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News Briefs
City rejects claim for oak tree death
The city last week rejected a claim by residents Ann and Kathleen Fitzsimmons to compensate them for the death of an oak tree in front of their residence at 14605 Big Basin Way.
The dead tree was removed in May with authorization from the city, and the Fitzsimmonses sought $178,510 in damages for the loss of the tree. They alleged that construction in 1989 on the Creekside Condominium complex adjacent to their property led to the death of the tree.
In January 1989, during building on the condominium site, the contractor cut the roots of the tree in question just 6 feet from the trunk. The city's arborist recommended extra fertilizer and water to help the tree make what he believed would be full recovery.
According to the Association of Bay Area Governments, which processed the claim against Saratoga, neither the city nor the claimants showed any evidence that the tree had decayed between 1989 and this past spring, when the request to remove the tree was made. But the Fitzsimmonses alleged the tree died from the severe root-cutting incident in 1989.
Power to replace library generator
City officials are working to get a power connection into the temporary library after the city council recently authorized a PG&E contract to replace the diesel generator now in use.
The generator has limited the ability of the temporary library to use all its electrical appliances. City officials said they are hoping to attain full power at the Saratoga Avenue facility in a matter of weeks.
City wants money for clean mountain
City officials last week signed a proclamation supporting federal clean-up money for the South Bay's Mt. Umunhum.
The mountaintop land held the now-defunct Almaden Air Force Station and was acquired in 1986 by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
The district, however, cannot afford to clean up the old Air Force buildings and grounds, which contain lead paint and asbestos. A report by the Defense Environmental Restoration Program in 1998 acknowledged that the federal government still had $2.5 million to spend on cleaning up Mt. Umunhum.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
