By Jennifer Jester-Madrigal      

: Mayor Ike Bootsma makes a presentation at Eastvale’s Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 27. (Photo Courtesy: Eastvale News)

Eastvale – Eastvale’s first Quarterly Town Hall meeting of 2015 was held on Tues., Jan. 27, at Rosa Parks Elementary. The meeting was sponsored by the Eastvale Community Committee and was an opportunity for the various organizations that call our City home to update residents on the latest news.

Mayor Ike Bootsma updated citizens with a positive forecast for the City this year. CERT training has been completed by another group of 36 people. The Leal property Master Plan is still on track.  Businesses are doing well overall; and road construction throughout the City is progressing.

Tyler Madary, Field Representative from State Senator Richard Roth’s Office, spoke on behalf of our Senator and informed us that the legislature has just come back to session. The Senator is focusing on increasing healthcare access for the Inland Empire and hopes to increase public and private funding.  He is also hoping that State Bill 22 will pass, which will award money to recent graduates to practice in local hospitals with a high number of Medi-Cal patients. SB25 is another bill that the Senator’s office hopes to pass. This bill will basically rewrite the failed Vehicle License Fee bill, excluding annexed areas, which would make the bill more likely to pass.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department presented another new Assistant Chief of Police for Eastvale, Lt. Scott Forbes.  Forbes has been with the Sheriff’s Department for over 20 years.  He provided an update on statistics for the last quarter of 2014. There was one fatal traffic collision; 22 injury collisions; 86 non-injury collisions; and 36 hit and run/property damage reports.  The Department issued 420 hazardous violations and over 2,000 parking violations. Most accidents occurred on Hamner Avenue, Schleisman Road and Chandler Street.  For Crime, there was an increase in mail theft, construction theft and tailgate theft. There was also a spike in arson, but Cal-Fire made an arrest and that number has since dropped.  Pot houses remain an ongoing battle, but some are “legal” and are difficult to prosecute.

Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) reported that construction on Ronald Reagan Elementary is going smoothly and Principal Susan Helms says that everything is on track for the July 2015 opening. They are currently registering students and hiring teachers. JCSD hopes to have a Kids-Zone in place to open with the school.

The District has purchased AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) which will first be placed in CNUSD high schools. Over 230 district employees have been trained in administering these devices.

The idea of adding “Eastvale” to CNUSD has been put on the radar and is being discussed.

The next school to be built in Eastvale – Rondo Elementary – is being planned for completion in 2018.  An offer on a 10-acre parcel of land on the corner of Hellman Avenue and Walters Street has been made, and if accepted, the school will begin the long planning and construction process.

The District has also refinanced a group of Community Facility District (CFD) bonds, bringing savings to over 350 homes in Eastvale. This is the fourth refinance that CNUSD has completed, and the District hopes to do more to help lower the residents’ tax burden.

CNUSD Superintendent, Dr. Michael Lin, was awarded recognition of being the top County Superintendent in Riverside County.

Residents raised questions on the need for more intermediate and high schools in Eastvale. Middle schools are projected to be adequate for the City, but with the only high school at 4,000 students – with projections of 4,700 in the next few years – another school is necessary.  CNUSD Board Member, Bill Newberry, discussed the STEM Magnet School that will be placed on the softball field behind Eleanor Roosevelt High in the next few years. The softball field will be removed and the service road behind the school expanded. Start and end times for ERHS and the new school would be adjusted to help ease traffic.  The STEM school would focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, and would initially be open to Eastvale students only.

Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD) has just released their newly updated website. Movies in the Park will be coming soon and will provide entertainment through August. Construction of Phase II of the Eastvale Community Park – with four new softball fields and two soccer fields – will begin soon.  In addition, the rehabilitation of the old fire station site at Cedar Creek Park will begin soon.

City of Eastvale Code Enforcement Officers, Travis Engelking and Allyn Evans, gave an update on City violations.  The most common are regarding trash cans and RVs.  Feb. 9 is the deadline to remove holiday lights. In 2014, 5,235 sign were removed and 5,642 inspections were completed.  Refer to the City website (www.eastvaleca.gov) to update yourself on City codes and rules for posting signs.

Animal Control Services Officer, Mark Visyak, gave an update on animal control in the area. He spends about four hours each day in Eastvale.  In 2014, Visyak made 3,475 calls in the City:  382 animals were impounded (four were turned in by residents); 177 animals were deceased and 1 livestock was deceased; 25 animals were quarantined for rabies; 35 stray dogs were captured; 106 citations/infractions were written; 11 potentially dangerous animals were contained; and 93 animal welfare issues were completed.

Sharyn Link, from the Eastvale Community Foundation, made a presentation that the Foundation will be re-hanging some of the previously damaged military banners, at about six banners per month. Banners remain in place as long as the individual is active in the military, has been killed in the line of duty, or has served for 20 years or more. The Foundation plans on having a booth at this summer’s Picnic in the Park, and will host their annual golf tournament. As always, they are looking for volunteers to help with their many events.