By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Zone 0 Regulatory Advisory Committee will host a meeting on Thursday, September 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Join us as the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Zone 0 Regulatory Advisory Committee visits the Los Angeles region to listen, learn and share more about its work to create a more wildfire resilient California,” read an event flyer. “We expect an engaging meeting where seating and space may become limited. As we strive to provide a productive, comfortable and accommodating forum for all participants, we ask that you RSVP if you plan to attend in person so that we can estimate participation and logistics.”

The meeting will take place in person at Pasadena Convention Center (300 E. Green Street) and virtually. Register here to attend in person or register here to attend the online webinar.

Zone 0 is a “five-foot ember resistant zone,” read information from the city of Malibu.

“Assembly Bill 3074 requires every person who lives in a very high fire hazard severity zone to establish a new defensible space called Zone 0,” read a synopsis from FireSafe Brentwood. “The Board of Forestry is currently drafting these rules and holding workshops via Zoom and in person in Sacramento.”

“No landscaping materials that are likely to be ignited by embers” would be permitted in Zone 0 in VHFHSZs, according to FireSafe Brentwood, including grass, ornamental or native plants, shrubs, fallen leaves and tree needles, weeds, and combustible mulches, like bark and woodchips. Pacific Palisades falls into a VHFHSZ.

The bill became a law on January 1, 2021, and enforcement is set to begin when the State Fire Marshal approves vegetation clearance, according to the city of Malibu, with “full enforcement on new construction anticipated to be in 2025” and “full enforcement on existing structures anticipated to be in 2026.”

“Please attend in person, if you’re able, to provide public comment,” Pacific Palisades Community Council wrote about the September 18 meeting. “Online attendees’ comment will only be taken if time allows.”

The PPCC Executive Committee wrote a letter to the Zone 0 Regulatory Advisory Committee dated September 15.

“We believe strongly, based on first-hand experience, that the Palisades fire was spread, causing massive destruction, through embers and house-to-house ignition, not by well-maintained shrubs within five feet of homes,” PPCC wrote. “ … We are strongly opposed to the current proposed Zone 0 regulations, which are not science-based, will not prevent future wildfire destruction in Pacific Palisades and would effectively further punish our community, which has already suffered enough.”

Public comments can be emailed to publiccomments@bof.ca.gov. For additional information, visit bof.fire.ca.gov.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Juan Fregoso, district director for Councilmember Traci Park, moderated a Virtual Builder Town Hall on August 27, attended by about 160 people, to provide updates on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s progress in Pacific Palisades, including undergrounding, long-term plans for Santa Ynez Reservoir, and upgrades to the water and power systems.

First, Park thanked LADWP for the additional water tenders during the duration of the area’s recent weather event.

“In coming weeks, we’ll bring DWP back to do a deeper dive into its plans to expand Distribution Station 29 at Sunset and Via De La Paz,” Park stated. “DS-104 near Marquez Elementary is no longer under consideration in large part because of the upgrades DWP is planning to make at the other location. We’ll also do a webinar on the Sunset/Via De La Paz water rehab station in the near future.”

Regarding the water systems, Senior Assistant General Manager Anselmo Collins gave a progress report on the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which returned to service June 25.

“The reservoir is operational,” Collins confirmed while showing slides of the floating cover before and after the filling. “The reservoir has, on average, 65 million gallons, over 40 feet of water, below the cover. The reason we need to have this cover is that we’re required to comply with federal state regulations for water quality. First to protect finished water from contamination because it is exposed to the environment—animals, birds or anything that can get into the water—and second to protect from infection byproducts. This is why we use chloramine (chlorine mixed with ammonia) and why we operate it in the range of 54 and 75 million gallons.”

The board approved a contract for a company to design a new floating cover, Collins said.

“They’ll start on it in September, and we expect them to complete it by close to the end of the year,” Collins said. “It’s a short-term solution we want to implement because we recognize the existing cover is compromised.”

Collins added that they are looking at permanent solutions, such as putting a hard cover over the reservoir like an aluminum roof or a concrete cover; replacing the reservoir with tanks in the same location or nearby; or building a treatment facility that would make the need for a floating cover unnecessary.

“If everything goes accordingly, we believe we can have the reservoir with a brand new floating cover as early as August 2026,” he said.

The next topic was water service reconnections, and for properties with existing plumbing, LADWP recommended hiring a licensed plumber to verify the plumbing system is working properly and there are no leaks in the system.

“If your house or business has damage, we advise you to replace the plumbing from the back of the meter all the way to the house because the integrity of the main line is likely compromised,” Collins explained. “For properties without existing plumbing, get a licensed plumber to install all the piping and connect to the meter. Once you’re ready to connect, call DWP to activate the meter. Once your water service is reconnected we recommend flushing your plumbing system for approximately 10 minutes at each fixture.”

Next, a presentation on power systems was made by Senior Assistant General Manager David Hanson, who reported on the conduit and trenching work on Sunset Boulevard. Hanson reported that 99,832 linear feet of electrical conduit/pipe had been installed, 32 vaults had been set (structures are 9.5 feet tall, 13.5 feet wide and 17.5 feet long), and 1.65 miles of trench had been constructed by August 24.

Asked when LADWP would be in the residential areas for undergrounding, Hanson said the tentative schedule is the third quarter of 2026.

“In the meantime, we’re asking builders to set a meter panel and run a three-inch PVC line out to the front of the property (minimum of three-foot depth),” he said. “All the material you need will cost $300 to $350. Maximum length of the run is 120 feet. Anything longer than that the engineers will have to review.”

As to when one should request a building clearance from LADWP, Hanson explained if there is a structure that gets closer than 15 feet of existing power lines—such as a balcony in the backyard—an Encroachment Application must be submitted, after which a pole spotter will check it out and coordinate with the customer for approval.

For residential properties, Hanson laid out the following timeline: The customer submits plans online prior to the start of construction; LADWP staff receives plans, creates work order and assigns project to the ESR; ESR reviews plans and schedules Meter Spot with the customer at the project site (two to three weeks); ESR conducts Meter Spot and provides construction requirements to the customer; ESR inspects customer construction and completes LADWP meter release, LADBS inspection and release is completed; LADWP crews install overhead service and energize the meter.

Chief Customer Officer Joseph Ramallo provided a billing update, confirming that monthly commercial accounts began receiving bills at the end of July while bi-monthly billing for residential accounts began at the end of August.

“Customers won’t be billed for any water consumption between their last meter read before the fire and their next meter read,” Ramallo said. “We cleaned the meter boxes. We’re now at the point where we’re reading meters and sending bills out for residential customers in the Palisades.”

In terms of electric meters, customers will be billed for usage from their last meter read date (December 2024/January 2025) through the next actual read date, which will conclude when water meter reading resumes. There is a three billing cycle limit for residential properties and a six billing cycle limit for commercial properties.

Palisadians can choose a pilot program called HOME LA for residential and multi-family low-rise construction, designed to help make electrification of appliances more affordable. The $40 million program over four years can be applied for online or on paper. It includes space heating and cooling, cooking, water heating, clothes drying, and bonus measures.

One of Park’s constituents wondered about the plan to place above ground transformers at every eight to 10 houses when other sections of the Palisades that already have underground power have transformers in vaults underground.

“We have design standards we use to install everything,” Hanson said. “As it stands right now what we’ve told everybody is that we can’t switch in underground vaults. We wouldn’t put a switch underground and we’d put the transformer above ground. As we start to meet with the vendors we’re finding there are solutions that we may be able to put our switches underground and actually switch them from above ground. As far as the transformer going above ground, that area has a tendency for the underground substructures to fill up with water, so we’re meeting with vendors to see what’s available out there and we’re meeting with fellow utilities to see what they’re doing with their 12,000-volt transformers and if we can figure out a way to put everything underground, we will.”

Should above-ground boxes be required, a questioner asked, when will residents find out where these boxes will be located and would they be in parkways or on residential lots?

“The earliest we think we’d be beginning construction—and it’s a tentative date obviously—is the third quarter of 2026,” Hanson said. “The design is happening now so as soon as we have the design we’re going to send that information to the community so people can see where the overlays are for where we will need to place these individual transformers.”

A full recording of the webinar is available at youtube.com/watch?v=Yjt5EM0fFn4.

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Town historian Eric Dugdale died at the age of 74 on Wednesday, August 27, after a three-month bout of pneumonia.

Dugdale long served on several boards, including almost a decade as president of Pacific Palisades Historical Society and representing the organization at Pacific Palisades Community Council meetings. He was also a member of Topanga Canyon Historical Society.

“If you wanted to know what living in the Palisades was like from the late 1950s forward, Eric was your go-to resource for tales informed by his vivid recollection,” the historical society shared. “He had also done extensive research on the Palisades/Topanga region’s earlier history, including the role of indigenous peoples … no one loved the Palisades more than Eric, whose spirit served as a community touchstone.”

Dugdale was born to Charlotte Hugues (Dugdale) Self and Eric Dugdale, Sr., moving to California in the early 1950s from Vancouver, Canada. He grew up in Topanga Canyon, before the family established roots in the Alphabet Streets in 1971.

Dugdale attended Topanga Elementary School, Taft High School, Pierce College and University of California, Santa Barbara. He worked as a real estate agent in the San Fernando Valley and Marina del Rey for Coldwell Banker.

He is well known for his “talks on the history of the Inceville film studio,” which is now the area where Lake Shrine is located, his family shared. His personal experience with the site began in the early 1950s, when his family joined the Self-Realization Fellowship.

“His father was a builder and, as a boy, Dugdale tagged along when he did some remodeling on a small two-story house, which later became the SRF Sunday school and now houses the SRF museum and gift shop,” read the Palisadian-Post archives. “In 1956, the SRF monthly magazine ran a photo of Dugdale as a 5-year-old, sitting in full lotus position, meditating.”

Dugdale spoke about the Palisades’ history at community events, including a Canyon Charter Elementary School field trip in 2018 and presentation at Pierson Playhouse in 2019.

Dugdale is survived by his sister, Annette (Glenn) Alexakis, president of Pacific Palisades Art Association, and nephews, James Alexakis, president of Temescal Canyon Association and a PPCC board member, and Christopher Alexakis.

“We extend our sympathies to his extended family, all of whom have contributed to the rich fabric of Palisades community life … ” PPCC wrote. “We remember Eric fondly for his ongoing passion for Palisades history, expressed for many years at PPCC meetings at the library, when he often passed out postcards and flyers with unique vintage images of Pacific Palisades.”

A collection of these images were on display during PPCC’s 50th anniversary jubilee, which took place in September 2023 at Simon Meadow.

Dugdale often attended Pacific Palisades Art Association meetings and shows, including those hosted at Palisades Village Green.

“We are grateful for his years of service and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” Councilmember Traci Park said.

There are two memorials being planned. The first will be at Pacific Mariners Yacht Club in Marina del Rey on Sunday, September 14, beginning at 2 p.m. with a second being arranged by the family and Palisades and Topanga historical societies, with the date, time and location to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to “any of the historical societies he was a member of: Palisades, Venice and Topanga.”

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

After months of remediation work, Calvary Christian School and Calvary Palisades have resumed classes and church services at their Highlands campus.

“In June we made the decision after school was out to come back to campus in the fall,” Head of School Vince Downey told the Palisadian-Post.

He described discussing the testing, retesting and remediation process, saying “if it’s safe and we complete the work, then we needed to come back,” a decision he said was two-fold.

“One was to provide the education in the school,” he said. “But also, we have people starting to move back in the Palisades. People are going to rebuild, and you need schools, you need churches, you need parks, you need restaurants, you need stores. If we’re standing and safe and we did everything, let’s be part of that process.”

The first day of school was Tuesday, September 2, which kicked off with a campuswide assembly attended by Councilmember Traci Park—the first spirit day, Downey explained, since the Palisades fire.

Following the Palisades fire, “almost the entirety of the campus”—which houses the church and school—was “safe and relatively unharmed.” There was “smoke and water damage,” and the “only area of significant damage was to the sanctuary,” Lead Pastor Justin Anderson wrote at the time.

Downey said that Calvary leadership “made a couple really good decisions right out of the gate,” including hiring consulting firm DRS, which he said helped navigate the different insurance policies they had in place at the time of the fire, as well as remediation and construction companies.

They also hired Cotton Global Disaster Solutions, which, over the course of eight months, helped with remediation, beginning with placing “air scrubbers in every office and classroom” at the start to replacing and reconstructing where needed, including new floors, ceilings, insulation, paint and more, Downey explained.

Outside, the preschool play yard, which had wooden structures, burned into the turf, which was replaced. They also “ripped out all the turf throughout campus and replaced it all.”

Though soil testing results were “below the industry standard,” Downey said the school took six inches of dirt out of all the flower beds and replaced it, as well as putting new plants and mulch, since young kids would be near it. They also installed air monitors for PM 2.5 and PM 10.

Downey said the school is down about 30% of its pre-fire enrollment. Previously, there were 300 families: “142 of them lost everything,” Downey said. “Fifteen staff members lost everything, and then 70 families were displaced.”

About a month after the fire, Calvary had reopened at a Santa Monica location to finish out the school year. Now that they’re back in the Palisades, Downey said the school wants to be mindful of the annual events they are planning, with some things being rescheduled or paused, but they will be resuming a “normal calendar for the most part.” Certain things may be planned off-site while work on the sanctuary is underway.

“It’s great for kids to get back to normalcy,” he said. “It’s good for all of us to be back in normalcy and to be back in the rhythms of a normal school year, that’s huge.”

While repair work continues at the sanctuary, Sunday services will take place at the school gym, with baptisms in the sanctuary.

“Even though there’s still a lot of work ahead of us here at Calvary and in the Palisades community, we want to be part of it,” Downey said. “We love this place.”

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

For the first time since the Palisades fire, members of the Palisades Bocce Club returned to their home courts to play some ball, engage in conversation, enjoy each other’s company and celebrate a victory for their town.

Exactly eight months to the day of the start of the fire that dealt significant damage to Palisades Recreation Center (where Veterans Gardens is located) and the Huntington neighborhood surrounding it, the facility reopened Sunday evening, September 7, with a 16-team bocce wildcard round robin tournament.

The event, hosted by longtime Palisadian and Palisades Bocce Club Founder Jimmy Dunne, featured music, food and drinks, and everyone singing “The Palisades Song” (written by Dunne), the chorus of which says: “Once in awhile I remember… How beautiful life is around me, With family and friends that surround me, The mountains and the big blue sea, Lucky, lucky, lucky me.”

Dunne likened the community to the Whos of Whoville in the famous children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss.

“It didn’t matter that they lost their gifts, they joined hands and sang together,” Dunne said. “Let’s do the same … We’re the best town in America.”

Dunne gave a shout-out to Bill McGregor for the hours he spent rebuilding the facility. He then shared why, to him, the Palisades is the best town in America.

“On January 7 many people in the bocce league [at 10:30 a.m.] saw flames just starting to rise in the Highlands and couldn’t have imagined how our lives would change,” he recalled. “We had 18 teams playing at Douglas Park [in Santa Monica], and I’d tell everyone, if you want to come to the Palisades, go to Wilshire and 27th Street every Thursday because that’s where it is.”

Dunne introduced Ted McGinley, co-honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades along with his wife and fellow actor, Gigi Rice. They were sworn in onstage at Paul Revere Charter Middle School’s athletic field on the Fourth of July.

“I’ve known Jimmy for many years, my wife and I have lived here 31 years, and we understand what it is, was and will be,” McGinley said. “It’s Caruso Village, schools, churches, businesses … but it is the people who make the Palisades what it is.”

Real estate developer Rick Caruso, whose company owns and manages Palisades Village, took the microphone after embracing Dunne.   

“A lot was destroyed but not Jimmy Dunne’s love for the Palisades,” Caruso said. “I feel bad I didn’t write a song. I’m in town a couple times a week. The Palisades will set the tone for all of Los Angeles.”

Fall league play returns to Veterans Gardens on Tuesday mornings at 10 and 11:15 a.m. (Dolphin League) and Thursday afternoons at 5 and 6:15 p.m. (Sunset League). The season will last seven weeks plus two additional weeks for playoffs and finals.

“The park is full of people and the bocce is opening up,” Caruso added. “When I came around the corner and pulled in, I’m so used to seeing nobody and to have it packed is the most amazing feeling. I got emotional. I’m telling you Palisades is on its way back. This is a really good day and there’ll be a lot more good days ahead of us.”

Dunne then introduced Councilmember Traci Park, who expressed appreciation for being the inaugural recipient of the “Phoenix of the Palisades” award, to be given perennially to a community member willing to step up and make a difference in the lives of others.

“I read your newsletters and you’ve written of our grief but are also an anchor of hope,” Park told Dunne. “Opening this today is symbolic of a bigger movement. I 100% agree with Rick [Caruso]—we’re going to show LA what it takes to get it done.”

Participating in Sunday’s tournament were Bocce Aces, Friends & Neighbors, Lucky Dogs, Marina Mavericks, Martinis, Patriots, Rolling Stones and Sweet Peaz from the Dolphin League, and Bocce Ballers, Bocce Noi, Chai Rollers, Chico’s Bail Bonds, Deboccery, Fiske Street, Lucky Strikes and Pompei from the Sunset League.   

Friends and Newcomers of Pacific Palisades is restarting its activities this September, offering a range of gatherings, including art, bridge, book discussions, coffee hours, luncheons and exploring Los Angeles.

“In recovering from the fire, our group understands the importance of reconnecting and keeping our friendships and community together,” Publicity Chair Peggy Levin said.

The group “promotes friendship and neighborliness” through “participation in a very wide range of interests and activities, many of which will begin again in September.”

Membership is $25 per year: “Happy days are here again for Friends and Newcomers of Pacific Palisades … We welcome you,” the group wrote.

For more information, including upcoming events, visit pacificpalisadesnewcomers.com.

—SARAH SHMERLING

City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department will host “Stronger Together: Business Recovery Expo” on Saturday, September 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283.

“Let’s come together to support each other, share resources and rebuild our businesses stronger than ever at the Business Recovery Expo,” the department said.

The “vital gathering” is being planned to bring together “community leaders, recovery experts, government agencies and business professionals” to provide “resources, guidance and support” for Palisades fire-impacted businesses to “rebuild, recover and thrive.” Available resources will include “accessing capital, grants and loans,” “insurance claims and legal support,” “rebuilding revenue and customers after a crisis,” “workforce recovery,” and “workshops and resource fair.”

Free the enter, the expo will take place at 15247 La Cruz Drive.

—SARAH SHMERLING