By Valerie Gutierrez

Eastvale– Eastvale’s second Quarterly Town Hall meeting of 2016 was held on Tuesday, May 10, at Rosa Parks Elementary. The meeting was conducted to update the community on the latest news from various departments and organizations during the last couple of months.

Mayor Ike Bootsma updated residents on the upcoming events taking place in the City of Eastvale.
Bootsma said the city has launched their E-Citizen App in partnership with Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD). This free App allows residents to report non-emergency issues such as graffiti, pot-holes, sewer leaks, landscape and water waste.

Mayor Bootsma continues to urge residents to stay informed of all the latest Eastvale news, agendas, events, and more by signing up for e-notification at http://www.Eastvale.ca.gov.

Bootsma announced that several new businesses have recently opened. At the Eastvale Gateway Center, Pacific Fish Grill restaurant, Juice It Up!, and Panera Bread have opened. Prestige Preschool has opened at the Marketplace at the Enclave and Tea Plus has opened at Corona Valley Marketplace.

After Bootsma’s announcements, City Manager Michele Nissen announced Vanessa Lopez as the newest Code Enforcement Officer for the City of Eastvale.

Officer Lopez has over 10 years of experience in the field working for the City of Gardena and Carson. Lopez’ duties include implementing programs such as rental inspection program, housing development and CDBG Funding. Lopez started working for the City of Eastvale on April 18.

Also mentioned was how the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has been staying busy these past couple of months. Captain Jason Horton, said that mail theft have significantly decreased the last several months after a key arrest on an individual that was connected to several mail thefts throughout the region, including Eastvale. Captain Horton also gave a warm recognition to the long time serving volunteers for the community of Eastvale who are eyes and ears for the deputy’s.

These community volunteers, “have collectively served thousands of volunteer hours [patrolling the community] you live in,” said Horton.

Traffic issues within the city are of concerning matter for residents living in Eastvale. Horton stated, “know that the police department is doing everything they can to help compact traffic issues and [educate residents].” The police department is working alongside all the schools and principals of the city to get updates on how they can help improve traffic flow.

Next, Dawn Hook presented herself as the new Eastvale Community Foundation director and discussed the following events.

The annual “Picnic in the Park” will be one of the biggest events hosted by JCSD on June 24 to 26 at Harada Park. Picnic in the Park is a three-day celebration that welcomes a summer season of non-stop fun in Eastvale. The event will have lots of fun activities for the kids, such as: picnic games, contests, inflatables, carnival rides, bike valet, food, merchandise, and community group information booths. But, adults will also get a kick out of this event because this year, Picnic in the Park will be hosting another beer garden.

On June 24, the event will kick off at 5 p.m. followed with a concert performance by Joshua Tree Band at 7 p.m. But it doesn’t stop there because on June 25, the community is welcome to come from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. They can also gather for a Fireworks show that will illuminate the sky at 9 p.m. To end the festivities, on June 26, a salsa making contest will take place from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Next, JCSD addressed residents about a recent decision made by the JCSD Board to raise the residency requirement of group one league from 65 to 95 percent residency. Park manager, Rafael Gonzalez, explained that the south-west corner of Citrus Street and Hamner Avenue stands for Eastvale Community Park that will begin construction this summer. The updates to the park will consist of a softball complex, more fields, and additional turf field for soccer and football, so it can be a multi-use park. For more information about upcoming events and updates on construction plans, visit (www.parks.jcsd.us).

Lastly, Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) reported that the STEM School program will open this fall. The program will be focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The two pathways that the program decided to take were the Health/Medical and Engineering path. The program will be looking for AP students but will be accessible for everyone else who desire to attend a four year college. STEM, AVID, and Puente are only one of the various programs that Roosevelt High School will be offering. A power point presentation was given to demonstrate how STEM will end up looking like. For more information and updates visit (www.cnusd.k12.ca.us/estem).