The URL can be used to link to this page

CC SR 20190820 P - SBCCOG South Bay Fiber NetworkRANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 08/20/2018 AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar AGENDA DESCRIPTION: Consideration and possible action to authorize the City Manager to sign a letter of commitment to the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to participate in the South Bay Fiber Network RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION: (1) Authorize the City Manager to sign a letter of commitment to participate in the South Bay Fiber Network FISCAL IMPACT: None Amount Budgeted: N/A Additional Appropriation: N/A Account Number(s): N/A ORIGINATED BY: Lukasz Buchwald, IT Manager REVIEWED BY: Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manager APPROVED BY: Doug Willmore, City Manager ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: A. Draft letter of commitment (page A-1) B. July 2019 press release on the South Bay Fiber Network (page B-1) C. SBFN Executive Summary (Page C-1) D. Summer 2017 South Bay Watch Newsletter article on the South Bay Fiber- Optic Master Plan (page D-1) E. August 2017 Daily Breeze article on the South Bay Fiber-Optic Master Plan (page E-1) F. July 2019 Easy Reader article on South Bay Fiber Network (page F-1) BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION: In July 2016, the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) and the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) contracted with Magellan Advisors to create a regional broadband fiber-optic master plan to enable South Bay cities to embrace the digital economy, “smart city” initiatives, integrated utilities and next -generation economic development. The plan explored constructing a regional, high-speed fiber-optic network for South Bay municipal facilities, with future opportunities to connect area anchor institutions, businesses, and potentially residents. 1 SBCCOG went on to issue a request for proposals for the project — now known as the South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN) — and selected American Dark Fiber, LLC (ADF) in November 2018. In May 2019, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan T ransportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors approved SBCCOG’s application to use up to $4.4 million to connect all participating city halls and data centers to the SBFN. SBCCOG has an informal commitment of approximately 35 sites across member citie s and other agencies, the minimum required to move forward. SBCCOG is now requesting letters of commitment from cities to participate in SBFN due August 16, 2019. Funding to connect Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall to the SBFN is estimated at $12,000 per year for three years and is not budgeted at this time. Depending on the completion of the project, fiber-optic service to City Hall on the network could begin between April and June of 2020. Master and participating agreements are anticipated to be available to cities for review by the end of August or early September 2019. The City Attorney’s Office had a chance to review and redline drafts of the Master Service Agreement and the MSA Service Rider documents. The feedback was provided to SBCCOG on April 26, 2019. The LOC confirms the City’s understanding and commitment to:  Connect to the SBFN at a minimum of 1Gbps at $1,000 per month  Recognize that upfront capital costs will be paid by SBCCOG using approved Subregional Measure M funds  Commit to paying recurring costs for either a three- or five-year period  Execute an addendum to the final SBCCOG contract with ADF to provide broadband services provided that, the terms and conditions are acceptable to the City (italicized and underlined text added to the letter by the City)  Work with SBCCOG and ADF personnel to: o Meet to address and resolve any questions o Enumerate connected buildings and sites by August 16, 2019 o Define a timeline for permitting, construction and installation to enable SBFN network connections o Assist with expediting necessary permits o Jointly agree with SBCCOG the date that ADF will provide initial service to designated sites, expected April to June 2020 Staff recommends connecting one site to the SBFN: Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall, located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. There are currently three other locations connected to City Hall via a City-owned local fiber network (the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, 2 Ryan Park and Hesse Park) therefore, it is Staff’s position that there is no immediate need to connect any other locations to SBFN. The other park locations do not have enough business needs to justify connecting. The cost of participating in the SBFN will be included as part of the Information Technology budget. As more entities join and subscribe to SBFN services, the cost could potentially go down over time. The City currently pays $1,750 per month for dedicated 200 Mbps (one-fifth of the proposed 1 Gbps) internet service through TPx Communications and $281 per month for 300 Mbps shared service through Frontier Communications as backup. The Frontier circuit could be canceled at the start of the new service in Fiscal Year 2020-21 to offset some of the additional cost. The current TPx contract does not expire until February 2023. Assuming a July 2020 start date, the anticipated additional costs projected for the next three years and beyond are as follows: FY 20-21 $ 12,000 FY 21-22 $ 12,000 FY 22-23 $ 12,000 Total Three Year Estimated Cost: $ 36,000 Any financial cost incurred in FY 19-20 (estimated from one to three months’ worth of service) can be absorbed using funds already budgeted in the Information T echnology budget. CONCLUSION: The SBFN is expected to provide an excellent value for an ultra -fast and reliable 1 Gbps internet connection. With the future firmly heading toward cloud computing, fast and reliable Internet connection will become even more critical to the City’s operations. Moreover, by participating in the SBFN project, some residents and businesses will potentially be able to gain access to a new, ultra-fast internet vendor, allowing for more choices for internet service providers, which should encourage innovation and competition. Therefore, Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager to sign a letter of commitment to participate in the South Bay Fiber Network. 3 ALTERNATIVES: In addition to the Staff recommendation(s), the following alternative action(s) is/are available for the City Council’s consideration: 1. Do not authorize the City Manager to sign the SBFN letter of commitment 2. Take other action as deemed appropriate by the City Council 4 1 | P a g e YOUR CITY LETTERHEAD South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN) Letter of Commitment To: South Bay Cities Council of Governments: On behalf of the City/Agency of Rancho Palos Verdes (“City”), we confirm our organization’s commitment to connect to the South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN). We commit to participate in the SBFN at a minimum service level of at least 1 GB at $1,000/month for each city/agency designated building/site. We understand that, for sites in the South Bay region, up-front capital costs will be paid by South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) using approved sub-regional Measure M funds. Sites outside the South Bay will be addressed on a case by case basis. We commit to paying the monthly recurring costs for our elected term of either a three- or five-year period. We commit to:  Execute an addendum to the final SBCCOG contract with American Dark Fiber, LLC (ADF), the selected vendor, to provide broadband services provided that, the terms and conditions are acceptable to the City (italicized and underlined text added to the letter by City)  Work with SBCCOG and ADF personnel to: o Meet to address and resolve our questions; o Enumerate buildings and sites within the South Bay Cities region to be connected, by August 16, 2019; o Define a timeline for permitting, construction, and installation to enable SBFN network connections; o Assist with expediting necessary permits; o Jointly agree with SBCCOG the date that ADF will provide initial service to your designated, expected in April-June 2020. At this time, we commit to a count of one (1) sites to be connected. _____________________________________ __________________________________ City Manager (signature) CIO / IT Director (signature) Doug Willmore___________________________ Lukasz Buchwald___________________ City Manager CIO / IT Director (Name) City of Rancho Palos Verdes _______________ __________________________________ City/Agency Date A-1 2 | P a g e YOUR CITY LETTERHEAD City / Agency: City of Rancho Palos Verdes _____________________________ Number Address Term (3-yr / 5-yr) Requested Bandwidth Lit Services? Or Transport Only? 1. 30940 Hawthorne; Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; 90275; City Hall 3-yr 1Gb Lit 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. A-2 7/10/19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jacki Bacharach | SBCCOG | 310-293-2612 | jacki@southbaycities.org Councilmember Christian Horvath | SBCCOG | 424-262-4471 | christian.horvath@redondo.org Thomas James | Lions Roar Communications | 646.996.5316 | tom@lionsroarllc.com South Bay Cities Council of Governments Leads 21st Century Connectivity Effort with Selection of American Dark Fiber to Build a South Bay Fiber Network Location, Los Angeles South Bay, CA The South Bay Cities will soon become even more closely connected as they join forces to offer faster and less expensive broadband connectivity to their facilities with an investment in a next-generation dedicated fiber network. The South Bay Cities Council of Governments (“SBCCOG”) has awarded a contract to American Dark Fiber (“ADF”), a Southern California broadband company. They will build and provide gigabit, scalable broadband connectivity to the Joint Powers Authority for the 16 cities and County of Los Angeles that comprise the SBCCOG. The announcement was jointly made today by Councilmember Christian Horvath, SBCCOG Chair, Jacki Bacharach, SBCCOG Executive Director, and American Dark Fiber CEO, David Daigle. The project’s “Fiber Ring” will connect the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and Torrance. In addition, the South Bay Workforce Investment Board, LA BioMed, Beach Cities Health District (BCHD), LA Metro, and LA County Public Works are participating in the project. “The SBCCOG led this initiative and investment in critical broadband infrastructure that will bring the most secure next-generation technology to the South Bay. This will allow us to serve all our residents better and improve their quality of life on so many levels including Real-time Transportation/Traffic Control Connectivity,” said Horvath. “We are grateful to have the initial capital costs funded through the SBCCOG with Measure M Sub-regional funds, and the monthly costs by participating agencies at much reduced prices with enhanced services… saving taxpayer dollars.” “We are thrilled to be partnering with ADF, a leader in the fiber-optic development space. Their depth of experience and cost-effective approach was unmatched during this competitive bid process,” said Bacharach. The purpose of this project is to construct the regional fiber-optic broadband infrastructure to support enhancements for mobility and accessibility systems and networks that serve South Bay residents through services offered by their municipalities. The network will provide the necessary infrastructure to support: • Inter- as well as intra-city connectivity improvements; to transportation systems management; • Enhanced signal synchronization within and between participating cities; B-1 • Future transportation systems management applications for Autonomous Vehicles (AV). (High-speed and resilient broadband capacity will be necessary for vehicle-to-network and vehicle-to-vehicle communications for a safe and reliable AV transportation system); • Transportation demand management applications aiding “trips not taken” which can include: telecommuting (work-from-home for governments), “Smart” City Halls (municipal services for residents could be virtually provided), telemedicine (remote diagnostics, distributed doctor- patient video and audio interactions, transmission of large files, such as MRIs, scans, etc.), distance education (distributed, interactive instruction and video-intensive learning), and others. Implementation of these solutions will be driven by the individual cities and the two healthcare entities. American Dark Fiber’s track record of people-first technology solutions has made it Southern California’s leading company for telecommunications infrastructure development. Dark fiber is dedicated and “unmetered” connectivity and provides virtually unlimited bandwidth options once in place. SBCCOG and its member cities are in a unique position to benefit from the cost savings and scalability of this type of network infrastructure by creating an integrated and fiber-based regional network. This coordinated effort is far more cost effective and provides a safe and secure system that will benefit transportation systems across the region. As the system matures schools, families, hospitals, businesses, and critical agencies supporting public safety and emergency management will also benefit. ADF’s management team has over 30 years of experience developing critical telecommunications infrastructure and has developed nearly 3,000 miles of fiber in Southern California. This new project will put the power of that experience to work for the South Bay, delivering more secure, high-speed capacity to more people in more places within the region than ever before. “A network’s real value is connecting people to the things they need most - our goal is to drive “digital literacy” across the South Bay. Improving communications for transportation, emergency management, schools, libraries, and so much more, will improve the quality of life for residents and businesses in the South Bay for years to come,” ADF’s CEO, David Daigle said. “Our approach to telecom solutions for municipalities is to provide dedicated and scalable bandwidth that is secure and will dramatically lower costs. ADF builds the bandwidth bridges to help eliminate the ‘digital divide’ to empower those who need it the most.” ABOUT SOUTH BAY CITIES COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS: SBCCOG is a joint powers authority of 16 cities and the County of Los Angeles* that share the goal of maximizing the quality of life and productivity of the area. Within this structure, cities and the County maintain the qualities and characteristics that make them unique and independent, while also coming together collectively to address issues of common interest for a greater good of the communities – partnership, persuasion, performance, and advocacy. For more information about the SBCCOG visit: http://southbaycities.org ABOUT AMERICAN DARK FIBER: ADF is a licensed Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing secure, fast, and scalable dark fiber – the most cost-effective and secure means of high-speed network connectivity in the marketplace. With more than 30 years of experience in the telecom industry, ADF's executive team has been building fiber networks in California since the mid-1990s. ADF builds and operates fiber networks in the public rights of way (ROW ) and interconnects areas of acute demand to critical bandwidth supply nodes. ADF provides these networks to municipalities, data-center operators, enterprise users, anchor institutions, real estate developers, and more. For more information about American Dark Fiber visit: https://americandarkfiber.com/ ### B-2 20285 S. Western Ave., #100 Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 371-7222 sbccog@southbaycities.org www.southbaycities.org SBCCOG’s South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN) What is the “SBFN”? The South Bay Fiber Network is a dedicated fiber-optic system being developed for the use of the SBCCOG and its membership. The system will provide access points into all member cities, high-speed connectivity for carrier-grade internet service and point to point transport connections with a service level commitment of 99.99% system availability. Also included will be the Beach Cities Health District, LA BioMed, the South Bay Workforce Investment Board, LA Metro and the LA County Dept. of Public Works (last 2 not shown in the diagram).The core network is protected via ring architecture which will automatically re-route traffic in the event of a system disruption. Bandwidth availability starts with 1 gigabit (Gb) service and will scale to 2 Gb, 10 Gb, and higher speeds as members require. The system will also have two diverse internet “hubs” or “points of presence” (“POP”) interconnected to it located at world-class data-centers in El Segundo and Hawthorne. Who will build the network? A team led by American Dark Fiber (ADF) won the competition to assemble the network from existing fiber systems owned by wholesale providers, construct new elements to close the gaps, maintain the network, and provide customer service. The ADF team includes HP Communications to manage new construction and Race Communications to provide customer service. All capital costs for the initial South Bay buildings will be paid for by the SBCCOG with Measure M Subregional Funds. The participating agencies will pay NO capital costs. Where does the SBFN Go? ADF’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) partner, Race Communications, will distribute its internet services to the SBCCOG network participants from the points of presence as stated above. The map below shows the general routing that is expected to be operational by June of 2020. C-1 How is the Network Configured? The primary system, as generally shown above, will include a ring-based network with lateral connections from each building interconnected to the ring. The SBCCOG initially identified primary 55 node locations (i.e., city halls, parks, public safety nodes, etc.) that ADF has modeled for delivery to the membership. Buildings will be connected via fiber-optic lateral extensions from the ring to an address where service(s) are ordered. SBCCOG members can add new buildings to the network as desired (additional costs may apply). ADF expects to extend services to new SBCCOG-member locations and affiliates (i.e., municipal anchors, NGO’s, and other locations) that are located within the region. What are the initial price points for service on the network? ADF and its service provider (Race Communications) have created a menu of services for the SBCCOG membership and participating agencies. The services include dedicated internet connectivity and/or point-to-point “transport” service connections. The ADF-led team has developed special price points for the initial participants that start with Internet pricing of $1000/month for 1 Gb level of service. Additional service levels are available (i.e., 2 Gb, 10 Gb, etc.) as needed by respective COG members and participating agencies. ADF has also provided price-protection by including automatic price reviews as additional buildings get connected or after set periods have elapsed (i.e., every 3-years). The baseline circuit costs include the costs of the underlying SBFN- ring and connections to the IP POP’s (located in El Segundo and Hawthorne). SBCCOG “SBFN” Service Pricing Schedule Service Speed Internet Pricing Transport Pricing 1 Gb (1000 Mbps) $1,000/mo. $ 900/mo. 2 Gb (2000 Mbps) $2,000/mo. $1,800/mo. 10 GB (10000 Mbps) $2,750/mo. $2,475.00 Other (i.e., 40Gb, 100 Gb, etc.) ICB ICB ICB = Individual Case Basis priced to be negotiated with the SBCCOG subject to core network upgrade to 100 Gb Additionally, SBCCOG member price points will drop by 5% after the aggregate monthly revenue from a combination of internet and transport services provided to SBCCOG members exceeds $55,000. Further price reviews (for reductions) would continue periodically over time. What benefits does the SBCCOG and its member’s get from the system? Aside from incredibly low pricing of high- speed internet services:  Additional low-cost broadband capacity will allow participating agencies to: o Create resiliency for IT services (i.e. emergency preparedness and data back-up) o Efficiently use cloud-based software applications for day to day business o Provide necessary IT capacity for future video and audio-based municipal software applications o Provide for shared municipal software platforms with other public agencies  On-line permitting or applications with Los Angeles County  Sub-regional GIS tools with other cities and the SBCCOG  Regional transportation and planning tools with Metro and LA County o Provide free municipal WIFI in public spaces, parks and buildings o Provide infrastructure that may be developed for commercial and residential use Having high-speed broadband available throughout the SBCCOG-region will be an economic driver. ADF and its team will coordinate with the SBCCOG and its membership to actively leverage the network for maximum economic development purposes (providing advanced high-speed services at low-cost/wholesale rates) throughout the region. C-2 65 Summer 2017 A quarterly bulletin to inform local leaders of subregional progress and alert them to emerging issues Published by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Governing Board: Chair Kurt Weideman Torrance 1st Vice Chair Britt Huff Rolling Hills Estates 2nd Vice Chair Christian Horvath Redondo Beach Immediate Past Chair James Osborne Lawndale Members: Carson County of LA El Segundo Gardena Hawthorne Hermosa Beach Inglewood Lawndale Lomita Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Palos Verdes Estates Rancho Palos Verdes Redondo Beach Rolling Hills Rolling Hills Estates Torrance SBCCOG Executive Director Jacki Bacharach Legal Counsel Michael Jenkins Jenkins & Hogin LLP Website: www.southbaycities.org South Bay Environmental Services Center: www.sbesc.com WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE?WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE? Streets, sewers, light poles, water distribution, bridges and tunnels are what most people think of as a city’s infrastructure. Today, telecommunications networks, especially connections to the Internet, must also be considered essential components of the South Bay’s infrastructure. And like the other components, there are wide variations in quality and performance. Last year, the SBCCOG in collaboration with the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) commissioned a study of the South Bay’s network infrastructure. The results are now in and can be found at www.southbaycities.org The study completed by leading consulting ﬁ rm, Magellan Advisors, came to the following conclusions: • It is inefﬁ cient and expensive for cities to purchase network services individually at retail prices as they do now. • The network infrastructure and the services cities currently consume are far from world class and even below the standards necessary to retain or attract certain business types. • The current market place provides few options for businesses or residents. • The system of technology vendors is complex so that a much deeper knowledge-base is needed for cities to make informed decisions about the future. In order to address these conditions, the SBCCOG is in the process of developing an integrated ﬁ ber backbone network that will collect or aggregate the data trafﬁ c generated by each city so that the cities can purchase together at wholesale prices. In this way the same expenditures will purchase more network capacity and speed, both of which will be required for a new generation of services and applications that are here now and will continue to roll out over the next few years. To name just a few examples, most computer software is being sold as a “cloud” based service which requires fast connections to the Internet for even basic programs such as Microsoft Ofﬁ ce Suite. Free WiFi around public parks and libraries requires extraordinary amounts of network capacity to function efﬁ ciently. 5G cell networks are coming and they will require high capacity networks for transmitting the data each tower collects to the Internet. And of course technologies on the horizon like Virtual Reality will multiply the demand for data transport. In order to advance the ﬁ ber backbone network initiative, the SBCCOG and SBWIB are seeking funding that will pay for the development of educational materials. Elected ofﬁ cials, other municipal decision makers, Chambers of Commerce, other business community leaders, and educational institutions are the targets. The next step will be to collect support letters from each city that express interest in the ﬁ ber network at the right service level and price. These letters won’t commit the city to participate in the network but will allow the SBCCOG to issue a request for proposals so that we can ﬁ nd out what this collaborative effort can yield in terms of cost and service. The SBCCOG’s release of request for proposals will be followed by evaluation of the best teams and technologies by a committee of city staff members. The winner will be awarded a contract to develop the ﬁ ber backbone, the ﬁ rst step toward assembling a world class network infrastructure for the South Bay cities. The initial feasibility study was funded by the SBWIB. The SBCCOG is hopeful that this collaboration is the ﬁ rst of many that can beneﬁ t South Bay cities, businesses and the work force. For further information, contact SBCCOG at 310-371-7222 SBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCESBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATEINVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATE ON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEEDON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESSINTERNET ACCESS C A L E N D A RCALENDAR All meetings are open to the public August 8 GIS Working Group 9 Infrastructure Working Group 14 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 17 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 24 Board of Directors 30 Short Term Rental Task Force September 11 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 12 GIS Working Group 13 Infrastructure Working Group Homeless Services Committee 26 Senior Services Working Group 28 Board of Directors October 5 Social Media Working Group 9 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 10 GIS Working Group 11 Infrastructure Working Group 12 Legislative Brieﬁ ng 19 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 26 Board of Directors Contact jacki@southbaycities.org for further information. Published 7/25/17 We have seen many large organizations entering the virtual reality market such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft. …So, given the hype we decided that we would try it in our ofﬁ ce for the day! The VR experience really felt like you were in a different world. The combination of graphics, sound and being immersed into the story-line, made it an experience like no other. One aspect of the VR headset that I thought was extraordinary was the full 360 visuals, where you can explore the surroundings and environment. The headset and controls monitors your movements and the response is remarkable, any slight movement you make is imitated through the VR headset. … It is clear that virtual reality will have a strong impact on several industries in the future. Virtual reality will become even more accessible within everyday jobs with people using it for medical training, new building designs, training and learning and other experiences. 1. Training and Learning Virtual reality will see an increase of usage especially within training and learning settings. This includes a range of different sectors from education to healthcare to large corporations. Education establishments can use VR to engage their students and instead of explaining stories or scenarios, students will now be able to experience them. Businesses can use VR for training purposes such as creating training experiences for pilots, engineers or for physical and mental training. Assessors or training managers will also be able to gain feedback from the technology on the progress of employees. The opportunities of VR within the learning/training environments are plentiful. 2. Healthcare Virtual reality technology has already been embraced by the healthcare industry for these reasons: helping doctors visualize operational procedures, helping to cure stress related syndromes and for medical training experiences. A doctor in the United States used a Google VR cardboard to help map out an operation and it helped save a baby’s life. The doctors who needed to perform open heart surgery on the baby could see every angle of the baby’s heart on the images through the VR headset. … 3. Recruitment Lloyds Banking Group are planning a new scheme to use VR as a way of assessing candidates for jobs within their interview process. This shows how organizations are embracing new technologies and using it to beneﬁ t them and their employees (or future employees in this circumstance). This new scheme will assess candidates through virtual situations to see how they react within certain tasks or scenarios. 4. Tourism Instead of viewing pictures of your next holiday destination or hotel, imagine if you could experience the holiday before booking it. Well, now you can explore hotels and destinations within a virtual reality setting without even moving from your seat. You can see the full 360 degree videos of the hotels or destination and move around the surroundings to feel like you are there. The ‘try before you buy’ tool can now (to some extent) be applied to the tourism industry. 5. Meetings and Everyday Communication The future of your conference calls or meetings could well be in a virtual reality world. … Imagine if you could see the whole room through the 360 degrees immersive content on a VR headset and really feel like you are in the same meeting room. VR could change the ways we communicate and interact with each other within meetings. By Ben Waugh, Marketing Coordinator for Meetoo, a live polling and messaging app. Excerpted from article: www.meetoo.com/blog/2016/the-future-of-the-virtual reality-world SBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCESBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCE ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETYENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY IN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGYIN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGY In early July, members of the SBCCOG GIS Working Group participated in the annual Esri User Conference, “Applying the Science of Where”. Shown in the conference Map Gallery with their work are GIS city professionals (left to right): Alex Rocco, Carson (“City of Carson Health Hazards Atlas”); Sunny Lai, Torrance (“One Mile One Charge”); Bonnie Shrewsbury, Manhattan Beach (“GIS Supports New IT Initiatives”); Lina Nguyen, Rancho Palos Verdes (“GIS Web Maps For the Public”); Michael McDaniel; El Segundo (“Retirement in the South Bay”); Pei-San Tsai, Port of LA (“Decades of LA Waterfront Development”); Abiola Fanu, Inglewood; Sonali Tambe, Hermosa Beach (“Art in Hermosa Beach”); Stephen Lavey, Torrance. Not pictured: Ryan Tucker, Redondo Beach, Elsa Moreno, Inglewood, Jinho Kang, West Basin Municipal Water District. The quarterly South Bay WatchThe quarterly South Bay Watch is available electronicallyis available electronically by email or atby email or at www.southbaycities.org.www.southbaycities.org. To receive by email, please sendTo receive by email, please send your email address toyour email address to sbccog@southbaycities.orgsbccog@southbaycities.org As part of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) updated Public Safety Strategic Plan, one of the strategies the City continues to expand is utilizing technology to make neighborhoods safer. With more and more residents using smartphones these days, it makes sense to pursue public safety initiatives that allow residents to use and enhance the capabilities of technology that they already have access to. Ring has become a leader in the ﬁ eld of doorbell security cameras, which local law enforcement has increasingly found to be a useful form of technology in crime prevention and crime solving efforts. Ring’s mission is to reduce crime in communities and their security camera devices allow homeowners to monitor their property from a smartphone, tablet or PC. Ring devices also include built-in microphones and speakers, so that homeowners can see, hear and speak to anyone on their property from anywhere. Homeowners can then easily share videos with neighbors and with law enforcement. Using these capabilities, homeowners can essentially form Ring “neighborhoods” as a public safety tool to build upon existing Neighborhood Watch efforts for the digital age. In recognition of the potential value of doorbell security cameras, RPV and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department negotiated with Ring.com to provide RPV residents with a discount on select devices. In addition to the discount offered directly by Ring, RPV also offered a limited number of $50-per-household incentives. As a testament to the City Council’s belief in this program, $100,000 was allocated for City incentives. Another way RPV residents can utilize existing technology to keep their neighborhoods safe is by reporting grafﬁ ti using their smartphones. In 2015, the City joined forces with its 24/7 grafﬁ ti cleanup contractor, Grafﬁ ti Protective Coatings (GPC), and launched the “myRPV” app. The “myRPV” app allows residents to photograph and report grafﬁ ti on City streets and other public property. The reports are tracked in real-time, shared with City Staff and the Sheriff’s Department, and responded to by GPC - generally within 24 hours. The rapid response and cleanup afforded by the “myRPV” app provides residents with a means to remain engaged and connected with the City. Based upon their successes to date, the RPV City Council, Staff and the Sheriff’s Department are committed to making their neigh borhoods safer through the strategic use technology to assist in these efforts. For additional information about public safety programs, please contact Jacqueline Ruiz, Administrative Analyst in the City Manager’s Ofﬁ ce, at (310) 544-5305 or jruiz@rpvca.gov. For additional information about the myRPV app please contact City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Works department at (310) 544-5252. D-1 32 4 SBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FORSBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING,ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING, GARDENING AND PEST CONTROLGARDENING AND PEST CONTROL HERMOSA BEACHHERMOSA BEACH TRANSFORMS SOUTH PARKTRANSFORMS SOUTH PARK South Park, the South Bay’s ﬁ rst universally accessible and natural playground, re-opened in January of 2016 after Phase 1 of completed renovations. Since then, the park has been a favorite for children of all ages and abilities and is often ﬁ lled with the excitement of children on any given day. The opening marked a milestone of an eight-year commitment by dedicated and hard-working members of the community to create a re-modeled park space where children of all abilities could safely play. Not only is the park accessible, it was designed and built with a natural focus, bringing a one-of-a-kind park experience to Hermosa Beach and the South Bay! Throughout 2015, South Park was transformed, due in large part from a $150,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District, from an empty ﬁ eld with a concrete skate rink into a children’s natural play space that includes a built-in hill slide, sensory huts, climbing features, playground equipment and a community garden. Many of the park design elements stemmed from ideas provided by children at View and Valley schools, making this project a true community effort. The Community Garden is bustling with vegetables, fruit and other fresh food, all of which are grown by residents of Hermosa Beach and coordinated through the Hermosa Beach Community Garden group. Looking ahead, there will be an additional exterior youth garden where children will have the opportunity to learn and experience the planting and upkeep process of this portion of the garden, which will also include sensory beneﬁ ts for visitors through the plants that will be carefully selected for planting. In 2016, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District awarded the City an additional $300,000 grant towards continuing renovations of the park space, which allowed work on Phase II to begin. This additional funding goes towards shade structures, park benches, picnic tables and improvements to the adjacent parking lot, which will be completed in 2017. Additionally, 10% of the funds will go towards the funding of an employment program for at-risk youth per a City Council resolution and requirement of the grant. In addition to grant and city funds, this project is also funded through tax-deductible donations ranging from brick purchases ($250 each) to monetary donations earmarked for speciﬁ c equipment. New equipment and park amenities are being added as funding becomes available, so this park is quickly becoming a gem in the South Bay for visitors of all ages. South Park is located at 425 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. For more information contact the Hermosa Beach Public Works Department at (310) 318-0214. Transitioning to more environmentally friendly landscaping and pest control methods beneﬁ ts ﬁ sh and wildlife in and around local waterbodies here in the South Bay. Designing and planting a landscape that minimizes the need for fertilizers and pesticides can go a long way in creating a beautiful and productive garden. With that in mind, SBCCOG has launched a new online resource: “ Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control”. This new web-based program provides links and tips to the most effective and least toxic ways to maintain landscapes and manage pests, while ensuring the protection of the local environment. South Bay homeowners and gardeners can learn about important environmentally friendly landscaping practices such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a tiered strategy that uses a combination of methods for preventing and controlling common household pests while minimizing the risks to people and the environment. Preferred IPM methods include barriers and other types of physical controls, and biological and cultural methods—only deploying targeted chemical control as a last resort. IPM can be used to manage all kinds of pests such as weeds, insects, and rodents; taking into account the type of pest, its biology, and environmental factors to determine the most appropriate management strategy. The “Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control” webpages also provide access to a “California Friendly Landscape” garden guide; list best management practices for using pesticides and fertilizers; talk about backyard composting and more. To learn more about these topics please visit: http://southbaycities.org/programs/environmentally-friendly- landscaping-gardening-and-pest-control. Find SBESC at www.sbesc.com Find SBCCOG at www.southbaycities.org SANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESSSANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESS AGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREAGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE The Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Sanitation Districts) operate and maintain the main sewer system designed to collect and treat the wastewater (sewage) from over 5 million people in the Los Angeles basin. This system is known as the Joint Outfall System and a critical component is the tunnel and outfall system that conveys treated wastewater from the Sanitation Districts’ largest treatment plant (the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (JWPCP) in Carson) to the ocean. The treated water meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements and the tunnel and outfall system provides for ocean discharge in an environmentally protective manner. CLEARWATER TUNNEL PROJECT In 2006, the Sanitation Districts began a multi-year planning effort called the Clearwater Program to identify needed improvements to the Joint Outfall System through the year 2050. This effort included over 500 public meetings to inform the public and solicit input. In 2012, the Sanitation Districts Board of Directors approved the Clearwater Program and its Environmental Impact Report. The approved program includes constructing a new tunnel to address critical aging infrastructure and enable the Sanitation Districts to continue providing safe and reliable wastewater treatment. Twenty-one tunnel alignments were evaluated and the selected route would result in the least environmental impacts as well as the lowest cost. The existing tunnels (12- and 8-feet in diameter) are 60 and 80 years old, respectively, and are nearing the end of their service life. The existing tunnels are not built to current seismic (earthquake) standards and traverse two earthquake faults. Because the tunnels are interconnected and routine ﬂ ow exceeds the capacity of the smaller tunnel, the tunnels cannot be removed from service for inspection or repair. Additionally, during heavy rains, water enters the sewer system causing higher than normal ﬂ ows. The capacity of the existing tunnels was almost exceeded twice during storms in the last two decades, most recently in January 2017. The new tunnel will be built to current seismic standards and have sufﬁ cient capacity to accommodate peak storm ﬂ ows. The new tunnel will be 7-miles long, running from the JWPCP to Royal Palms Beach for connection to the existing ocean outfalls. The tunnel alignment is mostly under public rights-of-way (streets). Depending on the overlying topography, the tunnel is between 30 and 450 feet below ground surface. Construction is anticipated to start in 2018 at the JWPCP, where a shaft will be built to lower the tunnel boring machine. All soil excavated during tunneling will be removed at this shaft. The tunnel will end at Royal Palms Beach and be connected to the existing ocean outfalls by modifying an existing underground structure. A shaft will temporarily be constructed here to remove the tunnel boring machine. The work at Royal Palms Beach is anticipated to start in 2023 and ﬁ nish in 2025. After construction, the site and parking lot will be restored to pre-construction conditions. Most of the remaining work will be underground. One exception is monitoring devices and ancillary equipment that will be installed in or near the streets overlying the tunnel alignment to ensure safe tunneling. The Sanitation Districts are starting a new round of public outreach at the end of July 2017. For more information, contact Mr. Glenn Acosta, Senior Engineer with the Sanitation Districts, at 562-908-4288, extension 2304, or gacosta@lacsd.org. South Bay elected ofﬁ cials with Sheriff McDonnell (left to right): Dan Reid (Lawndale); Jim Goodhart (former Councilman, Palos Verdes Estates); Frank Zerunyan (Rolling Hills Estates); David Lesser (Manhattan Beach); Suzanne Fuentes (El Segundo); Britt Huff (Rolling Hills Estates); Jeff Duclos (Hermosa Beach), Bea Dieringer (Rolling Hills); Kurt Weideman (Torrance); Sheriff McDonnell, Anthony Misetich (RPV); Jim Osborne, SBCCOG Chair (Lawndale), Bernadette Suarez (Lawndale), Christian Horvath (Redondo Beach); Olivia Valentine (Hawthorne); Lula Davis-Holmes (Carson) David Riccitiello (for Dist 2 Sup. Ridley-Thomas); Dan Medina (Gardena); Erika Velazquez (for Dist 4 Sup. Hahn); Jim Gazeley (Lomita). At the May 25, 2017 SBCCOG Board of Directors’ meeting, Chair Jim Osborne and the SBCCOG Board members welcomed Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell. Sheriff McDonnell gave an update on current crime related issues facing Los Angeles County including signiﬁ cant impacts he sees occurring for local city/county jails and communities as a result of the passage of recent legislation, including AB 109 and Propositions 47 and 57. Sheriff McDonnell urged local governments to partner with law enforcement in advocating regarding crime legislation. WELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELLWELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELL D-2 32 4 SBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FORSBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING,ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING, GARDENING AND PEST CONTROLGARDENING AND PEST CONTROL HERMOSA BEACHHERMOSA BEACH TRANSFORMS SOUTH PARKTRANSFORMS SOUTH PARK South Park, the South Bay’s ﬁ rst universally accessible and natural playground, re-opened in January of 2016 after Phase 1 of completed renovations. Since then, the park has been a favorite for children of all ages and abilities and is often ﬁ lled with the excitement of children on any given day. The opening marked a milestone of an eight-year commitment by dedicated and hard-working members of the community to create a re-modeled park space where children of all abilities could safely play. Not only is the park accessible, it was designed and built with a natural focus, bringing a one-of-a-kind park experience to Hermosa Beach and the South Bay! Throughout 2015, South Park was transformed, due in large part from a $150,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District, from an empty ﬁ eld with a concrete skate rink into a children’s natural play space that includes a built-in hill slide, sensory huts, climbing features, playground equipment and a community garden. Many of the park design elements stemmed from ideas provided by children at View and Valley schools, making this project a true community effort. The Community Garden is bustling with vegetables, fruit and other fresh food, all of which are grown by residents of Hermosa Beach and coordinated through the Hermosa Beach Community Garden group. Looking ahead, there will be an additional exterior youth garden where children will have the opportunity to learn and experience the planting and upkeep process of this portion of the garden, which will also include sensory beneﬁ ts for visitors through the plants that will be carefully selected for planting. In 2016, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District awarded the City an additional $300,000 grant towards continuing renovations of the park space, which allowed work on Phase II to begin. This additional funding goes towards shade structures, park benches, picnic tables and improvements to the adjacent parking lot, which will be completed in 2017. Additionally, 10% of the funds will go towards the funding of an employment program for at-risk youth per a City Council resolution and requirement of the grant. In addition to grant and city funds, this project is also funded through tax-deductible donations ranging from brick purchases ($250 each) to monetary donations earmarked for speciﬁ c equipment. New equipment and park amenities are being added as funding becomes available, so this park is quickly becoming a gem in the South Bay for visitors of all ages. South Park is located at 425 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. For more information contact the Hermosa Beach Public Works Department at (310) 318-0214. Transitioning to more environmentally friendly landscaping and pest control methods beneﬁ ts ﬁ sh and wildlife in and around local waterbodies here in the South Bay. Designing and planting a landscape that minimizes the need for fertilizers and pesticides can go a long way in creating a beautiful and productive garden. With that in mind, SBCCOG has launched a new online resource: “ Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control”. This new web-based program provides links and tips to the most effective and least toxic ways to maintain landscapes and manage pests, while ensuring the protection of the local environment. South Bay homeowners and gardeners can learn about important environmentally friendly landscaping practices such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a tiered strategy that uses a combination of methods for preventing and controlling common household pests while minimizing the risks to people and the environment. Preferred IPM methods include barriers and other types of physical controls, and biological and cultural methods—only deploying targeted chemical control as a last resort. IPM can be used to manage all kinds of pests such as weeds, insects, and rodents; taking into account the type of pest, its biology, and environmental factors to determine the most appropriate management strategy. The “Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control” webpages also provide access to a “California Friendly Landscape” garden guide; list best management practices for using pesticides and fertilizers; talk about backyard composting and more. To learn more about these topics please visit: http://southbaycities.org/programs/environmentally-friendly- landscaping-gardening-and-pest-control. Find SBESC at www.sbesc.com Find SBCCOG at www.southbaycities.org SANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESSSANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESS AGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREAGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE The Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Sanitation Districts) operate and maintain the main sewer system designed to collect and treat the wastewater (sewage) from over 5 million people in the Los Angeles basin. This system is known as the Joint Outfall System and a critical component is the tunnel and outfall system that conveys treated wastewater from the Sanitation Districts’ largest treatment plant (the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (JWPCP) in Carson) to the ocean. The treated water meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements and the tunnel and outfall system provides for ocean discharge in an environmentally protective manner. CLEARWATER TUNNEL PROJECT In 2006, the Sanitation Districts began a multi-year planning effort called the Clearwater Program to identify needed improvements to the Joint Outfall System through the year 2050. This effort included over 500 public meetings to inform the public and solicit input. In 2012, the Sanitation Districts Board of Directors approved the Clearwater Program and its Environmental Impact Report. The approved program includes constructing a new tunnel to address critical aging infrastructure and enable the Sanitation Districts to continue providing safe and reliable wastewater treatment. Twenty-one tunnel alignments were evaluated and the selected route would result in the least environmental impacts as well as the lowest cost. The existing tunnels (12- and 8-feet in diameter) are 60 and 80 years old, respectively, and are nearing the end of their service life. The existing tunnels are not built to current seismic (earthquake) standards and traverse two earthquake faults. Because the tunnels are interconnected and routine ﬂ ow exceeds the capacity of the smaller tunnel, the tunnels cannot be removed from service for inspection or repair. Additionally, during heavy rains, water enters the sewer system causing higher than normal ﬂ ows. The capacity of the existing tunnels was almost exceeded twice during storms in the last two decades, most recently in January 2017. The new tunnel will be built to current seismic standards and have sufﬁ cient capacity to accommodate peak storm ﬂ ows. The new tunnel will be 7-miles long, running from the JWPCP to Royal Palms Beach for connection to the existing ocean outfalls. The tunnel alignment is mostly under public rights-of-way (streets). Depending on the overlying topography, the tunnel is between 30 and 450 feet below ground surface. Construction is anticipated to start in 2018 at the JWPCP, where a shaft will be built to lower the tunnel boring machine. All soil excavated during tunneling will be removed at this shaft. The tunnel will end at Royal Palms Beach and be connected to the existing ocean outfalls by modifying an existing underground structure. A shaft will temporarily be constructed here to remove the tunnel boring machine. The work at Royal Palms Beach is anticipated to start in 2023 and ﬁ nish in 2025. After construction, the site and parking lot will be restored to pre-construction conditions. Most of the remaining work will be underground. One exception is monitoring devices and ancillary equipment that will be installed in or near the streets overlying the tunnel alignment to ensure safe tunneling. The Sanitation Districts are starting a new round of public outreach at the end of July 2017. For more information, contact Mr. Glenn Acosta, Senior Engineer with the Sanitation Districts, at 562-908-4288, extension 2304, or gacosta@lacsd.org. South Bay elected ofﬁ cials with Sheriff McDonnell (left to right): Dan Reid (Lawndale); Jim Goodhart (former Councilman, Palos Verdes Estates); Frank Zerunyan (Rolling Hills Estates); David Lesser (Manhattan Beach); Suzanne Fuentes (El Segundo); Britt Huff (Rolling Hills Estates); Jeff Duclos (Hermosa Beach), Bea Dieringer (Rolling Hills); Kurt Weideman (Torrance); Sheriff McDonnell, Anthony Misetich (RPV); Jim Osborne, SBCCOG Chair (Lawndale), Bernadette Suarez (Lawndale), Christian Horvath (Redondo Beach); Olivia Valentine (Hawthorne); Lula Davis-Holmes (Carson) David Riccitiello (for Dist 2 Sup. Ridley-Thomas); Dan Medina (Gardena); Erika Velazquez (for Dist 4 Sup. Hahn); Jim Gazeley (Lomita). At the May 25, 2017 SBCCOG Board of Directors’ meeting, Chair Jim Osborne and the SBCCOG Board members welcomed Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell. Sheriff McDonnell gave an update on current crime related issues facing Los Angeles County including signiﬁ cant impacts he sees occurring for local city/county jails and communities as a result of the passage of recent legislation, including AB 109 and Propositions 47 and 57. Sheriff McDonnell urged local governments to partner with law enforcement in advocating regarding crime legislation. WELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELLWELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELL D-3 32 4 SBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FORSBCCOG LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING,ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING, GARDENING AND PEST CONTROLGARDENING AND PEST CONTROL HERMOSA BEACHHERMOSA BEACH TRANSFORMS SOUTH PARKTRANSFORMS SOUTH PARK South Park, the South Bay’s ﬁ rst universally accessible and natural playground, re-opened in January of 2016 after Phase 1 of completed renovations. Since then, the park has been a favorite for children of all ages and abilities and is often ﬁ lled with the excitement of children on any given day. The opening marked a milestone of an eight-year commitment by dedicated and hard-working members of the community to create a re-modeled park space where children of all abilities could safely play. Not only is the park accessible, it was designed and built with a natural focus, bringing a one-of-a-kind park experience to Hermosa Beach and the South Bay! Throughout 2015, South Park was transformed, due in large part from a $150,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District, from an empty ﬁ eld with a concrete skate rink into a children’s natural play space that includes a built-in hill slide, sensory huts, climbing features, playground equipment and a community garden. Many of the park design elements stemmed from ideas provided by children at View and Valley schools, making this project a true community effort. The Community Garden is bustling with vegetables, fruit and other fresh food, all of which are grown by residents of Hermosa Beach and coordinated through the Hermosa Beach Community Garden group. Looking ahead, there will be an additional exterior youth garden where children will have the opportunity to learn and experience the planting and upkeep process of this portion of the garden, which will also include sensory beneﬁ ts for visitors through the plants that will be carefully selected for planting. In 2016, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District awarded the City an additional $300,000 grant towards continuing renovations of the park space, which allowed work on Phase II to begin. This additional funding goes towards shade structures, park benches, picnic tables and improvements to the adjacent parking lot, which will be completed in 2017. Additionally, 10% of the funds will go towards the funding of an employment program for at-risk youth per a City Council resolution and requirement of the grant. In addition to grant and city funds, this project is also funded through tax-deductible donations ranging from brick purchases ($250 each) to monetary donations earmarked for speciﬁ c equipment. New equipment and park amenities are being added as funding becomes available, so this park is quickly becoming a gem in the South Bay for visitors of all ages. South Park is located at 425 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. For more information contact the Hermosa Beach Public Works Department at (310) 318-0214. Transitioning to more environmentally friendly landscaping and pest control methods beneﬁ ts ﬁ sh and wildlife in and around local waterbodies here in the South Bay. Designing and planting a landscape that minimizes the need for fertilizers and pesticides can go a long way in creating a beautiful and productive garden. With that in mind, SBCCOG has launched a new online resource: “ Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control”. This new web-based program provides links and tips to the most effective and least toxic ways to maintain landscapes and manage pests, while ensuring the protection of the local environment. South Bay homeowners and gardeners can learn about important environmentally friendly landscaping practices such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a tiered strategy that uses a combination of methods for preventing and controlling common household pests while minimizing the risks to people and the environment. Preferred IPM methods include barriers and other types of physical controls, and biological and cultural methods—only deploying targeted chemical control as a last resort. IPM can be used to manage all kinds of pests such as weeds, insects, and rodents; taking into account the type of pest, its biology, and environmental factors to determine the most appropriate management strategy. The “Environmentally Friendly Landscaping, Gardening and Pest Control” webpages also provide access to a “California Friendly Landscape” garden guide; list best management practices for using pesticides and fertilizers; talk about backyard composting and more. To learn more about these topics please visit: http://southbaycities.org/programs/environmentally-friendly- landscaping-gardening-and-pest-control. Find SBESC at www.sbesc.com Find SBCCOG at www.southbaycities.org SANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESSSANITATION DISTRICTS ADDRESS AGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREAGING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE The Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Sanitation Districts) operate and maintain the main sewer system designed to collect and treat the wastewater (sewage) from over 5 million people in the Los Angeles basin. This system is known as the Joint Outfall System and a critical component is the tunnel and outfall system that conveys treated wastewater from the Sanitation Districts’ largest treatment plant (the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (JWPCP) in Carson) to the ocean. The treated water meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements and the tunnel and outfall system provides for ocean discharge in an environmentally protective manner. CLEARWATER TUNNEL PROJECT In 2006, the Sanitation Districts began a multi-year planning effort called the Clearwater Program to identify needed improvements to the Joint Outfall System through the year 2050. This effort included over 500 public meetings to inform the public and solicit input. In 2012, the Sanitation Districts Board of Directors approved the Clearwater Program and its Environmental Impact Report. The approved program includes constructing a new tunnel to address critical aging infrastructure and enable the Sanitation Districts to continue providing safe and reliable wastewater treatment. Twenty-one tunnel alignments were evaluated and the selected route would result in the least environmental impacts as well as the lowest cost. The existing tunnels (12- and 8-feet in diameter) are 60 and 80 years old, respectively, and are nearing the end of their service life. The existing tunnels are not built to current seismic (earthquake) standards and traverse two earthquake faults. Because the tunnels are interconnected and routine ﬂ ow exceeds the capacity of the smaller tunnel, the tunnels cannot be removed from service for inspection or repair. Additionally, during heavy rains, water enters the sewer system causing higher than normal ﬂ ows. The capacity of the existing tunnels was almost exceeded twice during storms in the last two decades, most recently in January 2017. The new tunnel will be built to current seismic standards and have sufﬁ cient capacity to accommodate peak storm ﬂ ows. The new tunnel will be 7-miles long, running from the JWPCP to Royal Palms Beach for connection to the existing ocean outfalls. The tunnel alignment is mostly under public rights-of-way (streets). Depending on the overlying topography, the tunnel is between 30 and 450 feet below ground surface. Construction is anticipated to start in 2018 at the JWPCP, where a shaft will be built to lower the tunnel boring machine. All soil excavated during tunneling will be removed at this shaft. The tunnel will end at Royal Palms Beach and be connected to the existing ocean outfalls by modifying an existing underground structure. A shaft will temporarily be constructed here to remove the tunnel boring machine. The work at Royal Palms Beach is anticipated to start in 2023 and ﬁ nish in 2025. After construction, the site and parking lot will be restored to pre-construction conditions. Most of the remaining work will be underground. One exception is monitoring devices and ancillary equipment that will be installed in or near the streets overlying the tunnel alignment to ensure safe tunneling. The Sanitation Districts are starting a new round of public outreach at the end of July 2017. For more information, contact Mr. Glenn Acosta, Senior Engineer with the Sanitation Districts, at 562-908-4288, extension 2304, or gacosta@lacsd.org. South Bay elected ofﬁ cials with Sheriff McDonnell (left to right): Dan Reid (Lawndale); Jim Goodhart (former Councilman, Palos Verdes Estates); Frank Zerunyan (Rolling Hills Estates); David Lesser (Manhattan Beach); Suzanne Fuentes (El Segundo); Britt Huff (Rolling Hills Estates); Jeff Duclos (Hermosa Beach), Bea Dieringer (Rolling Hills); Kurt Weideman (Torrance); Sheriff McDonnell, Anthony Misetich (RPV); Jim Osborne, SBCCOG Chair (Lawndale), Bernadette Suarez (Lawndale), Christian Horvath (Redondo Beach); Olivia Valentine (Hawthorne); Lula Davis-Holmes (Carson) David Riccitiello (for Dist 2 Sup. Ridley-Thomas); Dan Medina (Gardena); Erika Velazquez (for Dist 4 Sup. Hahn); Jim Gazeley (Lomita). At the May 25, 2017 SBCCOG Board of Directors’ meeting, Chair Jim Osborne and the SBCCOG Board members welcomed Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell. Sheriff McDonnell gave an update on current crime related issues facing Los Angeles County including signiﬁ cant impacts he sees occurring for local city/county jails and communities as a result of the passage of recent legislation, including AB 109 and Propositions 47 and 57. Sheriff McDonnell urged local governments to partner with law enforcement in advocating regarding crime legislation. WELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELLWELCOME SHERIFF MCDONNELL D-4 65 Summer 2017 A quarterly bulletin to inform local leaders of subregional progress and alert them to emerging issues Published by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Governing Board: Chair Kurt Weideman Torrance 1st Vice Chair Britt Huff Rolling Hills Estates 2nd Vice Chair Christian Horvath Redondo Beach Immediate Past Chair James Osborne Lawndale Members: Carson County of LA El Segundo Gardena Hawthorne Hermosa Beach Inglewood Lawndale Lomita Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Palos Verdes Estates Rancho Palos Verdes Redondo Beach Rolling Hills Rolling Hills Estates Torrance SBCCOG Executive Director Jacki Bacharach Legal Counsel Michael Jenkins Jenkins & Hogin LLP Website: www.southbaycities.org South Bay Environmental Services Center: www.sbesc.com WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE?WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE? Streets, sewers, light poles, water distribution, bridges and tunnels are what most people think of as a city’s infrastructure. Today, telecommunications networks, especially connections to the Internet, must also be considered essential components of the South Bay’s infrastructure. And like the other components, there are wide variations in quality and performance. Last year, the SBCCOG in collaboration with the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) commissioned a study of the South Bay’s network infrastructure. The results are now in and can be found at www.southbaycities.org The study completed by leading consulting ﬁ rm, Magellan Advisors, came to the following conclusions: • It is inefﬁ cient and expensive for cities to purchase network services individually at retail prices as they do now. • The network infrastructure and the services cities currently consume are far from world class and even below the standards necessary to retain or attract certain business types. • The current market place provides few options for businesses or residents. • The system of technology vendors is complex so that a much deeper knowledge-base is needed for cities to make informed decisions about the future. In order to address these conditions, the SBCCOG is in the process of developing an integrated ﬁ ber backbone network that will collect or aggregate the data trafﬁ c generated by each city so that the cities can purchase together at wholesale prices. In this way the same expenditures will purchase more network capacity and speed, both of which will be required for a new generation of services and applications that are here now and will continue to roll out over the next few years. To name just a few examples, most computer software is being sold as a “cloud” based service which requires fast connections to the Internet for even basic programs such as Microsoft Ofﬁ ce Suite. Free WiFi around public parks and libraries requires extraordinary amounts of network capacity to function efﬁ ciently. 5G cell networks are coming and they will require high capacity networks for transmitting the data each tower collects to the Internet. And of course technologies on the horizon like Virtual Reality will multiply the demand for data transport. In order to advance the ﬁ ber backbone network initiative, the SBCCOG and SBWIB are seeking funding that will pay for the development of educational materials. Elected ofﬁ cials, other municipal decision makers, Chambers of Commerce, other business community leaders, and educational institutions are the targets. The next step will be to collect support letters from each city that express interest in the ﬁ ber network at the right service level and price. These letters won’t commit the city to participate in the network but will allow the SBCCOG to issue a request for proposals so that we can ﬁ nd out what this collaborative effort can yield in terms of cost and service. The SBCCOG’s release of request for proposals will be followed by evaluation of the best teams and technologies by a committee of city staff members. The winner will be awarded a contract to develop the ﬁ ber backbone, the ﬁ rst step toward assembling a world class network infrastructure for the South Bay cities. The initial feasibility study was funded by the SBWIB. The SBCCOG is hopeful that this collaboration is the ﬁ rst of many that can beneﬁ t South Bay cities, businesses and the work force. For further information, contact SBCCOG at 310-371-7222 SBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCESBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATEINVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATE ON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEEDON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESSINTERNET ACCESS C A L E N D A RCALENDAR All meetings are open to the public August 8 GIS Working Group 9 Infrastructure Working Group 14 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 17 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 24 Board of Directors 30 Short Term Rental Task Force September 11 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 12 GIS Working Group 13 Infrastructure Working Group Homeless Services Committee 26 Senior Services Working Group 28 Board of Directors October 5 Social Media Working Group 9 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 10 GIS Working Group 11 Infrastructure Working Group 12 Legislative Brieﬁ ng 19 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 26 Board of Directors Contact jacki@southbaycities.org for further information. Published 7/25/17 We have seen many large organizations entering the virtual reality market such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft. …So, given the hype we decided that we would try it in our ofﬁ ce for the day! The VR experience really felt like you were in a different world. The combination of graphics, sound and being immersed into the story-line, made it an experience like no other. One aspect of the VR headset that I thought was extraordinary was the full 360 visuals, where you can explore the surroundings and environment. The headset and controls monitors your movements and the response is remarkable, any slight movement you make is imitated through the VR headset. … It is clear that virtual reality will have a strong impact on several industries in the future. Virtual reality will become even more accessible within everyday jobs with people using it for medical training, new building designs, training and learning and other experiences. 1. Training and Learning Virtual reality will see an increase of usage especially within training and learning settings. This includes a range of different sectors from education to healthcare to large corporations. Education establishments can use VR to engage their students and instead of explaining stories or scenarios, students will now be able to experience them. Businesses can use VR for training purposes such as creating training experiences for pilots, engineers or for physical and mental training. Assessors or training managers will also be able to gain feedback from the technology on the progress of employees. The opportunities of VR within the learning/training environments are plentiful. 2. Healthcare Virtual reality technology has already been embraced by the healthcare industry for these reasons: helping doctors visualize operational procedures, helping to cure stress related syndromes and for medical training experiences. A doctor in the United States used a Google VR cardboard to help map out an operation and it helped save a baby’s life. The doctors who needed to perform open heart surgery on the baby could see every angle of the baby’s heart on the images through the VR headset. … 3. Recruitment Lloyds Banking Group are planning a new scheme to use VR as a way of assessing candidates for jobs within their interview process. This shows how organizations are embracing new technologies and using it to beneﬁ t them and their employees (or future employees in this circumstance). This new scheme will assess candidates through virtual situations to see how they react within certain tasks or scenarios. 4. Tourism Instead of viewing pictures of your next holiday destination or hotel, imagine if you could experience the holiday before booking it. Well, now you can explore hotels and destinations within a virtual reality setting without even moving from your seat. You can see the full 360 degree videos of the hotels or destination and move around the surroundings to feel like you are there. The ‘try before you buy’ tool can now (to some extent) be applied to the tourism industry. 5. Meetings and Everyday Communication The future of your conference calls or meetings could well be in a virtual reality world. … Imagine if you could see the whole room through the 360 degrees immersive content on a VR headset and really feel like you are in the same meeting room. VR could change the ways we communicate and interact with each other within meetings. By Ben Waugh, Marketing Coordinator for Meetoo, a live polling and messaging app. Excerpted from article: www.meetoo.com/blog/2016/the-future-of-the-virtual reality-world SBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCESBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCE ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETYENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY IN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGYIN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGY In early July, members of the SBCCOG GIS Working Group participated in the annual Esri User Conference, “Applying the Science of Where”. Shown in the conference Map Gallery with their work are GIS city professionals (left to right): Alex Rocco, Carson (“City of Carson Health Hazards Atlas”); Sunny Lai, Torrance (“One Mile One Charge”); Bonnie Shrewsbury, Manhattan Beach (“GIS Supports New IT Initiatives”); Lina Nguyen, Rancho Palos Verdes (“GIS Web Maps For the Public”); Michael McDaniel, El Segundo (“Retirement in the South Bay”); Pei-San Tsai, Port of LA (“Decades of LA Waterfront Development”); Abiola Fanu, Inglewood; Sonali Tambe, Hermosa Beach (“Art in Hermosa Beach”); Stephen Lavey, Torrance. Not pictured: Ryan Tucker, Redondo Beach, Elsa Moreno, Inglewood, Jinho Kang, West Basin Municipal Water District. The quarterly South Bay WatchThe quarterly South Bay Watch is available electronicallyis available electronically by email or atby email or at www.southbaycities.org.www.southbaycities.org. To receive by email, please sendTo receive by email, please send your email address toyour email address to sbccog@southbaycities.orgsbccog@southbaycities.org As part of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) updated Public Safety Strategic Plan, one of the strategies the City continues to expand is utilizing technology to make neighborhoods safer. With more and more residents using smartphones these days, it makes sense to pursue public safety initiatives that allow residents to use and enhance the capabilities of technology that they already have access to. Ring has become a leader in the ﬁ eld of doorbell security cameras, which local law enforcement has increasingly found to be a useful form of technology in crime prevention and crime solving efforts. Ring’s mission is to reduce crime in communities and their security camera devices allow homeowners to monitor their property from a smartphone, tablet or PC. Ring devices also include built-in microphones and speakers, so that homeowners can see, hear and speak to anyone on their property from anywhere. Homeowners can then easily share videos with neighbors and with law enforcement. Using these capabilities, homeowners can essentially form Ring “neighborhoods” as a public safety tool to build upon existing Neighborhood Watch efforts for the digital age. In recognition of the potential value of doorbell security cameras, RPV and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department negotiated with Ring.com to provide RPV residents with a discount on select devices. In addition to the discount offered directly by Ring, RPV also offered a limited number of $50-per-household incentives. As a testament to the City Council’s belief in this program, $100,000 was allocated for City incentives. Another way RPV residents can utilize existing technology to keep their neighborhoods safe is by reporting grafﬁ ti using their smartphones. In 2015, the City joined forces with its 24/7 grafﬁ ti cleanup contractor, Grafﬁ ti Protective Coatings (GPC), and launched the “myRPV” app. The “myRPV” app allows residents to photograph and report grafﬁ ti on City streets and other public property. The reports are tracked in real-time, shared with City Staff and the Sheriff’s Department, and responded to by GPC - generally within 24 hours. The rapid response and cleanup afforded by the “myRPV” app provides residents with a means to remain engaged and connected with the City. Based upon their successes to date, the RPV City Council, Staff and the Sheriff’s Department are committed to making their neigh borhoods safer through the strategic use technology to assist in these efforts. For additional information about public safety programs, please contact Jacqueline Ruiz, Administrative Analyst in the City Manager’s Ofﬁ ce, at (310) 544-5305 or jruiz@rpvca.gov. For additional information about the myRPV app please contact City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Works department at (310) 544-5252. D-5 65 Summer 2017 A quarterly bulletin to inform local leaders of subregional progress and alert them to emerging issues Published by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Governing Board: Chair Kurt Weideman Torrance 1st Vice Chair Britt Huff Rolling Hills Estates 2nd Vice Chair Christian Horvath Redondo Beach Immediate Past Chair James Osborne Lawndale Members: Carson County of LA El Segundo Gardena Hawthorne Hermosa Beach Inglewood Lawndale Lomita Los Angeles Manhattan Beach Palos Verdes Estates Rancho Palos Verdes Redondo Beach Rolling Hills Rolling Hills Estates Torrance SBCCOG Executive Director Jacki Bacharach Legal Counsel Michael Jenkins Jenkins & Hogin LLP Website: www.southbaycities.org South Bay Environmental Services Center: www.sbesc.com WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE?WILL VIRTUAL REALITY BECOME PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE? Streets, sewers, light poles, water distribution, bridges and tunnels are what most people think of as a city’s infrastructure. Today, telecommunications networks, especially connections to the Internet, must also be considered essential components of the South Bay’s infrastructure. And like the other components, there are wide variations in quality and performance. Last year, the SBCCOG in collaboration with the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) commissioned a study of the South Bay’s network infrastructure. The results are now in and can be found at www.southbaycities.org The study completed by leading consulting ﬁ rm, Magellan Advisors, came to the following conclusions: • It is inefﬁ cient and expensive for cities to purchase network services individually at retail prices as they do now. • The network infrastructure and the services cities currently consume are far from world class and even below the standards necessary to retain or attract certain business types. • The current market place provides few options for businesses or residents. • The system of technology vendors is complex so that a much deeper knowledge-base is needed for cities to make informed decisions about the future. In order to address these conditions, the SBCCOG is in the process of developing an integrated ﬁ ber backbone network that will collect or aggregate the data trafﬁ c generated by each city so that the cities can purchase together at wholesale prices. In this way the same expenditures will purchase more network capacity and speed, both of which will be required for a new generation of services and applications that are here now and will continue to roll out over the next few years. To name just a few examples, most computer software is being sold as a “cloud” based service which requires fast connections to the Internet for even basic programs such as Microsoft Ofﬁ ce Suite. Free WiFi around public parks and libraries requires extraordinary amounts of network capacity to function efﬁ ciently. 5G cell networks are coming and they will require high capacity networks for transmitting the data each tower collects to the Internet. And of course technologies on the horizon like Virtual Reality will multiply the demand for data transport. In order to advance the ﬁ ber backbone network initiative, the SBCCOG and SBWIB are seeking funding that will pay for the development of educational materials. Elected ofﬁ cials, other municipal decision makers, Chambers of Commerce, other business community leaders, and educational institutions are the targets. The next step will be to collect support letters from each city that express interest in the ﬁ ber network at the right service level and price. These letters won’t commit the city to participate in the network but will allow the SBCCOG to issue a request for proposals so that we can ﬁ nd out what this collaborative effort can yield in terms of cost and service. The SBCCOG’s release of request for proposals will be followed by evaluation of the best teams and technologies by a committee of city staff members. The winner will be awarded a contract to develop the ﬁ ber backbone, the ﬁ rst step toward assembling a world class network infrastructure for the South Bay cities. The initial feasibility study was funded by the SBWIB. The SBCCOG is hopeful that this collaboration is the ﬁ rst of many that can beneﬁ t South Bay cities, businesses and the work force. For further information, contact SBCCOG at 310-371-7222 SBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCESBCCOG AND SOUTH BAY WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATEINVESTMENT BOARD COLLABORATE ON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEEDON SOUTH BAY HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESSINTERNET ACCESS C A L E N D A RCALENDAR All meetings are open to the public August 8 GIS Working Group 9 Infrastructure Working Group 14 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 17 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 24 Board of Directors 30 Short Term Rental Task Force September 11 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 12 GIS Working Group 13 Infrastructure Working Group Homeless Services Committee 26 Senior Services Working Group 28 Board of Directors October 5 Social Media Working Group 9 Steering Committee Transportation Committee 10 GIS Working Group 11 Infrastructure Working Group 12 Legislative Brieﬁ ng 19 Economic Development Directors’ Roundtable 26 Board of Directors Contact jacki@southbaycities.org for further information. Published 7/25/17 We have seen many large organizations entering the virtual reality market such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft. …So, given the hype we decided that we would try it in our ofﬁ ce for the day! The VR experience really felt like you were in a different world. The combination of graphics, sound and being immersed into the story-line, made it an experience like no other. One aspect of the VR headset that I thought was extraordinary was the full 360 visuals, where you can explore the surroundings and environment. The headset and controls monitors your movements and the response is remarkable, any slight movement you make is imitated through the VR headset. … It is clear that virtual reality will have a strong impact on several industries in the future. Virtual reality will become even more accessible within everyday jobs with people using it for medical training, new building designs, training and learning and other experiences. 1. Training and Learning Virtual reality will see an increase of usage especially within training and learning settings. This includes a range of different sectors from education to healthcare to large corporations. Education establishments can use VR to engage their students and instead of explaining stories or scenarios, students will now be able to experience them. Businesses can use VR for training purposes such as creating training experiences for pilots, engineers or for physical and mental training. Assessors or training managers will also be able to gain feedback from the technology on the progress of employees. The opportunities of VR within the learning/training environments are plentiful. 2. Healthcare Virtual reality technology has already been embraced by the healthcare industry for these reasons: helping doctors visualize operational procedures, helping to cure stress related syndromes and for medical training experiences. A doctor in the United States used a Google VR cardboard to help map out an operation and it helped save a baby’s life. The doctors who needed to perform open heart surgery on the baby could see every angle of the baby’s heart on the images through the VR headset. … 3. Recruitment Lloyds Banking Group are planning a new scheme to use VR as a way of assessing candidates for jobs within their interview process. This shows how organizations are embracing new technologies and using it to beneﬁ t them and their employees (or future employees in this circumstance). This new scheme will assess candidates through virtual situations to see how they react within certain tasks or scenarios. 4. Tourism Instead of viewing pictures of your next holiday destination or hotel, imagine if you could experience the holiday before booking it. Well, now you can explore hotels and destinations within a virtual reality setting without even moving from your seat. You can see the full 360 degree videos of the hotels or destination and move around the surroundings to feel like you are there. The ‘try before you buy’ tool can now (to some extent) be applied to the tourism industry. 5. Meetings and Everyday Communication The future of your conference calls or meetings could well be in a virtual reality world. … Imagine if you could see the whole room through the 360 degrees immersive content on a VR headset and really feel like you are in the same meeting room. VR could change the ways we communicate and interact with each other within meetings. By Ben Waugh, Marketing Coordinator for Meetoo, a live polling and messaging app. Excerpted from article: www.meetoo.com/blog/2016/the-future-of-the-virtual reality-world SBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCESBCCOG GIS WORKING GROUP REPRESENTS SOUTH BAY AT ESRI CONFERENCE ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETYENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY IN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGYIN RPV WITH TECHNOLOGY In early July, members of the SBCCOG GIS Working Group participated in the annual Esri User Conference, “Applying the Science of Where”. Shown in the conference Map Gallery with their work are GIS city professionals (left to right): Alex Rocco, Carson (“City of Carson Health Hazards Atlas”); Sunny Lai, Torrance (“One Mile One Charge”); Bonnie Shrewsbury, Manhattan Beach (“GIS Supports New IT Initiatives”); Lina Nguyen, Rancho Palos Verdes (“GIS Web Maps For the Public”); Michael McDaniel; El Segundo (“Retirement in the South Bay”); Pei-San Tsai, Port of LA (“Decades of LA Waterfront Development”); Abiola Fanu, Inglewood; Sonali Tambe, Hermosa Beach (“Art in Hermosa Beach”); Stephen Lavey, Torrance. Not pictured: Ryan Tucker, Redondo Beach, Elsa Moreno, Inglewood, Jinho Kang, West Basin Municipal Water District. The quarterly South Bay WatchThe quarterly South Bay Watch is available electronicallyis available electronically by email or atby email or at www.southbaycities.org.www.southbaycities.org. To receive by email, please sendTo receive by email, please send your email address toyour email address to sbccog@southbaycities.orgsbccog@southbaycities.org As part of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) updated Public Safety Strategic Plan, one of the strategies the City continues to expand is utilizing technology to make neighborhoods safer. With more and more residents using smartphones these days, it makes sense to pursue public safety initiatives that allow residents to use and enhance the capabilities of technology that they already have access to. Ring has become a leader in the ﬁ eld of doorbell security cameras, which local law enforcement has increasingly found to be a useful form of technology in crime prevention and crime solving efforts. Ring’s mission is to reduce crime in communities and their security camera devices allow homeowners to monitor their property from a smartphone, tablet or PC. Ring devices also include built-in microphones and speakers, so that homeowners can see, hear and speak to anyone on their property from anywhere. Homeowners can then easily share videos with neighbors and with law enforcement. Using these capabilities, homeowners can essentially form Ring “neighborhoods” as a public safety tool to build upon existing Neighborhood Watch efforts for the digital age. In recognition of the potential value of doorbell security cameras, RPV and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department negotiated with Ring.com to provide RPV residents with a discount on select devices. In addition to the discount offered directly by Ring, RPV also offered a limited number of $50-per-household incentives. As a testament to the City Council’s belief in this program, $100,000 was allocated for City incentives. Another way RPV residents can utilize existing technology to keep their neighborhoods safe is by reporting grafﬁ ti using their smartphones. In 2015, the City joined forces with its 24/7 grafﬁ ti cleanup contractor, Grafﬁ ti Protective Coatings (GPC), and launched the “myRPV” app. The “myRPV” app allows residents to photograph and report grafﬁ ti on City streets and other public property. The reports are tracked in real-time, shared with City Staff and the Sheriff’s Department, and responded to by GPC - generally within 24 hours. The rapid response and cleanup afforded by the “myRPV” app provides residents with a means to remain engaged and connected with the City. Based upon their successes to date, the RPV City Council, Staff and the Sheriff’s Department are committed to making their neigh borhoods safer through the strategic use technology to assist in these efforts. For additional information about public safety programs, please contact Jacqueline Ruiz, Administrative Analyst in the City Manager’s Ofﬁ ce, at (310) 544-5305 or jruiz@rpvca.gov. For additional information about the myRPV app please contact City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Works department at (310) 544-5252. D-6 TECHNOLOGY News Sports Entertainment Lifestyle Obituaries Opinion The Cannifornian Marketplace Services Why fiber optics is key to future Silicon Beach tech expansion In this Sept. 27, 2014 file photo, a man in a dress shirt and sport jacket skateboards his way along the V enice beach boardwalk in Los Angeles. The relocation of tech companies to Southern California is part of a growing movement of U.S. cities seeking to duplicate the formula that turned Northern California’s Silicon V alley, slightly south of San Francisco, into a mecca of society-shifting innovation and immense wealth. AP Photo/Richard Vogel/File By Sandy Mazza, Daily Breeze POSTED: 08/05/17, 6:57 PM PDT | UPDATED: 11 HRS AGO COMMENTS In the future, doctors will meet virtually with patients via video-conferencing apps linked to body sensors that can monitor health and detect ailments like never before. Libraries will serve as community high-tech centers and research-and-development hubs for young tech startups. Public safety officials will have digital eyes that can scan for lawbreakers in all public areas. And apps will direct autonomously driven vehicles to available parking spaces that double as electric- charging stations — and maybe even to elevators into an underground Hyperloop electric train network. Southern California stands to profit immensely from investment by tech companies building this future. But the wealth will continue to be unevenly distributed unless smaller, poorer cities can develop the light-speed communications infrastructure of Silicon Beach. A new study has found that fast, high-capacity fiber-optic lines — the current gold standard of internet connectivity — are hard to find in areas south and east of Playa Vista, Playa del Rey, Westchester, Santa Monica, Culver City, Venice and Manhattan Beach. That’s because the infrastructure is expensive to install and requires a major shift in thinking for many regions. Google, Snapchat, Yahoo!, Facebook and other major companies that are clustered in Silicon Beach are large enough to buy their own broadband communication systems — unlike smaller and home-based businesses. And, in some cases, large companies have partnered with the forward-thinking city governments that have installed fiber-optic communications infrastructure to support broadband availability. But, as Silicon Beach bleeds inland, tech-heavy companies are running up against a wall for quality internet access. Small and medium-size businesses are particularly vulnerable and are increasingly turning to local governments to complain or seek help.E-1 “For a while, we’ve been watching Silicon Beach move south,” said Jacki Bacharach, executive director of South Bay Council of Governments. “We’ve learned that, in general, they don’t have a lot of options — it’s very expensive and they don’t have a lot of gigabytes or whatever.” Bacharach is holding regular brown-bag meetings with community leaders to hasten the development of reliable broadband internet service. THE DEMAND: MORE BANDWIDTH FOR LESS The South Bay Workforce Investment Board and South Bay Council of Governments, two nonprofits dedicated to spurring regional job growth and modernizing government services, recently joined forces and commissioned a study on the issue, The South Bay Fiber-Optic Master Plan. Without government intervention, wealthy cities will continue to get richer and the poor poorer, according to the 100-page study of broadband availability by Denver-based Magellan Advisors. The consulting firm specializes in helping governments transition into “smart communities.” “A smart South Bay starts with the cities getting more bandwidth for less,” the Fiber-Optic Master Plan states. “The full vision is of high-tech companies starting up, relocating and growing across the South Bay.” Small local governments need to work together so they can all affordably build the infrastructure of the future now. A regional approach would prevent smaller, poorer cities from being left behind, the report states. “One of the things we’ve been trying to do is to get people to think of broadband as a utility. People can’t live without their broadband and their internet anymore — it’s like water and food,” said Chris Cagle, the South Bay Workforce Investment Board’s regional affairs manager. “If you’re a giant company, you have the money to build whatever you need. But if you’re midsize or smaller, you can’t afford to do that.” Regional leaders became especially alarmed about lack of broadband availability when they learned that aerospace and defense supplier Chemring Energetic Devices was closing its Torrance location partially because of poor data access. The loss of those high-paying, in-demand jobs was a wake-up call, Bacharach said. Other companies could follow in Chemring’s footsteps, and the problem could discourage others from moving to the area — a potentially devastating domino effect. The Council of Governments is seeking support from political leaders to invest in a basic backbone of South Bay fiber infrastructure that municipalities can then build on. “It’s not really a future problem, it’s something we really have to address as soon as possible,” Bacharach said. “We’re encouraging cities to lay down fiber at any opportunity they have.” Los Angeles and Long Beach have been working on plans for citywide networks for years. They still rely on a patchwork network of underground cables, cell towers, and communications satellites. Redondo Beach, El Segundo and Inglewood are working quickly to lay down extensive fiber networks, along with Riverside County, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Carlsbad, Ontario and Culver City. Meanwhile, the main public-sector digital communications providers are fiercely competing for dominance in the marketplace. Verizon has the most extensive fiber network. But Spectrum (formerly Time Warner), Comcast, Frontier and AT&T are busily building out their infrastructure, along with Google Fiber and many others. About 150,000 homes in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Corona, Fontana, Glendale, La Mirada, Palmdale, Riverside, Irvine and some others recently got access to AT&T Internet 1000, the company’s fastest, 1 gigabit-per-second data service that it advertises can “download 25 songs in 1 second.” But public-private partnerships like Santa Monica City Net, which offers up to 100 gigabit-per-second community broadband, have already proved they can force down costs charged by commercial providers. Jory Wolf helped lead Santa Monica’s early transformation into a “smart city” as its longtime former chief information officer. He set about building a citywide fiber-optic network in 1998. “The other cities went to sleep on the topic, as did most cities across the country,” Wolf said. “We continued studying it and put together a task force with the community, the City Council and Verizon — the entrenched service provider at the time. “We developed three tenets: Provide universal access to all members of the community to eliminate the ‘digital divide,’ assemble a network that would benefit the school district, community college district and city, and take a look at providing internet services to businesses to help stimulate the local economy.” With Santa Monica’s digital networks well developed, Wolf left a year ago to be vice president of digital innovation at Magellan Advisors, which conducted the new South Bay fiber-optic study. ‘CHANGE IS HARD’ “The concept is to incrementally build out fiber-optic connectivity — starting with the cities,” the report states. “As cities develop their own infrastructures, starting with conduit and poles, they can spur private technology investment.” Once city halls are connected, they can expand to support businesses and homes with a variety of applications. Already, Beverly Hills is installing fiber-optic lines directly to residents’ homes. Cities can help school district and community hubs get connected — and lease out access to businesses to generate new revenue streams, the report suggests.E-2 Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments, or SCAG, which oversees planning for the region’s 191 cities, said he’s working to push reluctant cities and regions into the future before they’re left too far behind. “The future is different. The future is not going to rely on attracting car dealerships,” Ikhrata said. “The future is about being ready for autonomous vehicles and a lot of other things that cities haven’t precipitated.” SCAG is studying ways to alter street infrastructure for electric vehicles and to expand charging station networks. It’s trying to get communities to work together to tackle the costly challenges as a united front. “Tech companies will not come to a place where there are no fiber optics,” Ikhrata said. “But change is hard. Unless we start thinking differently, we’re not going to do well. Cities need to behave like a corporation — not for profit, but for providing the services they need to provide. “The future is not 100 years from now, the future is now. And it’s different from the past.” DAILY BREEZE Copyright © The Daily Breeze Copyright notice Privacy Policy Site Map Arbitration Digital First Media E-3 A Model Home in Palos Verdes Estates (https://easyreadernews.com/a-model-home-in-palos-verdes- Search in site... Added on July 27, 2019 David Mendez (https://easyreadernews.com/author/davidmendez/) newsletter (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/newsletter/) , Redondo Beach (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/redondo-beach/) Text Size Redondo Beach ‘Fiber Ring’ regional network announced Print This Page Send by Email (mailto:? subject=Easy%20Reader%20News%20%3A%20Redondo%20Beach%20%E2%80%98Fiber%20Ring%E2%80%99%20regional%20network%20announced&body=I%20recommend%20this%20page%3A%20Redondo%20Beach%20%E2%80%98Fiber%20Ring%E2%80%99%20regional%20network%20announced.%0AYou%20can%20read%20it%20on%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Feasyreadernews.com%2Fredondo- beach-fiber-ring-regional-network-announced%2F) Tweet (https://easyreadernews.com/) Like NANNY CAMERAS _ DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER (HTTPS://EASYREADERNEWS.COM/EASY-READER- LIVEMARKET/NANNY-CAMERAS-DIGITAL-VOICE-RECORDER) (800) 570-5562 by spybase (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket/contributor/4204) - 19 hours ago View More (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket) X F-1 Local Offers NANNY CAMERAS _ DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER (HTTPS://EASYREADERNEWS.COM/EASY-READER- LIVEMARKET/NANNY-CAMERAS-DIGITAL-VOICE-RECORDER) (800) 570-5562 by spybase (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket/contributor/4204)- 19 hours ago A map of projected sites that will connect to the regional fiber network. Image courtesy South Bay Cities Council of Governments by David Mendez The South Bay may be the next Southern California community to future-proof its infrastructures with a regional fiber-optic cable network that will bolster city-run facilities and programs. However, leaders believe that boosting the infrastructure will also benefit residents and businesses that need top-shelf Internet speeds. On July 11, the South Bay Cities Council of Governments announced it had contracted with American Dark Fiber to provide a gigabit, scalable broadband network for its 16 member cities and unincorporated communities. The South Bay Fiber Network, or “Fiber Ring” will have two immediate impacts, said SBCCOG Chairman and Redondo Beach City Councilman Christian Horvath. NANNY CAMERAS _ DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER (HTTPS://EASYREADERNEWS.COM/EASY-READER- LIVEMARKET/NANNY-CAMERAS-DIGITAL-VOICE-RECORDER) (800) 570-5562 by spybase (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket/contributor/4204) - 19 hours ago View More (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket) X F-2 “First, it will create savings for each of the cities. That’s always good, anytime cities can save money by working together and cutting down costs,” Horvath said. SBCCOG’s agreement with American Dark Fiber stipulates that cities will have access to one-gigabit upload and download speeds for $1,000 per month. According to a report commissioned by SBCCOG, a survey of 10 South Bay cities indicates that municipalities are paying an average of $3,627 per month for internet speeds well under one gigabit. Redondo Beach, the survey shows, is paying $6,300 per month for 100 megabits of service. Better internet connections at municipal sites can benefit libraries, city services, and municipal transit services, Horvath said. The second reason, he said, is that the cities will not be on the hook for infrastructure costs. Instead, initial costs will be paid for using $4.4 million in Measure M sales tax revenues, approved by voters in 2016. Getting approval from the County to tap into those funds was a hard sell, according to SBCCOG Executive Director Jacki Bacharach, until Inglewood Mayor James Butts helped to win LA Metro’s attention. Metro acquiesced, then set up a condition of approval: The South Bay could get the money, but needed to connect to LA County’s real-time traffic information system. “They may have been thinking we’d be upset, but we’re thrilled with that,” Bacharach said. Networking with the regional traffic system at real-time speeds will allow for “true signal synchronization beyond each jurisdiction,” Horvath said, hopefully bringing “positive changes” to surface streets throughout the South Bay, and prepping the cities for automated vehicles and other high-tech transportation solutions. “But no one talks about the trip not taken,” Bacharach said, alluding to increasing trends in telecommuting and working from home. SBCCOG leadership believes that the fiber infrastructure, once in place, can then be leveraged to benefit businesses and residents. “If we run conduit as a part of traffic projects, then we’ll have a backbone of a network that we can tap into for major commercial corridors and residential streets,” Horvath said, before extending the tendrils of the network further into neighborhoods during street resurfacing programs. Once those are in place, cities — including Redondo — will have plenty of options in leveraging that network infrastructure, including in possible public-private partnerships with internet providers. “ I would hope we’d be able to offer it for cheaper prices than what the current commercial system is offering,” Horvath said. Creating that backbone would put cities in league with the neighboring Silicon Beach, and hopefully stem the outflow of companies leaving South Bay cities for other areas with better networking infrastructure. Running conduit in that manner, without grant funding from sources such as Measure M, will be expensive, and must necessarily be part of municipal capital improvement project plans dating out years into the future. NANNY CAMERAS _ DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER (HTTPS://EASYREADERNEWS.COM/EASY-READER- LIVEMARKET/NANNY-CAMERAS-DIGITAL-VOICE-RECORDER) (800) 570-5562 by spybase (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket/contributor/4204) - 19 hours ago View More (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket) X F-3 “But it’s gotta be a moonshot. If we don’t make it a priority, it’ll never get done,” Horvath said. “We have to hold ourselves accountable to saying we’re going to do it, figure out how to do it and how to pay for it.” Comments: 0 comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday. You must be logged in to post a comment Login (https://easyreadernews.com/wp-login.php? redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Feasyreadernews.com%2Fredondo-beach-fiber-ring-regional-network- announced%2F) Tags Art (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/art/)Barfly (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/barfly/) Beach Volleyball (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/beach- volleyball/)Best of the Beach (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach/)Best of the Beach 2013: Dining (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2013-dining/)Best of the Beach 2014 (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2014/)Best of the Beach 2014: Dining (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2014-dining/)Best of the Beach 2015 (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2015/)best of the beach 2016 (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2016/)best of the beach 2017 (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2017/)Best of the Beach 2018 (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-2018/)Best of the Beach: Dining (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/best-of-the-beach-dining/)Blue Zones Project (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/vitality-city/)Business (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/business/) calendar (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/calendar/)Crime (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/crime/)DBA (https://easyreadernews.com/tag/dba/)Dirty Hippie 0 Comments Sort by Facebook Comments Plugin Newest Add a comment... by David Mendez (https://easyreadernews.com/author/davidmendez/) David Mendez is the beat reporter for Redondo Beach. If you've got tips, questions, or just want to talk, feel free to reach out on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jdmendez), via email (mailto:davidmendez@easyreadernews.com) or by phone, at 424-269-2834. Follow me (http://www.twitter.com/jdmendez) NANNY CAMERAS _ DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER (HTTPS://EASYREADERNEWS.COM/EASY-READER- LIVEMARKET/NANNY-CAMERAS-DIGITAL-VOICE-RECORDER) (800) 570-5562 by spybase (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket/contributor/4204) - 19 hours ago View More (https://easyreadernews.com/easy-reader-livemarket) X F-4