Mayor and Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending December 10th, 2010.

• Meeting Notes

 

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 4th.  (There is no meeting on the third Tuesday of December [the 21st] because of its proximity to the holidays.)

• City Hall Schedule

 

As a reminder, as a cost savings measure, City Hall will be closed during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day (December 27th – 31st), and non-emergency City services will be on a limited schedule.  I will provide the details of this limited service schedule in my report next week.

• Energy Efficiency Lighting Retrofit

 

The Environmental Initiatives Team has been working with the non-profit consultant Community Energy Services Corporation (CESC) and the contractor Energy Conservation Options (ECO) to retrofit lighting systems at all city facilities.  ECO is a local energy management firm that employs Richmond Build graduates, and CESC is a non-profit that administers the Smart Lights Program – a free lighting service offered to all commercial PG&E accounts in Richmond.  The project recently completed energy efficient lighting retrofits at all of the City of Richmond fire stations.  Efficiency measures included the installation of high efficiency lamps, ballasts, occupancy sensors and lighting controls.  The work was financed by the city’s stimulus grant (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant) and by up-front PG&E rebates through the CESC Smart Lights Program.

The results of these energy efficiency upgrades make a significant contribution in the city’s continuing efforts to reduce spending, as well as reduce carbon emissions from its facilities.  The fire stations alone will reduce the following emissions and costs:

• CO2 Emissions Reduction - 25,834 lbs/year or 12.917 tons/year
• Energy Savings Estimate - 31,351 kW/year
• Cost Savings Estimate - $5,000/year

 

The City of Richmond, ECO and Smart Lights team has also completed retrofits at KCRT, the Senior Annex Center and Richmond Build III.  The team is currently working to complete retrofits for the Bayview and Westside libraries and will continue to retrofit additional city facilities.

The CESC Smart Lights Program offers free services to all Richmond businesses including: lighting audits, up-front rebates and third-party verification of work completed.  The city is encouraging businesses to call the Smart Lights Program for a free energy audit, and hire a lighting contractor that hires Richmond BUILD graduates and residents.

CESC Smart Lights Program
Phone: 510-981-7750
Enrollment Form: http://www.ebenergy.org/smart-lights/enrollment/
Website: http://www.ebenergy.org/smart-lights/

• Public Works Updates

 

• Paving crews grinded 39th Street from Bissell Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue.  Due to weather conditions, the resurfacing of 39th Street will be completed next Monday, December 13th, with the resurfacing of 11th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue to follow.

• The Facilities Maintenance Division continues painting the auditorium’s second-level balcony.

 

• On Saturday, December 11th, as part of Richmond Arbor Day, Parks crews will be planting 123 trees along Carlson Boulevard and Bayview Avenue.  Parks crews, in addition to general maintenance, will work on vegetation control along the Hilltop Business area and Marina Bay Parkway from I-580 to the Barbara & Jay Vincent Park, and will be planting bushes along the Bay Trail next to the Shimada Friendship Park.

• Tree trimming operations will be performed along 11th, 29th, and 36th Streets, Roosevelt, Garvin, Santa Clara and Moran Avenues and at Nicholl Park.

 

• Recreation Highlights

• Glow-in-the-Dark Basketball:  On December 7th, the Parchester Community Center hosted half-court basketball sessions for youth ages 9 to 14.  The players all wore white t-shirts while an ultra violet black light was used on the sidelines to create a fun glow-in-the-dark effect.  A glow-in-the-dark ball was also used to enhance the effects.  The youth are looking forward to introducing this concept at each of the Recreation Department Community Centers.

 

• 13th Annual Senior Winter Ball:  On Saturday, December 11th, from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, the Commission on Aging, in collaboration with the Recreation Department, will present the 13th /Annual Senior Winter Ball at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium.  Dinner, dancing, music, prizes and a special dance contest will be enjoyed while participants celebrate the holiday season.

• 58th Annual Snow Ball: The Recreation Department is hosting the 58th Annual High School Snow Ball on Saturday, December 18th, from 7:00 PM to 12 midnight at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium.  Ninth through 12th grade students from various high schools in West Contra Costa Unified School District will attend this gala event to enjoy music, dancing, light refreshments and the presentation of the Snow Ball King and Queen.

 

• Candy Cane Classic:  The Recreation Department is hosting the Candy Cane Classic Basketball Tournament, one of the longest running tournaments of the East Bay, where players in age groups 10 & under through 14 & under from all over the East Bay will participate in safe, fun and competitive games from 8:30 AM to 7:30 PM, Friday through Sunday, December 17th, 18th, and 19th, at the RPAL, Richmond Recreation Complex, and other gymnasiums to be announced. 

• Poetry Slam:  The Youth Activities section is co-hosting a poetry slam with America Scores, an agency that teaches poetry and soccer in elementary school after-school programs, on Saturday, December 11th, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Richmond Recreation Complex.  Approximately 160 elementary school students from Chavez, Lake, Grant, Dover, Stewart, Tara Hills and Bay View Elementary Schools will attend as spectators and presenters.  Two contestants will be selected to represent West Contra Costa County in April 2011 for a National Poetry Slam in New York.

 

• Engineering Services Capital Improvement Program Updates

• Point Molate Bay Trail Project (Project Study Report & Design): The project will close the Bay Trail gap between Castro Street at Tewksbury and the existing trail under the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge.  The consultant, Questa, continues collecting data for the Project Study Report which must be completed before the project design begins.  A public outreach presentation will be provided at the Richmond Bike/Ped Advisory Committee meeting on December 13th at 5:30 PM in the Point Molate Conference Room located on the 2nd floor of City Hall.  Another community meeting is being planned to occur in January 2011.
• Miscellaneous Sidewalk Repair Program:  FY 2010/11 – 2011/12 Sidewalk Repair Program was advertised for bid on Tuesday, December 7th.  The job is posted on Bids-On Line.  The sidewalk contract includes the ADA Curb Ramp Program.
• Park Plaza Series Street Light Conversion: The contractor has completed the potholing, revealing no utility conflicts, and has starting excavation for the pole foundations.
• Richmond Greenway/Ohlone Gap Closure (Design): The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership have reviewed the landscaping plan for Baxter Creek, which is part of the Richmond Greenway.  The agencies are very pleased with the project and are interested in assisting the City with finding funding sources for construction.
• Kay Road Annexation

 

While designing pedestrian and transit access improvements in the North Richmond area, Contra Costa County Public Works Department discovered a ten-foot wide strip of right-of-way along the northeastern alignment of Kay Road that was inadvertently omitted from territory annexed to the City of Richmond in 1955.  The City limit line has been corrected with the ten-foot strip of land in the Kay Road right-of-way.  It is now properly annexed into the City of Richmond through the Local Agency Formation Commission.

 

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 94804-1630
Phone:  510-620-6512
Fax:  510-620-6542
E-mail:  bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us