Council Member Garrett Keating has written an open letter to the community asking residents to participate in a discussion on the pros and cons of “outsourcing” the City’s sewer line system to EBMUD.  This question arises due to new and substantial requirements imposed on Bay Area cities by the EPA – and may impact the City’s options regarding the proposed Blair Park development.

Piedmont will face $1.5 million in initial costs from the new requirements, and annual maintenance costs of an unspecified amount thereafter.   Homeowners will face costs for the inspection, and any needed repair, of their private lateral sewer line when selling their home.

An Open Letter to the Community from Council Member Garrett Keating

Should EBMUD run Piedmont’s Sewers?

As difficult as it may sound, our community needs to discuss undergrounded utilities again. This time, the utilities – our sewers – are already underground. What Piedmont needs to decide is how we want to maintain our sewers in light of a recent EPA stipulated order to protect Bay water quality. > Click to read more…

The following letter expresses the personal opinion of the author.  All statements therein are solely  the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

A letter Submitted to the City Council on 10/29/2010

To:  The Piedmont City Council

Re: November 1 Council Meeting, Item Four, Blair Park EIR

Tonight  Mr. Grote is asking the Council to approve additional funds for the Blair Park EIR. The approval being sought is retroactive as the work commenced weeks ago, and the funds for this work have already been received from private donations. That this work is being paid for by private money does not > Click to read more…

The Board of Education will hold a Closed Session Workshop on Tuesday, November 2, conferencing with the School Superintendent on union contract negotiations as they begin their efforts to address an estimated $5 million budget shortfall over the next 2 years.

Community Input: The School Board has requested input from residents on options for savings (at p. 21) identified by the School Superintendent.  Residents may email the Board of Education or comment publicly prior to closed session at 2 p.m. in the Piedmont Unified School District Administration Office at 760 Magnolia Avenue.  > Click to read more…

If you haven’t yet completed your absentee ballot, you can take it to our City Clerk’s Office  during regular business hours until Tuesday, November 2.  On Tuesday, you can take it to any polling place in Alameda County.  Mailed absentee ballots must reach the Registrar of Voters no later than election day.  Postmarks are not accepted as an indication of timely voting.

The Board of Education will be holding a regular meeting on October 27, 2010, 7:00 p.m., City Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont.  The agenda and meeting materials include the Superintendent’s recommendations for Sunday use of Witter Field (at p. 9-10) and a useful four page explanation of California’s funding of schools entitled “Pocket Budget ’10-’11” (at p. 27-30).

The City Council Audit Subcommittee meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 28th has been canceled.  The Committee advises that it will require additional time to prepare its report.   Check back here for the new date which will be published when scheduled.  Background Materials:  Video of previous meetings, held on March 31st, May 13th, July 8th, and July 21st  are available on the KCOM webpage under “Other Public Meetings”; agendas, meeting materials, and primary source documents; and materials on the Piedmont Hills and other Underground Assessment Districts.

Piedmont CONNECT has announced it will hold a general meeting Tuesday, October 26, at 7 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center Room in the basement of the Veteran’s Building, 403 Highland Avenue.  (First room to the left in the Piedmont Police Department.)  Piedmont CONNECT is a community group started last spring that supports voluntary local action toward an environmentally sustainable future.

> Click to read more…

Piedmont City staff indicates overtime costs in the Piedmont Fire Department may be substantially reduced by moving from 7-person staffing to the 6-person staffing per shift system used by the City of Albany, but this change would need to be part of upcoming union contract negotiations. > Click to read more…

The Piedmont Police and Fire Departments are now offering an email alert system for public safety related news.  Residents who register with the City will receive notices regarding major street closures, public safety situations, and planned power outages at the same time information is sent to the press.  To begin receiving dispatches, residents may send an email to publicsafetydispatches@ci.piedmont.ca.us.  This program is an initiative of the Piedmont Public Safety Committee.

The new Piedmont Public Safety Committee spearheaded by Piedmont City Council Member Margaret Fujioka has jumped into its work to improve public safety and disaster preparedness in Piedmont between now and April 2011.  (See the Committee’s members and  charge, see p. 3-4.)  The Committee submitted the first of four quarterly reports on its activities to the Piedmont City Council.  In addition to plans for a citywide disaster drill in Spring 2011, the Committee has been looking at other possible enhancements to public safety and preparedness, including: > Click to read more…