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| City Manager's Report for the Week Ending october 19th, 2012 October 23, 2012 |
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Mayor and Councilmembers: This is the weekly report for the week ending October 19th, 2012.
The City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 23rd, is cancelled, and please note that there will not be a City Council meeting on Election Day, Tuesday, November 6th. The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 13th.
In preparation for repaving Cutting Boulevard between South 34th Street and South 49th Street, Ghilotti Brothers Construction will be replacing old non-conforming handicapped access ramps at the intersections together with necessary curb, gutter and sidewalk repairs. The work will begin Monday, October 15th, in the vicinity of South 49th Street and will continue for approximately three weeks. Paving of the roadway will follow next spring, as soon as weather allows.
Richmond has been selected as one of eleven finalists for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Roadmaps to Health Prize. The City of Richmond Health Initiatives Team partnered with the Richmond Community Foundation and Urban Habitat to apply. The prize recognizes communities across the United States that are affecting locally-driven change towards a healthy community. To highlight our efforts, Richmond launched this video on its Roadmap to Health. Hear from community leaders about the changes that have been happening in our community. Highlights include the Richmond Health Equity Partnership, Community Health and Wellness, Office of Neighborhood Safety, Nystrom United Revitalization Effort, and coordinated partnerships around health care in schools, parks, urban gardens, and the arts, which have all helped create a healthier, more vibrant community. Six Roadmaps to Health Prize winners will be announced in early 2013 and will be awarded $25,000. Wish us luck! The video is available at: www.richmondhealth.org.
Over the last month, the City of Richmond conducted trash assessments in four locations in Richmond for compliance with the Municipal Regional Stormwater National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The Watershed Project assisted in organizing community members and student groups to assist. Trash was categorized and removed by over 75 volunteers and staff. Non-foodware plastic pieces made up the largest percentage of the trash tallied at each site, followed by expanded polystyrene and plastic bags. Last Saturday, students from Making Waves and community members assessed and cleaned Baxter Creek by San Pablo Avenue, a site instrumental in placing Baxter Creek on the State’s impaired water body listing for trash. Last week City staff and employees from Veolia Water conducted an assessment and clean-up on a section of Castro Creek in the Iron Triangle. This site was identified by maintenance crews as the worst trash hot-spot. At Coastal Clean-up, many community members cleaned Shimada Strand, a shoreline located on the Bay Trail east of Shimada Park. This highly visible shoreline is long enough to qualify for a trash assessment. On the same day, 19 members of Earth Team from Richmond High cleaned and assessed Garrity Creek. Each clean-up removed all visual pieces of trash in a 100-yard reach as required in the latest version of the Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES permit. Trash tallies assist in source identification, tracking trash load reductions and in preparing a long-term trash load reduction plan with the goal of no trash impairment by 2022.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the United Heckathorn Superfund Site Technical Assistance Needs Assessment, developed with feedback from the community. Please visit the City’s website to stay up-to-date on the United Heckathorn Superfund Site clean-up plan and community engagement strategy.
Over the past few years, Code Enforcement staff has received numerous complaints regarding criminal activity and concerns for pedestrian safety at the railroad right-of-way along the areas of Chesley Avenue and Sanford Avenue in North Richmond. In August 2011, Code Enforcement staff partnered with Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the North Richmond community and reached out to Union Pacific Railroad to discuss options for addressing the community’s concerns. Union Pacific shared our concerns and financed the construction of a new fence. We are happy to report that the fence was completed on September 24, 2012. Feedback from the community has been positive, and safety concerns for pedestrians crossing have been alleviated. This is an excellent example of a true team effort from the City, residents within the community, ACCE, and Union Pacific.
Installation of the large trash capture device in the stormwater pipe draining Hilltop Mall is set for next week. The trail around Hilltop Lake (also known as Garrity Creek retention basin) will be closed October 22nd to October 24th for large trucks delivering the device and surrounding vault. The south side of the trail will continue to be closed until November 1st for the installation of the device. More information is available on the City’s News Flash page and stormwater webpage under the Engineering Department. You can register on Twitter to follow this and other Engineering projects at http://twitter.com/CoR_Engineering. Click the “follow” button to register. If you are interested in this project only, simply follow Lynne Scarpa, project manager for the placement of the full trash capture devices.
The Environmental Initiatives Team visited Self-Sustaining Communities urban farm located in the Southwest Richmond Annex. Self-Sustaining Communities (SCC) is a Richmond-based organization that works with low-income residents and community members with the goal of creating large-scale, environmentally- sustainable local food production in distressed neighborhoods. In 2012, the Environmental Initiatives Team partnered with SCC to distribute more than 1,000 fruit trees to Richmond residents. The 10,000 square foot farm is home to chickens, tilapia in an aquaponics system, vertically-planted potatoes, rainwater collection barrels, and newly-planted fruit trees. Most structures were built using reused and recycled materials. View more photos from the visit.
On Friday, October 26th, the City of Richmond Environmental Initiatives Team is hosting an olive tree giveaway at the Civic Center Farmers’ Market. Potted trees will be distributed starting at 11:00 AM on a first come, first serve basis until supplies last. Free olive trees will also be available at the City of Richmond Community Centers. Thank you to Self-Sustaining Communities and McEvoy Ranch for their generous donation.
Last week, the Purchasing Division hosted a one day Purchasing Law Seminar for members of the San Francisco Chapter of California Association of Public Procurement Officials (CAPPO). The seminar provided an overview of Procurement Law for purchasing and contract officials that work with competitive bid documents. The class was taught by two attorneys that specialize in procurement law: Terry Tao and Martin Hom of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo Law Corporation. Course Highlights included:
A special thanks to Rose Gibson for organizing the entire event. The feedback from the attendees was very positive.
Disabled Peoples Recreation Center Disabled Peoples Recreation Center Adult Morning Program and Therapeutic Recreation Program participants are having a wonderful time decorating the gym area and prepping for the upcoming Halloween Dance to be held on Friday, October 26th, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Paratransit One of the many programs Richmond Paratransit offers to residents and organizations is vehicle rental service, which includes a driver and rental of a minivan or small bus. If you or your group is interested in utilizing the vehicle rental services and would like pricing information, please contact the Paratransit Coordinator at (510) 621-1258.
Parks and Landscaping Division: The Burg Park Play Lot grand opening was held on Saturday, October 13th. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony performed by Mayor McLaughlin.
Burg Park Play Lot Grand Opening In preparation for the State Court Park Arbor Day tree planting event this Saturday, October 20th, crews performed weed abatement along the Marina Way underpass and 23rd Street grade separation, continued weed abatement along the Richmond Parkway and Greenway, received and installed the new pedestrian bridge for Booker T. Anderson Park, and completed landscaping in Hilltop.
Booker T. Anderson Park Pedestrian Bridge The Tree Crew trimmed and pruned trees on Key Boulevard from Macdonald to Barrett Avenue, at the Skate Park, and on 18th Street. Streets Division: The Pavement Maintenance Crew grinded and paved on Roosevelt Avenue from 37th Street to 44th Street. Street Sweeping continued with the commercial and residential routes for the third Monday through Friday of the month at, North Richmond, Iron Triangle, North Belding Woods, South Belding Woods, Atchison Village, Santa Fe, Coronado, Marina Bay, and Point Richmond Neighborhood Council areas. The Traffic Signs and Lines Crew repainted various curbs, replaced five sets of street name signs, installed thermoplastic stop messages, and fabricated signs.
********************************************* 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! You can sign up to receive the City Manager’s weekly report and other information from the City of Richmond by visiting: www.ci.richmond.ca.us/list.aspx
Tom Butt
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
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