YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 24
Including Surrounding Communities
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City to spend $8M in projects by Dave Roberts Staff Writer City officials are planning to spend more than $8 million in the next year on a variety of road and civic improvement projects, chief among them a $2 million fire station at 210 O’Hara Ave. The new station will be more centrally located than the current station at Second and Acme streets. It will be built on city-owned property and paid for from fees on new development. The next most expensive project coming down the pike is the $1.5 million second phase of construction at Creekside Park, which is along Creekside Way south of Laurel Road. The improvements will include additional parking, a multi-use sport court and ballfields. The funding is expected to come from the regional park bond approved by voters last November. Creekside Park will also be the beneficiary of $1 million spent to restore Marsh Creek adjacent to it. That project will provide passive recreation and enhanced habitat as well as a pedestrian bridge across the creek near the south end of the park. The money will come from a state grant. The other big-ticket item is the nearly $1.4 million planned to be spent to maintain city streets with slurry seals, cape seals and overlays; $805,0000 of the cost is expected to be provided by federal stimulus funding. “Better than ‘buying America’ for those
Staff Writer How early is too early for construction activity to start up in an Oakley neighborhood? That was one of the questions facing the City Council Tuesday night as it decided whether to approve a subdivision request by Discovery Builders. The council approved the developer’s plan to convert 11 acres southwest of Simoni Ranch Road and Little Ranch Circle (about one-third of a mile west of Gehringer Elementary School) into 31 housing lots ranging in size from 8,000 to nearly 16,000 square feet. Jackie Seeno, representing Discovery Builders, asked the council to change several of the conditions imposed on the devel-
June 12, 2009
THIS WEEK
From dreams to diplomas
Gowns billowed, caps soared and crowds cheered as the class of 2009 strode off the stage and into the future.
Page 7A Photo by Dave Roberts
Construction on the medians on Neroly and O’Hara roads near where they intersect is a taste of the road, park and fire station construction planned in the coming year. projects, I think we are going to be ‘buying California,’” City Engineer Jason Vogan told the City Council at its May 26 meeting. “Because those are definitely local projects that will all be done with local forces. So that will be good for Oakley and the surrounding economy.” Mayor Carol Rios complimented Vogan for taking advantage of the federal funding. “With the stimulus package, what they are wanting is ‘shovel-ready’ – and we have been,” she said. “And that’s what put us in position to go after
some of the stimulus money. Had we not been planning always ahead, that would not be the case. So I just want to share our thanks to you and your staff for keeping your eye on the future. It’s made a difference here.” In addition, several major road improvement projects are expected to get underway in the coming year, the biggest of which is the widening of O’Hara Avenue, which will be done see Improvements page 21A
Council OKs Stonewood subdivision by Dave Roberts
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“ Saturday is a precious time for many residents, the majority of which commute. A lot of people sleep in on Saturday.
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Councilman Bruce Connelley opment, which is known as Stonewood, the most controversial of which concerned the times and days that construction would be allowed to take place. The city’s standard condition is that “noise-generating construction activities, including such things as power generators” are only allowed from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and not on holidays. Seeno asked that the condition
be changed to allow construction from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. “If we can get out there a little bit earlier and get the work done, that would be helpful – if that’s a possibility – and also on Saturdays,” she said. That request did not sit well, however, with Richard Tyson, who lives on Little Ranch Circle just a few hundred feet from the construction site. “I don’t really agree with
Sell stuff!
that,” he told the council. “I think that most people that live in the area would not agree with that. That is pretty early in the morning. I’ve been through new construction. I’ve only been here 14 months and I was only the second house on the block. I will tell you that people show up at 5 o’clock, they show up at 6 o’clock, they show up with backhoes at 6:30. “And there’s generally a language barrier between the people doing the work and you trying to explain the big sign there that says ‘7 to 5.’ My feeling is that if you tell them 6:30 – everyone is trying to make a dollar – they are going to show up at 5:30. And there’s really nobody there to enforce that, see Subdivision page 21A
Reality up in smoke Parents troubled by their teens’ experiments in drug use now have a new substance to contend with.
Page 3A
Fast track to sports galore
You’ll find a plethora of local athletic activity covered on our new Sports Links pages.
Pages 3-4B
INSIDE Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds ........................14B Entertainment ................10B Health & Beauty ............... 8B Milestones ......................... 7B Opinion ...........................16A Outdoors .........................17A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
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