News from the January 29th Board Meeting

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How are we holding up with the recent rains? What's going on with the gated entry upgrade project? Is there really a buried treasure under the greenbelt? Registered homeowners may click here for news from the recent board meeting.

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Expanding The Community

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"The Bridge" has been around for about 7 months now, and I hope that you feel it's on its way toward meeting the goal of informing residents and creating a stronger sense of community here.

If so, this is a good time to remind you all of how you can help in that effort:

• Let me know if you have ideas of stories to cover here. If it's even tangentially related to Seabridge, chances are good that others will find it interesting.

• Please take a moment again right now to inform your neighbors of this blog. It's grown largely through word of mouth, and I don't have the ability to contact all residents myself. Just send them a quick e-mail with the link and a welcome on my behalf!

• Continue to comment on features you find interesting. (Just click on the "Comments" link under each article). It lets me know that people are reading and also helps give me a better sense of what people enjoy.

• Make sure you sign up on the right-hand side for automatic notification of any new stories. In that way, you won't miss any news or features.

Thanks a lot for your continued support.

Seabridge Reads One Book?

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No, no, I'm not proposing a formal program for our little community*, but since we are also residents of Huntington Beach, I thought people might be interested in the "Huntington Beach Reads One Book" program. The first book chosen is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I had heard about it, but my interest was piqued when one of our own residents coincidentally sent out an e-mail praising the book. So I thought it might be worthwhile to give the book some additional attention. And who knows, if enough Seabridge residents decide to read it, maybe it is indeed worth getting together locally to discuss it. So, if you plan on giving it a read, let us know in the comments below.

If anyone would like to go meet the author at Huntington Beach High School on February 21st, I am happy to drive others. Should you need a copy of the book, Barnes & Noble at Bella Terra is donating a portion of proceeds from books sold this week to the HB Reads program (voucher needed).

*while I didn't set out with the idea of promoting a local book program, I was reminded that one of our residents had the idea of starting a local book club last summer. If you are interested in doing such a thing, please use the comments below to share your interest.

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Board Meeting Next Tuesday, January 29th

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Don't forget that the January meeting has been rescheduled to this coming Tuesday, January 29th at 7PM in the clubhouse. In accordance with a new state law, the agenda is posted for all homeowners to view on the clubhouse door.

So I took a peek at what's on the agenda. Among the items featured:

• Appointment of new ARC committee member

• Gate upgrade

• Governing document revision contract

Remember, if you care about any of these items, or anything else slated for discussion, you can state your views and discuss with the board in the open forum at the beginning of the meeting. For the complete agenda, you can visit the clubhouse entrance.

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Right Place, Right Time?

Something told me that I should go outside for a walk when that last round of showers rolled through...

Electronic Waste Recycling

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Living near the harbor as we do, we can sometimes see first-hand what happens when trash doesn't end up in the right place. It gets washed downstream to become someone else's problem.

Well, plastic bags and styrofoam are nothing compared to the chemicals and other components found in many of today's high-tech items. Toxic chemicals like mercury and arsenic can leach from the plastics, chips and batteries into our soil and groundwater; there, they can remain a problem for years. One of the challenges is that we are all busy people, and it's often just too temptingly convenient to toss these old devices in the dumpster.

Fortunately, we're just in time for a Computer/Electronics Round-up this FRIDAY and SATURDAY at the Sports Park by the HB Library. You can take your used cell phones, TVs, computers, fax machines, and many other electronic items and have them taken off your hands for free. And you'll leave knowing you've kept a lot of nasty things out of our soil and water.

If anyone plans on making a trip, please indicate so in the comments section below. Perhaps there's an opportunity to help some others out with their items. For more information, check out www.socalrecyclers.com or call 310.626.8180

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January Board Meeting Time Change

Please note that there has been a change in the date of the next regular board meeting, from Tuesday, January 15th to Tuesday, January 29th. Same time (7PM), same location (Clubhouse).

Many thanks to BarbraSue for providing the information in the comments to a post below. You heard it here first ;-)

The Floating Mountain

One of the great things about the recent storm is the beautiful snow left in our mountains. I'm hoping that daybreak tomorrow brings some good views. But for now, here's a pretty cool picture, taken this evening, of the nearby naval base, with the mountain seeming to "float" above the sky.

Shortcut to the Main Channel

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I read about this back in the summer, but it took me a full four months before I finally checked it out for myself today. There is a public promenade available along the main channel right at the end of Countess:

"A sidewalk to the sea was established at Portofino Circle with a gate near the Portofino Cove condominiums this week. The gate is unlocked at sunrise and locked at dusk.

The California Coastal Conservancy has contracted with Coastkeeper to manage public access to this area. Public access was closed previously due to management issues."

You can enter on the right side of the condo building, over near the Portofino docks. The access is clearly marked, and you can walk all along the length of the channel, right up to Mother's Beach in Seabridge Park. The benches facing out to the harbour entrance are really nice - a great, and convenient, place to take in the sunset.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

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Who even thought I'd be caught saying that in the middle of a drought? But rain is one thing, and three straight days of storms are another. This has been reported as our biggest storm in 3 years, and if you recall Winter of 04/05, it wasn't pretty

Still, we seem to have weathered it, and I'm enjoying the sunlight streaming through the windows again. Interestingly, the Register reports that we only received about 1.33 inches over the whole weekend. It seemed like a lot more to me. So, I looked for other sources of local information and came across two local weather stations:

• Bolsa Chica Wetlands
• North Huntington Beach

I think it's especially cool that someone nearby runs their own real-time weather station. You can't get much more local than that. Reports from both stations seem pretty consistent, with 3-day rainfall ranging from 1.22 to 1.45 inches. Most of the rain, just over 1/2 inch, occurred on Saturday. The best news is that there's lots of snowpack now in the Sierras, one of our water sources in Southern California. Skiing, anyone?

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9, 10, 11, 12..

I'm afraid we may just need to settle for 8 days of Christmas. Try as I might, I can't seem to come up with these higher numbers!

In other news, did you notice that it rained last night? That's enough for me for now! In this most recent storm, rainfall totals varied across the county, but according to the Register, we received just about one inch between 5PM Friday and 9:15AM today. Even better for us, the Sierras are getting a lot of snowpack.

Eight Neighbors Toasting

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On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
Eight neighbors toasting
Seven ghosts a-dancin'
Six bears a-boatin'
Five points of light
Four lighted trees,
Three crazy creatures,
Two cool dogs
And a rainbow over Seabridge.

Happy New Year!.

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