AC Transit Local Fare Change Public Hearing
Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 2:00 pm — 5:00 pm. 1600 Franklin St, Oakland

The AC Transit Board of Directors will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, February 13, to consider a new local fare schedule for FY2019-20 through FY2023-24.  The first increase would be $0.15 on July 1, 2019, adjusting the current adult fare from $2.35 to $2.50; subsequent $0.25 adjustments would take effect each alternate year through FY2023-24.

• An option to increase fares based on the rate of operating cost increases.
• Clipper fare incentives (discounts) of up to $0.50 for adult single fare and up to $0.25 for Youth/Senior/Disabled single fare.
• The Clipper fare would be used as the basis for setting 31-Day and monthly pass prices.
• The Senior/Disabled monthly pass and the Youth 31-Day pass would be 30-times the Clipper single fare.
• Cost of the Day Pass would equal two times the single fare plus $0.50 rounded to the nearest $0.50.
• A proposed mobile ticketing application would include a 7-Day Pass priced at ten times the single Clipper fare, and fare capping which ensures riders who pay by the trip do not incur further charges once reaching the cost of a Day Pass, 7-Day Pass or 31-Day Pass.

A decision on The proposals will occur at the February 27, 2019, Board of Directors meeting at the earliest. If approved, the first fare increase in the new local fare schedule will take effect July 1, 2019.

Transit to the Hearing Site – AC Transit Headquarters at 1600 Franklin Street, Oakland

All AC Transit bus lines serving downtown Oakland stop within walking distance of the public hearing site. For trip-planning, visit www.actransit.org or call 511 (and say, “AC Transit”).  The site can also be reached via BART to the 19^th St. Oakland station.

Please do not wear scented products to the meeting.

In February 2018, the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) established a new five-year Transbay fare program that increased Transbay fares by $1 on January 1, 2019. In 2020, the Transbay fare will increase an additional $.50, and will increase an additional $.50 in 2022.

Local bus fares will be on different increase schedules proposed to be July 1, 2019, July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2023. (See related article on proposed local fare increase here.) In 2017 AC Transit dramatically increased local bus service for Piedmont, offering City employees participation in reaching Piedmont’s carbon footprint reduction.

CURRENT CASH LOCAL AND TRANSBAY FARES:

CURRENT CLIPPER FARES:

A quick 4 question survey about electric vehicle use in the City has been created. It is anonymous and should only take 2 minutes to do.

The City is trying to gauge the use of Electric Vehicles in Piedmont and researching the possibility of getting EV Chargers.

Your response will be extremely useful!

Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/WqQtalqnBYEnTCK03

Thank you. Brooke Edell, City of Piedmont Climate and Sustainability Fellow, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611, Phone: (510) 420-3085

In the City of Piedmont’s ongoing efforts to assist Piedmont residents in energy saving methods, the following information is provided.

BAYREN is hosting an East Bay Electrification Expo Thursday, February 7^th! This is a great opportunity to learn more about what you can actually do in your homes to mitigate climate change.

It is  from 3pm-8pm at Ed Roberts Campus: 3075 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. “Watch induction cooktop demos, talk with local residents who are electrifying homes and apartments, meet local contractors installing all-electric appliances, see super-efficient heat pump water heaters & space heating/cooling systems, and learn more at workshops for renters, homeowners, and building professionals.”

To register please go to: https://mailchi.mp/energyupgradeac/east-bay-electrification-expo-fight-climate-change-with-a-clean-energy-home?e=f449b1bb73

Brooke Edell, Climate and Sustainability Fellow, City of Piedmont, Phone: (510) 420-3085

Heritage Tree Nominations Sought

Deadline: Monday, March 11th

The City of Piedmont is soliciting nominations of noteworthy trees in our public open spaces for the City’s first Heritage Tree Designation. Individuals and groups can nominate trees based on their aesthetic, educational or historic value. If you believe a tree is worthy of recognition, the Park Commission would like to hear from you.

Please submit the Heritage Tree Application 2019 no later than Monday, March 11^th at 5:00 p.m. Nominations for Heritage Trees will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the Park Commissioners and Public Works Staff.  The tree or group of trees selected for this year’s designation will be announced at the April 3, 2019 Park Commission meeting.

Click to read the policy regarding Designation of Heritage Trees on City Property.

Completed nomination forms should be returned to the Nancy Kent, Parks and Project Manager via email at nkent@piedmont.ca.gov or in hard copy to: 120 Vista Avenue. If you have questions regarding the process, please contact  Ms. Kent at (510) 420-3064.

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Republic Service reminds customers to manage their extra packages and materials during the holidays, by putting the right things in your recycling container.

ALWAYS RECYCLE

• Paper & Flattened Cardboard
• Metal Cans
• Plastic Jugs & Bottles
• Plain Wrapping Paper

TRASH OR REUSE

• Padded Envelopes
• Ribbons & Bows
• Bubble Wrap
• Packing Peanuts
• Foil or Glittery Wrapping Paper

Once cardboard or paper comes into contact with food or liquid, it can no longer be recycled. Make sure to keep your outdoor recycling lid tightly closed during wet winter weather and don’t use your recycling container as an overflow trash can.

While hard plastic containers like water bottles, milk jugs and detergent containers can go in your container, their lids, however, are too small to recycle by themselves, so either put them back on the containers or throw them away.

See more Republic recommendations here

Holidays

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 

from the 

PIEDMONT CIVIC ASSOCIATION!

December 10th Planning Commission

On Monday, December 10th, I went to the Planning Commission meeting at Piedmont City Hall from 5-7 p.m. The Planning Commission meets on the second Monday of every month and makes decisions regarding local construction or housing modifications. In this particular meeting, the Commission made a decision about two specific houses, and whether they could start their construction.

The first house was 66 Hampton Road. For this house, three speakers came up and talked in support of starting the potential construction. The first two speakers were the owners of the house. Their first argument was that they had kids, and needed to build a second floor on their house so they could live more comfortably, since they all sleep in the same room at the moment. They brought a lot of passion with these arguments. They also made the argument that since they both worked at home, they needed more space to work all day. Then, they tried to counter their neighbors’ arguments.

The neighbors claimed the construction would cause them to lose a significant amount of light and privacy. For this argument, the owners of 66 Hampton Road sent their architect up to describe the sun study they did, which essentially concluded that the neighbors would lose minimal light and privacy.

However, the neighbors also brought up their architect who claimed the sun study was wrong and they would actually lose a lot of light. The rule was construction can only cost a neighbor to lose “little to no light.”

The Commission ended up unanimously rejecting the 66 Hampton Road proposal for a multitude of reasons. One planner noted that they couldn’t judge the case based on any emotions, so they couldn’t feel sympathy for the children. Another mentioned how the plans were turned in right before the meeting and that wasn’t adequate enough time to look over them. In the end, the neighbors were right, the city is strict on the amount of light lost for construction and too much light was lost in this case.

Personally, I agreed with the decision because the owners of 66 Hampton Road had a lot of holes in their argument. For instance, they claimed they wanted to be closer to their kids but planned on building a master bedroom on the second floor and being a full floor away from them. Also, their architect seemed way more disorganized and confused than the opposing architect, so I didn’t believe his sun study.

The second case was pretty much the opposite. In this case, 319 Magnolia Avenue, all the neighbors had agreed to the ­­construction, it was just up to the Commission. The owners of this house wanted to build out the second floor and extend their deck. This proposal was backed up by their neighbors, the Goldbergs. The Commission still rejected it though, because the build out called for a lot of variances which were not optimal.

by Carvel Tefft, Piedmont High School Senior

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

 Council meeting Monday, December 17, 2018, 7:30  p.m. City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.  The meeting will be broadcast live on Cable Channel 27 and on the City website under videos. 

Agenda 

READ the full staff report and recommendations for approval by clicking below.

http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/staffreports/2018-12-17/crowncastlesettlement.pdf

Wireless Antennas for 18 Sites to be Reviewed by City in New Crown Castle Applications

At its December 17, 2018 regular meeting, the Piedmont City Council will consider whether to approve a proposed settlement in the law suit filed against the City by Crown Castle NG West LLC challenging the Council’s denial of applications for five wireless communication facility (WCF) sites and conditional approval of three other sites. A ninth site, which was conditionally approved by the Council, was not included in the suit.

The proposed settlement agreement, which is the product of over eight months of mediation between Crown Castle and the City of Piedmont, provides that Crown Castle will file new applications for the eight original sites and ten additional sites. The additional sites are included because the applications will be deleting the 700 MHz radios for which they previously applied. Instead they will use only 1900 and 2100 MHz bandwidths which would serve the same area as the original proposal. Elimination of the 700 MHz radios allows for smaller antennas and radios. Fifteen of the sites are proposed for existing utility pole sites. Antennas will be located at the top of the pole and will be three feet in height. The radios will be mounted on the poles. The antennas and the radios will be concealed within shrouds. There are a few utility poles with different designs to address site specific site issues and to eliminate or reduce impacts on City trees. Three sites will be on City light poles with two foot antennas and above ground mounted cabinets.

If approved by the City, the proposed sites will have smaller antennas and radios, be mounted higher on poles, reducing visual clutter, and have less or no impact on City trees. These applications will go through the normal City hearing process applicable to the particular site. If approved, Crown Castle will dismiss its lawsuit against the City. If not approved, the lawsuit will proceed.

It is important to note that the settlement agreement does not approve the installation of any new wireless sites in Piedmont. Crown Castle must submit applications for a Wireless Communication Facilities Permit for all the sites included in the settlement agreement. The Planning Commission reviews and makes a recommendation to the City Council regarding approval or denial of applications for all new sites. The City Council then considers all applications and make a final decision.

The City Council staff report for the proposed settlement will be posted on the City website (http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/citycouncil…) on Thursday, December 13, 2018.

Comments regarding the proposed settlement agreement may be sent to the City Council via email to: citycouncil@piedmont.ca.gov. To send comments via U.S. Mail, please use the following address: Piedmont City Council c/o City Clerk, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611.

Residents with questions about the settlement may contact Senior Planner Pierce Macdonald-Powell by email at pmacdonald@piedmont.ca.gov. Any correspondence sent to the City may be considered a public record.

The City Council meeting on December 17, 2018 will be televised live on KCOM-TV, the City’s government access TV station and available through streaming video on the City’s web site at www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/video.

On November 8^th, the City hosted an Energy Efficiency workshop for residents to learn how to achieve climate action goals at home.  There was a great turn out with speakers from East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), StopWaste, and Community Energy Services Corporation (CESC).

The City would love to host more workshops for the community in order to achieve our climate actions goals set forth by CAP 2.0.

Please complete the quick survey below so the City can get a sense of what topics would be of interest for Piedmonters!

https://goo.gl/forms/zHDspkKTZzJd7Yhz1

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Brooke Edell

Climate and Sustainability Fellow

City of Piedmont – 120 Vista Avenue – Piedmont, CA 94611

Phone: (510) 420-3085

Email: bedell@piedmont.ca.gov