Reinvesting in West Covina

Public Services hit the jackpot. The Engineering, Maintenance, Building/Code Enforcement and Planning divisions focused on a year 2000 Reinvestment Strategy and street rehabilitation program to improve the physical appearance of West Covina neighborhoods. Coordinated through the Engineering Division, the street rehabilitation project is the largest in the City’s history. Upgrades and reconstruction occurred on 25 miles — 11 percent — of residential and arterial streets in the city.

The increase in staffing levels in the Building/Code Enforcement Division provided the City with the opportunity to begin a proactive program to address code enforcement violations in target neighborhoods around the city. Activity levels in the division have greatly increased, as seen in the accompanying table.

This program has been a City Council priority, and the success of the program will provide additional protections to the aesthetics and values of West Covina homes and neighborhoods.

The Maintenance Division is aggressively working on the City’s infrastructure for its 77th birthday and was named a “Tree City USA” for the 18th consecutive year. The City’s Urban Forestry Program removed 400 trees, planted 600 trees and trimmed 4,500 trees.

What else did we do?
* 70 miles of sewer cleaned
*750 storm drains cleared
*1,000 street signs repaired/replaced
*3,000 feet of sidewalk replaced
*4,000 potholes filled
*150,000 feet of street striped Planning did the following:
*15 zoning studies and amendments
*70 development applications
*210 administrative applications
*developed the BKK landfill site into a business park and golf course, bringing positive closure and making City history.

Code Enforcement
Code Enforcement has been a top priority for City Council in the year 2000. Two additional Code Enforcement Officers were added earlier this year, resulting in a 72-percent increase in efficiency with more than a 32-percent increase in cases handled.
Analysis of Code Violations over four-year period (2000 figures are projected):

Cases per month.....188(1997)..198(1998)..171(1999)..520(2000)
Cases handled per
month per officer......94(1997)...99...(1998)...86(1999)...130(2000)