OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER

State of the City Event

Visitors to the City’s Web site can now watch the 2010 State of the City celebration online. The full one-hour program, taped during the July 4 event at Washington Park, is broken into two half-hour videos, which are available at http://StateOfTheCity.inSunnyvale.com .  No special software is required to view the videos, which are hosted by Vimeo.com.

City Fleet Replacements

With the consolidation of user divisions, the City has reduced its fleet size from 540 units to 522 units.  This reduction will provide a 20-year cost savings to the fleet replacement budget of over $540,000.  All fleet vehicles are on a programmed replacement schedule based on life expectancy.  Frequently these life expectancies are extended as the units are still operationally sound.  This year there were 108 units scheduled for replacement based on each unit's life expectancy.  However, after assessing each unit, the number of units to actually be replaced was reduced to 45 vehicles, resulting in additional cost savings in FY 2010/11. 

Community Resources Update

Summertime is typically busy for most Sunnyvale neighborhood associations, as they plan block parties, cleanup events, and participate in National Night Out (NNO).  Several associations applied for Neighborhood Grant program funding to support such activities.  Feedback from summertime events such as 4th of July parties and NNO have been very positive and association leaders have commented on how supportive the City of Sunnyvale has been.  In addition to planning and coordinating their neighborhood events, association leaders also participate in quarterly meetings, where they gather to discuss issues and ideas of interest to all associations.  The most recent meeting on Monday, August 9, was the first of the leader-led meetings and was coordinated by Monica Davis of Charles Street 100 Neighborhood Association.  The new format worked great and will allow neighborhood leaders to have greater control over the content and attendance of future meetings.  City staff will continue to support this meeting by attending and arranging City speakers.

The Community Events Grant Program was approved as a budget supplement for FY 2010/11 in the amount of $12,250.  This program supports community events in Sunnyvale, where attendance is free and open to the public and expected to draw at least 500 people.  After publicizing the program in the spring, a total of nine grant applications were received, representing five different nonprofit community organizations.  The grant review committee has met to review the applications and will be providing a Report to Council in September.  Council will be responsible for reviewing the committee recommendations and making the final decision regarding allocation of grant funds.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Fire Investigations Update

April 30 – July 6: East Olive/Hawthorne area:  Eight arson fires including carports, vehicle, dumpsters, fence.  Two juvenile females were arrested for two of the fires, but have been excluded as suspects in several of the other fires.  Current status:  information flyers will be distributed to the neighborhood this week (in English and Spanish). 

Grass Fire Stops Trains in Their Tracks

On July 27 at about 6:00 p.m., DPS Engine 1, Engine 10, Engine 2 and Engine 5 responded to the areas of Evelyn and Bernardo, and Mary and Central Expressway on a report of two separate grass fires.  Upon arrival, just one fire was located, and it was occurring between the railroad tracks and Central Expressway, just east of Bernardo.  Caltrain was advised to shut down trains in both directions, as crews stretched hose lines across the tracks to fight the quarter-acre fire, which was producing a large amount of smoke in the area.  Mountain View FD (MVFD) Engine 4 took a position on Central Expressway and assisted the DPS crews in extinguishing the fire.  Once MVFD had hose lines in place and the fire was knocked down, the DPS crews removed their initial attack lines from the tracks, and the train service was allowed to resume.  Train service was halted for about 20 minutes.  The fire was started in a homeless encampment (no one was at the scene), and was determined to be accidental. 

Fire Destroys Residence on Lois

On July 27 at approximately 9:57 a.m., Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety personnel were dispatched to a one-story single-family (1,400 square foot) residential structure fire on Lois Avenue.  First arriving personnel found the structure fully involved with heavy smoke and flames showing from the front of the structure.  There were significant exposure issues along the north side of the structure.  The exposure concerns were several large trees and high-voltage overhead transmission lines within the PG&E easement.  The two occupants of the involved structure had evacuated the residence with minor injuries before fire crews had arrived.  Injuries were minor and they were treated at the scene. 

Due to the extent of the fire and exposure issues, fire crews went into a defensive mode and addressed the exposure issue, then quickly knocked the fire down.  The fire was confined to the one structure and extinguished within 60 minutes by 34 Public Safety Personnel, six Fire Engines, a Truck, and Rescue 2.  One firefighter suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.  The cause and origin of the fire are currently under investigation.

Calendar Year-to-Date Statistics

I would like to share a high-level overview of Public Safety’s Field Statistics for the first half of 2010.   DPS continues to focus on providing quality services to our community by engaging in proactive fire and crime suppression efforts along with responding to service calls. During this period, DPS responded to:

• 24,205 police calls
• 559 fire calls
• 3,335 medical calls
• 957 animal control calls

While staff continues to build strong relationships with businesses, neighborhoods and schools to provide education and prevent crime, these contacts have resulted in 1,962 suspects arrested for various criminal charges.

Officers have also remained responsive to traffic complaints, and issued 12,082 hazard citations and 4,651 parking citations. As the year progresses, Public Safety will continue to focus efforts on relationship building, public education and directed enforcement in which Officers are deployed in areas identified through analysis as being high crime locations.

PUBLIC WORKS

City Loses Out on 2009 Renewable Energy Funds After Congress Fails to Fund Program

Solid Waste Division staff learned from a July 29 letter from the U.S. Department of Energy that the City would not be receiving its 2009 Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) payment. Although the City demonstrated that it was eligible for payments on 970,054 kilowatt hours of electricity, Congress did not fund the program for the 2009 federal fiscal year.

REPI was established as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. It calls for the Department of Energy to make payments to those who sell electricity produced from renewable energy sources, including landfill gas and the digester gas produced by the Water Pollution Control Plant. The City is eligible for REPI for 10 years, starting with its first filing in 2003.

Congress has routinely under-funded or failed to fund REPI in the six previous years for which the City filed for payments. This resulted in no payments for 2003, 2004 and partial payments for 2005 through 2008. The last payment received was $6,020 for 2008, against a claim eligible for $24,373.

Spike in Traffic Signal Damage from Collisions

Damage to traffic signals due to vehicle collisions occurs with some regularity, but unfortunately there has recently been an increase in the number of collisions resulting in damage to City facilities.  Since the beginning of June, seven collisions at various locations citywide have severely damaged traffic signal poles or control cabinets, resulting in over $130,000 in damage.  Locations are Hollenbeck at Fremont, Hollenbeck at Homestead, Mathilda at Almanor, Fremont at Wright, Wolfe at Central, Mathilda at Maude, and Bernardo at Evelyn.  The City attempts to recover as much of this cost from responsible parties, but some collisions are hit and run, which makes cost recovery impossible.  Drunk driving is a frequent cause of these types of collisions.

Street Sweeping Schedule

Effective Monday, August 2, City streets are now being swept every two weeks, instead of once per month. The schedule on the Web site has been changed and residents have been notified via large signs posted on sweepers over the last month.  A notice is being completed for the "What’s New" front page of the Web site.

Field Services staff is also working with Communications staff to get out additional notices to the Sunnyvale Sun, KSUN public access, the City’s Quarterly Report and the City’s Twitter account.

At least one resident has already called in to the Field Services Answer Point to express appreciation for the increased sweeping.

Sometimes Sunnyvale Works! by Putting a Lid on It!

Early morning on Wednesday, August 4, a 70-foot diameter lid was placed on top of a City of Sunnyvale anaerobic digester.  The move was part of the $2.5 million rehabilitation of the Water Pollution Control Plant's Digester #4.  A 300-ton crane was used to lift and place the 73,500 pound fabricated steel cover.  The precision task, allowing only ½-inch clearance between the tank cover and the tank walls, was successfully completed by contractor Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction.

The anaerobic digesters at the Water Pollution Control Plant are used to degrade solids removed from wastewater in the primary treatment process.  Originally, the large concrete tank built in 1969, had a floating steel cover that creates the anaerobic conditions that break down wastewater solids and capture methane gas that is generated in the process. Anaerobic refers to microbial action that occurs without oxygen.  The completed project will have a fixed lid that will do the job in a safer, more reliable and more efficient manner.

Stormwater Detention at Braly Park Drops from Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) Recommended Alternatives

Recently the SCVWD asked if the City would consider using Braly Park for flood detention as part of an overall flood control system along the Sunnyvale East and West Channels.  Following City Council consent, the District studied this along with several other alternatives.  The District sent the City a letter on August 9 where they reported that after rigorous evaluation of cost and technical refinement of alternatives, it was determined that the benefits of the detention basin concept were outweighed by floodwall installation.  City staff will meet with the District to review their findings. The District staff will be presenting a report to the District Board at an upcoming meeting.

The SCVWD also presented information on the Sunnyvale East and West Channel flood protection at the Lakewood Village Homeowner's Association meeting held on Wednesday, August, 11.

Recycling Results from 2010 Art and Wine Festival

The City, in partnership with Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling, provided garbage and recycling services for the 36^th Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce Art & Wine Festival. Year 2010 marked the third year of zero waste goals. Compostables bins and garbage and recycling bins were placed throughout the festival area. Food vendors were required to serve food on compostable dishware and provide compostable utensils.

Because event composting and compostable dishes are new, it is tricky for event goers and vendors to decide "where to throw." Cool Cities volunteers formed the "Zero Waste Encouragement Patrol" and roamed the food court to help the public understand the disposal options. The Boy Scouts worked both days to empty full bins and replace the liners. The 2010 diversion rate (the amount recycled and not sent to landfill) was 39 percent. This is lower than the record high 45 percent diversion recorded for the 2009 Art & Wine, which saw City staff and a volunteer zero waste coordinator at the festival full-time. The Chamber of Commerce expects to hire a zero waste event coordinator for the fall Rocktoberfest in an effort to keep festival diversion rates high.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Corn Palace Update

Toll Brothers developers held a second outreach meeting for potential development of the western half of the Corn Palace site. The project planner attended the meeting. About 45 community members attended and asked detailed questions about the design of the project including questions on landscaping, internal wiring for Internet access, stormwater management, grading, soil contamination, construction schedule, and sales prices.

Medical Marijuana Study

Work is progressing on schedule for this study. Staff has set up an e-mail address and a Web site www.MedicalMarijuana.inSunnyvale.com . The Web site currently includes a survey, Frequently Asked Questions, background reports and pending outreach meetings. Staff has provided broad notification to the community about the Web site and upcoming meetings, including neighborhood associations, boards and commissions, advisory groups, and business organizations and handed out flyers at the National Night Out events last week. E-mail messages and survey responses are starting to arrive with greater frequency. Upcoming community meetings are scheduled for:

• Thursday August 19 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. at the Library Program Room
• Thursday August 26 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Community Center Ballroom

Juniper Networks Campus

Staff has approved a temporary building for the 80-acre Juniper Networks campus in Moffett Park. The building will be constructed of lightweight panels that can be reused in the future for other temporary buildings. The temporary building will facilitate corporate gatherings and will be removed in five years or when the permanent commons building is constructed (whichever is first).

Nokia Building Permit Review

The building plan check for Nokia was reviewed and comments were returned to the architect one week after the submittal (typical review time is three weeks). The comments provided were relatively minor and the architect is planning to resubmit revised plans by Friday, August 13 with the goal of receiving a building permit on Friday, August 20. In the meantime, in order to help the contractor to avoid construction delays, staff has issued a Temporary Building Permit to allow the contractor to begin mobilizing equipment and materials.

Dual Plumbing Study Issue

Staff is currently researching the Dual Plumbing Study Issue. This study will look at the possibility of requiring dual plumbing (a second set of water supply lines to provide recycled water to specific fixtures) for new construction. An outreach meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 17 at 3 p.m. in the West Conference Room, City Hall. Notifications of the outreach meeting have been mailed to over 160 developers, contractors, property owners, and community organizations. As part of the study, staff will evaluate both building and landscaping water use and identify options for addressing issues.

Moffett Towers Tenant

The building permit for the first tenant at the Moffett Towers project has been issued. Rambus will occupy a total of 110,000 square feet on  floors 6, 7, and 8 of Building C. Work has already begun at the site and the tenant plans to occupy by the end of the year.

Daneli Shoe Company Expansion

Daneli Shoe Company is currently located on Weddell Drive but was looking for a larger facility. They selected a site for expansion also in Sunnyvale at 271 N. Mary Avenue. The 16,000 square foot tenant improvement building permit plans were reviewed over the counter at the One-Stop Permit Center and issued the same day.

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Challenger School at Hollenbeck Site

Challenger School, Inc. has submitted plans to Community Development/Planning to add four portable classrooms at their campus located at 1185 Hollenbeck. They have leased this property from the Sunnyvale Elementary School District since 1992.

The open space at this Hollenbeck location has been maintained by the City’s Parks Division since 1991, as specified by an agreement between the City and the District, and is effective until June of 2016. According to the agreement, any permanent changes to the open space maintained by the City must go through a master planning process and be approved by both City Council and the Board of Education. In 2006 this process occurred as the school constructed a roadway in the open space area to ease traffic congestion in the neighborhood by allowing the drop-off and pick-up of students to take place on the campus.

Challenger’s current request to add portable classrooms has resulted in the City requiring additional off-street parking. The school is proposing to install the parking in the open space along the north side of the existing athletic field and also a picnic area in the northeast corner of the open space. To that end, they have sent a letter dated July 19 to Sunnyvale residents who live near the campus informing them of their intent and inviting residents to two public meetings that were held on July 27 and 28. The Superintendent of Schools, Benjamin H. Picard, Ed. D., is opposed to encroachment on the open space at this site and will not recommend any encroachment on open space to the Board of Education. In turn, the City will not consider a Challenger School application as complete unless it is endorsed and signed by the District Board of Education.

Increasing Use of Technology

Sunnyvale Recreation continues to utilize a variety of marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain existing clients. On July 30, staff ran a report to understand use patterns and identify future needs. The two Camp Sunnyvale videos have received 1,125 hits. A summary of the report shows:

Twilight Pool and Play Event a Success!

On July 30, Columbia Neighborhood Center held Twilight Pool and Play, a neighborhood family event for residents which included a free barbecue of hot dogs and snacks.  Event planners expected a crowd of 150, but needed to send out for additional hot dogs as the crowd grew to over 250! With the pool decorated like a Hawaiian luau and staff wearing leis to add to the festivities, the pool was most popular, holding close to 125 parents and children at the same time. Other popular activities included a parents vs. kids tug of war, (the younger set came out victorious!), and simple outdoor fun like blowing bubbles and games of jump rope.  Recreation’s "Fun on the Run" truck hosted the games and Public Safety volunteers from the NEAT program did the cooking.

Twilight Pool and Play will repeat on Friday, August 13, at Columbia Neighborhood Center from 6:30 – 8 p.m.  The event is coordinated by Columbia Neighborhood Center in collaboration with the Recreation and Aquatics divisions of Community Services and the Department of Public Safety.

Cool Summer Has Positive Impacts at Golf Courses

Many parts of the country are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures, but our local area is enjoying a much cooler year. This mild weather has had a positive impact on the golf courses in a several ways:

• There is a reduced need for water to maintain healthy turf, resulting in significant savings to the City for both water and electrical costs to run pumps necessary to operate the irrigation systems.
• Less staff time is required to hand water isolated dry spots which typically occur on greens and tees during the summer. This allows staff extra time to focus on other areas of course maintenance.
• Reduced incidence of typical summer diseases on putting greens resulting in less fungicide applications. This saves not only time and money, but also any possible environment impacts due to those treatments.
• Ability to continue using a variety of cultural practices on the greens to keep mowing heights as low as possible thus helping maintain more consistent green speeds and smoothness. These practices provide greens that play more consistent on a day to day basis and have contributed to increased overall customer satisfaction this summer.

While it is still a long way until summer’s end, the healthy turf we have been able to maintain this late into the season will only mean turf which will be that much stronger in the year ahead.

FINANCE

Automated Meter Reading Pilot Program

Utility Billing staff has contracted with Aquacue Inc. of Los Gatos for a small automated meter reading pilot program.  Aquacue offers a very unique product (called The Barnacle) that attaches to existing meters in a non-invasive manner and reads and transmits the readings via the existing cellular network back to servers.  Data is aggregated every 15 minutes with resolution down to every seven seconds giving real-time water use information.  This information is packaged and displayed for both customers and the utility.  Initial installations will be at City parks with additional installations planned for high-use customers (e.g. Twin Creeks). Park installations are intended to better help our Community Services staff manage water use and detect leaks in park irrigation systems. 

The Barnacle is also portable enough to allow for installation on a temporary basis to troubleshoot and manage customer disputes and complaints. Staff has already successfully resolved a dispute over a water bill for a vacant office building. After deploying the Barnacle, the problem was resolved within a couple of days. The investigation identified that the irrigation timing was set too frequently in the middle of the night. 

The program will begin full installation in December and run for one year at which point staff will evaluate its success.

LIBRARY

U.S. Census Bureau Recognizes Library for Outreach Efforts

On July 29, 2010, representatives from the United States Census presented Library Director Lisa Rosenblum with a plaque and recognition letter in appreciation of the Sunnyvale Public Library's participation in the 2010 Census. Staff was especially impressed by the Library hosting two community outreach forums and providing space for handouts and literature throughout the census period. The mail-in rate of census forms for this part of the county rose 2 percent over 2000 rates, in great part according to Census staff, because of the active participation of libraries informing communities of the importance of being counted.

Empowering Libraries During Hard Times

The Library was featured in the August issue of American Libraries as a case study in providing innovative solutions and services: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/solutions-and-services/empowering-libraries-during-hard-times

Building Strong Communities Through Early Childhood Development, Parent Education and Family Support

The above statement is the goal of the Family Place Libraries initiative, a competitive grant program administered by the California State Library. The Sunnyvale Public Library was selected to be one of only 13 libraries this year to attend a Family Place Training Institute. At the Institute, two Library staff members will be trained in using interactive learning toys with children. The grant award pays for the travel costs of the two staff members. Upon completion of the training, the Library will be eligible to submit another grant application for up to $20,000 to establish an early childhood center at the Library.

NOVA

NOVA Workforce Board Sets a Course for the Future

The NOVA Workforce Board was selected by the National Association of Workforce Boards to participate in a pilot facilitation process called Theory U, developed by Dr. Otto Scharmer of MIT, which is expected to be beneficial to workforce boards across the country in their deliberation on the complex issues they face and solutions they seek. In May, the NOVA Workforce Board participated in a two-day retreat to develop a course for the future using the U process to guide their discussions. Several leverage points were identified, approved by the Board in July, which will serve as a compass for the Board in achieving its vision and future goals and initiatives, in partnership with the community.  These leverage points are described below:

NOVA’s purpose is to support workforce mobility by easing workers’ transitions from opportunity to opportunity throughout their career cycles.  To advance transitions with economic sustainability, NOVA provides:

• Real-time labor market information about in-demand skills.
• Skill building and enhancements to match market demand.
• Navigation tools for the ever-changing and entrepreneurial new labor market (example – Social media and Networking).
• Advocacy for necessary infrastructure to support workers between opportunities such as Unemployment Insurance for all and portable benefits.
• Interconnected support system for multiple career pathways for youth.