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www.claytonpioneer.com
Jim DiAz
MAYOR’S CORNER
January 13, 2017
925.672.0500
Community fundraisers aim to renovate MDES playfield
Coming in 2017
In my initial Mayor’s Column, I wish to thank you for your past support and look forward to 2017 as a promising year for Clayton. The City Council – Vice Mayor Keith Haydon, Julie Pierce, David Shuey and new member Tuija Catalano – sees a bright future for the Clayton community. Economic development efforts continue downtown, with the proposal for a mixeduse retail, commercial and senior living facility with Pacific Union Land Investors of San Ramon. Our commercial broker, Transwestern, reports several new inquiries about Main Street property as well as the permitentitled mixed-use project slated for Oak Street properties. The city remains sound financially with the leadership of city manager Gary Napper and the Finance Department under Kevin Mizuno. After closing fiscal year 2016, city management reported that all departments operated under budget last year. The General Fund experienced excess revenues over budget of $204,902 (3.6 percent), which aids in stabilizing the city’s budget and its reserves. Sustaining our mission to have the best conditioned streets in the Bay Area, the City Council awarded a $556,204 competitively bid contract on Dec. 6 to resurface arterial roadways of Clayton Road, Oakhurst Boulevard and Marsh Creek Road to the east side of Diablo Parkway. Bids were so favorable that budgeted money remains to shortly resurface Clayton’s portion of Pine Hollow Road by yet another bid project. Expect that work to commence in spring 2017. It will include resurfacing the portion of the private Oak Street paid for by adjacent property owners through special assessments. After completing a total redo of the landscape entryway to the Peacock Creek subdivision, the Maintenance Department will focus on renovating the raised planter boxes downtown and installing new irrigation systems and trees. Meanwhile, a segment of Keller Ridge Drive will receive new street trees to replace those that were lost or diseased. Our Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Chris Wenzel, continues to make Clayton one of the safest communities in the Bay Area. The department has specifically increased its enforcement presence and crime deterrence in the Clayton Station Shopping Center. Because of the cooperation and support of the center’s management and business owners, patrons will notice an improved environment for both residents and businesses. Send comments to the mayor at jdiaz@ci.clayton.ca.us.
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
FLUSH WITH FUNDRAISING SUCCESS FOR LAST SUMMER’S AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE, volunteers have turned their attention to the playfields at mt. Diablo Elementary School. Pictured on the field at the historical monument marking Clayton’s first school, mDE teacher Debra Daubenspeck, Relay committee members Pat middendorf, Nancy Salmon, Debra Gonsalves, PFC members Erin Bennett, michele Hill and Holly Tillman. TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
The gophers that have been living rent-free under the Mt. Diablo Elementary School playing field for the last 30 years better start looking for a new place to live. The fundraising group that raised over $140,000 for the Clayton Relay for Life last year has turned its attention
to a full renovation of the playing field by 2018. “The field is dangerous,” says committee co-chair Nancy Salmon. “Between the lack of regular maintenance and watering over the years and the gopher population, the field just seems to worsen over time.” The idea first got legs when the Relay Committee began to question whether it
City bans outdoor pot cultivation TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
California voters may have passed Prop. 64 last November, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, but don’t count on growing a stash in any Clayton backyard. Marijuana plants visible from public areas create an attractive nuisance for kids and invite crime, according to a staff report. In its first official act on Dec. 20, the newly reorganized Council passed an Emergency Ordinance prohibiting the outdoor cultivation of recreational marijuana. The Municipal Code already prohibited the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana but
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Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Community Calendar . . . . .11 Directory of Advertisers . . . .7 Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 School News . . . . . . . . . . . .9
it was silent on recreational pot plants. With a vote of 4-0, Council members Tuija Catalano, Keith Haydon, David Shuey and Jim Diaz passed Urgency Ordinance 473 quickly with little discussion. Council member Julie Pierce was absent. Under Prop. 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an adult may possess up to 28.5 grams of pot and may grow up to six plants for their own recreational use. The Municipal Code allows for indoor cultivation medical marijuana. The Council will need to decide if and how it wants to regulate indoor cultivation for recreational use. It could require permits or registration, inspections and code enforcement. Or, it could opt not to regulate indoor cultivation at all. Cities can regulate the indoor use, but not ban it.
See Pot, page 2
was wise to raise so much money from a small community only to send it outside that community. The Relay for Life was held on the playing field in 2015 and 2016. Committee members recalled how hard it was to work around the rough spots and gopher holes for the two-day event, and the renovation project quickly began to take form. They met with school principal Dawn Edwards and MDUSD Superintendent Dr. Nellie Meyer. Field renova-
tion was not on anyone’s radar, said Edwards, and there are no District funds available for the project. But both Edwards and Meyer are fully behind the community effort. The District will support the project with staff time, expertise and materials, says Meyer. “Most elementary students lack enough physical movement and time for play,” she said in a letter supporting the project. “It is our hope that this project will open up a new space to run, have
organized games and beautify the campus.” Plans for the new field are still in the very early stages, but the committee’s vision includes artificial turf and a resurfaced track. Cost estimates vary between $300,000 and $700,000; depending on how much of the work can be done by volunteers and how fast the committee can raise the money. Last year’s Relay fundraisers include the resurrection
See Playfield, page 2
What goes up, must come down
Tamara Steiner
CBCA committee members took advantage of a break in the rain Jan. 2 to take down the community holiday decorations with help from Emile Jenkins from Diablo Valley Ranch. Volunteers from DVR regularly help set up and tear down for concerts, Art and Wine, Oktoberfest and other events. The downtown decorations are provided by the Clayton Business and Community Association. For more information and a membership application, go to claytoncbca.org or call 925.672.2272.
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