By Shain Haug

‘Elves’ at work

Take a look as you pass over or under the flyover bridge and as you go by the Triangle at Waring and Zion. The Allied Gardens “elves” have brightened your dark winter nights with festive lights and a glowing Christmas tree.

At our traditional ceremony on Dec. 7, the Christmas tree was lighted by second-graders Issabella Casados of Foster Elementary and Aaron Attiq of Marvin Elementary. We were so very pleased to have these outstanding students join us. Thank you, Issabella and Aaron, for your commitment to your education. You are our future.

Town hall meetings

Our next town hall meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. at the Benjamin Library, located at Zion Avenue and Glenroy Street. Vince Mikulanis will provide a detailed explanation of the city’s Urban Forestry project and how you, for the minimal and inexpensive commitment of watering, can add a tree to our neighborhood.

What is an urban forest anyway? Join Mikulanis to learn about San Diego’s plan to increase property values, clean our neighborhood air, reduce your stress level, lower your air conditioning bills and slow down traffic on city streets — all while making our neighborhoods more beautiful. He will discuss the benefits of urban forestry to our community and the many ways that you personally can benefit.

At our Nov. 28 town hall meeting, San Diego State University geology professor Eric Frost spoke about the creation of the headwaters of Alvarado Creek and the watershed that feeds the creek that flows into Grantville. He gave us a valuable lesson in what must be done in order to avoid flooding between Waring Road and Mission Gorge Road.

The city has significant plans for improvement of this lower segment of the waterway. These changes are necessary for the development called for in the Grantville Community Plan, but the planners have not given due consideration to the source of the flooding that must be mitigated to complete any development. The real problem will remain until we deal with the watershed above the area of intended development. You will find a summary of Frost’s presentation in the minutes of this meeting that will be published in the next newsletter.

Code enforcement

If the city of San Diego’s Code Enforcement Department is to be effective in its assigned tasks, it needs to know about conditions that need correction. To assist you in informing the city of apparent violations, we have added a Code Enforcement page to the website, aggccouncil.org. You will find a link to the city’s reporting form and an internal link to information about the department and its priorities for action.

Board of directors meetings

The AGGCC board of directors meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Benjamin Library, at the corner of Zion Avenue and Glenroy Street. Our next meeting will be on Jan. 2, 2018. Our board of directors is composed of some very fine folks, your neighbors, who care about the community and who care about your interests. You can support them in their work by subscribing to or advertising in the newsletter, by attending our town hall meetings, and by giving them your ideas about what the community most needs.

—Shain Haug is the president of the AGGCC. Reach him at [email protected]. Visit the new website at aggccouncil.org. Send suggestions to [email protected].