City Manager Weekly Update - September 16, 2016

City Clerk

City Council Open Office Hours
The Los Altos City Council has one remaining Open Office Hours event in September and a new date scheduled for October:

Wednesday, September 21, 2016: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Woodland Library, 1975 Grant Road, Los Altos

Saturday, October 1, 2016: 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
*Second Street at Plaza South, Downtown Los Altos

*Come out and enjoy the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce Fall Festival and be sure to stop by the Los Altos Police Department booth; City Council Open Office Hours will be hosted there on Saturday, October 1, 2016 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The booth will be located on Second Street by the classic car show.

One City Council member will be available to the public for a two-hour period to answer questions, receive input and discuss topics of interest to community members. All are welcome.

Community Development

Building Inspectors Continue Education
Building codes are a complex set of regulations that promote the safe and efficient construction of structures. A building inspector doesn’t just need to memorize these regulations, they also need to know how they are applied during plan checks in the office and inspections conducted in the field. This week, Los Altos Building Inspectors attended training sessions at the CALBO conference, an annual event that brings together building inspectors from around the state to learn and share information about building codes and how the codes are applied in their day-to-day work. This is an important training program that gives the building inspection team an opportunity to learn new skills and see how other jurisdictions are applying the codes. The knowledge acquired is a significant benefit for the Los Altos community, ensuring residents and visitors can rest assured knowing that the structures they live and work in have gone through a comprehensive review and inspection process based on current building code requirements.

Reviewing New Permit Tracking Software
This week, the City team currently reviewing permit tracking software vendors ventured to the City of Morgan Hill to review and evaluate their permit tracking software. Morgan Hill staff, along with the software vendor TRAKiT, gave a demonstration of the capabilities of the TRAKiT program. Staff keyed in with questions concerning the start-up process and how the software system has made it easier to manage records and track tasks related to the review and inspection of projects. There will be at least one more permit tracking software system evaluated at another City. Once this is complete, the team will be able to hone in on a recommendation for the best program for Los Altos.

School Teachers Moving to Downtown
The City’s ongoing efforts to provide affordable housing have made it possible for two local school teachers to become homeowners in downtown Los Altos. The sale of two affordable housing units included in the 86 Third Street project have been completed under Palo Alto Housing’s administration, the City’s housing partner in this effort. As some familiar with project might recall, the project at 86 Third Street is a mixed use project with 20 housing units, two of which are affordable housing units (a 3-bedroom - Moderate, and a 2-bedroom - Low).

A total of 24 qualified applications were received for these units and the applicant categories were:

9 First Priority Applicants (6 school teachers and 3 City employees);
13 Second Priority Applicants (live and/or work in the City for at least 2 years); and
2 Fourth Priority Applicants (Santa Clara County residents)

Since there were more qualified applicants than units, a lottery was held for the First Priority applicants. Both affordable housing units went to school teachers: one from Santa Rita Elementary and one from Los Altos High School. The 3-bedroom unit owners are a four-person household.

Police

New Police Radar Trailers
The Police Department is pleased to announce the integration of two new Traffic Radar trailers to its existing fleet. The new additions enhance the toolkit already available for use in the furtherance of the “Three E’s”, a philosophical approach to traffic safety which focuses on Engineering, Education and Enforcement. At the Police Department, we feel the new trailers will greatly enhance our ability to educate the general public with large visual displays, but also provide valuable data to our Traffic Team. This data will enable us to evaluate effective placement and rotation of the 5-trailer fleet. Traffic complaints are evaluated on an ongoing basis and provide us with residents’ observations, allowing us to determine the best course of corrective action for a particular issue. When a complaint justifies the use of a radar trailer, the Traffic Team will strategically deploy an available unit for an appropriate amount of time. Residents wishing to submit a traffic complaint may do so via our Online Traffic Complaint Form.

Inspiration Session
On Thursday evening, several residents attended a quarterly Block Action Team Inspiration Session, co-hosted by the Los Altos Community Foundation and the City of Los Altos. Police Captain Scott McCrossin provided an overview and update on the collaborative emergency preparedness efforts between the City and the community. Captain McCrossin highlighted significant accomplishments in the area of community emergency preparedness as well as a vision for the future. Community Service Officer Josh Cottrell discussed the City’s robust Neighborhood Watch program. The theme of the evening was “You are the Eyes and Ears of the City – The Power of Partnership” and the timing corresponded perfectly with National Preparedness Month. The evening was capped off with presentations from LAARES representative Jim Clark with an explanation of Emergency Information Reporting Sites (“EIRS”) and culminated with a “call to action” from Sherie Dodsworth, representing the Los Altos Community Foundation and the Los Altos Block Action Teams (BAT) program encouraging residents to get involved. This was a tremendous opportunity for community leaders from the Los Altos BATs, the Los Altos CERT program, the Los Altos Amateur Radio Emergency Services (LAARES) and Police Department personnel to share their collaborative efforts to enhance emergency preparedness through the power of partnership. For more information on this topic, please visit our Emergency Preparedness webpage.

Public Works

JOIN US! Fremont Avenue Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study - Open House
The City of Los Altos is hosting a community meeting/open house to share information and gather feedback from the community on the Fremont Avenue Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study Project. The goal of the project is to assess the condition of the existing pedestrian bridge and the feasibility/cost of rehabilitating or replacing the bridge. The open house will include stations where participants can view exhibits and representatives from the City and the project team will be available to answer questions and discuss ideas. Please arrive by 6:30 p.m. for a short introduction and description of the project.

Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Location: Grant Park Community Center - Multipurpose Room, 1575 Holt Avenue, Los Altos

Foothill Expressway Improvements
The Foothill Expressway Improvements Project will modify lane and intersection configuration on Foothill Expressway between El Monte Avenue and San Antonio Road to reduce congestion in this area. The project currently includes:

Widening Foothill Expressway between El Monte Avenue and San Antonio Road from 4 to 6 lanes (3 lanes in each direction)
Adding a through lane to southbound El Monte between Covington Road and Foothill Expressway
The free right turn movements for the southbound El Monte to westbound Foothill and the northbound El Monte to eastbound Foothill Expressway will be replaced with a “squared off” corner. This is to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety as those modes cross the expressway. This safety measure was highlighted during the County Expressway 2040 planning process over the past several years. (Note that a right turn lane will be added to mitigate the loss of the free right turn movement)
Modifying traffic signal at the intersection of Foothill Expressway/El Monte to accommodate the road geometric changes.

Additionally, as part of the design, an analysis will examine the needs for:

A triple left turn from northbound El Monte to westbound Foothill Expressway
A double right turn lane from westbound Foothill Expressway to northbound San Antonio

The County of Santa Clara will be the project lead, as the improvements will take place in their right-of-way. The City has funded the design of the project with plans for VTA and/or County of Santa Clara to fund the construction costs. A consultant has been selected by the County to perform the work. The City is currently working with the County and the consultant to finalize the scope of the project. The design is expected to be completed in early summer 2017 with construction to follow pending funding availability.

Downtown Capital Improvement Projects

Parking Plaza Driveway Approach Improvement Project
Construction continued this week on the Parking Plaza Driveway Approach Improvement Project. In Plaza 1, the contractor has finished the last portion of the driveway approach and sidewalk. The Contractor plans to finish the AC conforming by the end of the week and complete striping and punch-list items next week. Currently, all driveway approaches are open for traffic. In Plaza 10, the contractor has finished pouring curb, gutter, sidewalk and driveways and plans to complete AC paving by the end of the week. Next week, the contractor will finish striping and punch-list items. All driveways will be open by the end of the day on Friday.

First Street Utility Undergrounding Project
PG&E and its subcontractor, Accubore, continue work on the aerial to underground utility conversion project on First Street. During recent underground construction, crews encountered unforeseen buried obstacles on First Street and are working to develop strategies to address the conflicts. Work is expected to resume on the First Street entrances of Parking Plaza 1 upon the completion of the driveway approach improvement project.

Annual Street Improvement Project
The Annual Street Improvement Project repairs and maintains pavement sections identified by the City’s Pavement Management Program. Treatment methods include resurfacing (placement of a new layer of asphalt) and cape seal (placement of emulsion with one layer of fine aggregate and capped with a layer of slurry seal). The resurfacing work was completed early this week. The cape seal works is ongoing. The first stage of the cape seal work includes the placement of rubberized chip seal which will be completed by the end of this week. The slurry seal contractor, Pavement Coatings, will start the slurry seal on Thursday, September 22, 2016, and the following streets are scheduled to receive treatment on Thursday and Friday (9/22 & 9/23):

Distel Circle (El Camino Real to Distel Drive)
Marich Way (Jordan Avenue to Distel Drive)
Catalina Way (Catalina Court to Jordan Avenue)
Coronado Avenue (End to Cherry Avenue)
Beverly Lane (End to Almond Avenue)
Woodstock Lane (End to El Monte Avenue)
Darthmouth Lane (Runnymead Drive to Buckingham Drive)
Thames Lane (Kingswood Way to Templebar Way)
Nela Lane (End to E. Portola Avenue)
Meadow Lane (End to Torwood Lane)
San Domingo Way (Torwood Lane to Juanita Way)
Hacienda Way (Raquel Lane to Los Altos Avenue)
Gordon Way (Hillview Avenue to Almond Avenue)
Riverside Drive (Berry Avenue to Covington Road)
Spencer Way (Covington Road to End, Spencer Court)

Annual Concrete Repair
The primary focus of this annual project is on the replacement of damaged sidewalks that are potential public safety hazards caused from broken or uplifted sidewalks. This week, the contractor is posting “no parking” signs in the University Avenue/Orange Avenue area and has called for Under Ground Alert (USA) markings to be performed by utility companies. The contractor will begin saw cutting the repair area followed by demolition and replacement of sidewalk. Due to the number of locations requiring work in this area, work is anticipated to be completed in two to three weeks.

Recreation & Community Services

Activity Registration
Fall classes are underway! Next week, a slew of new classes are starting up for adults and youth. To see a breakdown of classes that start by week, check out our Fall Classes & Camps at a Glance by Week webpage.

Volunteers
Our Volunteer Coordinator is actively recruiting for the following volunteer opportunities:

Senior Center Front Desk Receptionist
Senior Center Friday Luncheons

Call the Volunteer desk at (650) 947-2848 to volunteer or for more information.

Youth & Teens
Looking for a fun spot for your teens to hang out after school and weekends? Check out The Underground Teen Center where youth ages 11-17 can enjoy our free wifi or play video games, air hockey, shuffleboard or ping pong all while being supervised for FREE! Hours for the school year are Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The popular LAYC Dance memberships are still on sale for all 7th & 8th graders who live in Los Altos, or attend a Los Altos school. Memberships will be sold at Egan Jr. High School on September 29, and Blach Intermediate School on September 19 and 21. Memberships can also be purchased at the Hillview Community Center during business hours which are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The next LAYC Dance is scheduled for October 7, 2016.

There are still spaces available in the Fabulous 4s and Kinder Prep classes in the Tiny Tots Preschool Program! Please contact Candace Avina at (650) 947-2890 or cavina@losaltosca.gov to get more information or to schedule a tour.

Youth Theatre
The Los Altos Youth Theater has begun rehearsals on their next production of Snow White and the Prince! Performances will be October 14 - 30, 206. Their production is sure to delight the entire family so be sure to mark your calendars!

Special Events
Get ready for our 53rd Annual Halloween Window Painting Contest! This event is open to youth in grades 4 through 12. Please check our website for details!