| | Published May 11th, 2011
| Council Deals with Road Repairs and Woes
| | By Andrea A. Firth | | |
Urgent and emergency road repairs were the main topics of discussion at last Tuesday's Orinda City Council meeting. The Council continued to grapple with how to best apply the City's limited funds for road repairs and what to do about the growing reality that the City's streets will turn to gravel without significant intervention. "We need to engage in communicating with the residents [about the infrastructure problem] in an ambitious way," stated Vice Mayor Steve Glazer. Council Member Amy Worth concurred, "It's a two-part message. We need to communicate the poor condition of Orinda's infrastructure and the financial realities, that is, our capabilities to address this and the limitations we face."
When it came time to authorize expenditures, the Council focused on the repair of major arteries and unsafe road conditions. The Council authorized $1.16 million for the City's annual pavement rehabilitation program to repair eight of Orinda's main feeder streets. The Council also took the first step to fund the repair of a section of El Toyonal Road that was damaged by a slide during the heavy rains in March. The total cost of this road repair is expected to reach $220, 000. "This project will deplete our slope stabilization fund [monies set aside for urgent slide repairs], and the likelihood that we will be able to replenish that fund in the next couple years doesn't look good," said City Manager Janet Keeter.
Another $63,750 was set aside for urgent repairs on six Orinda streets. Council members Glazer and Worth questioned how these six street repairs were chosen over the many streets in desperate need of fixing and requested that staff and the Citizen's Infrastructure Oversight Committee (CIOC) formalize the criteria and rationale for urgent repair program. "We strongly support this program,' said Richard Nelson, Chair of the CIOC. "It's preventative. We can't let our roads go to gravel. We need a solution to this problem."
To move forward toward solutions to address the roads problem, Glazer advocated the formation of a Council subcommittee. "If we hope to do something in 2012, we need to start now to review the process and research choices." said Glazer, noting that the deadline for placing a tax measure on the June 2012 ballot is in February. After a lengthy discussion regarding the composition of the subcommittee, the Council voted four to one to have two Council members form the committee and liaison with staff, the CIOC, and the Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) to develop a list of options for the full Council to discuss in the fall. Worth dissented, preferring a broader participation on the subcommittee with members of the CIOC and FAC. Subsequently, Glazer and Council Member Sue Severson were appointed the Council Roads Subcommittee.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA