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City Manager Weekly Update
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Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards Committee Seeking Nominations
For the past 34 years, the City of Los Altos and Town of Los Altos Hills have recognized a few select individuals who have provided extraordinary volunteer service in the community. Do you know a Los Altos or Los Altos Hills resident deserving of this recognition? The Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards Committee is currently seeking nominations from the community for individuals or organizations that have provided volunteer service which has benefited both communities. Nominations and supporting documents must be received by October 26, 2017. For more information or to complete a nomination form online, visit
jointvolunteerawards.com.
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City Council & Hillview Community Center Project Task Force Joint Study Session
On Tuesday, September 26, the Los Altos City Council hosted a
Joint Study Session with the Hillview Community Center Project Task Force to discuss the ongoing progress of the Community Center development and to provide direction to the Task Force moving forward. The Noll & Tam design team provided a
brief presentation highlighting the vision and priorities of the Task Force, including creating a welcoming, multi-generational space for the community to play, learn, and gather together today and for decades to come. The Task Force also placed priority on designing a high quality, environmentally sustainable building that blends beauty with function and highlights the unique character of Los Altos.
The Task Force requested support from City Council on the proposed interior space allocation and feedback on two proposed site locations of the new building. The Task Force and design team also asked for Council’s consideration of additional funding to maximize the potential of the new community center. After weighing the benefits of each suggested element, the City Council supported the Task Force’s interior space allocation recommendation, encouraged the Task Force to pursue Site Option 4, and agreed to the consideration of additional funding of $7.7 million for the following:
- Increasing building quality: $1.2 million
- Increasing building functionality: $750,000
- Upgrading from LEED Silver equivalent to LEED Gold equivalent: $500,000
- Providing improved pedestrian connectivity: $1,000,000
- Increasing building square footage: $3 million
- Increasing outdoor program space: $500,000
- Refinishing parking lot: $750,000
The City Council thanked the Task Force, Noll & Tam and staff for their diligent work and continued efforts towards making the new Los Altos Community Center a gathering place the community can be proud of for many years to come. For more information on the project and to view upcoming meetings of the Task Force, visit
losaltosca.gov/communitycenter.
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Coffee with a Cop
Join us as we celebrate the 2nd Annual National Coffee with a Cop day on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Green Bakery & Cafe, 692 Fremont Avenue in the Rancho Shopping Center. This event has no agendas or planned speeches. Coffee with a Cop simply provides an opportunity for community members to ask questions, voice concerns and get to know the Officers serving your neighborhood and community. All are welcome and coffee is on us! Questions can be directed to the Los Altos Police Department at (650) 947-2770.
Swearing-in & Promotional Ceremony
On Thursday, September 28, 2017, the Police Department hosted a Swearing-in and Promotional Ceremony at the Los Altos Youth Center. The ceremony celebrated the hiring of four new police officers, Miguel Wong, Josh Cottrell, Brian Werner and Kevin Vitorelo. Additional new employees sworn-in included Dispatcher Liz Pina and Police Services Manager Judy Maloney. Also recognized were newly promoted Sergeant Ryan Burke and Police Agents Michael Taylor, Jessica Vernon and Eric Bardwell. The Police Department would like to thank all the City employees that came out to celebrate with our department, as well as dignitaries who joined us from surrounding police agencies.
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PG&E Streetlight LED Conversion
PG&E has recently mailed a letter to residents of Los Altos notifying them of plans to replace 525 PG&E owned High Pressure Sodium (HPS), non-decorative streetlight fixtures in Los Altos with high efficiency LED fixtures in the coming days. This project is part of a California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) approved PG&E Program to replace approximately 150,000 PG&E owned non-decorative HPS streetlight fixtures with LED fixtures, which would provide an estimated 50,000,000 kWh annual energy savings across PG&E territory. PG&E has been working with Bay Area cities to upgrade the light fixtures. While these lights are owned by PG&E, the cities are responsible for the energy cost. Converting the 525 streetlights to LED fixtures will result in approximately $12,000 per year in direct energy billing savings to the City of Los Altos.
Understanding community concerns regarding changes in light type to the brighter LED fixtures, staff have been working with PG&E on mitigation strategies. PG&E has offered a lower color temperature light fixture (3,000 Kelvin) for streetlights in residential neighborhoods, an option being implemented in Los Gatos. Arterial streets and commercial districts will receive the standard 4,000 Kelvin streetlight fixtures.
Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information
Ten cities, the unincorporated County of Santa Clara and Santa Clara Valley Water District (District) have been active participants in the Community Rating System (CRS) for almost 20 years. CRS is a voluntary program of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that allows participating communities to earn flood insurance premium discounts for their residents and businesses by agreeing to adopt and enforce an ordinance that meets or exceeds FEMA’s requirement to reduce the risk of flooding.
Changes in the 2013 CRS Users’ Manual included the option to undertake a Program for Public Information (PPI), which is a method to customize an agencies flood risk reduction outreach messages and increase CRS points. The City of Los Altos approved the PPI at its June 23, 2015 City Council meeting. To review the second Annual Report to FEMA which documents the PPI activities,
click here.
San Antonio Road/El Camino Real Intersection Improvements
A joint effort between the cities of Mountain View and Los Altos, this project includes adding a new left turn lane on northbound San Antonio Road at El Camino Real, relocating the median island, modifying ADA ramps, conforming the asphalt paving and replacing all traffic signals. Work on the modification of the left turn lane is complete and the contractor anticipates completing grinding and paving of the intersection by the end of the week. Work on the modification of ADA ramps will continue into next week as well. Traffic control measures and pedestrian detours will remain in place as needed until the project is complete.
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Recreation & Community Services
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Tiny Tots Receive Special Visitors
The Fabulous 4’s Tiny Tots (and staff) welcomed Los Altos Police Sargent Spillman and officers Janda and Werner to their class this week. The children loved learning more about the duties of Police Officers and the equipment they use. They also got to see the inside of Police cars and hear the siren. To top it off, they each got a Police badge (sticker) to wear home!
Senior Program Updates
Elli Tehrani of Clear Caption will discuss their phones created for the senior population on Friday, October 6, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 11 of the Los Altos Hillview Senior Center, located at 97 Hillview Avenue.
Movie: Florence Foster Jenkins – 2016: Set in the 1940’s, New York socialite Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) dreams of becoming a great opera singer. This movie will be shown on Friday October 6, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 12 of the Los Altos Hillview Senior Center. Free for members, $1.00 for all others.
Free activity update: Hand massage has an updated schedule of Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Massage is available on a first come first serve basis in Room 10 of the Hillview Community Center, located at 97 Hillview Avenue.
Senior Mini Trip Thursday, October 12, 2017. Come join us for a wonderful excursion to Savannah Chanelle Winery located in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains! We have a one-hour tour scheduled with a tasting of five different wines. The tour goes through the vineyards and the cellar, including the history of the winery. Participants are encouraged to wear supportive shoes as the tour goes down stairs and on gravel surfaces. Lunch in the winery’s picnic area will follow. A menu is available to select your lunch. Arrive at 9:30 a.m., leave at 10:00am and return at Hillview by 2:30 p.m. Please sign up and pay by October 9th. $45.00 Members, Others $55. Please call (650) 947-2797 for more information.
Joanne Price from Los Altos Community Investments (LACI) will share information about their proposed First Street Green Project on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 12:45 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at Grant Community Center, 1575 Holt Avenue.
LAYC Dance
The first LAYC Dance of the school year is scheduled for Friday, October 6, 2017 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for 7th and 8th graders. The cost for this activity is $10.00. For more information contact
LAYC@losaltosca.gov.
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Reminders
City Council Open Office Hours
The Los Altos City Council will host Open Office Hours on the following dates and times:
Monday, October 2, 2017
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Hillview Community Center, Room 2
97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos
Friday, October 20, 2017
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Grant Park (Multi-purpose Room)
1575 Holt Avenue, Los Altos
Sunday, November 12, 2017
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Hillview Community Center, Room 2
97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos
Monday, November 20, 2017
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Grant Park (Room 3)
1575 Holt Avenue, Los Altos
Thursday, December 7, 2017
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Hillview Community Center, Room 2
97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos
One City Council member will be available to the public for these two-hour periods to answer questions, receive input and discuss topics of interest with community members. Everyone is welcome.
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City of Los Altos | (650) 947-2700 | www.losaltosca.gov
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