The city’s streets are set to get a lot less bumpy, as Gilroy City Council on Monday approved $500,000 to purchase new pavement maintenance equipment to improve the shoddy condition of the city’s streets.
During a presentation by operations services manager Bill Avila, the council heard how city streets section staff have been working with antiquated equipment, or renting equipment, to perform pavement maintenance, and that by purchasing new equipment they will be able to work more efficiently, save money in the long-term and get more done.
Currently, staff mainly repairs pavement that has been removed due to water line or sewer line breaks, according to the staff report.
Staff recommended the city purchase four new vehicles: a hot patch truck, used for fixing potholes with a hot asphalt mix; a Leeboy self-propelled asphalt paver, used to distribute, shape and compact asphalt on a road, parking lot or other surface; a 10-wheeler dump truck, which will be used to make the two-hour round-trip to the nearest asphalt plant; a crack-sealing machine, used to seal fissures in pavement before water gets in; and a crew cab pickup that can seat up to 5 individuals. The current staff pickups can only seat two.
In his presentation, Avila pulled up a schematic of one of the city’s 18 maintenance zones and a majority of the streets were highlighted green, signifying that some level of maintenance was required.
Mayor Perry Woodward said the $500,000 expenditure would allow the city to more robustly do pavement maintenance in-house.
Eagle Ridge traffic cops
After numerous public comments and an impactful presentation by a member of the gated community’s homeowners association board at the last council meeting, the council on Monday approved a resolution to authorize traffic enforcement in Eagle Ridge. The action was necessary to allow Gilroy police to write traffic citations along the 20-acre development’s network of private roads. Video footage taken by the HOA showed motorists blithely driving through stop signs and residents, including Mayor Perry Woodward, who recused himself from the dais both times the issue was raised, testified at the last council session that speeding and motorists ignoring traffic laws were big problems in the community and that it was only luck that someone hadn’t been killed. Gilroy police already has authorization to do traffic enforcement along Club Drive, the main road leading to and from the 900-home golf course community of 4,000. The council also directed staff to update old traffic studies and include the results from a traffic study conducted by Eagle Ridge to gauge traffic issues citywide, in order to better prioritize limited police resources.
New dog park
As part of the housing development in the once-pastoral Hecker Pass area, the City Council approved the final conceptual plan for the Hecker Pass Neighborhood Park, which will include a dog park, the city’s second. The city’s first dog park is at Las Animas Park. Meritage Homes, the developer of the 186 single-family home project located south of Hecker Pass Highway, will build the four-acre neighborhood park that will include two separate play structures for kids of different age groups, picnic areas, water fountains and artistic features. Located alongside Uvas Creek, the public park will be on Third Street, west of Santa Teresa Boulevard and serve the 259 residential units included in the East Cluster of the Hecker Pass Specific Plan, adopted by the city in 2005.
Pilot program success
The city’s downtown police patrol pilot program was such a success this summer, the police department has asked the council to make it a part of the department’s operating budget for the next two-year budget cycle. In a presentation to council, field operations captain Pedro Espinoza said the pilot program, which ran from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer, consisted of two officers patrolling the downtown district, primarily the Monterey Street corridor between Third and Sixth streets. Emphasis was also placed on Fifth Street on Friday nights during the Fifth Street Live concert series. During the pilot program, officers were either assigned to mounted enforcement, off-road motorcycle or bicycle patrol, or foot patrol.
Councilman Daniel Harney said the added police presence downtown was a real shining star on the Gilroy community this summer. Of the nearly 800 contacts the police made with members of the public during the pilot program, the majority (646) were “public relations” in nature, ranging from offering a kid a sticker to answering questions about the community or giving directions. Twelve citations were issued—10 for having an open container of alcohol—and five arrests were made (four stemming from warrants and one for riding a bike under the influence). There were also 57 quality-of-life contacts, which usually involve a member of the homeless or transient community. In addition to the summer patrol program, the department earlier this year assigned two community liaisons to the downtown district. The council voted to accept the report. Any 2017-18 budget item will be brought before the council during their budget workshops in the spring.
Commission appointments
Calling the 22 applicants for the Youth Commission the most impressive bunch of people to seek any city commission, Mayor Perry Woodward commended the crop of teens, all but two of whom spoke before the council at last month’s regular meeting. On Monday, the council had to make their final decision and name the six young Gilroyans who will serve two-year terms on the commission. The new Youth Commissioners are: Alan Apte, Simrit Athwal, Jessie Martinez, Brenda O’Connor, Andrew Plaza and Julissa Vega. The Arts and Culture Commission got two new members: Tamura Miguel, whose term will end in December 2017, and
Grace Hernandez, who will serve a full two year term, ending December 2018. Armando Franco was appointed to the city’s Public Art Committee and will serve until December 2017.
