5/4/2016 -- Board Meeting Minutes

Post date: May 5, 2016 4:59:37 AM

River Oaks Neighborhood Association

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Elan Meeting Room, 7:00-8:00pm

Attending

From RONA: President Jean Marlowe, Secretary Laura Carns

From City of San José, Council District 4 Office: Jonathan Padilla and Manh Nguyen

From County of Santa Clara, District 3 Office: Mike Donohoe

From California State Senate, District 10 Office: Tim Orozco

From Santa Clara Unified School District: Larry Adams

Lan Diep, Candidate for San Jose City Council, District 4

and about 5 other community members.

MINUTES

1. Bike Lane Update with John Brazil and Paul Smith from DOT

   1. The DOT folks surprise cancelled last-minute. They said they would send us plans for the re-deployment of the bike bumpers within 2 weeks.

   2. Many folks arrived just to hear DOT. It is unacceptable that they cancel last-minute. Jon Padilla and District 4 will be sending a complaint to Jim Ortbal (the DOT boss). He will also arrange for a special DOT meeting before the end of May. Will have a date within the week.

   3. Community members reiterated their dissatisfaction with the bike lane bumpers. We have been complaining for many months now. DOT promised updated plans in January. We request the meeting be targeted at presenting solution options, not just listening to the same complaints we've been making for months.

   4. Community members reiterated their complaints about noisy manhole covers. Evidence seems to point to them being improperly installed.

   5. Community members suggested lowering speed limit to 25mph, and adding crosswalks to ROP.

   6. Mahn Nguyen arrived late and said he would make sure city staff listens to our concerns.

2. North San Jose Area Development Policy, More housing proposed.

   1. For details of the proposal, see last month's meeting minutes, item 4.

   2. Jean spoke out against the plan at the city council meeting in April. The Mayor, District 3's representative and our District 4's Mahn Nguyen are the sponsors. The planning staff seem committed to doing a good job, very focused on the traffic situation. Mayor is pushing for an EIR done by August, so city council can vote on it.

   3. Some amount of this is affordable housing, city is working on a Fry's/Supermicro site closer to Berryessa area. Phase I has less than the required affordable allotment of 20%, so the Phase II allocation is going to have to be closer to 30% affordable to make up for it.

   4. RONA's position is that this will set a bad precedent, where developers can get exceptions to the NSJ plan. We are still concerned about traffic, retail, safety, schools, etc. We will be watching this issue closely and will likely ask for community support when the issue comes up for a vote.

   5. Manh Nguyen stated that the planners will have a community meeting in our area to discuss the issues.

3. Iris Chang Park Update

   1. Jean went to the April meeting. She liked the plans. Some details are discussed here, in text form. Park should be open late 2017.

4. Smart Poles

   1. Smart poles are a combination of an LED streetlight and 4G LTE cell station. The city is working in partnership with industry via a pilot program. This pilot program basically allows the city to upgrade the streetlights for free and gets free upgraded cell reception. The partnering company gets to prove their technology and can lease the 4G LTE station to a cell company, which allows them to pay for the pole and installation.

   2. The city's pilot program is looking at placing Smart Poles along Innovation drive near Zanker Road.

5. Agnews School and Bike Lanes (Larry Adams)

   1. For latest details of Agnews school, see last month's meeting minutes, item 2.

   2. EIR requires district to look at alternative access, including bike lanes. So Larry came to this meeting hoping to hear what DOT was planning for ROP. The main dropoff location will be on Zanker but obviously the bike/walk route along ROP is a concern.

   3. Next action is the SCUSD board will vote to confirm the 3-school plan at the next meeting (5/12). Also at that time the construction committee will ask the board to start the process to hire an architect. After that, the design and audit committees start.

   4. Folks have asked why there hasn't been demolition on the site -- we've been on-hold for 3 months waiting for the safety approvals. We have some contaminants on site (particularly chemically-contaminated soil near the buildings) which have very strict safety requirements. Once our process is approved, you will see deconstruction. The truck route will be along Zanker.

   5. August 2019 is the target date for school opening. The middle/high school will pull students from SCUSD areas north of Highway 101. The elementary school boundaries are still to-be-determined. There will be many community meetings to decide the elementary school boundaries.

   6. SCUSD is aware of the community's request for joint-use and community spaces. Will discuss options with San Jose city.

6. Other announcements

   1. County District 3's Dave Cortese would like to invite folks to join his annual "Sacramento Bus Ride for Education," an opportunity to discuss state-level educational issues with the legislators in Sacramento.

      1. Tim Orozco of Bob Wieckowski's State Senate District 10 Office would like to talk to RONA next meeting, to report on what the Senator is doing for our community.

   2. Tim Orozco also invites us all to the Berryessa Art and Wine Festival. This Saturday May 7th, at the Berryessa Community Center. Many local politicians will be in attendance, in addition to the other fun activities.

Next RONA Board meeting is June 1st at 7pm, Elan Meeting Room.