a Facebook page with a Neighborhood Watch link, Fulks announced. She said the page has been very useful in stopping solicitation-related break-ins. Business on the Rock • Parker announced that Bellaroma will be occupying the former Bird Rock Pizza location, and should be open by spring. The restaurant, he said, is undergoing beer and wine licensing processes. Bird Rock Fine Wine has applied for a zoning permit, as well. • Trustees and audience members heard a presentation from car-sharing company Car2Go. The new company’s Mike Cully introduced the business. “I don’t plan on infiltrating your wonderful community, or bringing in more traffic for that matter,” he said. “Basically, what we do is rent cars by the minute or hour, and are predominantly located downtown, as well as both Pacific and Mission Beach. The cars are smart cars, so are 100 percent electric, and once the rental is up, the cars can be dropped off anywhere.” Cully said the program will most likely be implemented at UCSD. The company, he said, is promoting long-term sustainability by limiting the number of gas-powered vehicles on the road. “San Diego will be the first North American city to implement this program,” said Cully. “This is a new business that has done well in Europe so far. Within two years it will be in 20 markets throughout the United States.” MAD project update Parker presented some issues identified lately related to the Maintenance Assessment District. “We had a pretty big storm recently, and there was a substantial amount of flooding at the corner of Midway and La Jolla Boulevard,” said Parker. “We had to block these drainage areas, but did not want the runoff going into the ocean. That was something that we identified quickly, and we apologize for the inconvenience. The good news is that we had an issue with drainage on La Jolla Boulevard, and on March 6 we commenced with repair on a French drain. We are working to get through these issues, but thankfully we have more sunny days than rainy ones.” Parker said the Median Lighting Project is well underway, and organizers expect completion in late May. The project comes with emotional undertones, as it was the pet project of the late George Sutton. Infrastructure endgame Commencement of the Sewer Replacement Project, for which eight miles of pipeline will be laid throughout Bird Rock, began with minimal trouble aside from a “lay-down yard” at Bird Rock Avenue and La Jolla Boulevard, where residents and merchants have been substantially affected by operations, Parker said. “Thanks to residents in the condominium next door, we have gone forward in fighting this lay-down area,” Parker said. The next BRCC meeting will be April 3. Visit www.birdrock.org for more information.