Meeting Date: 07/23/12 06:00 PM

Meeting Type: Regular

Location: Women’s Club of Hollywood- 1769 North La Brea Ave., L. A. 90046

Details: I.) Call to Order

Minutes

The Joint Communications/Outreach Infrastructure Meeting

I.) Meeting was called to order at 6:06PM

Introductions- Board Members present: Nicole Carcel, Maria Rychlicki and Michael Meyer.
8 stakeholders present

II.) Committee Announcements

Outreach update:  Nicole Carcel (Outreach Chair)

1. Newsletter
a. Input was asked for the next couple upcoming electronic newsletters. 

2. Upcoming Events
a. Invitation was given to attendees for National Night Out (NNO).  NNO will be on Tuesday, August 6, 2012 from 5-8PM.  It is an opportunity for residents to meet with public safety staff of the area.

Infrastructure update: Maria Rychlicki (Infrastructure Chair)

1. Water Pressure
a. The chair advised attendees that recently there have been a number of incidents where water valves have burst due to water pressure issues in the hillside areas of HHWNC.  She introduced Michael Downs, Western District Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).  Mr. Downs has worked for DWP since 1988.

III.) LADWP Presentation by Mike Downs

Mr. Downs explained that there is a reservoir nearby that provides water to the HHWNC area.  He had a map of the Outpost area to explain how water pressure builds up as the water flows down the hillside.  He explained that Outpost experiences pressures as high as 335 psi (pounds per square inch) and that any home that experiences 80 psi or greater needs a pressure regulator.  These regulators need to be monitored and generally replaced every 5- 10 years.  Residents can contact DWP at 213-367-1225 to find out their historical high and low pressure readings.  Mr. Downs recommended that residents install one regulator at the point water enters their property and a second at the point water enters the home.  Plumbers can recommend the right pressure regulators for each homeowner.  They cost, on average, about $250 each.

When there is high water usage, as in summer, there is low pressure.  When usage declines, as in winter, the pressure builds up.  There is a minimum pressure required to ensure that fire hydrants have necessary pressure levels.
 
DWP has regulators installed at different water distribution points to reduce pressure.  To totally alleviate the pressure issue would cost millions of dollars. There is over 7200 miles of pipe in the DWP area.  DWP’s placement of regulators alleviates most of the problems.

If you are experiencing unusually high water pressure, contact LADWP at 1-800-DIAL DWP.  Mr. Downs will provide maps of the Whitley Heights, Nichols and Laurel Canyon areas that will be posted on the HHWNC website.
 
Mr. Downs may be reached at (213) 367-1218.

IV.) Public Comment
None

V.) Meeting was adjourned at 6:50PM