 |
|
|
|
|
Neighborhood association addressing Lincoln trash
Board identifies cleanup as a major priority
By Kate Carter
The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association got down to basics at its Jan. 9 board meeting, discussing ways of cleaning up downtown and preparing for Founders Day 2002.
The board was also addressed by staff from the city's department of parks, recreation and neighborhood services, a candidate for mayor and residents concerned about a new school proposed for their neighborhood.
Board member Harold Schapelhouman gave the approximately 20 people gathered a report about the unsightly, poorly spaced trash cans along Lincoln Avenue. He provided visual aids and descriptions of trash can layouts in other Bay Area cities, showing that Willow Glen's haphazard arrangement doesn't measure up.
He also said he had never seen any sidewalk cleaning along the avenue, a service the street needs.
"San Jose does a good job with garbage in certain areas," Schapelhouman said. "Just not here. We have a very special place to be living. Unfortunately, it doesn't look very special; it's dirty. And it just continues to get dirtier."
Association President John Gibbs said that cleanliness of the avenue is an important issue for the neighbors as well as the businesses. He said the neighborhood association could play a role by finding out whose responsibility it is to clean the sidewalks and maintain the trash cans, as well as educating the community on the importance of making sure trash makes it into the cans.
"This is something we can actually do something about," board member Jim Spence said.
The board thought the street's cleanliness was something that could be addressed by consultants and city staff working on a survey of Lincoln Avenue, funded by the city's Redevelopment Agency. District 6 City Councilman Ken Yeager's aide Debbie Rocha said a consultant has been chosen to work with agency staff and that a community meeting about the project is planned for this spring. She added that Yeager and staff have not decided whether to create a steering committee including representatives of the neighborhood and Willow Glen Business and Professional associations.
Gibbs also told the group he submitted a letter of intent to apply for a city grant for this year's Founders Day community festival. However, he indicated in the letter that the neighborhood association would not be the sole party responsible for the event, which until last year had been sponsored by the business association for about a decade.
Board member Margaret Hardy, along with board member Cathy Marshall and vice president Helen Solinski, accepted the task of finding out how to apply for the grant, as well as soliciting help from the business association, Yeager's office, merchants and volunteers.
Solinski reported that construction on the new Longs drugstore at the corner of Lincoln and Brace avenues began this month and is scheduled to be completed in time for a summer opening of the store. Rocha added that the company failed to increase the height of a wall behind the site as it should have done before construction began and that project manager Brad Hoskins said it would be done last week. Board member Jim Spence said he drove past the site at 6 p.m. and saw construction work underway, although the project's construction hours are supposed to end by 5 p.m.
Rocha said she would look into the situation, and Gibbs said the association would continue to closely monitor Longs' behavior to ensure that it is the good neighbor it had promised to be.
Willow Glen residents Keith and Margaret Bierman presented the group with their concerns about a new Valley Christian Elementary School proposed to be built at the Trinity Lutheran Church site at the corner of Hamilton and Meridian avenues. The Biermans said that although they do not oppose the school, they do not support the plan as it is proposed and have appealed the San Jose Planning Commission's approval of the project to the city council, where it will be heard Jan. 22.
The Biermans said the neighbors are particularly concerned about traffic from 450 students traveling to and from the school through an already congested intersection, and also about noise from the school that could be magnified in their neighborhoods and possibly as far away as Lincoln Avenue.
School chancellor Claude Fletcher said city staff have determined that the plan and traffic mitigations on Hamilton Avenue sufficiently address the traffic and noise concerns.
The neighborhood association board was concerned about the groups' conflicting information and voted to have Gibbs send a letter to Yeager's office to indicate its awareness of the situation and to encourage Yeager to find a solution to the conflict before it is decided upon by the council.
Michael LaRocca of the parks department informed the association of a planned remodel of the bathrooms at Bramhall Park on Willow Street. The remodel is part of a parks bond approved by voters in November 2000 and will include upgrading and resealing the floors, installing new stainless steel features and making the facilities navigable by people with disabilities, he said. The project, budgeted for between $165,000 and $200,000, is scheduled to begin this spring and be completed by next fall; portable bathrooms will be put up at the park when work on the permanent bathrooms becomes more in-depth, LaRocca said.
Gerald Hunt of the Coalition to Save San Jose Hospital explained his organization's concerns over the possible hospital closure by its new owner, HCA Healthcare, and asked for the board's support. Gibbs said the association would put the organization's information on its website and include it in its next newsletter.
Jose Posadas, who is challenging San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales in his bid for reelection, introduced himself to the gathering and described his three years of work as a staff aide to District 3 City Councilwoman Cindy Chavez. He also pledged to involve the community in important issues such as the new civic center project and the proposed Palladium downtown redevelopment project.
|
|
|
|
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
