City Manager Weekly Update - January 13, 2017
Assistant City Manager
City Municipal Buildings and Operations to be powered by Silicon Valley Clean Energy GreenPrime
On January 10, 2017, City Council approved enrollment and upgrade to GreenPrime, which will power all municipal buildings and operations with 100% renewable and 100% carbon free energy. By taking this action, Los Altos joins the Cities of Mountain View, Campbell, Cupertino, Saratoga, Morgan Hill and Sunnyvale, which have each enrolled their municipal electricity accounts in GreenPrime starting April 2017.
By default, all customers in the participating cities will be automatically enrolled in SVCE’s baseline service, GreenStart, which offers 50% renewable, 100% carbon free energy. Both GreenStart and GreenPrime are 100% carbon free services. Either service level helps the City to significantly reduce carbon emissions and address important sustainability goals.
By upgrading from GreenStart to GreenPrime for municipal operations, the City of Los Altos is demonstrating additional commitment to climate protection and environmental sustainability. GreenPrime is generated from 100% renewable, carbon free sources, primarily solar and wind farms in California and elsewhere on the western grid. Buying GreenPrime further expands demand for generation from these new and competitive renewable energy sources. Municipal adoption of GreenPrime serves as the highest leadership example for local residents and businesses considering their energy sourcing options, similar to examples set via municipal procurement of hybrid or electric vehicles or LEED certification of buildings.
The projected annual cost to upgrade municipal operations service to 100% renewable energy, 100% carbon free GreenPrime, was determined by electrical usage from September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016. The additional annual cost for GreenPrime service is estimated at $11,842 per year.
On a community-wide level, carbon emissions attributable to electricity generation generally comprise 15-30% of all emissions. The 2013 Los Altos Climate Action Plan attributes 33% of emissions due to residential energy usage and 11% due to commercial usage of energy. Energy emissions were surpassed only by transportation emissions. Municipal operations emissions were under 1% of the community wide emissions.
Customers enrolled in GreenPrime can opt-back to GreenStart or to PG&E service at any time effective three months from their request date. There is no financial penalty or time limit imposed on additional service moves back and forth in SVCE. SCVE will be mailing information to all customers in the coming months.
Background on SVCE: Formed by twelve local government agencies in 2016, SVCE was established to launch and operate a community choice energy program. SVCE will source clean, competitively-priced electricity on behalf of residents and businesses within participating jurisdictions. As a community choice energy agency, SVCE assumes responsibility from PG&E for purchasing and/or generating electricity from power plants, including wind, solar, and hydro facilities. PG&E continues to provide electricity transmission, distribution, and billing services. As before, PG&E remains responsible for electric service reliability and management of outages. The electricity bill continues to come from PG&E, but will reference Silicon Valley Clean Energy for line item costs related to electricity generation. The City of Los Altos City Council voted to join in the formation of SVCE on February 23, 2016, and appointed Councilmember Jeannie Bruins as its representative Director on the SVCE Board.
CERT Skills Refresher Training Now Available
Santa Clara County Fire Department (SCCFD) announced its newest training opportunity for current CERT members - CERT Refresher Classes. CERT refresher classes are designed to augment and refresh skills, not replace, CERT training that is already in place and coordinated through local CERT programs. The course utilizes the CERT Field Operations Guide (FOG) and the basic FEMA CERT curriculum. The FOG will be utilized in class as a reference guide. Refresher class #1 is open to current CERT members who live or work within the communities served by SCCFD, which include Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga and the unincorporated surrounding areas. Individual CERT members may attend up to four (4) SCCFD CERT refresher classes annually.
CERT Refresher #1 CERT MOBILIZATION is offered on two dates and locations:
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Los Altos Hills Town Hall, Council Chambers
26379 Fremont Road
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Register for Los Altos Hills Training
Monday, February 27, 2017
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Los Gatos Police Operations, Classroom
15900 Los Gatos Boulevard
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Register for Los Gatos Training
Click here for flyer and more information
City Clerk
Council Reorganization
On Tuesday, January 10th, the City Council said good-bye to Councilmember Megan Satterlee after nine years on the Council and swore in newly elected Councilmember Lynette Lee Eng. Councilmembers Jan Pepper and Jeannie Bruins were also sworn in after their re-elections. The new Council selected Mary Prochnow to serve as Mayor for the next year and Jean Mordo to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. The City Council plans to meet for their annual retreat at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 28 at City Hall.
Community Development
Consultant Completes Review of Parking Recommendations
Walker Parking Consultants has completed its review of the recommendations outlined by the former City-Wide Parking Ad Hoc Committee. The report will be reviewed by the City Council at its meeting on January 24, 2017. With concurrence by the City Council, the report, along with its findings and recommendations will be slated for consideration by the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC). The PTC will then develop its recommendations on the various proposals intended optimize parking in the City.
Downtown Vision Team Conducts Interviews
The Downtown Vision team held a series of interviews this week with a number of residents and property owners in Los Altos. They learned a great deal and good input was provided on ways to reach the Community and encourage their participation in the process. The team will incorporate what they have heard and learned into the Community Engagement Plan that will be taken to the City Council for approval.
High Plan Review Levels
Just prior to the start of the new year and the new building codes taking effect, the Building Division experienced an up-tick in application submittals by those seeking to have their project considered under the prior building codes. Both the in-house and contract plan checkers have been working diligently to review and process the numerous building permit applications that were submitted. Although they are efficient as possible, the review for compliance with Building Code requirements, and thus public safety, remains the priority and will not be compromised.
Police
Storm Activities
The first major storm of 2017 kept our department busy over the weekend. From Saturday to Wednesday, officers responded to 36 storm-related calls for service, including fallen trees, flooded streets, and downed wires. This was in addition to traffic accidents caused by the slick roads and poor visibility. The Police Department teamed up with the staff from the Maintenance Department to address these issues quickly and safely. Thank you to the Maintenance crews for their support and aid throughout the stormy weather. Agent Darren Michalek, who may have a future career as an arborist, also chipped in!
Public Works
Storm Responses
Public Works crews prepared for the severe weather we’ve experienced recently and worked diligently over the last few days attending to storm related issues. Crews responded to numerous calls for down trees, down wires and plugged drains. They also monitored known hot spots including drain inlets, ditches, trash racks, and creeks and ensured sufficient sandbags for our residents.
2016 Measure B Program
Staff attended a Technical Advisory Committee workshop at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) regarding the Measure B Program that was passed during the 2016 election. The workshop was intended for VTA staff to provide an overview and basic structure of the 9 Program Areas that encompass Measure B. These programs are:
- BART Phase II
- Bicycle/Pedestrian
- Caltrain Corridor Capacity Improvements
- Caltrain Grade Separation
- County Expressway Improvements
- Highway Interchange Improvements
- Local Streets and Roads
- State Route 85 Corridor
- Transit Operations
This is the first meeting among several discussions anticipated this year. City staff from various agencies in the County provided input on the structure and expectations of the Measure B program going forward.
University Avenue and Lincoln Avenue Crosswalk Improvements
Staff is reviewing 35% design plans for crosswalk improvements at the intersection of University Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. The improvements consist of a raised crosswalk, illuminated enhanced crossing devices, striping and signage. Staff anticipates presenting the 35% design plans to the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Commission for comments at their January 25, 2017 meeting.
Sewer Improvements - Structural Reach Replacement
This capital improvement project replaces segments of pipes, throughout the City, which have been identified as having moderate to severe structural defects. This week, the City’s contractor, EPS, Inc. dba Express Plumbing completed work on the replacement of the sewer main on St. Joseph Avenue. Next week the contractor will begin work on Whitham Avenue.
