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| City Manager's Weekly Report for the Week Ending March 26th, 2010 March 26, 2010 |
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Mayor and Councilmembers: This is the weekly report for the week ending March 26th, 2010.
There is no City Council meeting next week, as March 30th is the fifth Tuesday of the month. Enjoy the night off.
A public meeting notice was recently mailed to all property owners in the Richmond Municipal Sewer District regarding two public meetings on proposed rate increases. City staff has scheduled these two community meetings to answer questions regarding the proposed increases, and the necessary improvements to the sewer collection and treatment system. The first such meeting was held this past Monday, March 22nd and the next public meeting is on Wednesday, March 31st beginning at 6:00 PM in the Bermuda Room of the Richmond Auditorium. Mailers have previously been sent to all property owners affected by the proposed rate increases.
In a significant milestone, today, March 25th, the remaining 41 acres of the Pt. Molate site were transferred from the Navy to the City of Richmond. As you may recall, the Pt. Molate Naval Depot ceased operations in 1995. Two years later, a Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee completed, and the City Council approved, the Pt. Molate Reuse Plan, and the transfer of the first 170 acres from the Navy to the City occurred in 2003. Since that time the Navy has prepared a Finding of Suitability for Early Transfer (FOSET) and the City and the Navy have entered into an Early Transfer Cooperative Agreement (ETCA) that transfers $28.5 million in funding, and the responsibility for completing the remediation to achieve regulatory compliance, to the City. The City approved a Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) with Upstream Pt. Molate LLC (Upstream) in 2004 for the sale of the land, and also transferred the obligations for the cleanup to Upstream. The City and Upstream entered into a Remediation Agreement in 2008 that further details Upstream’s remediation obligations. Now that the City owns the entire site, the process of environmental cleanup can move towards completion.
Last night, the Recreation Department Director and staff attended the California Parks and Recreation Society District 3 2009 Awards and Installation Celebration which was held in Walnut Creek. At this event, the City of Richmond received the Award of Excellence, Outstanding Parks & Recreation Facility for the Nicholl Skate Plaza. The award acknowledges “significant contributions towards Creating Community through People, Parks and Programs”.
This past Tuesday, it was announced that the Richmond Memorial Civic Center Revitalization Project was first runner-up for the San Francisco Business Times award for the “Best Rehabilitation or Renovation Project” for 2009. The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco took top honors in this category. The Civic Center project has also been nominated for ABAG’s “Growing Smarter Together Awards – Building a Better Bay Area – Urban Design Award.” The award winners will be announced at the AGAG meeting in Oakland on April 22nd. Councilmembers are encouraged to attend this important ABAG meeting – award or no award.
On Saturday, March 19th, the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) Peacekeepers transported 12 youth from Crescent Park to San Quentin State Prison to participate in The Reaching Expanding Adolescent Lives (R.E.A.L.) Choices Program. This is an educational program facilitated by some of the “lifers” at San Quentin. The youngsters were given a complete tour of the prison facility and then met with the lifers to discuss the importance of making good decisions, avoiding negative peer pressure and doing everything that they can to work hard in their school studies. San Quentin provided a healthy lunch for the youth visitors. On Friday, March 26th a follow-up discussion will be held with the ONS Peacekeepers and the youth to talk about the effects that the visit to San Quentin had on their lives.
The Governor’s Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy visited Richmond and the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) to learn more about the 2007-08 and 2008-09 CalGRIP grants that support the Richmond Community Wellness Collaborative (RCWC). The ONS and RCWC partners including Richmond Youth Works, Neighborhood House of North Richmond, and the Richmond Police Activities League provided an overview of the projects, and a description of the nature and purpose of the elements that are being supported by CalGRIP.
Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) staff, along with a dozen residents and local church leaders, facilitated an evening walk and outreach effort into the Pullman Point apartment complex in South Richmond on Friday. Earlier that day, two people were injured when gunfire erupted within the gated complex. The purpose of the walk was to offer hope through prayer, conversation, and information about local resources. Residents were receptive to the outreach workers, who later went door-to-door to greet them and offer prayer. Youth and young adults participated and were provided with social services resource information. The Clergy “Night Walks” and Outreach is the first of a series of four activities to be led by the ONS over the next month.
The City of Richmond has been designated by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA for the year 2009. This distinction was the result of a successful first time application that was prepared and submitted by the Parks & Landscaping Division of the Public Works Department. The Tree City USA designation is provided annually to those cities who continue to maintain or surpass defined service levels in support of their urban forests. Tree City USA signs can now be displayed at entry gateways to the City. With this designation, the City of Richmond can apply with greater expectations of success to regional and national grant programs to support and expand our urban forest. Achievement of the Tree City USA designation was a stated goal of the City of Richmond’s 5-Year Strategic Business Plan.
The following are highlights from the Recreation Department for the past two weeks, along with some coming attractions:
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
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