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Published February 12th, 2014
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Emergency Path Realignment Scheduled for Sleepy Hollow Elementary School
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| By Cathy Dausman |
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| Future emergency path Image provided |
While it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a multitude of agencies to straighten out a pathway within that village. That's what Lamorinda Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Dennis Rein and Moraga-Orinda Fire District Fire Marshal Kathy Leonard are finding out as they prepare to re-establish a 500-foot-long trail connecting Sleepy Hollow Elementary School grounds to Orinda's Bear Creek Road.
Notes from the MOFD general project description explain that "the trail is intended to continue to serve as an alternate egress route for students and school staff in the event a major incident caused the narrow road network within the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood to be compromised."
"The real story here might be the amount of inter-agency cooperation it takes to make a simple project actually materialize these days," Rein said.
The land is owned by East Bay Municipal Utility District and abuts Orinda Union School District land. A current agreement for the trail exists between the school district and EBMUD. Cal Fire and firefighters from the Solano County Delta Conservation Camp will provide the manpower, with the work supervised by MOFD personnel. Rein calls Delta Camp members "a hard working, fire-fighting team that do these grade projects during the off season. It's a great benefit to our community and projects like this one might not get done without them."
"It's a collaborative effort," agreed Leonard, who said that the brush removal needs to be done because in some places "the Coyote Brush is as tall as [a human]," she said. After outlining the path, workers will cut surrounding brush to re-establish a 4-foot-wide trail, align, then slope it to prevent erosion, tamp the surface, chip vegetation and minimize stump hazards on school grounds. Trees within 50 feet of the trail will be limbed up. When the project is finished, a standard trail gate will be installed at the fence line nearest Bear Creek Road. The gate will be locked, monitored and maintained by Sleepy Hollow school staff.
The work is scheduled for April 1 and 2, when school is not in session, with April 3 reserved if needed. Cost for the work crew is approximately $230 per day.
"It's a great deal for everybody," Leonard said, saying the work "will improve the existing easement without jeopardizing the safety of the kids."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA