Citys

DOWNTOWN BURBANK — Boxes are stacking up this week as city employees prepare to move into the city’s new Community Services Building this weekend and over the next two weeks. By the end of the month, much of the workforce of the Public Works Department, the Community Development Department, the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department and the Public Information Office are expected to be unified under one roof in a way that will help streamline city services, some city officials said.

BURBANK — The City Council voted Tuesday not to extend deadlines for developers who are having trouble breaking ground on their projects due to the recession. The council had the options of allowing extensions to all developers or allowing them specially for builders whose projects conformed to the 2007 California Building Code. In the end, though, the members voted 4 to 1 to keep the city’s current policy in place. The debate over deadline extensions began in December when the developer of a residential property on 514 Harvard Road appealed to the council for an extension on the city’s development approval and permit process, saying a poor credit market made it difficult for him to break ground on his project.

CITY HALL — A newly organized Burbank City Council met Saturday to determine its goals for the upcoming financial year, outlining increased conservation efforts and alleviating traffic among the issues most pressing to the city. Dave Golonski, who was installed Thursday for his third run as mayor of Burbank, guided the council through multiple rounds of voting, until he ultimately generated a top-five list that also included bolstering the city’s financial position, financing a new central library and establishing a year-round aquatic center.

ON THE AGENDA The following items will be discussed at Tuesday’s Burbank City Council meeting:   The council is scheduled to hear from the city’s Management Services, Public Works and Burbank Water & Power department heads regarding their proposed budgets for the fiscal year starting July 1. A proposed budget public hearing is scheduled for June 10 en route to the budget’s scheduled adoption, which...

DOWNTOWN — In a year marked by sluggish sales and a depressed job market, the city’s two main business districts still attracted new ventures into empty storefronts, according to a year-end report. The Downtown Burbank and Magnolia Park partnerships continued to serve as drivers in the city’s quest to promote economic development, particularly as holiday shopping figures fell again this winter. Fourth-quarter receipts in 2009 were down 12.5% compared with the same period in 2008, but officials said several factors, including refunds of taxes paid over multiyear periods, skewed the data.

With the Colony Theatre teetering on the edge of insolvency, many feared its latest production, "Falling For Make Believe," might very well be its last. In a turnabout worthy of Hollywood, the show, which has garnered spectacular reviews - including one by this publication - has become a huge smash. It's last show was scheduled to be this Sunday, but due to demand, Creative Director Barbara Beckley said the show will return to its 270-seat home on June 6 and go as long as it can. Ticket sales for the show, according to officials, have already brought in more than $40,000, topping the sales of the venue's previous hit, "The Morini Strad," which was itself the Colony's biggest blockbuster in three years.

The days appear numbered for Got Wheels!, Burbank's summer bus system for youth, after city officials this week proposed cutting the program. While roughly 2,000 kids are registered to use Got Wheels! - the summer bus line for 10- to 18-year-olds that circulates to schools, skate parks, libraries, malls and community centers - officials logged just 475 trips over a two-month period last summer. The bus program costs roughly $61,000 to operate each year. "It's never been terribly efficient," said Community Development Director Joy Forbes.

Members of the Burbank City Council this week decided not to give themselves raises after one councilman had a last-minute change of heart. On Tuesday, three of the five council members voted to give themselves a 5% raise, but just a few hours later, Councilman Gary Bric asked to change his vote. “This isn't about economics for us, it's our heart and desire to serve,” Bric said. Councilmen David Gordon and Bob Frutos, along with Bric, had originally voted for the raise, which would have boosted their pay by $54 a month.

Roughly 100 Burbank employees are slated to receive raises this coming fiscal year after a city-commissioned survey showed their salaries were well below average when compared to those in a dozen other local cities, officials said. Officials say the move will actually save Burbank money since the contracts will require employees to contribute more to their pensions. Department heads will receive a 2% salary hike, while roughly 85 employees not represented by unions will see their compensation jump between 1% and 5%. In July, those employees will also start paying half of the 8% member pension contribution, according to a city report.

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank was the only area hospital to receive an A this week in a national evaluation of patient safety. Most other local hospitals all were ranked as average. Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Glendale Memorial and Huntington Memorial hospitals all received Cs in the latest annual report card released by The Leapfrog Group. Verdugo Hills Hospital was not graded because there was not enough information available about the facility's operations, according to Leapfrog officials.

PASADENA - What started as a seven-team tournament nearly ended as an all-Burbank city affair Wednesday afternoon at the Pacific League boys' tennis finals at Pasadena High. Burroughs and Burbank high placed competitors in the league's singles and doubles finals with the Indians taking home each crown and the Bulldogs advancing two competitors to the CIF Southern Section Boys Individual Tennis Tournament. PHOTOS: Pacific League boys' tennis finals While it may have seemed reasonable to think the Indians' postseason fortunes were in shambles after the season-ending injury suffered in March to singles ace Garrett Auproux, the two-time reigning All-Area Singles Player of the Year, Burroughs proved resilient as sophomore Sawyer Patterson captured the singles championship and the squad of Michael Whelan and Calvin Fox captured the doubles crown.

State finance officials this week reduced Burbank's bill for dissolving its redevelopment agency by nearly half - from $42 million to $24.3 million. The change came after city officials contested the state's demands as too harsh. "We're happy that at least Department of Finance took to heart most of our arguments," said Ruth Davidson-Guerra, assistant community development director. "To have to write a check for $24 million to the county is a lot better than $42 million. " The final bill is still far more than the $11.7 million Burbank officials argued they owed as they and cities across the state close down their redevelopment operations.

Nearly two years after the Burbank City Council bailed out the cash-strapped DeBell Golf Club to the tune of $2 million, the club's financial health remains in limbo, leaving it unable to afford the loan payments that were slated to start next January. Factoring in depreciation and the original loan payments, city officials projected the club's cash flow by the end of fiscal year 2013-14 to be in the red to the tune of $303,000. On Tuesday, the Burbank City Council unanimously signed off on plans to give the club two extra years to boost its revenue before having to pay up. Loan payments on $1 million are now scheduled to start in January of 2016, as DeBell has not needed the remaining funds.

More than 100 people gathered at Burbank City Hall Tuesday to commemorate the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, which together claimed the lives of 7.5 million people. Descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors lit seven candles at the City Council meeting to commemorate their families and the six million massacred. Nina Guttman and David Drexler lit a candle for their mother, Rena Drexler, who survived four years in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Steve Harman lit a candle for Holocaust survivor Irving Belfer, who escaped from a death march.

Omnicare - a business that provides pharmaceutical services to long-term care institutions - will close its Burbank facility next month. Company spokesman Ed Loyd said Omnicare's Burbank facility, located at 7565 San Fernando Road, will shut its doors on May 23. The Cincinnati-based company manages hundreds of facilities across the country, providing pharmaceutical services to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. Its specialty is geriatric care. The move isn't a sign that Omnicare's operations are declining in the Burbank area, but rather that it's taking advantage of the company's technological investment in its Canoga Park location, according to Loyd.