Sea View Hampton Undergrounding Information

Speak on the issue of spending additional city funds for professional reviews of SVH Undergrounding District. Speak on proceeding with the district at the Council’s discretion – without a re-vote by SVH residents. When Thu, April 15, 7:30pm – 10:30pm GMT-07:00 Where City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue Who you!

Dear Neighbors,

A staff report and proposed resolution on the SVH Undergrounding District has been posted. (Full report attached below.)

The resolution, as it is proposed, would:

1. Require that the City spend additional City funds of an unspecified amount for a professional review of the plans, specifications and bid documents for SVH
2. Does not wait for a full review and revision of all undergrounding procedures from the Audit Committee before proceeding, just recommendations from the committee,
3. Does not provide for hearings on whether to proceed or terminate the district prior to spending City funds to review bids, specifications, and plans, and
4. Does not require a re-vote by SVH residents before proceeding – the Council may proceed at its discretion.

The hearing will be on Monday, April 19th at City Hall, starting at 7:30. The agenda is posted at http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/agendas/04-19-10.pdf

You may call council members to provide your input (please note, only Barbieri, Weiler, and Keating vote on SVH issues):

Dean Barbieri, Mayor		(510) 655-6802	Term Exp. 2/12
John Chiang, Vice Mayor		(510) 655-2959	Term Exp. 2/14
Garrett Keating		(510) 566-1481	Term Exp. 2/14
Margaret Fujioka		(510) 463-7821	Term Exp. 2/12
Jeff Wieler		(510) 428-1648	Term Exp. 2/14

An email list for the Council Members, the City Manager, and the City Clerk:

<jwieler@ci.piedmont.ca.us>, <dbarbieri@ci.piedmont.ca.us>, “garrett keating” <gkeating@pacbell.net>, “Margaret Fujioka” <mfujioka@ci.piedmont.ca.us>, <jchiang@ci.piedmont.ca.us>, <ggrote@ci.piedmont.ca.us>, “Ann” <aswift@ci.piedmont.ca.us>,

If this issue is of importance to you, you may wish to call the three council members who will be voting on it.

Please pass this notification along to other residents you know outside the SVH area who may be interested in this topic, as my list primarily includes SVH residents.   This resolution will affect all city residents in terms of potential costs/risks of undertaking professional studies and proceeding with the district.

Elizabeth Schultz

Staff report and proposed resolution: http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/staffreports/04-19-10/hsv.pdf

New Community Group Supporting Local Efforts Towards Environmental Sustainability

All Piedmonters, young and old, are invited to the first meeting of Piedmont CONNECT, a new community group dedicated to building a more environmentally sustainable future right here in Piedmont.

Recognizing that there are already many great environmental efforts afoot in our community, the objective of CONNECT is to provide a forum where people can share ideas and find ways to collaborate.  While national, state and city policies are going to be important in shaping how our society takes on the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil (declining oil reserves), the initiatives citizens take on the local level, in our day-to-day lives, are immeasurably important. The goal of CONNECT is to celebrate and encourage these efforts.  Depending on who chooses to participate in this process, groups may coalesce around topics related to food, transportation, energy, waste reduction, health, and other issues–for example, some people may be interested in starting an organic gardeners’ exchange, others in forming a pool of volunteers to monitor waste sorting at major City events, others in sharing information about energy efficiency with other homeowners … there are many possibilities for how citizens can connect with each other and take positive action towards a creating a greener, more resilient community.

Feel free to bring information about projects you or your group are already working on or are interested in.  Everyone with an interest in or curiosity about promoting environmental sustainability on the local level is encouraged to attend.

Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Guild Hall, Piedmont Community Church , 400 Highland Avenue

For more information, contact:
Heather Clapp clappheather@gmail.com, Margaret Ovenden movenden@sbcglobal.net,
Terry Smith terrysmith@pobox.com, Stella Kennedy stellakennedy@hotmail.com or John White babado@comcast.net

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/connectpiedmont/