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| City Manager's Weekly Report for the Week
Ending February 23rd, 2007 February 23, 2007 |
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Mayor and Councilmembers:
This is the weekly report for the week ending February 23rd, 2007.
1. Meeting Notes
The next City Council meeting will be a special Study Session on Tuesday, February 27th to hear a presentation regarding Chevron’s emergency response plan and the community emergency notification system. There will also be a Closed Session at 5:30 PM, preceding this Study Session.
As a reminder, the third design charette for the Point Richmond Shores Project (Terminal One) is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday morning, February 24th, from 9:00 AM to noon at the City Council Chambers. (Note that I confirmed the 9:00 AM start time for this charette.)
2. City Receives Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification Survey
The Fire Department recently received the results of the Insurance Services Office (ISO) survey, which rates the structure fire suppression delivery system in the City. This information is used by most insurers for underwriting and calculating premiums for residential, commercial and industrial properties. The Fire Department received a Class 3 rating, which is unchanged from the current ISO rating. The 100-point rating system takes into account three categories:
1) Receiving and handling of fire calls (10 points possible); 2) Fire department personnel, apparatus and training (50 points possible); and 3) Water supply and hydrant system (40 points possible).
Richmond’s scoring breakdown was:
1) Receiving and handling fire alarms 10.00 2) Fire department 34.35 3) Water supply 35.95 Divergence -4.24
Total 76.06
(Divergence is a scoring reduction that reflects the difference in the relative credits for fire department and water supply.)
The overall rating scale is as follows:
Class 1 90.00 or more Class 2 80.00 to 89.99 Class 3 70.00 to 79.99 Class 4 60.00 to 69.99 Class 5 50.00 to 59.99 Class 6 40.00 to 49.99 Class 7 30.00 to 39.99 Class 8 20.00 to 29.99 Class 9 10.00 to 19.99 Class 10 0 to 9.99
Richmond’s last ISO rating occurred in September of 1994, and ratings are generally completed every 10 to 12 years. For a complete copy of the ISO report, please contact the City Manager or the Fire Chief.
3. West County Violence Prevention Collaborative
This past Wednesday, I attended a meeting that was convened jointly by Supervisor John Gioia and the Richmond’s Office of Violence Prevention Development Team among various public and non-profit service providers that are engaged in violence prevention programs. The purpose of the meeting was to initiate, and, in some instances, strengthen working relationships among these service providers, to review current violence prevention and youth development efforts in West County, and discuss opportunities and barriers for effective coordination among these providers. The meeting was successful in getting a large group of individuals in the same room to begin discussions about more successful collaboration on violence prevention efforts. Several more meetings of this group are planned over the next several months, and we will keep you informed as this initiative progresses.
4. Update on Bay Trail in Front of Brickyard Landing
During the discussion regarding the agenda item for the Terminal 1 rezoning at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, a statement was made that Toll Brothers was being slow in constructing the portion of the Bay Trail in front of Brickyard Landing. The City Engineer has been in contact with both Toll Brothers and representatives from the Brickyard Landing Homeowners’ Association (BLHOA), and has learned that the construction of this trail remains on the schedule previously reported to the City Council several months ago. The final design has been submitted and commented on by Engineering staff, and this revised plan was presented to the BLHOA this past Wednesday at their monthly board meeting. The plan was approved by the Board and will now be submitted to the City for a construction permit. Construction of the trail should start during the first part of March, with the City responsible for landscaping this portion of the trail.
5. Update on Port Contracts
Port Director Jim Matzorkis recently provided a business update associated with completion of the third year of the Port’s contract with Auto Warehousing Company at Point Potrero Marine Terminal. During the first three years, Hyundai and Kia have distributed more than 300,000 vehicles through the Richmond Port. In addition, Glovis America (Hyundai/Kia logistics partner) has indicated a planned 20% volume increase for Richmond for 2007, with associated increases in Port revenue. In addition to Auto Warehousing’s operation, Historic Shipyard Number Three is also hosting the National Park Service and Richmond’s Bay Trail, which represents an interesting blend of beneficial uses.
6. Proposal for BMX Track in the City of Richmond
As you may recall, Stephen Blodgett made a presentation to the City Council several weeks ago during “Public Comment” regarding his concept to locate a BMX track on BNSF property at the western base of the Greenway trail. Monique le Conge and I met today with Mr. Blodgett, together with Michael Hobelman, the local terminal manager from BNSF, to discuss more details about his proposal. Mr. Hobelman agreed to visit the site to see if BNSF would have an interest in leasing the property for the purpose of operating a BMX track, and I agreed to confirm the current zoning for the property. It should be noted that Mr. Blodgett would be seeking some level of financial participation from the City of Richmond in order to construct the facility. This is no more than a concept at this stage, but, as always, I would welcome your input.
7. City of Richmond/Veolia Partnering Session
This past Thursday, a meeting took place among City Engineering staff, Veolia, and the City’s consultant, Swinerton, with the goal of improving the lines of communication between all parties. This type of meeting, which is common in connection with a large-scale capital project such as that associated with the City’s wastewater system, is referred to as “partnering.” One of the main items discussed at this meeting was to make sure that the Council is kept well informed of all activities regarding the plant and the collection system. Quarterly and annual reports will be required to be submitted by Veolia, which will, in turn, be passed on to the Council.
As an aside, I met today with Joe Burgess, CEO of Veolia (based in Houston), mostly to get acquainted, but we did discuss issues of Veolia’s performance under the contract. Mr. Burgess stated his unequivocal commitment to make sure that Veolia does a quality job managing the City’s wastewater system.
8. Central Avenue/I-80 Interchange Improvement Project
Staff is working with CCTA, Caltrans and the City of El Cerrito to complete a project study report (PSR) for the Central Avenue/I-80 interchange improvement project, and met this past week with representatives from these agencies. The goal of the project is to improve the overall traffic operations at this intersection and along Central Avenue between San Pablo Avenue and Rydin Road. The closely spaced signalized intersections along Central Avenue between Jacuzzi and Pierce result in inadequate storage capacity between the intersections during signal cycles, which blocks through and turning traffic. A draft of this report is scheduled to be completed by January 2008.
9. Legal Aspects of Violence in the Workplace
Today (Friday), the City offered two training sessions for its supervisory employees on Legal Aspects of Violence in the Workplace. The training was conducted by attorney Jack Hughes of Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore, and focused on how supervisors and managers can minimize the potential for violent episodes involving City employees. The training also recommended how to respond if violence does occur. The training sessions, which help fulfill the city’s legal obligations to create a safe workplace, were attended by over 100 managers and supervisors. Additional classes will be offered so that those managers and supervisors who were unable to attend will have the opportunity to receive this valuable training.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about these or any other items of interest to you. Have a great week! Bill Lindsay City Manager City of Richmond 1401 Marina Way South Richmond, CA 94804
Phone: 510-620-6512 Fax: 510-620-6542 e-mail: bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us |
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