Opinion: Enhance La Jolla/MAD Progress Report; Maintenance Assessment District already making improvements in The Village

Opinion / Guest Commentary:

MAD Progress Report: October 2019

There is much to report in the first month of the La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), beginning with the ceremonial commencement of operations on Oct. 1, 2019. MAD has three contract vendors working in The Village. Their work includes landscape maintenance services, litter control/trash collection, and power washing sidewalks and trash receptacles.

Landscape maintenance is performed four days each week, Monday-Thursday. MAD started this operation on Girard Avenue two weeks before the La Jolla Arts & Wine Festival. The vendor even provided mulch for many tree wells. The visual impact was noticeable. The vendor has nearly completed the first iteration of tree and shrub trimming in both zones in The Village.

Litter control is performed seven days each week. The vendor has one vehicle/operator every day picking up loose litter from The Village sidewalks and streets, including alleys and lanes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the vendor has a second vehicle/operator in the Village. These are the days that the City does not service The Village. On these days, the vendor’s responsibilities include emptying full trash receptacles as well as performing litter control. In the first month, this operation has dramatically reduced the presence of litter in the Village.

Power washing is performed at night to minimize impact to merchants and pedestrians, while avoiding conflicts with parked cars. The power washing vendor works each week on Sunday and Monday nights. I have introduced myself to local merchants in advance of the power washing activities in to ensure all know when this operation is coming and to explain how it will take place to prevent damage to buildings and other improvements.

This operation addresses dirty sidewalks, gum, grease stains and eventually, fruit stains. Each of these requires a different operation, so the priority with this vendor has been to remove the general ground in dirt and gum. Follow-up work will address other conditions. This vendor has also completed power washing all trash receptacles in Zone 1, the main area in The Village. The receptacles are noticeably cleaner inside and outside, including their bases on the sidewalk. Sidewalks washed include those on Prospect and Wall streets, and most of Girard and Herschel.

In addition to vendor activities, we have met regularly with San Diego City staff to coordinate MAD’s efforts with those provided by the City. We have also met in The Village with the City Forester. Those contacts have yielded positive results. The City has replaced two damaged trash receptacles on Prospect, repaired a water valve leak on Prospect, and trimmed eucalyptus tree limbs hanging precariously over the Athenaeum on Wall Street. The City continues to provide trash receptacle collection in The Village five days each week; now being more closely monitored by MAD.

— For more information on La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) progress, visit enhancelajolla.org