YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 48
Including Surrounding Communities
Singular T-Mobil tower approved by Samie Hartley Staff Writer The Oakley City Council reviewed two designs for new wireless communication towers at this week’s meeting, but approved only one of the proposed projects. Both public hearings regarding the towers were carried over from the Oct. 27 meeting, at which time the council determined that the proposed T-Mobile monopine towers would be built too close to homes under the proposed design. The 80-foot pine-tree-shaped cell towers would have provided only a 20-foot buffer between the facility and houses, so the council asked representatives from T-Mobile to move the towers to a different spot at the proposed locations or find a new site. After T-Mobile proposed to move the tree 82 feet from homes, the council approved a tower location on West Cypress Road but rejected the design and location for the tower proposed for the corner
of Main Street and Gardenia Avenue. According to city staff, although the latter tower would be far enough from houses, it would be too close to Main Street and disrupt the aesthetics of the area, towering over power lines. Mayor Carol Rios said she’d hoped the service provider would have looked into alternate locations for the tower, but a representative from T-Mobile said the company had already invested significant time and money in the proposed location, where cell service is most in need of improvement. “I don’t feel this site is the appropriate site for a cell phone tower,” said Rios. “There’s other options, and I’m kind of disappointed that T-Mobile isn’t going to look at those options. We’ve pointed out places where we’d be more than willing to work with them. I know there is a cost, but if you have someone that is willing to work with you, I see this as more of
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Diners support Relay Fanged fans
tout ‘Twilight’
They were screaming for a screening of “New Moon.” And the long-awaited premiere didn’t disappoint.
Page 3A Photo courtesy of Jilda Fairhurst
athleen Knight, chair of the 2010 American Cancer Society Oakley Relay For Life, accepts a check for $1,850 from Jim and Brenda D’Amico of Black Bear Diner. The money comes from customers who dropped donations to the cause into a bucket at the front counter, and was presented at the Nov. 11 Relay kick-off event held at Freedom High School. Next year’s Relay in Oakley takes place May 1 and 2 at the soccer fields next to Freedom. For more information on how you can participate, visit www.main.acsevents.org/site/ TR?pg=entry&fr_id=20487.
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see Tower page 18A
by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Catherine Kutsuris of the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation takes the microphone from Mike Guzzardo, publicity chairman for the San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation, during a packed meeting Monday night on the controversial 2-Gates Fish Protection Project. The town hall forum was held at the Discovery Bay Elementary School. The project is a joint venture by the State Department of Water Resources, the Federal Bureau
November 27, 2009
THIS WEEK
Opposition to 2-Gates project grows Hundreds of residents packed the gymnasium at Discovery Bay Elementary School Monday night for an informational meeting on the controversial 2-Gates Fish Protection Project. The San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation (SFBDF) – a grass-roots group of Discovery Bay residents opposing the 2Gates project – hosted the town hall meeting. “It was a great turnout,” said Mike Guzzardo, SFBDF publicity chairman. “We had a lot of new faces, and we feel like we’re really starting to gain some momentum; we’re getting the word out.” The 2-Gates project is a five-year experimental program designed to save the Delta smelt by rerouting them away from the water pumps on Old and Middle rivers in Byron, but many feel that the 2-Gates is the precursor to a peripheral canal.
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of Reclamation and the Southern California Metropolitan Water District, and would implement
the installation of gates at Old River between Holland Tract and Bacon Island, plus a Connection Slough between Mandeville and Bacon Island. The automatic gates would be closed at various times of the year for as much as 10 hours per day, depending on flood tides. The SFBDF was formed only a few weeks ago, but has already been instrumental in getting the Bureau of Reclamation to extend its public comment period by two weeks, to Nov. 30, and the group is hoping to force the bureau to provide an Environmental Impact Report for the Discovery Bay and Delta regions. Pete Lucero, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Reclamation, said that federal agencies such as the bureau do not conduct environmental impact reports but rather environmental impact studies (EIS), of which the currently completed environmental see 2-Gates page 18A
December diversions A spate of seasonal festivals, parades, films, plays, shopping gigs and charitable events will keep you hopping this holiday.
Page 14A
Cerebral jocks celebrated
An impressive array of Freedom High School athletes were recognized as class acts in the classroom.
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INSIDE Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds ........................14B Entertainment ................11B Food .................................12B Health & Beauty ............... 8B Milestones .......................19A Opinion ...........................13A Sports ................................. 1B Talk About Town ..............5A WebExtras! ....................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A