City Council meeting, Monday, February 24, 2014

Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local channel 26, also live internet feed, pct26.com.  The meeting begins at 7 p.m., or shortly there following.  City council updates and archives are available on the City website.   

 

 City Council Agenda, 2/24/14.

Item 4. "free" city shuttle, Measure A sales tax money.
Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting to begin service 12/1/12.
Devil's Slide Park will open soon, next month we hope.

Closed session, 5:00 p.m. 
CA government code 54957.6.  Conference with labor negotiator. Agency Negotiator: Glen Berkheimer.  Firefighters Local 2400, Battalion Chiefs Local 856, Department Directors Local 350. Wastewater Treatment Plant Employees Local 856. Miscellaneous Local 856.  Managers Local 350.   Police Officers Association, Supervisors, Management Local 350. 

Open Session, 7:00 p.m. 
Consent Calendar 

1.    Approval of  disbursements, fiscal year 2013-14, 2/5/14 - 2/11/14.

2.    Approval of  City Council Minutes, 2/10/14. 

3.    Replacement of 40 obsolete 8-10 year old computers, from Beta Nineties Computer, Inc., San Francisco, CA.  Purchase Order:  40 computers x $828 each.  $33,120 total, $2,898 tax, $36,018 TOTAL.  Staff Report.

4.    Resolution and application to support the weekend community shuttle program through the "City and County Association of Government Local Transportation Services Program and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority Measure A Sales Tax Program Funding".

5.     Amendment 1 to the 2010 CalEMA 500 Esplanade Storm Drain Outfall Project through Cotton Shires and Associates, not to exceed $15,991 (Disaster Account 38.9, reimbursed from Cal EMA at 75%+10% administrative cost.   Amendment 1, includes Exhibit A, letter to City, 2/13/14 (pages 4). A link to the original contract is not included.

Special Presentations

a.     San Francisco Organized Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action.

b.     Preserve Our Pier Supporter Award - Ian Butler

Public hearings - None listed. 

Consideration - None listed. 

Adjourn.   Note:  Picture of the shuttle, and a linked article are from Pacifica Chamber of Commerce.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Beloved, talented, funny Eco-NIMBY has a birthday, and gets an community service award, congratulations Ian!

He's good for the POPS award and more...
Happy Birthday Ian, 2/24/14 !!!

Pacifica Tribune/Anna Boothe, 2/18/14. "Ian Butler receives 2014 POPS award."

"Ian Butler, popular Pacifica singer-songwriter, Fog Fest Parade MC, TV host and conservationist, will receive the POPS (Preserve our Pier Supporters) 2014 achievement award for service to Pacifica and the Pier at the next City Council meeting, 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at

Council Chambers. "It's my birthday," Ian said, "Now I know how I'll celebrate!"

POPS chose Ian for his five years of music for its annual Party at the Pier, for five years as MC at the Fog Fest Parade, for hosting Channel 26 programs, "Laugh Locally" and "Wavelength," volunteering and music for the Beach Coalition, and most recently adopting a local beach where he found an ancient mammoth mammal remains, now in his closet, which will go to the Pacifica Historical Museum when it is opens.

"It's high time someone gave Ian an award," said Anna Boothe, POPS president, "and we are proud to do it."  So come and celebrate Ian's award and his birthday at Monday's City Council meeting." 

Related - History Orb, Famous Birthdays on 24th February.    

Note:  Best ever photograph of Ian from Pacifica Riptide. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

The better alternative is the Caltrans highway widening

Pacifica Tribune Letters to the Editor, 2/18/14.  "Fix the highway" by Bob Hutchinson

The best highway solution proposed came from Caltrans research

"Editor:  The same old group that opposes everything in town are now fighting to stop a much needed safety modernization of a small stretch of highway 1 that has a serious traffic problem; They are trying to convince us that there are better alternatives to widening. Below are their ideas followed by the facts of why these alternatives are not viable options.

Build an overpass at Vallemar. Highway engineers at Caltrans found this option to be much more costly and destructive of a unique neighborhood. Several longtime businesses would have to be removed and a monstrous cement overpass be built. Caltrans decided widening is a better alternative.

Traffic light timing. A company whose specialty is setting up highly complex traffic light timing systems was brought in to study our problem. This company that is expert in this field found that timing lights in this instance will not work because there is not enough capacity on the road.

School schedule. The school district has stated that changing start times or buying buses is not an option. Furthermore, the school is not the problem, as there's heavy traffic in the evening, on weekends, and in the summer.

The short section Caltrans wants to widen is not a monstrosity that will ruin Pacifica and whisk cars through town, bypassing businesses. There are not huge sound walls or anything that will obstruct views. This very short <1 mile safety improvement will reduce accidents, emergency vehicle response time, gas consumption, and commute times as well as making it safer and easier to exit/enter at Vallemar and Fassler.

Our emergency workers, including three retired fire battalion chiefs, have said this widening is urgently needed to prevent delays that can cost lives.

These "alternatives," including widening the shoulder and building an overpass, not only would not work but would guarantee the loss of $50 million in Measure A money to another city that isn't stuck on fighting progress. And that is the ultimate goal of the Gang of No, to make sure nothing changes."
 
Note:  photograph from  The American Genius.  Permission to re-print the entire Letter to the Editor article from Bob Hutchinson.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Fix Highway 1 Now

Posted by Steve Sinai

Special Business, Ethics, Compassion event availabe through live stream internet, Monday, February 24, 2014

In search of a better world, business/work environment, and more humane life....

Santa Clara University, the Jesuit University in Silicon Valley, special event, "Business, Ethics, and Compassion", Monday, February 24, 2014, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and 1:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

 Tickets to the special "Business, Ethics, Compassion" seminar event are sold out, but  live stream internet will be available to the public at no charge.

"Live Stream Information - There will be two opportunities to watch the Dalai Lama live online on Feb. 24–during the morning's public event and then during an afternoon panel discussion with academic and business leaders. Return here on the day of the event for links to the live streams.

10:00 a.m - 11:30 a.m.  "Business, Ethics, and Compassion: A Public Dialogue."  "The Dalai Lama will be joined by the CEO of Dignity Health, Lloyd Dean, for a talk concerning the intersection of organizational life and compassion. His Holiness will also answer questions gathered from the public."

1:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.  "Incorporating Ethics and Compassion into Business Life: A Conversation between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Academic and Business Leaders." "The Dalai Lama will address a panel that includes four academic and business leaders for a discussion that will encompass religion, research, and business.The panel will consist of Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc.; Jane Shaw, retired chairman of the board of Intel; Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics; and Monica Worline, research fellow at University of Michigan's CompassionLab."   More SCU Dalai Lama information.

Reference - The Dalai Lama Foundation, videos and webcasts.  Dalai Lama quotes. 

Related article -  CBS SF/Brandon Mercer, 2/17/14.  "Tibetan holy leader The Dalai Lama to visit San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Clara."

Note photographs: home is where you feel at home quote from Words on Images, compassionate attitude from Compassionate Action organization. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

7.7 acre housing development, Brotherhood Way (Parkmerced) San Francisco

San Francisco Chronicle/John Wildermuth, 2/17/14.  "Development alters S.F.'s road of churches."

                             Reference - The PM Story, construction video (YouTube):
                             Part 1, 3:19 minutes,  Part 2, 2:34 minutes, and  Part 3, 2:34 minutes.

"For decades, Brotherhood Way has been a unique part of San Francisco, an almost pastoral road running toward Lake Merced past a hillside of pine trees on one side and a row of churches, temples and religious schools on the other. 

In a city desperate for housing, however, the prospect of 182 brand-new homes to draw families to one of San Francisco's least developed areas can trump any appeal to the past. In 2005, when the city Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors each signed off on the project, housing advocates turned out in support of the development. "This is a unique development," said Chris Hawke, whose Maracor Development was the moving force behind the project. "We're told that this is the first true subdivision to open in the city in 40 years."

 

Summer move-in planned. Models for the first phase of the development are expected to open this spring, with owners moving into the first 10 of the three-and four-bedroom homes during the summer." Read article.  Note:  graphic map by John Blanchard, this article, San Francisco Chronicle.

 

Related -  San Francisco Magazine/Ben Christopher, 10/16/13, "Cranespotting: Urban Livittowns.  The term 'planned community" no longer has to mean row after row of plain vanilla." "5. Summit 800 (Parkmerced), 800 Brotherhood Way, 182 spanking new houses.  Parkmerced Real estate development and its attendant controversies play out a little differently in the city’s suburban-style southwest. Take Summit 800, a feng shui–blessed planned community that broke ground after facing down neighbors who wanted to preserve the area’s Arcadian greenery and the church-lined boulevard’s ecclesiastic character. Arcadian greenery? Church-lined? Yes, we’re still talking about San Francisco. Residential/2016/40 ft."   Note:  photograph link from this article.

 

Business Journal/J. K.Dineen, 5/13/13. "182 suburban-style homes in urban San Francisco?  Believe it." "The project, formerly known as 800 Brotherwood Way, was blocked for years by neighborhood groups who argued that the formerly city-owned site was set aside in 1958 for educational and religious uses, not housing. Eventually the city’s board of appeals ruled against the neighborhood opponents, which included former supervisor Tony Hall and retired Judge Quentin Kopp. 

 

Posted by Kathy Meeh 

Water recycling, progress stalled coastside (Half Moon Bay and Midcoast)

Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 2/13/14.  "What happened to recycled water?  Drought serves as reminder of forgotten project.

Meantime, any plan to recycle more water in Pacifica?

....  "The worst drought in recent memory is a reminder of a missed opportunity for bringing recycled water to the Coastside. Recycled water — treated sewer water that is then usable for irrigation — seemed like a perfect political bridge for the fractious interests on the Coastside. The program was regarded as environmentally sound, financially prudent and could have saved an estimated 190 million gallons of water per year.

Just a few years ago, building a recycled water plant seemed like a certainty due to a rare constellation of public and political support. More than 80 percent of local voters had endorsed the idea of building a recycled water facility, giving a clear mandate to elected officials to make it a priority. In 2008, the Sewer Authority Midcoastside, the sanitary district jointly governed by Half Moon Bay and Midcoast agencies, was studying treatment systems with the idea that a fully operational plant would be up and running by 2013.

....  Since the failure to launch recycled water on the Coastside, its lost benefits have only become more apparent. Last year, the San Mateo County grand jury strongly urged Peninsula utilities to diversify their water supply with recycled-water initiatives. The report suggested Half Moon Bay begin investigating the idea, but it made no mention of the years already spent on planning and studying the concept.

Russell of Ocean Colony Partners said the experience has been frustrating given all the time and money thrown at recycled water. He avoided blaming any side for causing the project to fail, but he urged all parties to come back to the table. “Maybe we get through this drought, but there will be another drought,” he said. “There are legitimate disagreements, but then there’s political disagreements. I just think people need to rise above that.”  Read more.

Note:  photograph from  U-T San Diego, however the photograph caption links to our North Coast County Water District.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Route 1, San Pedro Creek Bridge Replacement meeting, Wednesday, February 19, 2014

City of Pacifica Community Public Information Meeting. Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Pacifica Community Center Auditorium, 540 Crespi Drive, Pacifica.

 You'll be seeing us soon

"You are invited to a public information meeting to present the proposed Route 1, San Pedro Creek Bridge Replacement and Creek Widening Project. The purpose of this project is to replace the current bridge over San Pedro Creek along Highway 1 at the same alignment, provide for a Class 1 multi-purpose path along its eastern side and widen San Pedro Creek to provide 100-year storm event flow capacity. This project will complete the US Army Corps of Engineers Flood Control Project for lower Linda Mar and Pedro Point."

------------

Reference - City of Pacifica Resolution 1250, adopted, 5/28/13.

Related article-  Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop Staff Writer, 5/14/13,

"San Pedro Creek Bridge replacement last step in flood control project; homeowners see savings in flood insurance." ....  "The bridge replacement project is in the design and environmental review phase. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring, said Van Ocampo, director of Pacifica's public works department. The construction is expected to take 18 months, during which time Highway One traffic at Pedro Point will be reconfigured.  The San Pedro Creek Bridge was originally constructed in the mid 1950s. It has a low elevation that places it within the flood zone and it has a narrow span that bottlenecks the flow of San Pedro Creek.  ....  The replacement bridge will be designed and constructed based on current structural and seismic standards, and will be approximately five feet higher to help ensure the bridge will remain passable even during 100-year storm events. It will also have a longer span of approximately 140 feet to accommodate the widening of the creek channel underneath."

Related articles -  Coastsider/Barry Parr, 2/15/14.  "The undertaking, requested by the City of Pacifica, will be managed by Caltrans and funded by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority and state and federal funding."  The article includes the mapped location.  Fix Pacifica reprint article, Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, 12/8/11.

Note:  Photograph by Camden Swita is from a Pacifica Patch article, 7/30/11. San Pedro Creek bridge is on the east side of Highway 1, across from Pedro Point.  The graphic mapped location is from the Coastsider/Barry Parr article.  

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Open Space and Parkland Advisory Committee meeting, Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Open Space and Parkland Advisory Committee meeting, Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 6:00 p.m. Parks, Beaches and Recreation Department Conference Room, 1810 Francisco Boulevard. Open to the public.

Committee members:    Paul Jones, Chair, Jim Cordeiro, Co-Chair, Lisa Villasenor, Julie Lancelle, Allan Federman, Noel Blincoe, Alison Sanders, Michael Pacelli, George Frank. 

Meeting agenda.

Committee reorganization:  Election of Chair and Co-Chair.

Consideration item:  Work Plan.

Posted by Kathy Meeh