On Wed night, the Westlake Village City Council will vote on funding for LVUSD's Technology Funding. This is part of the "4 Cities" agreement where the four local cities (Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, and Westlake Village) join together to fund technology needs that cannot be paid for by Measure G (the bond can only pay for capitalized items).

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Some outstanding questions and clarifications.

First, a correction. At least some of the lawn signs were STOLEN not taken down by homeowners.

[OPINION ON]
Not only is that breaking the law, it's not appropriate behavior regardless of anyone's position on the issue. Stealing a lawn sign is at least as bad as those that mislead others on informatio, or prevent people from asking questions in an open forum.

Remember, this is a community. Be civil. Be neighbors.
[OPINION OFF]

Other questions:

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Several more questions have been written in about the Three Springs cell antenna.

Property values. It appears that if a "big stink" is made about cell antenna installation, that may decrease pricing on homes in an area. If the antenna is unsightly (e.g., a tower), those in close proximity will see a decline. The most credible and applicable research to this area seems to be an Florida study that says that a cell tower causes a 2% decline in value, that diminishes with distance, and by 656 feet away from the antenna, has no impact in value. But again, this is based on older data and applies to a *tower* (not camouflaged tree antenna as proposed here). See more below.

Lawn Signs. We've been asked "What happened to the signs?" The HOA sent letters to the homeowners telling them to remove them because this was not a political campaign and not allowed within the governing bylaws of the Three Springs HOA. Several residents have complied with this notice.

Facebook pages. Some have asked why Westlake Revelations posts have been removed from the Facebook pages in opposition to the antenna. In short, we don't know -- we had thought that was an open discussion area, and were providing links to pictures, clarifying issues and asking questions about posts. Saturday morning, we found Westlake Revelations' and other users' posts were not only removed from the Facebook group pages by those behind these pages, but several user accounts have been "blacklisted" and are no longer allowed to post anything further in that Facebook fan area.

HOA Survey Answers are Confidential. A number of people have been pressured by others to have specific opinions. Westlake Revelations has confirmed with the Three Springs HOA that identities of survey answers will be kept confidential. Only aggregate information will be made public. You should fill out the survey to be representative of your household, and avoid any "help" from others with answers. Please complete and return the survey by Monday.

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While there are some pictures floating around, and the HOA survey has B&W pictures, it's hard to get proper perspective of what the tree will look like to most residents in Three Springs.

The City of Westlake Village has released pictures prepared by City Staff (and is used on the HOA survey). You can see them, along with descriptions of how the pictures were taken.

Note: The fake tree is made darker here so you can see it, but in reality will be a more natural looking color to blend in. The fourth picture has an attempt to show what a more nominal coloring would look like.

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Over the past couple of weeks, there's been a lot of information disseminated that has generated a number of questions from Westlake Revelations readers. This article will try to address them.

Before that, however, realize that the Three Springs HOA is doing a survey of residents to determine preferences and other information. Due to the nature of this issue, the survey will only be relevant if there's significant response from residents (e.g., more than low double digit response rates).

Bottom line:
If you live in Three Springs, it's important to take the time

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** Disclaimer: Westlake Revelations is a sponsor of Soap Box Derby

Soap Box Derby 2010 Weekend is Here

This Sunday, April 18th, 2010 is the the Triunfo YMCA Soap Box Derby and Healthy Kids Day, sponsored by the City of Westlake Village. This year's event is jam packed with:

* Over 100 racers, a "heat" every 2 minutes
* Healthy Kids Day exhibitors
* Triunfo YMCA/Westlake Village 2010 Open Car Show
* Community BBQ by Boy Scout National Jamboree Troop 831
* Obstacle course
* Rock Wall sponsored by iFindable
* Close Up Magic by Society of American Magicians

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Synopsis

White Oak Elementary has announced that it's now offering "Journeys" for those at Kindergarten Age but not ready for Kindergarten. See the full announcement from White Oak below.

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Synopsis

Several weeks back, Google announced that they would select some communities for a very high speed fiber network at a competitive cost. Becoming a "Google 1GB Fiber" city has been a focus of cities across the country. (You may have seen national news items where cities renamed themselves, or pulled other PR stunts.)

The reason for the surge of interest is that 1GB Fiber is approximately 100x faster connection than a decent cable modem, and 650x faster than DSL for many parts of Westlake Village.

This week, the applications are due, and Westlake Village has it's application in, and has produced a video supplement to the application. Keep in mind, this video is not targeted at the community, or users, but actually specifically for Google as part of the City's application. See the 2 minute video now at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw1f4UJOd2E featuring Mayor Rutherford, and Mayor Pro-tem Davis.

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Last night, the night of Mar 20th, there was a murder in the First Neighborhood section of Westlake Village. The shooting took place at a party in the 31000 block of Kentfield Court (off of Middlegate Road).

Reportedly, the suspect and victim (both invited to a party) got into a fight, and insults were traded amongst some at the party. The suspect (whose name is not being released at this time), left the party with his wife and then later returned, brandished a knife and threatened others. Ultimately, the suspect pulled out a handgun, shot the victim in the torso. The victim was ultimately taken to the hospital via helicopter and then later died at the hospital.

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Synopsis

T-Mobile has applied for a cell antenna permit with the City of Westlake Village that is intended to serve most of the Three Springs development. The antenna is slated to be installed near the building on the LVMWD property that manages the reservoir. The application comes before the city council at the March 24, 2010 city council meeting that starts at 6:30pm.

One of the biggest questions is: "Can the city deny the permit based on health concerns?" The short answer is no. The City is preempted by the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which prohibits the denial of wireless telecommunications facilities due to health concerns. Case in point, T-Mobile has filed a law suit against the City of Agoura Hills for blocking a cell antenna at Lindero Canyon Middle School.

See the body of the article for pictures of the "tree" antennas, and coverage maps.

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LVUSD Superintendent's Forum on Monday

Tomorrow, Monday March 15th, Las Virgenes Unified School District's Superintendent, Dr. Donald Zimring will be hosting a Superintendent's Forum at White Oak Elementary (MPR).

Starting at 7:30pm, and ending by 9:00pm, these sessions are unstructured and allow community members to raise issues and ask questions directly to the Superintendent.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. For further information, please contact the School District at (818) 878-5225.

The City of Westlake Village today announced that it's accepting nominations for the City's Annual Citizen and Youth Recognition programs. See below for full details.

"The purpose of the Citizen Recognition Program is to identify and recognize outstanding individuals who have made a difference in enhancing and improving the quality of life in the community. The purpose of the Youth Recognition Program is to identify and recognize an outstanding youth, both on an individual and organizational basis, encompassing elementary to high school ages.

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Disclaimer: Westlake Revelations is a sponsor of Soap Box Derby.

Triunfo YMCA Announces 2010 Soap Box Derby & Healthy Kids Day
- Soap Box races again open to the public to enter
- Healthy Kids Day to promote healthy living for the children
- Boy Scout BBQ, attractions for the whole family, and more

February 21, 2010 -- Westlake Village, CA -- Triunfo YMCA has announced the return of Soap Box Derby and Healthy Kids Day in Westlake Village. Sponsored by the City of Westlake Village, Farmers Insurance, and others, the event is set for Sunday, April 18th, 2010.

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The CHP has reported North Bound Topanga Canyon Blvd. at Pacific Coast Highway is open to north bound traffic. Topanga Canyon Blvd. is now open to traffic in both directions.

Both directions of Malibu Canyon at Piuma Road are now open to north and south bound traffic.

The LA County Sheriff has released the following as of 2:30pm today. As a result, if you are planning on taking canyon roads, you should check to see if they are open first.

"Malibu Canyon Road, southbound lanes only, has been shut down by the California Highway Patrol due to rocks and mud just south of the tunnel near Malibu.

Topanga Canyon Road remains closed and monitored by the California Highway Patrol in both directions due to rocks and mud. No estimated time has been given for the road’s reopening."

Sheriff urging peoplle to sign up for Emergency Alerts

For those of you that live and work in Los Angeles County, the below announcement just came from the LA County Sheriff Dept.

Residents/Businesses Urged to Sign Up For Emergency Alerts

With the renewed threat of rainstorms, Los Angeles County officials today urged residents and businesses to sign up for emergency alerts by registering their cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the Alert.lacounty.gov website.

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Carole Nussbaum of the Cabrillo Music Theatre (one of the two major theater groups that put on shows at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza) has been named one of six finalists for a national award -- the 2010 event Solutions Spotlight Award, Creative Director of the Year.

If you would like to vote for Cabrillo, go to:

http://www.event-solutions.com/spotlight/vote/
- Enter your email address, click "Submit"
- Click "Click Here To Vote" (in blue)
- Go to "Creative Director of the Year" category (3rd category from top)
and select "Carole Nussbaum of Cabrillo Music Theatre"

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