I hope you enjoyed this beautiful weekend. It is exciting to hear about more and more people getting vaccinated every day! For questions about the vaccination process, please visit San Mateo County Health's website at https://www.smchealth.org/covidvaccine. Although things are looking up, we're not out of the woods yet. Please continue to wear a mask, maintain social distance, and do all the other things you know to do.
Sincerely,
City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 9th at 5pm
Tuesday (3/9/21) night's City Council's agenda is here. Like all City Council meeting agendas, it includes links to staff reports for each item, login/call-in information and ways to weigh in on the issues being discussed.
Below are just a few of the many agenda items coming before Council on Tuesday:
G3. 2021 City Council priorities and work plan adoption. This item was on the February 23rd agenda but due to the late hour of that meeting, the item was continued and will now be the first regular business idea at Tuesday's meeting (note that even though it is numbered as G3, it will come before items G1 and G2). Also note that public comment on this item will be limited to 1 minute per speaker. As a reminder, this is a continuation of the January 30th Goal Setting Workshop. The Staff Report lists out dozens of projects not yet completed from prior years and new ones added this year, that come from staff, community members and council members. While many of these projects are worthwhile and valuable, the challenge is prioritizing which ones to tackle at this time, given existing resources and budgetary constraints. Once the priorities are set and the work plan is adopted, Staff then develops the Capital Improvement Plan and the City Budget.
G4. Direction on cost recovery policy (City Council Procedure #CC-10-001), library overdue fines and recreation user fees. The City of Menlo Park offers many services to residents, ranging from library story times, senior programs, gymnastics classes and more. To foster a healthy and engaged community, the City subsidizes many of these to encourage participation. Which programs are subsidized, and to what extent, is a matter found in the City's cost recovery policy. This item will provide direction to staff on criteria and principles that will guide what fees are charged for what services.
H2. Upcoming City Council consideration of objective criteria to guide facility reopening, service restoration, and reactivation of programs and events. This informational item sets the stage for a Council discussion that is tentatively scheduled for March 23rd. As COVID cases decline and vaccination rates increase, the City is considering how to reactivate its programs and events. While many of us are looking forward to the resumption of life before COVID, filled with concerts in the park, recreation classes and more, the City will not be able to simply pull a switch overnight and bring operations back to pre-COVID levels. As the staff report says, "Due to significant reductions in staffing and operating budget made necessary by the economic downturn, the city lacks operational capacity to safely reactivate all facilities and services at once." What gets prioritized, and how, will be a major topic of City discussion in the weeks and months to come. I will keep you posted on ways to share your thoughts and I hope you will provide feedback when it's time to do so.
Other agenda items include a quarterly personnel report, payment of funds to the County of San Mateo for the Office of Emergency Services joint powers agreement, authorization to notify Municipal Water customers of rate increases for the next five years, an update on the temporary outdoor dining grant program and the Belle Haven Neighborhood traffic management plan update and next steps. Again, you can see the full list of items to be discussed and ways to give feedback, on the agenda here.
UPDATE from Recent City Council Meeting
Below are a few updates from the February 23rd City Council Meeting:
NEW ORDINANCE EXTENDED TIMEFRAME - STREET CONFIGURATION WILL REMAIN THROUGH JANUARY 2022:K2. Consider modifications to the Downtown street closure and temporary outdoor use permit pilot program.There are currently two blocks on Santa Cruz Avenue that have been modified to allow businesses to operate in travel lanes. The city ordinance allowing the configuration is set to expire on February 28, 2021 unless City Council adopts a new ordinance extending the timeframe.
Lots happening in the world of transportation, both in Menlo Park, and regionally. Below are a handful of items that may be of interest.
Ravenswood Avenue Bike Lane Gap Closure Project at the Complete Streets Commission on Wednesday (3/10). In order to maintain our roads in good condition, the City has a resurfacing schedule and Ravenwood Avenue is scheduled for repaving this coming summer (2021). While the road is being resurfaced, City Staff has identified an opportunity to close an existing gap in our bicycle network. The Complete Streets Commission will be discussing the stretch of Ravenswood (in D3!) between Alma and Noel Drive, and reviewing the staff recommendations on how to address this area. The meeting on Wednesday begins at 7pm (the agenda with participation info is here) and the Staff Report for this item (E3) is here.
Prepping for Everyday Biking Class (Biking 201) on March 16th at 6pm: The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) is hosting a free online course on March 16th at 6pm that covers the ins and outs of biking for everyday use — grocery shopping, errands, and how to get wherever you are going safely and not break a sweat. (Check out the photo below of my e-bike helping me pick up pizza downtown!) Experienced commuters and new riders are encouraged to attend. SVBC staff will cover ride prep, gear, route planning, and road navigation. To sign up for this event, please visit https://bikesiliconvalley.org/resources/classes/.
High-Speed Rail 2020 Draft Business Plan Available for Comment: The California High-Speed Rail Authority is required to prepare, publish, adopt and submit a business plan to the California Legislature every two years. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Business Plan, which was supposed to be submitted last year, was revised and its timeline was extended. The draft Business Plan is now open for review and public comment. Deadline to submit feedback is Friday, March 12. To download the plan, find ways to give comments and for more information, visit https://hsr.ca.gov/about/business_plans/2020/
Dumbarton Rail Community Meeting (March 15th at 6pm): The proposed Dumbarton Rail Corridor Project would provide a new mass transit system between the San Francisco Peninsula and the East Bay, connecting the Caltrain Sequoia/ Redwood City station to the Union City BART station. Between Redwood City and Newark, the Project would primarily utilize an existing railroad right-of-way. On March 15th at 6pm, there will be an online community meeting covering the latest being studied for the Dumbarton Rail Corridor, including transit options, and complementary bicycle and pedestrian trail options. For the Zoom link to the meeting, and additional information, visit www.samtrans.com/dumbarton.
C/CAG Bike & Ped Plan Open for Comment: City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) of San Mateo County is updating its Countywide Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan (CBPP). This plan will outline an interconnected system of safe, convenient and universally accessible bicycle and pedestrian facilities, for both transportation and recreation. You can comment on the plan by emailing comments or by using the interactive online mapping tool (see graphic below). The deadline to submit feedback is March 10th. To see the plan, share comments and/or get more information, visit https://bikewalkccag.com/.
