The Piedmont Park Commission will meet on Wednesday, March 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, located in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.  The meeting will be broadcast live on cable Channel 27 and on the City’s website.

Agenda for the meeting:

• Approval of February 3, 2016 minutes
• Update on Ranleigh Way Street Tree Planting
• Consider the removal of Main Park declining Mt Vernon Pin oak tree and donation of replacement tree by East Bay Garden Club
• Update on the planting design and the impact of the CA Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) requirements on Linda/Kingston Triangle
• Update Piedmont Garden Club donation on behalf of Piedmont resident Jane Lee
• Update on Hampton Park Master Plan
• Update on Arbor Day
• Monthly Maintenance report

An Opportunity to Serve Your Community!

Vacancies on Piedmont’s commissions and committees offer an excellent opportunity for Piedmonters to get involved in Piedmont activities important to the ongoing success and quality of the City.  These citizen volunteer positions allow individuals to use their abilities on a wide range of subjects.  Being on a commission or committee engages a person in a high level of civic involvement.

Each commission has a special role in making decisions and advising the City Council.  A full term on a commission last for 3 years with a two term limit.  Positions without an incumbent are ready opportunities for new participants.

Interested residents may download the Application for Appointive Vacancy. Applications are due to City Hall on or before the deadline of Thursday, March 17, 2016.

Interviews with the City Council for these positions will be scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, 2016. No appointments will be made without a Council interview.

“On Money in Politics and Voter Turnout”

On Monday, February 29th, the City of Piedmont will continue the removal of aging and beetle infested Monterey Pine trees from Blair Park that began on Friday.  An arborist identified the 22 trees selected for removal, as the third of three phases of tree removal in the park. Blair Park will be closed while this work is being conducted.

Questions regarding the project may be addressed to the Public Works Department at (510) 420-3050.

Piedmonter offers parking idea for Piedmont schools plan.

The current version of the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) facilities plan would take away a number of parking spaces on the High School/Middle School campus. School Board Vice President Sarah Pearson has brought up several times her concern about parking, and expressed her view that somehow the new facilities should include parking spaces for staff and teachers. Per the school architect, the cost of adding a parking floor to a standard building is around $40,000 a space.

School Board Member Doug Ireland has expressed his desire to see the City and the District work closely together to solve this problem (and many others). So maybe the City could provide much needed parking.

I talked with the CEO at Park Works, a local supplier of Puzzle Parking. Bottom line his solutions are still​  expensive: $20,000 to$30,000 per parking space, occupying about a third of side­-by­-side ground parking. The company claims to have installed 1.6 million parking spots in Japan and 1 million in Europe. There are an 82 unit storage system installed in San Leandro and a 20 unit one in Berkeley at 1218 7th Street (a BMW repair shop).

I then found a Chinese company​ who sells Puzzle Parking structures as a kit to be assembled on site. There​ is no need for excavation for installation. Here is their product spec for 2​­6 level puzzle parking. The​ company claims that the cost is between $2,000 to $4,000 per spot, with a very reduced footprint. Their full catalog is available at: Full catalog​.​

Would Puzzle Parking be a solution for PUSD?

Does anybody have any experience with Puzzle Parking?

Bernard Pech, Piedmont Resident

 

puzzle parking

Chinese 6 level puzzle parking

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

I estimate that taxpayer expenditures total $1,806,845   (taxpayer cost estimate updated on Feb. 26, 2016 to $1,640,000 -see comment below) directly related to the Piedmont Hills Undergrounding District (“PHUD”). This is public money for private benefit as Appeal Courts have found in other cases. As litigation is concluded, it seems appropriate to close the undergrounding debacle with transparency and not bury it in bedrock. I base my total on the following direct expenses and credits:

•  Nov. 16, 2009, taxpayer cost to repair Crest Road: $275,000
• Dec. 12, 2009, Council gives $1,004,832
• Feb. 6, 2010, Council gives $1,127,013
• Litigation expense up to Sept. 30, 2012 is $118,739
• I estimate additional litigation cost at $298,260 to Feb. 2016.

I put a letter in to City Council asking for the total litigation cost with no response. I speculate the $417,000 Harris settlement covers litigation cost. Credits include $917,000 litigation settlements and PHUD offered to contribute $100,000.

$616,491.50 cost for another private underground district –

Additionally there is $300,000 in City litigation cost plus $316,491.50 settlement cost for $616,491.50 total taxpayer expense for the neighboring Sea View Undergrounding District that fortunately did not go forward. How many millions more would we have spent excavating bedrock next to PHUD had Bert and Deborah Kurtin not brought suit to stop that District?

A Feb. 6, 2010, City Council Resolution states: “WHEREAS, while the City Council requests that any funds expended by the City for completion of the construction project that are not recovered from legal actions against responsible parties be contributed by residents of the District.”

There is no action on or acknowledgement of this resolution.

This June a 30% higher parcel tax will be put before voters.

Rick Schiller, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Announcement:

Piedmont Unified School District

 TK-5 Elementary Enrollment Day

Please join us for the

PUSD Elementary Enrollment Day on March 8th.

Location: Ellen Driscoll Playhouse:

325 Highland Avenue

To minimize wait time, please sign up in advance to confirm your time slot:

http://data.piedmont.k12.ca.us/elementary/

Please visit the district website for more information on enrollment, required documents and other information: www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/district-info/enrollment

City regains $917,000 out of over $2 million – 

Over 5 years ago, City Council members were suddenly informed about construction cost overruns for installation of underground utilities in the private utility district known as the Piedmont Hills Underground Assessment District.

To complete the underground work and litigate the matter cost the City was well over $2 million.  The final cost arising from the problem is not known at this publishing.

The City brought litigation against two engineering firms, Robert Gray and Associates and Harris and Associates, who were responsible for the underground project design work.  Settlement with Gray was $500,000 and combined with the $417,000 Harris settlement equals $917,000. 

The City in approving the private utility district contracts assumed the project risks for the private project, which proved to be financially consequential.  The plans had not indicated the large amount of rock encounter in the excavations resulting in significant additional cost to complete the project. Various individuals and entities were considered to be potentially culpable in the matter.  Known legal action was taken only against Gray and Harris.

Press release from City:

City Announces Settlement with Harris & Associates

At its regular meeting of February 16, 2016, the City Council approved a settlement agreement with Harris & Associates, the second of two engineering firms that the City had sued to recover costs associated with the Piedmont Hills Underground Assessment District. The City previously settled with the other engineering firm, Robert Gray & Associates.

The City filed suit against engineering firm Harris & Associates in April 2011, alleging causes of action for both breach of contract and professional negligence related to Harris & Associates’ engineering practices. The agreement provides that Harris & Associates will pay the City $417,000 to settle the suit.

“This settlement brings an end to our legal disputes relating to the Piedmont Hills Undergrounding Project, provides the City with partial compensation, and allows the City to put this unfortunate chapter in our history behind us and to focus our attention on Piedmont’s bright future,” said Mayor Margaret Fujioka.

“This settlement is the result of protracted negotiations with Harris & Associates and their attorneys,” said City Attorney Michelle Marchetta Kenyon. “While the attorneys representing us in this case would have worked tirelessly to prevail in a lengthy trial, settling this case best conforms to the City’s long term interests.”

Read the staff report and correspondence on the settlement with Harris & Associates

<<<  To read a full accounting of PCA reporting on the subject, click “Undergrounding”on the left side of this page and scroll down. 

Time to join the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) Administration’s effort to plan for a 21st century education – 

Last August, the School District launched a process to develop a plan to upgrade our secondary school facilities. Our superintendent organized a number of meetings with parents, teachers, students, and the community at large, with the broad ambitious goal of looking far ahead asking two fundamental questions: How should we educate our students to best prepare them to function in our 21st century economy? What facilities do we need to support these evolving methods?

The process is on-going and the plan is in the early stage of formation. The superintendent put no boundary on the scope of the plan. Many needs have been identified some driven by the educational vision, some by the nuts and bolts issues of decaying mechanical and electrical equipment. The goal is to develop such a compelling plan that the community says: “This is the obvious thing to do for our children; let us find a way to finance it, and work out all the problems to make it happen”. Hopefully we can recreate the success that the new Havens School has been.

A number of documents are available on the District web site: a DRAFT Facility Site Assessment Report; a  DRAFT Educational Specifications Report; a Draft Master Plan put together by QKA, the architect hired by the District to help in the planning;  and a presentation by KNN, the District Financial Consultant. Most of the plan is focused on the High School and Middle School Magnolia campus.

Today, I am impressed by the ambitious scope and the work done to-date. I support the viewpoint expressed on this web site by the PiedmontMakers Board of Directors. The foundation of the Bay Area Economy is creativity. Creativity is rooted in the arts, in engineering, and in the laws of physics that underpin engineering. Our children needs to acquire the skills and knowledge that will enable them to thrive and contribute in that environment. Making things from an early age is a great enabler to achieve these goals.

I am also grateful to the teachers and parents who have made the arts alive and well in Piedmont. The self-confidence, debate and people skills acquired through the performing arts are key to effective leadership in every profession and to achieving a fulfilling life.

It is very significant that the most popular TED talk of all times is the one by Sir Ken Robinson making an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. So the citizens of our country interested in new ideas have voted that nurturing creativity is the most important educational goal for our future.

As community, let us make a strong statement about our commitment to the Arts and Sciences through the construction of two new buildings one for the Arts and the other for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) on both side of a new entrance.

As a scorecard, the District should use the STEM Public High School Achievement Index published by U.S. News. The index is based on the percentage of all the Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers in a school’s graduating class who took and passed college-level AP STEM Math and AP STEM Science tests. The higher a high school scores on the STEM Achievement Index, the better it places in the Best High Schools for STEM rankings. In 2015, a dozen schools in the Bay Area place ahead of Piedmont High School. Let us set the goal to become the best STEM public high school in the country within the next six years.

Please get involved and let your opinion be known through this great forum.

Bernard Pech, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note:  Opinions expressed are those the author.