City Connection

Election Day

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. Voting polls at City Hall will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Council meeting rescheduled

The December 7 City Council meeting has been rescheduled to December 14. The Closed Session meeting is at 5:30 p.m., Open Session meeting at 6:30 p.m. All City Council meetings take place in the City Council Chamber at City Hall. The meeting agenda will be posted at cityofcanyonlake.org on the Thursday prior to the meeting.

Public Safety Meeting

Residents are invited to attend the meetings of the City’s Public Safety Committee. The public will hear reports on Police, Fire, Code Enforcement, Special Enforcement, Emergency Preparedness and Animal Services.

The meetings are held in the Council Chamber at City Hall on the last Wednesday of every month. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. in March, June, September and December and at 9 a.m. all other months.

Chamber Notes

Due to the upcoming holidays, the Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce lunches and mixers are postponed until 2017. For more information, contact Alison Burrafato at the Chamber office at 951-244-6124.

Emergency Preparedness Committee

The Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness Committee (CLEPC) meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall. The CLEPC is a committee made up of community volunteers who are committed to preparing and educating the community for emergencies, medical and shelter services, providing assessment and assisting in recovery after disaster. For more information or to serve as a volunteer, contact City Hall at 951-244-2955.

CodeRed 

The City of Canyon Lake has an emergency notification system called CodeRED, which will alert each resident by phone or e-mail in the event of an emergency.

The ultra high-speed telephone communication service allows the City to telephone all or targeted areas in case of an emergency, such as drinking water contamination, utility outage, evacuation notice, missing person, road closures, fires, floods, law enforcement activities that may impact the City, chemical spills and gas leaks where rapid and accurate notification is essential for public safety.

The system is capable of dialing a high volume of phone per hour and delivering a recorded message to a person or an answering machine. The system is ideal for residents who may not be watching television or listening to the radio when an emergency message is issued. The system also can call cell phones and send e-mails.

Since the initiation of the system, many Canyon Lake residents have changed their phone numbers or gone strictly to cell phones. The City wants to make sure that everyone is in the database and will be contacted in the case of an emergency.

That is why City officials urge residents to take a few minutes and sign up for the service online on the City’s website at www.cityofcanyonlake.com. The short online form asks for information about alternate phone numbers, e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers.

Although residents can opt not to receive emergency notifications, City officials recommend that everyone participate. Those who previously have signed up and haven’t made changes to their contact information don’t need to sign up again.

Library

On Monday, November 28, the Library’s Family Movie program will feature “Finding Dory”. The movie begins at 4:30 p.m. and includes free movie and popcorn courtesy of the Friends of the Canyon Lake Library.

Miss Ginny’s Preschool Craft and Story Time meets on Fridays at 11:30 a.m. in the City Council Chamber at City Hall. The  free program features stories, movement, music and a craft designed for children ages 3 to 5. The program is designed for pre-school development and includes stories, music, movement and a craft children can make and take home. The program is free.

Toddler Story Time meets at the Library every Monday at 11 a.m. in the Kid’s Cove at the Library. Mrs. Blackford engages the children with stories, songs and other activities appropriate for toddlers ages 3 and under. Although babies may not be able to participate in the songs and movement, hearing the stories and songs, experiencing the socialization and generally being engaged to their capabilities has lasting benefits.

Teen activities are on Fridays at 4:30. Teens wishing to assist with the Library collection, programs and other offerings are welcome to become a member of the Teen Advisory Board. The Board meets once a month on Friday to offer author suggestions, assist in developing programs and provide other insights to help the Library serve teens in the community. The October meeting is on Friday, October 28, at 4:30 p.m.

Saturdays are Roots to Grow Tutoring and S.A.T. preparation. This activity runs from 10 to 11 a.m. For one hour, students can receive help with school classes or preparation for taking the S.A.T. for college. The Roots to Grow tutoring and S.A.T. preparation program will take a hiatus after October. It will resume January 14, 2017.

Free online practice tests for teens and adults needing to pass the DMV driving test are available at the Library.

The Library will be closed on Friday, November 11, in observance of Veterans Day, and on Thursday, November 25, in observance of Thanksgiving.

The Library offers free books, large print books, free internet access, reading programs, book clubs and more. All programs at the Canyon Lake Library are free to the public and do not require library membership. Membership is required to check out materials and to use many of the internet programs available from home.

The Canyon Lake Library is located inside the City Hall building. It’s open Mondays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Library is closed Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The Canyon Lake Library is a member of the Riverside County Library System (www.rivlib.net) honoring cards and returns from other affiliated libraries. For more information, call 951-244-9181.

City launches new website

The City launched its new user-friendly website last week. The City’s goal was to create a website that was fast and easy for users to navigate. A spokesperson for the City says, “We want anyone who visits the website to get a pretty good idea of who we are and what we have going on in our community. Visually, the new website helps depict the beautiful landscape and skies that we all know and love in Canyon Lake.” The new website can be viewed at www.cityofcanyonlake.org.