CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:Time to change clock, battery

Daylight Savings Time has been bumped up three weeks this year, with time springing ahead at 2 a.m. Sunday. The city of Huntington Beach wants residents to remember that as they change their clocks to also change a battery.

As part of the Huntington Beach Fire Department’s Change Your Clock — Change Your Battery campaign, authorities encourage residents to replace the battery in their smoke detectors in step with the time change.

Most reasons for nonworking detectors has to do with batteries that are worn out, dead or simply not there, according to the fire department.

“The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most families are sleeping,” Fire Chief Duane Olson said in a news release. “Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths.”

After the battery has been replaced, push the test button to make sure it works.

Huntington Beach Tomorrow meeting

The Huntington Beach Tomorrow group has scheduled Mayor Gil Coerper and City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft to speak on a number of topics during the annual general meeting March 29.

Coerper is scheduled to speak on the city’s policies and use of nonlethal weapons and the council’s views on the protection of open spaces, President Ed Kerins said. Culbreth-Graft will talk about public works policies, city improvements projects and traffic-flow synchronization.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in Room B-8 and is open to the public.

City employee orientation video online

A new video helps longtime and new employees — and any interested Huntington Beach residents — become better acquainted with what it means to work for the city.

The minute-long video titled “Catch the Wave,” available on the city’s website at www.surfcity-hb.org, offers a look at the history and policies.

According to the city’s monthly Community Connection newsletter, more videos should follow quickly. To watch the video, click on the Employment Opportunities tab, and then Catch the Wave video.

Women of the year honored

Two Huntington Beach women became Women of the Year on Monday, as state Assemblyman Jim Silva and state Sen. Tom Harman announced their picks for the annual award, which goes to one woman in each legislative district.

Dolores “Nina” Hull of Huntington Beach was honored by Silva at the State Capitol. Hull is the former chairwoman of the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women, has been on the board of directors for the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter and was previously declared Volunteer of the Year by the Republican Party of Orange County, according to a news release from Silva.

At the same time, Harman honored Peggy Kane of Huntington Beach as his district’s Woman of the Year. Kane sends thousands of letters and packages to soldiers each year and has done so for decades during wartime, according to a news release from Harman. She works as a caregiver for a developmentally disabled woman.

“It is fitting to acknowledge an extraordinary person who is making a difference in the lives of those in our community,” Harman said in the release. “I believe that Ms. Kane’s work is motivated by a desire to show support for the brave men and women in uniform. She is an extraordinary example of distinction and excellence.”

Poseidon plant topic of discussion

A crowd concerned about developments in the proposed desalination plant run by Poseidon Resources next to the AES facility gathered March 1 at Eader Elementary School to hear talks on the feasibility and legal status of the project. About 100 people filled chairs at the meeting held by Residents For Responsible Desalination, who oppose the facility.

The group’s president, Merle Moshiri, called opposition to the plant — which would use cooling technology opposed by environmentalists and which a recent federal circuit court decision has thrown into legal uncertainty — part of a global environmental issue.

“Huntington Beach is just the beginning of this,” she said. “It will go up the coast, down the coast and around the world.”

Desalination is too energy-intensive right now, and the technology is not yet there to be worth the environmental and financial cost, said Ian Hart of the Pacific Institute, an environmental public policy think tank based in Oakland. He said conservation and recycling of water — from more controlled sprinklers to front-loading washers — are far cheaper and environmentally better ways to handle fresh water demand.

“We believe California will one day be using desalination as part of its portfolio,” Hart said. “We’re not sure the time is now.”

Joe Geever of the Surfrider Foundation said that a recent court decision by the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York had made it difficult to predict the future of the plant.

“It’s thrown the whole regulatory picture into question,” he said.

Poseidon Resources representatives have said since the decision that they intend to continue the process to build the plant.