Tails! You Win a Board Seat!

After a “tremendous” turnout March 11, the final result of the La Jolla Shores Association’s election (with 11 candidates running for 10 board seats) was decided by a coin flip.

After the 66 ballots were counted three times, it was determined there was a tie for tenth place between Everyday California assistant general manager Duke Jarboe and Shores resident Shahar Compton.

LJSA chair Tim Lucas flipped a coin — a 2002 Mississippi quarter to be exact — to determine who would win the final spot. With a call of tails, Compton won the toss and a seat on the board.

Along with Compton, candidates elected were: Brian Earley, Dave Gordon, Nick LaBeouf, LJSA chair Tim Lucas, Christian Malecot, Karen Marshall, Angie Preisendorfer, John Sheridan and Izzy Tihanyi.

All but Lucas will serve a two-year term. Lucas will serve one year to fill in for an unexpected board vacancy.

Excited about the new board, Lucas said, “We are getting stronger and more active in the community and getting better every meeting.” At next month’s meeting, LJSA will hold an officer’s election to determine who will serve as chair, vice-chair, treasurer and secretary.

Outgoing board members include Everyday California owner Chris Lynch, Friends of La Jolla Shores president Mary Coakley-Munk and La Jolla Kayak co-owner Sharon Luscomb.

In other LJSA news:

■ Utility project update: City of San Diego senior construction engineer Steve Lindsay said the Project 809 sewer and waterline replacement work down the middle of Avenida de la Playa and adjoining streets was coming “down to the wire” of its summer deadline.

“The contractor has four full-time crews doing work to try and wrap this up by Memorial Day (the start of the summer construction moratorium). It’s going to take every bit of that time for the work on Avenida de la Playa,” he said. “We are going to work six 10-hour days to make that deadline.”

However, he said he was unsure if the interconnecting streets that feed through residential areas around Avenida de la Playa — the Shores’ main thoroughfare — would be completed by summer and work would likely resume in the fall. After crews are done with the block of Avenida de la Playa they are currently working on (between El Paseo Grande and Paseo Del Ocaso), they will focus on the intersection of Avenida de la Playa and El Paseo Grande. “There’s a lot of deep work to be done there,” Lindsay said, noting the lines are 20 feet deep. “It has to be closed (24 hours a day) to get the work done.”

In late March or early April, crews will work on the block between Paseo Del Ocaso and La Jolla Shores Drive, which is shallower and should go quickly, Lindsay said.

■ Map replacement moves: Leading up to the replacement of the The Map at Kellogg Park — for which a deal has been signed and the Friends of La Jolla Shores is awaiting city approval — the current features will be removed and filled in with decomposed granite.

The display is a visual representation of the sea life found in the ocean of La Jolla and uses glass beads in various shades of blue to show depth, and bronze imbeds to show the types of fish found offshore. Shortly after its 2008 installation, the

laminating layer began to crumble and glass began to uproot. The city blocked the area off as a safety hazard in 2012.

Its replacement will contain durable, vibrant tiles instead of glass beads. On March 13, crews from Piece by Piece traced the placement of the current features including imbeds, logos, geographic markers and lines of changing depth on to a template, so the new display has the same information as the previous one.

The replacement project, Coakley-Munk said, should be installed by the end of the year. Once in place, a protective, see- through fence will surround the display, leaving only two access points — one from the park and the other from the nearby restroom facility.

■ Cliffridge Park cell tower plans withdrawn: City Council President Sherri Lightner’s field representative Justin Garver announced plans for the controversial AT&T cell tower proposed for Cliffridge Park have been withdrawn and alternative sites are being explored.

■ Fall Fest date set: The 2015 Fall Fest, a community celebration held along Avenida de la Playa, will be held Oct. 15. The event includes children’s activities, music and businesses staying open later.

■ Next meeting: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8 at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Building T-29, 8840 Biological Grade. E-mail: ljsa.org@gmail.com