April 25-April 29, 2022

Week 17
www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/cmwr
Stay connected
Receive these weekly updates, sign-up here

City Manager Talk and Walk

City Manager

Public Safety Roundtable Talk

This week Councilmember Tankha held another installment of the Neighborhood Public Safety Roundtable talk with the Santa Clara County Sheriff. A good discussion took place on recent crime trends and how residents can best defend their property from residential burglaries. A recording of the meeting, along with notes and a copy of the presentation can be found on the Town’s Crime Prevention Webpage.

New Emergency Preparedness Manager

At the April City Council Meeting, the Council approved an agreement with Ann Hepenstal, who will be the Town’s new Emergency Preparedness Manager. Ms. Hepenstal will be replacing Marsha Hovey who has been the Town’s emergency consultant for the last 10 years. The Town intends to hold an all staff table-top emergency drill sometime this to prepare for the upcoming Fire Season.

Emergency Training

Next week Town Management staff is involved in a two-day training on key Emergency Operations Center (EOC) positions within the Management Section based on the state OES EOC Section/Position credentialing document.

Progress with GreenWaste

The Town GreenWaste AdHoc Committee made up of Mayor Tyson and Vice Mayor Swan along with three members of the community in continued discussion with the GreenWaste Executive team to discuss potential amendments to the Franchise Amendment #2. Both parties have reaffirmed their commitment to addressing the concerns shared by Town residents under the current collection program.

Broadband Ad Hoc Committee

At the April City Council Meeting, the Council formed an Ad Hoc Committee dedicated to broadband infrastructure in the Town. The Ad Hoc Committee is comprised of Councilmembers Mok and Tankha. The first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee is scheduled for early next week.

Town Survey Subcommittee

Staff meet this week with the Town Survey Subcommittee to discuss progress and community engagement efforts. Save the dates for Town Hall Meetings on Community Facility Needs on May 31 from 6-7 p.m. and July 20 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. via zoom. Don't forget to sign up for our next Town Survey by registering here.

May City Council Meeting Rescheduled
The May 19th City Council Regular Meeting has been cancelled and a special meeting is scheduled for May 25th in its place.

Office Hours with the City Manager
In May, City Manager Peter Pirnejad will pivot to Office Hours rather than hosting a Talk and Walk. However, Community Services Department will be reinstating the Senior Walk. Stay tuned for more details.

Held Meetings and Events

April 24: Earth Day Celebration 1:00-4:00 p.m.
April 25: Joint Volunteer Service Awards 7:00 p.m. - in person
April 26: Pathways Committee - Cancelled
April 26: Committee Relations Committee 7:00 p.m. - in person
April 28: Environmental Initiatives Committee 6:30 p.m.
April 29: Talk and Walk with the City Manager 10:30-Noon

Upcoming Meetings and Events
April 30: History Walk 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
April 30: Emergency Preparedness Fair 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
May 2: Finance and Investment Committee - Cancelled
May 2: Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Senior Commission 3:30 p.m.
May 3: Emergency Communication Committee 7:00 p.m.
May 3: Youth Commission 7:00 p.m.
May 5: Planning Commission - Cancelled
May 6: Pathways Run/Walk Packet Pick-up 3:00-7:00 p.m.
May 7: Pathways Run/Walk 9:00 a.m.

*Agendas will be posted a minimum of 72 hours in advance

For a complete list of and more information, visit www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar

Regional Updates

Wildfire Awareness Month Statewide Forum - Safer from Wildfires
Please join California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, CAL FIRE, and Local Fire Safe Councils for a Statewide Forum on Tuesday, May 3 at 1:00 PM. Register today: www.bit.ly/S050322

Emergency Preparedness Fair: Make your home Hazard Free, Inside and Out

Los Altos Hills County Fire District (LAHCFD) is hosting an Emergency Prep Fair scheduled for Saturday, April 30 from 10am -1 pm, at Town Hall. Come and experience a simulated earthquake in our "Shake Room."

Planning and Building

Planning Permits*
Applied: 2
Approved: 0

Building Permits*
Applied: 6
Issued: 11

Inspections*
Building: 44

Code Enforcement Cases*
Open: 2
Closed: 1
*April 22 - April 28, 2022

City Council Public Hearing
On April 21, 2022, City Council held a public hearing to discuss the following two (2) items:

Request for a map adjustment permit to remove a recorded conservation easement, remove a five-foot public utility easement, and record a new segment of ten-foot public utility easement on a portion of Lot 2 of Tract 6527, now part of 26070 Newbridge Drive.

The request was approved by the City Council.

Appeal of the Planning Commission Imposed Conditions of Approval for a Zoning Permit for new Fencing at 28001 Elena Road.

The City Council upheld the Planning Commission’s decision and denied the appeal.

Housing Element Update

Staff continues to work on the Housing Element update by preparing site inventories and reviewing administrative drafts from the consultant of various sections of the draft document.

Other Updates

Areli Perez, Assistant Planner attended the MAWG meeting on April 28th, 2022. The meeting agenda included discussion on Reach Codes.

The City Council at its regular meeting on April 21, 2022, approved Addendum #1 to the Service Agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. to expand the scope of services to include streamlining permitting process for the electrification program. Staff has started to coordinate next steps with the consultant to kick off the permit streamlining program.

The Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) Letter of Interest (LOI) is for a $10,000 reach code grant. The funds will be used to facilitate the process in adopting the 2022 reach codes promoting residential building electrification and EV charging. SVCE is providing the grant to jurisdictions that bring codes to a vote this year.

Public Works

Engineering

Page Mill Road crossing – the intent of this project is to provide a safe crossing across Page Mill Road and to connect trails between Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto. The current trails have no safe crossing. Engineering staff is working with Palo Alto to find a solution to address this issue.

Leaf Blowers - Engineering & PW Maintenance is currently working with EIC to study the replacement of existing lawn equipment including leaf blowers, lawn mowers trimmers etc. owned by the Town with ones that generate lower noise levels. Our maintenance crew attended a demonstration event of electric equipment and is testing some of those tools.

Town Hall EV Charging Stations – the planned construction of the new charging station infrastructure at the Town Hall has been presented to the Environment Initiative Committee (EIC) on 4/28/22.

CIP Projects

The 2021 Sanitary Sewer Repair and Replacement CIP Project is complete. The contractor repaired, rehabilitated, and improved the existing sewer mains and manholes at 16 locations within the Town limits of Los Altos Hills.

East Sunset Dr roadway widening – a pre-construction meeting was held on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, and construction is scheduled to begin on May 9, 2022. Residents in the area have been notified by the contractor and town staff. The construction duration is from 5/9/22 to 7/1/22.

Improvements to Snack Shack Building – Addendum No. 1 was issued on Wednesday, April 27, and a pre-Bid meeting was held on Thursday, April 28, 2022. The bid opening is on Thursday, May 5, 2022 at 2 PM.

Sanitary Sewer
Purissima Pump Station – staff is working to add one new pump to provide three pumps total, with one as a spare, and service two existing pumps.

Private Development Projects
Natoma Oaks subdivision – Town of Los Altos Hills did a final walk of the subdivision. There were some punch list items that needed to be attended to. Town of Los Altos Hills needs to confirm that these punch list items have been taken care of.

Pathways Projects

Repaired existing pathways on Robleda Road and Elena Road.

Tree Removals

13800 Robleda Road – A dead pine was found in front of 13800 Robleda Road, that needs to be removed. A letter has been sent to the property owner to take action. The Committee agrees this tree needs to be removed.

West Loyola Road and Chardonnay Lane – A tree whose roots have been cut for the pavement improvement project, was stated to be a potential hazard by an arborist. However, the committee does not see a strong hazard due to the way the tree is leaning.

Encroachments Permits and Customer Requests: 5
After hours or weekend callouts: 0
Fallen trees/major limbs down: 0

Maintenance
This week our crew worked in the new Natoma Oaks pathway, repaired pathways on Robleda Rd and Elena rd. & continue the Weed/Brush abatement along the road at Purissima Rd between Arastradero and Purissima Park.

Completed Park turf maintenance and fire extinguisher/AED inspections.

The Town of Los Altos Hills Public Works Crew has been hard at work, reducing flammable fuels in our open spaces and pathways. The crew has been working with Grassroots Ecology mowing 13.7 acres at Byrne Preserve for invasive weeds. Check out the below photo highlighting work completed this week in Byrne Preserve.

Fuel reduction and invasive weeding at Byrne Preserve

Concept Crosswalk at Page Mill

Mowing and Brushing on Purissima Road

East Sunset Widening

Finance, Human Resources, IT Services

SB1383 Local Assistance Grant Program
The Town received $20,825 Award from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) for implementation of SB1383. The Town plans to use the funds for recordkeeping/tracking software, signage, and outreach materials.

Accounts Payable/Budget/Payroll/Receivables

Received $276,895 in cash receipts and/or electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Staff continues to work on the FY22-23 Budget and plans to present a DRAFT to the FIC on Monday, May 9 at 4pm.
The FIC previously scheduled meeting on Monday, May 2 has been rescheduled to May 9
The Joint City Council/FIC Budget meeting will be held on Thursday, May 26.

Human Resources
Emina Steta will start with the Town on May 2 as the Administrative Clerk/Technician under the City Manager’s Office.

The Intern Recruitment has closed, and we received a total of 16 applications. We plan to conduct the interviews in May with a potential start date in June.

Efforts continue as we explore ways to invest in staff moral and culture.
Wellness Program scheduled a cultural potluck for May.

A BBQ is scheduled for May 20th to celebrate Public Works Week.

Next step is discussions about setting new cultural norms in the office in a Post-Pandemic world. These discussions are scheduled for June.

IT Services
This week Eaton & Associates (E&A) has started their IT Services transition by running a full network discovery on the Town’s infrastructure. The staff from E&A will work with the City of Redwood City to proceed with the transition of IT Services.

Dr. Jonathan Reichental has started the IT Strategic Plan project with the Discovery Phase. He is meeting with the stakeholders of the organization including the Technology Committee and E&A to gather information on the needs and wants of the Town, Council, staff and constituents.

Continue to conduct email phishing training with the staff to ensure there isn’t any database breaches.

Community Services

Earth Day Celebration Was held on Saturday, April 24
from 1-4 pm at Westwind Community Barn. We have over 25 green exhibitors two reptile shows, and a docent lead hike by Grassroots Ecology. Check out the highlight video linked here and below.

Pathways Run/Walk - Saturday, May 7 9am at Westwind Community Barn. Registration is now available for the 5K, 10K and 1 Mile Fun Run here. As of Thursday afternoon there are 367 registered runners and walkers who were sent packet pick-up information for next week. The following email was sent encouraging sign ups before race day.

Cornhole Tournament - Sunday, May 22 Noon-3 pm
Hosted by the Parks and Recreation Committee. Register to play here.

Town Picnic - Sunday, June 5 12:30-4:00 pm
Save the date. Registration will open in the upcoming weeks when you receive your mailer.

Earth Day Celebration Highlight Video

Sheriff's Weekly Report

Visit the link to view the Sheriff's weekly report for April 18-24, 2022.
The Sheriff’s weekly report is always for the week prior to the City Manager’s report

Safety tips for tax season mail theft

As we are in the annual tax filing/return season, here are some tips to keep your personal information and tax returns safe:

• Promptly pick up mail after delivery and never leave mail in the mailbox overnight.

• Utilize a mailbox with a lock.

• Install security cameras that capture the area around your mailbox.

• Place a hold on mail when going out of town.
Please call the Sheriff’s Office to report possible mail theft or suspicious activity centered around mailbox delivery locations.