December 21, 2016
18th Edition
Greetings Everyone!
We
are less than a week away from Christmas and Hanukkah. Hopefully, your
shopping is finished and you can relax and enjoy your holiday. Don't
forget to shop Riverside when possible.
Sales tax revenues come back to our city, which helps fund road repair,
tree trimming and much more.
Our
city has seen substantial changes during this past year. In May, our
new executive management team discovered we had a budget deficit. Former
management had reported a small
surplus. In response to this news, Council initiated 4% across the
board cuts in order to balance the budget. Simultaneously, Council
approved Riverside’s first ever two-year budget cycle with five-year
projections. Our city renegotiated with all five bargaining
units, with four agreeing to a five-year contract, and one to a 4-1/2
year term. During these negotiations, our city employees also agreed to
pay more into their retirement accounts, which will shift future pension
obligations away from the city. City Hall
also experienced many new department head changes. All of this was done
in order to cut costs, improve efficiency and accountability.
Just
last month, the long anticipated quiet zone along the BNSF Railroad
line near Indiana Avenue from Buchanan to Mary Street finally became a
reality. The Union Pacific Railroad
line running along Dewey Avenue, crossing Palm and Brockton, is
scheduled to become a quiet zone by 2019.
There
are many new investor/development projects coming to our city. Some are
downtown, at or around the Riverside Plaza and other locations in
Riverside. Our city’s Economic Development
staff estimates there is close to $1 billion worth of new business
investments coming to Riverside in the short term. These numbers are
unprecedented for Riverside and even our region. Riverside appears to be
poised for huge business growth with many new and
exciting dining, shopping and job opportunities headed our way.
The
latest economic reports show that local job growth is up. On top of
that, more of our residents are headed to our local universities than
ever before. Your Mayor, City Council
and city management team are working to build a better Riverside.
Collectively, we are committed to helping our city be as efficient,
customer friendly, transparent, and fiscally responsible as possible.
I
constantly preach to our management staff that we as a city need to
step away from being regulators and move toward being facilitators.
Doing so will help us become more competitive
with other cities. We are doing our best to encourage new businesses,
stores, markets and restaurants to come to Riverside.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you. I wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
Mike Soubirous
Councilmember - Ward 3
SHHHH!
QUIET ZONE
The first City of Riverside Quiet Zone went into
effect on Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 12:01 a.m. The $13 million project was
planned in 2007, with work officially starting in 2011. It extends over 7 miles
along the BNSF railway line between Mary Street and Buchanan Street (running
parallel to the SR-91 Freeway). With 12 at-grade crossings, this stretch of
tracks averages more than 100 trains per day (including those operated by BNSF,
Metrolink and Amtrak). Amtrak
The second Riverside Quiet Zone, along the Perris
Valley Line, is comprised of four crossings between Mt. Vernon Avenue and
Marlborough Avenue and averages 15 trains per day. The City is working with the
Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) to finalize arrangements
for the implementation of this Quet Zone which is expected to launch in
December 2016.
A third Quiet Zone is planned for the four
crossings from Palm Avenue to Cridge Street. The crossings at Palm, Brockton,
and Panorama are operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), while Cridge is
operated by BNSF. These crossings average approximately 30 trains per day (run
by BNSF, MetroLink, and Union Pacific). Now in the early planning stages, the
City expects to file a Notice of Intent in the coming months.
For
further information on the Quiet Zones and to check for updates on the progress
on the future zones, please go here.
ARROYO DRIVE PIPELINE REPLACEMENT - January 2017
From Michael Bacich, Assistant General Manager of Customer Relations & Marketing at Riverside Public Utilities (RPU):
RPU will be
replacing water pipelines on Arroyo Drive, Daventry Road and Victoria Hill
Drive, beginning in January 2017. Work will take about six months to
complete. Our contractor will stage the work in short segments to
minimize disruptions to traffic and provide detours where necessary.
For customers who live next to the new water pipelines,
water service will be impacted for short periods. Our field crews will notify
anyone impacted within 24-hours of impact with approximate times of restoral.
We will be providing advance notice and maps of the project
area beginning next week (attached). There will also be considerable outreach
via our web page, social media and WAZE traffic app. 311 is fully briefed and
any related project questions can be directed to them. There will be special
outreach to and at Victoria Club including project maps and details displayed
at the club, outreach via their newsletter, and if requested, an in-person
project brief to club members.
CHARTER'S NEW LOCATION
The Riverside Plaza
 The
brand new Spectrum™ store at Riverside Plaza
features an enjoyable and relaxed environment with comfortable seating,
allowing customers to experience hands-on demonstrations with multiple TVs,
laptops and tablets. The new store also allows customers the opportunity to
demo the interactive Spectrum™ TV App using Charter’s 100 Mbps Internet, watch
informative tutorials on HDTV and more.
Along
with sampling and ordering Spectrum services, customers can complete a variety
of transactions at the store, including making payments and upgrading or
exchanging equipment, and changing or adding to their current package of
services. Instead of waiting in the lines, upon arrival customers sign in
at the kiosk with the reason for their visit. Their name goes into a queue in
order of their arrival and a monitor displays that list so that customers know
when they’re turn is up with a customer care agent. Customers can enjoy
the product demonstrations that are available or simply sit down and enjoy some
of the TV programming and other services Spectrum has to offer if they have to
wait to be helped instead of waiting in line. When a customer’s turn is up,
they’re name is called and they are directed to one of the customer service
agent stations to get the assistance they requested.
“Our new Spectrum stores are designed to
provide an improved customer experience,” said Pattie Eliason, Group Vice President,
Spectrum stores. “Instead of waiting in a traditional line, they can browse and
interact with an assortment of products. Our representatives will show
customers the latest advances in technology, help them become familiar with
using it and put together just the right package of Spectrum services for their
home and family.”
The
Riverside Spectrum store is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 7 PM,
Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from 12 PM to 5 PM. Customers can
also contact customer service at 1-855-75-Spectrum (1-855-757-7328).
Please note that the old Central Avenue location is now closed.
24th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS!
The 24th Annual Festival of Lights Switch-On
Ceremony held on November 25th was a resounding success. The Festival of
Lights has grown steadily over the years and is now a "must see"
event in Southern California and further. The addition of traffic control
personnel proved to be a huge success and all that attended benefited from the
positive effects of an orderly 70,000 + in attendance. To find out more
about all the exciting events being held throughout the season, please click here.
HOLIDAY TRASH PICK-UP
For your information, here is a list of upcoming holidays that affect trash pick-up. Please note that this is for residential customers only. For more information on trash pick-up, recycling services or other related concerns, please click here.
HOLIDAY CAMP
Spend the holidays
with us! Enjoy holiday-themed arts and crafts, games, sports and much more
activities! The remaining Camp is offered during Christmas break. Register here. View flyer here.
NEW DATE!
January 7, 2017
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Gather the family and enjoy festive activities that are sure to
delight. Free activities, bounce houses, photos with Santa, crafts, entertainment,
prizes, games, face painting, and food! Fun Zone wristband includes
20 minutes of snow sled rides, bounce houses and 10 fun zone games, $10
pre-sale, $12 day of event. The event takes place at Orange Terrace Community
Center.
Click here to
register, spots are limited and fill up quickly.
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