|
Redwood City E-News
Building a Great Community Together
 Issue #50 ~ October, 2007
(Back to index of all issues)
IN THIS ISSUE:
**************************
Easy Steps for Fire Prevention
National Fire Prevention Week is October 7 - 13, 2007 and  Redwood City is urging the community to take a few simple fire prevention steps that could save their lives and those of their loved ones.
The 2007 theme is “Practice Your Escape Plan” and focuses on safe evacuation of the home in case of emergency. Here is a selection of some of the easy safety tips offered by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) – a complete list and more information can be found at www.nfpa.org.
Fire Escape Checklist:
- Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?
- Is there a smoke alarm in every sleeping room and outside each sleeping area?
- Is there a smoke alarm on each level of the home, including the basement?
- Do you know the sound of your smoke alarms?
- How old are your smoke alarms? (If they’re more than 10 years old, you need new ones!)
- Does your family have a home fire escape plan?
- Do you know two ways out of each room in your home?
- Do you know what to do when you hear your smoke alarm? (the rule is “Get Out Stay Out!”)
- Are all the exits in your home clear of trash and toys?
- Have you identified a meeting place outside the home where family can go after escaping a fire?
- Does everyone at home know how to call the fire department once they are outside?
- Do you and all family members practice your escape plan at least twice a year?
The Redwood City Fire Department also reminds the community that daylight savings time ends on November 4th, and this is a perfect opportunity to test smoke alarms and replace their batteries. A working smoke alarm is the family’s first line of defense in case of fire. The easy way to remember: “change your clock – change your smoke alarm batteries.”
More information on how to make your home “fire-safe” can be obtained by contacting the Redwood City Fire Department at 650-780-7400 or visiting www.redwoodcity.org/fire.
**************************
Annual PAL Comedy Night is October 4!
 The Redwood City Police Athletics League announces the 4th Annual PAL Comedy Night starring Michael Pritchard and Jim Giovanni. This hugely successful fundraising event is an important way to help PAL continue its work on intervention, prevention, and alternative programs for at-risk and economically challenged youth in Redwood City.
Join other members of the Redwood City community for a fun, exciting, laugh-filled evening for a great cause on Thursday October 4th starting at 5:00 pm at Downtown’s beautiful Courthouse Square and Historic Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway in Redwood City. One-hundred percent of the ticket sales go to support PAL programs (tax deductible donation). The evening starts with fabulous pre-show hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and enjoying time with other community members that recognize the great value that our PAL program provides. Live and silent auctions commence, and then the world-class comedy show starts. A limited number of tickets are still available by calling 650-780-7619.
More information is available here. Visit PAL's website here.
**************************
Join City Trees Planting Project, October 20th
What a great way to meet new friends, build community, and help the environment by enhancing our urban forest - join the next City Trees tree planting event!
City Trees is partnering with Peninsula Sunrise Rotary to plant as many as 50 new trees in our community - all that's needed is more volunteers, like you!
It's easy to join this fun, invigorating activity:
- Saturday, October 20th
9:00 AM
Meet at 1831 Whipple Avenue
You can view the flyer for more details and a map.
City Trees requests that you reply if you are planning to make it so they can get a good count of the number of expected volunteers. Just send an email to Jack Stephens
or Jane Taylor. More information about City Trees is online at www.citytrees.org.
**************************
October is Energy Awareness Month
The City Council will be joining hundreds of cities nationwide in declaring October, 2007 as Energy Awareness Month.
By making this declaration, Redwood City goes on record as recognizing the critical importance of maintaining a high level of energy efficiency in City operations and throughout the community, highlighting how this helps protect the environment by lessening greenhouse gas emissions and reducing air pollution, and how it saves money for consumers, the City, and businesses.
Among the actions the City is already taking are:
- Retrofitting traffic lights with LEDs
- Converting incandescent light fixtures to fluorescent
- Replacing machinery with more energy-efficient equipment
- Introducing substantial water conservation programs
- Implementing a recycled water project
- Supporting widespread tree-plantings
- Replacing fleet vehicles with hybrid models
- Utilizing the most efficient fuel options available
One easy way for a household to contribute to energy efficiency is to replace one or more incandescent light bulbs with a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb, which lasts up to 10 times as long and uses up to 75% less energy than conventional light bulbs. We calculated that if every Redwood City household replaced just one incandescent bulb with a CFL, greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by nearly five million pounds annually!
During October, PG&E is providing lots of CFL bulbs so people can try one out. Redwood City Cool Cities, a group of volunteers in our community, will be giving away free CFL bulbs (limit one per household) on Saturday, October 6 from 10 am - 2 pm at the Downtown Library, 1044 Middlefield Road. Check it out! 
And, for a lot of great, easy ideas for saving energy in your home, visit the Federal EnergySavers website, PG&E's website, and Redwood City's Climate Protection web page.
Thanks for helping to do your part for climate protection!
**************************
Fire Department, School District, Sequoia Health Care District Partner in Innovative "HeartSafe" Program
 Sequoia Healthcare District’s HeartSafe Program is donating Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to all 17 schools in the Redwood City School District, and working in partnerhship with the Redwood CIty Fire Department to train over 100 school personnel in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation using AEDs.
Both CPR and AED are proven life savers in responding to a person's sudden collapse, and adding this safety element to elementary schools is another way to help protect Redwood City's community members.
 The CPR/AED instruction is being provided through a unique and exceptional community collaboration among Sequoia Healthcare District, Redwood City School District, and the Redwood City Fire Department. The Department volunteered to offer this important training, in which school staff will participate in a four-hour course
administered under the American Heart Association guidelines.
Visit the Sequoia Health Care District website for more information on the HeartSafe program. More information about the Redwood City School District is online, and the Redwood City Fire Department's website offers important safety and disaster preparedness information.
**************************
International Walk to School Week is October 1 - 5
The City Council has proclaimed the week of October 1st through October 5th, 2007, as “International Walk to School Week” in Redwood City.
To help raise the profile of this important health, safety, and environmental issue, Mayor Barbara Pierce will take part in a  “Walking School Bus” on Wednesday, October 3rd, at 7:30 am, starting at the intersection of Eden Bower Lane and Lonesome Pine Road, and joining kids for part of their walk to Roy Cloud Elementary School.
In designating “International Walk to School Week” the City Council wishes to highlight the importance of enabling children in our community to safely walk and bicycle to school. This has a number of benefits including generating physical activity for kids and thereby combating childhood obesity and other health problems among students, reducing the number of car trips, traffic congestion, and pollution, and building community by creating opportunities for neighbors to join with neighbors in escorting kids and providing a safe walk-to-school environment.
The official International Walk to School website is located at www.iwalktoschool.org
**************************
Community Workshop on Peninsula Park Development Proposal
The Redwood City Planning Commission has scheduled a community information workshop/study session to provide an update and review, study, and discuss some alternatives in the proposed development called Peninsula Park. 
The workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 7 pm in the Council chambers at City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road.
This is a great opportunity to take a close look at and review, compare, and discuss alternative height elements of the Peninsula Park project. At earlier community meetings, members of the public asked to see plans that represent alternative height scenarios - the developer has prepared those alternatives, which will be reviewed at this workshop.
The overall purpose of the meeting is to help staff, planning commisioners, and the community to develop a better understanding of the project, and to gain additional community comment and input prior to the more formal public hearing process, which is likely to occur in November. The City is committed to partnering with the community to ensure a purposeful public involvement in the review of this development proposal, and to continue to engage and involve the community at every point in the process.
More information is available online, or by contacting Redwood City Senior Planner Blake Lyon at 650-780-5934.
**************************
"Youth REACH" Program Helps Students Explore Career Options
High school juniors and seniors in Redwood City are invited to join  Youth REACH, an exciting, fun, and valuable program sponsored by the City of Redwood City.
During five afternoon sessions, students will learn about City career opportunities that they may not have
considered – for either right out of high school, or after college – and discover community resources for career and skill building that will be valuable for whatever direction they choose.
Redwood High School and Sequoia High School students will receive community service credits for participation in the program.
Features of the program include:
- City/public sector career options
- Interactive presentations by City staff all about their jobs and training
- Skill building tips
- Panel discussions with students that have worked for Redwood City
- Career and education fair
- ...and a lot more!
The 2007 Youth REACH program will begin on October 25th and end on November 29th. Students will meet each Thursday from 3:30 – 5:30 pm during that five week period. Applications are currently being accepted. Space is limited, so interested students should call 780-7285 or email cwinn@redwoodcity.org right away for details on how to participate in Youth REACH. The deadline for applications is Friday, October 12th, 2007.
**************************
Public Hearing on Redwood Shores Development Proposal
The City of Redwood City has completed and made available for a 45-day review period the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) for “The Preserve at Redwood Shores” (Area H)  development proposal.
The 45-day public review and comment period began on September 24, and will continue through November 7, 2007. Concurrently, the Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, October 16 starting at 7:00 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1017 Middlefield Road, to provide an opportunity for the community to directly comment on both the Draft EIR and the Draft Precise Plan for this development proposal.
More information on the project is available online. In brief, the site of the proposed project, also known as “Area H,” is comprised of two vacant parcels totaling approximately 114.5 acres and is proposed to include 144 to 158 residential townhomes, a 400 to 450-student elementary school, a 3.5-acre neighborhood park, and approximately 90+ acres of restored wetlands including levees and public access trails.
No decisions on the project will be made at this public hearing. Actual project review and discussion of the specific elements of the project will occur at future meetings, to which the community will be invited and encouraged to participate. The purpose of this public hearing is for the community to comment on the specifics of the Draft EIR and Draft Precise Plan.
Written comments on these documents should be mailed to Tom Passanisi, Principal Planner, City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA 94063. Comments may also be faxed to 650-780-0128 or emailed to tpassanisi@redwoodcity.org.
The Draft EIR is available for review online (or by pulling down the “Hot Topics” menu and selecting “The Preserve at Redwood Shores”), in the Planning Services department at City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road, and at Redwood City’s main and branch libraries.
**************************
County-Wide "One Book - One Community" Reading Event
“One Book, One Community” is an exciting community activity that invites everyone in Redwood City and throughout San Mateo County to read the same great book, at the same time! Then, readers can get together for book discussions, literary presentations, film, music and dance performances, culinary demonstrations and other related events.
The featured book for this month-long schedule of activities is  Daughter of Fortune by Latina author Isabel Allende. This stunning novel gives our community the opportunity to explore crucial and relevant themes - immigration, cultural diversity, and California history - through more than 60 exceptional book-related programs throughout San Mateo County.
Here are some of the great events in Redwood City:
- Film - Dead in the Sierra: The Legend of Two Joaquins October 3, 7:30 pm
Downtown Library Community Room, (1044 Middlefield Rd.)
- Talk - Chileans in the Gold Rush, Presented by Dr. Carlos Lopez
October 4, 7:30 pm, Downtown Library Community Room
- Performance - Chilean Music and Dance with Lichi Fuentes October 6, 1 pm, Downtown Library Community Room
- Culinary Event - Making Empanadas with Guisell Osorio October 10, noon, Atherton Appliance ( 695 Veterans Blvd.)
- Children’s Crafts - Making Chilean Rainsticks with Art in Action
- October 15, 5:30 pm, Fair Oaks Branch Library (2140 Euclid Ave.);
- October 17, 7 pm, Downtown Library Community Room
- October 25, 2 pm, Schaberg Branch Library (2510 Middlefield Rd.)
For information on the “One Book – One Community” program, visit www.plsinfo.org/oboc/index.htm. Get the book today at any Redwood City library.
**************************
Redwood City Recycled Water Project Wins National Award
The WateReuse Association presented its 2007 Large Project of the Year Award to the Redwood City Recycled Water Project during a ceremony held September 10th at its annual WateReuse Symposium, which is the premier conference devoted to water reuse education.
This prestigious national awards program recognizes superior water reuse, reclamation, and recycling projects across the United States that advance or have made significant contributions to water reuse.
The Project of the Year Award recognizes successful recycled water projects that have exhibited effective management practices, found innovated uses for recycled water, and established noteworthy public/private partnerships. For more information about the WateReuse Association, please visit www.watereuse.org.
|
