Mayor and City Council:
This is the weekly report for the week ending August 23rd, 2013.
The City Council is on meeting hiatus during the month of August. The next City Council meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday, September 10th. In the meantime, enjoy the break and have a great summer.
- Officer Bradley A. Moody Memorial Underpass Project
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Officer Bradley A. Moody Memorial Underpass Project was held this morning, Friday, August 23rd, adjacent to the construction site at the southeast corner of Marina Bay Parkway and Pierson Avenue. As you know, this project entails the construction of a roadway underpass on Marina Bay Parkway between Meeker Avenue and Regatta Boulevard, and is intended to resolve long-standing access limitations to the Marina Bay Area caused by frequent train crossings.
Speakers at this groundbreaking event included Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, Supervisor John Gioia, Amy Rein Worth, Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation, and Randy Iwasaki, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority. Vice-Mayor Corky Boozé, and Councilmembers Nat Bates and Jovanka Beckles were also in attendance. Richmond Police Officer James Moody, the brother of Officer Bradley A. Moody, for whom the project is named, gave a very moving tribute to his brother, an outstanding Richmond police officer who lost his life several years ago in the vicinity of the project as he was travelling to assist a fellow officer. Attendees included numerous members of Officer Moody’s family, and a large number of Richmond police personnel.
Acknowledgements were also given at the groundbreaking to Successor Agency staff members Alan Wolken and Chad Smalley, who have managed the project so effectively since its inception, Lizeht Zepeda, who organized today’s program, and to the construction team that includes the contractor Gordon N. Ball, Inc., construction manager The Hanna Group, and civil engineers BKF Engineers, all of whom have done great work on the project.
As for the project itself:
While utility relocation work has continued, temporary driveways for AC Transit circulation have been completed, as well as a new driveway at the Crossings business development. For the following week, work will continue on utility relocations at the Department of Public Health campus and near Pierson Avenue. AT&T will also be performing utility relocation work under separate contract. Modification of the median on Regatta Boulevard near the police station is also scheduled to start next week.
Marina Bay Parkway is scheduled to be closed beginning September 3rd and will remain closed for approximately 18 months. Please see below for a graphic depicting alternate detour routes. On August 17th, project personnel conducted an event at Marina Park and Green to hand out convenient cards with this information, and to generally inform the community of the project. Please contact the project’s public outreach consultant, Jacqueline Majors, through the project website at www.moodyup.com if you would like a “know your route” card.
For additional information and to be added to the project update contact list, please see the project website at www.moodyup.com. You can also now follow the project on twitter: @moodyunderpass.
- Help Rebuild Belding Garcia Playground!
Saturday, October 26th is Make a Difference Day, the largest day of national community service. On this day, volunteers around the nation will work in their communities to improve the lives of others. From 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on October 26th, the Richmond community is invited to join residents of the Belding Woods Neighborhood and community partners as they rebuild the Belding Garcia Playground located at 17th Street and Coalinga Avenue.
The new playground will provide children, ages 2 to 12, and families with a positive, safe, and fun environment. Additionally, the improved playground will enhance youths’ imagination around play, help develop friendships, and be the meeting place for cherished memories.
All skill levels and talents are welcome! No experience is necessary. There are a variety of opportunities for you to make a positive impact. Volunteers are needed to assist with building playground equipment pieces, serving food, registering fellow volunteers, and leading activities for children.
Your time will help improve the lives of many in the Belding Woods Neighborhood. Register today to volunteer at http://beldinggarciaplayground.eventbrite.com/. For inquiries, please contact Alicia Nightengale at (510) 620-5460 or Bertha Romo at (510) 620-5535.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 26th!
- Richmond South Shoreline Specific Plan Development Alternatives Presentation
The Richmond Planning Division will host a third community workshop for the South Shoreline Specific Plan on Wednesday, August 28th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Richmond Field Station Conference Center, Building 445, Egret Way in Richmond. At this workshop, the community will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the refined design and land use alternatives that have been developed for the project based on previous community input.
Please join us for a presentation of the development alternatives and continue to provide feedback on the specific plan's direction! Refreshments and Spanish translation will be provided. Directions are available at http://rfs.berkeley.edu/explore_directions.htm.
This community planning effort is partially funded through a PDA Planning Grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments. Visit www.ci.richmond.ca.us/sssp for the project website.
Please contact Hector Rojas, Senior Planner at hector_rojas@ci.richmond.ca.us for more information or with any questions or comments.
- Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Conference
The City of Richmond was featured at this year’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Conference held recently in Sacramento. City staff from the Engineering Department and City Manager’s Office made a presentation, together with representatives from Contra Costa Health Services and Pogo Park, on recent Safe Routes to School initiatives in the Iron Triangle, in partnership with Peres Elementary School parents and local community organizations. The session was entitled “When Communities speak up! Equity & Empowerment in SRTS Efforts.” The panel presentation focused on the collaborative work to improve health equity, walkability, safety, and connectivity in the Iron Triangle community. For more information on the conference click here and view photos of the conference click here.
  
- West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) Draft Strategic Plan and Town Hall Meetings
The draft 2013-2018 WCCUSD Strategic Plan is now available for public comment. The draft plan is available on the district’s web site. For more information on the Strategic Plan process click here. Please send all comments to strategicplan@wccusd.net. In addition to providing written comments, please feel free to attend one of the two strategic plan town hall meetings being organized to explain the proposed plan to interested stakeholders. Stakeholders can participate in small group working sessions and help prioritize the work for the next five years. The first town hall meeting is on Wednesday, August 28th in the multipurpose room at El Cerrito High School and the second is on Monday, September 9th in the multi-purpose room at Collins Elementary School. Both meetings are from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
Every two years since 2007, the City of Richmond has conducted a community survey to help city officials evaluate services, measure resident satisfaction and use of current services, benchmark ratings for services provided by the City, and to help plan for Richmond’s future.
In 2013, surveys were mailed out to 3,000 randomly selected and geographically dispersed Richmond households. A total of 408 completed surveys were obtained, providing an overall response rate of 14% with a margin error of plus or minus five percentage points.
The results of the survey are always interesting and can be found as described below.
2013 Survey Reports
To review the agenda report and PowerPoint presentation, please use the links below:
The 2013 survey results are contained in four separate reports:
Please go to http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1871 for more information about the 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 surveys.
- 2013 Community Survey Available to all Richmond Residents to Complete
If your household was not one of the 3,000 households selected to receive the survey, but you would like to provide feedback to the city, then now is your chance. The 2013 Richmond Community Survey can now be completed by ALL Richmond residents by accessing the links below.
• English: http://www.n-r-c.com/survey/richmond2013survey.htm
• Spanish: http://www.n-r-c.com/survey/richmond2013encuesta.htm
Feel free to contact LaShonda Wilson-White in the City Manager’s office at (510) 620-6828 with questions, comments, or to obtain a paper copy of the survey. Your input can help make the City of Richmond a better place to live, work and play. We look forward to receiving your feedback.
- Support Richmond High School (RHS) Students Through Writer Coach Connection
Last school year, 75 caring community volunteers worked 1-on-1 with Richmond High students in their English classes on their writing assignments. Together they brainstormed ideas, discussed life experiences, and worked to create clear, concise, and well organized writing. These writing, and creative and critical thinking skills are essential for school, college, and career success. EVERY student in a participating class had a coach.
Results? With positive encouragement, students have become more confident and competent writers. Teachers have reported more assignments turned-in and dramatically improved writing. Grades and the first-time pass rate on the writing portion of the high school exit exam have improved.
One hundred additional students are being added to the coaching program at RHS this fall, bringing the total number of students being served to about 250. This is a remarkable number that is a tremendous endorsement for the success of the program. This means, however, that an additional 55 coaches are needed to enable this expansion.
Coaches commit to a two-hour assignment during the school day and meet with students 2-3 times per month. Excellent coach training provides strategies for working effectively with students. Working and retired people, parents, grandparents, college students, and community members of all cultures and backgrounds are warmly encouraged to join the coaching team.
Being a vibrant community that cares about its youth and their education, community volunteers in the greater Richmond area have been stepping up to meet this need. To serve these additional volunteers, three coach training sessions have been completed, one is in process, and five more are scheduled through the end of September.
School has started! Coaching will start at RHS towards the end of September so there is still time to register to be a writing coach and choose a training session.
WILL YOU?
For information and to register to become a coach:
http://www.writercoachconnection.org/
Watch a video to hear from coaches and students about their experiences:
http://www.writercoachconnection.org/what-we-do.html
For more information, contact Shelli Fried, RHS Volunteer Recruitment Manager, at
510-530-7600 or sfried0530@gmail.com.
Facilities Maintenance: Carpenters removed partition walls at the Shields Reid Community Center, repaired entrance doors at the Richmond Police Department, and repaired the patio doors at Fire Station #62.
Painters painted the exterior walls of the Senior Center around the mural.
Stationary Engineers completed various repairs to Fire Stations #64, #67 and #68, repaired the water fountains at Booker T. Anderson Community Center, repaired the air conditioner in the server room at 440 Civic Center Plaza, and repaired the water closet in the Starlight Building.
Electricians installed two knocked-down traffic signals at Broadway Avenue and Carlson Boulevard, one knocked-down traffic signal at Richmond Parkway and San Pablo Avenue, and installed multiple branch wire runs along Richmond Parkway.
Traffic Signal Installation along Richmond Parkway
Parks and Landscaping Division: This week, crews completed the renovation of the practice wall at Hilltop Green tennis courts, resurfaced the tennis courts at Burg and Tiller Parks, completed the pathway lighting installation project along the Marina Bay Trail, continued with vegetation maintenance on Richmond Parkway, cleaned up the landscape at Civic Center Plaza, continued with the Bay Trail landscape rehabilitation in the Marina, repaired the turf irrigation at Country Club Vista Park, aerated the turf at the Solano Play Lot and Civic Center Plaza, prepared the pathway in the Marina along the Bay trail for paving, performed median landscape maintenance, and replaced three damaged slides at Nicholl Park.
Tree crews completed trim or cut down work on 32nd Street, Bissell Avenue, Wiswall Drive, Willard Avenue, Carlston Avenue, South 58th Street, Bayview Fire Station, and at Lucas Park.
Streets Division: Crews continued with grinding and paving on the main lanes of Cutting Boulevard from South 37th Street to South 41st Street in east and west bound lanes, and paved a pathway in the Marina.
Paving on Cutting Boulevard
Marina Pathway along the Bay Trail
Signs and lines crews fabricated 32 signs, repaired four knocked-down signs, painted curbs, replaced 141 pavement markers, and repainted pavement messages.
Street sweeping performed commercial and residential sweeping services for the second Monday through Wednesday and third Thursday and Friday in May Valley, Vista View, Clinton I – III, Atchison Village, South Belding Woods, Santa Fe, Coronado, Marina Bay and Point Richmond neighborhood council areas.
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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
Bill Lindsay
City Manager
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, California 94804
(510) 620-6512
Bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us
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