NOTE: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) regarding Big Wave that you have sent to the county Planning Department. We’ll share them with the community.

Dear Ms. Leung and the Planning Department,

I, like many others who have recently become aware of what is being proposed,  am opposed to the Big Wave Project.

When I was initially presented with this proposal to vote on, or consider, I believed we were voting for a relatively small size facility for the handicapped.  But now as I am learning more about this project, after the fact, it appears to be much more than that.  The Big Wave project is not a good fit for these small communities as, the infrastructure and demographics can not adequately make it feasible long or short term.

As we saw when Devil’s Slide was closed, Highway One could not support the flow of traffic given the existing number of local residences vehicles needing to use this throughway. I believe estimates have stated it would take and add 4000 more new vehicles, daily,  to make the Big Wave Project economically viable which would further stress the fragile transportation routes including the Tunnel and Bridge, thus negating the benefit of having the Tunnel we so longly waited for and need.

While there are many things I could add to support my opposition, such as the unsightliness of the hugh footprints these structures impose on the landscape, and the fact that it lies literally in the flight-path of aircraft that could pose a danger to those occupying the proposed facilities as there is a real and greater risk to them. Lastly, consider the loss of existing tax revenue the County receives from the merchants’ tourists and locals patronage. These merchants would be further stressed when there customers stop doing business with them because of the additional traffic congestion and blight these structures impose in contrast to what is already there and why people enjoy visiting and doing business there.

In closing, this is the wrong project for the wrong area and surrounding communities.  Please, use whatever influence you and the Department have to bulldoze this project over and not steamroll it ahead.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I believe if the local residents and surrounding communities knew what was happening and going to happen if this project moved ahead, your office would be flooded with these similar comments, concerns and criticisms.

Sincerely,

Joel A. Colletti
Concerned 11 year Montara Resident & Taxpayer

Representatives from CalTrans will attend the Wednesday, February 25 Regular Meeting of the Midcoast Community Council (MCC) to give the public an update on the Devil’s Slide Tunnels project, answer questions regarding that project, and address other local Highway 1 issues.

Please post other questions for CalTrans as comments to this article so that they may be submitted in advance in case research is required.  At this time, CalTrans has been requested to also comment on the following:

• Progress on turn lane at Hostel entry
• Master plan for Highway 1 from Montara to Half Moon Bay
• Status report on what will happen to remainder of Highway 1 on Devil’s Slide
• Status report on sea level change impact and remedies for those impacts on Midcoast section of Highway 1.  [This report is due to be given to the governor at the end of March; there should be some early info on this area, in particular, what does CalTrans have in mind for SR 1 past Surfer’s Beach, and what’s the time frame?

The Midcoast Council meeting is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday February 25 at Seton Coastside Medical Center, Marine Boulevard & Etheldore, Moss Beach.  Please park in one of the upper parking lots—turn left off the access road just before reaching the end.  Seton requests that meeting attendees not park in the lot immediately in front of the entrance.

Applications are now being accepted for membership in the county’s Civil Grand Jury for year beginning in July. The deadline is April 17.
 

Any resident of San Mateo County for more than one year who is a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, of ordinary intelligence, sound judgment and good character, with sufficient knowledge of the English language is eligible. Elected public officials are not eligible.

The Court encourages all interested individuals to apply.  The Court strives to obtain a cross section of the county population.  After the completion of an interview process by Judge Cretan, jurors will be selected through a random draw.

Application forms can be obtained by writing Grand Jury Clerk, Court Executive Office, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA   94063 or telephoning (650) 599-1711.

Half Moon Bay needs to cut $1.75 million out of its annual budget of $11.6 million fast, reports the County Times.

[Interim City Manager Michael ] Dolder has met with union representatives of the local Police Officers Association and other labor groups; those meetings will resume next week.
"The sooner we do it, the better, because the economy continues to get worse. We want to be as quick as we can, rather than belabor the process," Dolder said.

The city is working to cushion the financial blow it will experience when an $18 million lawsuit settlement bill comes due June 30. It will also need to account for the recent drop in tourism and the attendant loss of hotel occupancy tax revenue, the single biggest contributor to the city’s general fund.

Half Moon Bay’s precarious financial situation comes as no surprise. In the past two months, the city — which passed an annual budget of $11.6 million in July 2008 — has already created about $920,000 in savings by slashing several vacant staff positions and reducing money transfers out of the general fund into special project funds.

The bulk of the general fund pays the salaries of staff across all city departments, especially the Police Department, so the additional $1.75 million in cuts will almost certainly have to focus on trimming more personnel.

Dolder saw the writing on the wall when he took a long-term look at the economy and the very-likely scenario that the city will be in bond debt for many years to pay off its $18 million obligation to Beachwood developer Chop Keenan come June 30.

The city is spending $15,000 a month to lobby state legislators for some sort of grant or debt-relief bill to lessen the burden of the lawsuit damages, which were negotiated down from $41 million after a federal court ruled against the city on a land-use case in 2007.

Russ Bissonnette has been given a mission—distribute $50 bills to the Coastside’s homeless—by a generous Coastside woman who wants to remain anonymous, reports the County Times.

That’s how the Coastside’s Santa Claus started walking around with rolled-up $50 bills in his pockets and making regular trips to places like a liquor store and a Rite Aid where he knows homeless men sometimes hang out.

He hasn’t given it all away yet — a testament to how hard it can be to locate homeless Coastsiders, who often sleep in encampments far from the downtown core, along the Coastal Trail, or in cars and shacks in the industrial zone of Princeton-by-the-Sea.

Isolated as they are, they can’t access employment training, shelters and other services offered by the county on the Bayside. They don’t panhandle, they keep to themselves, and they rely on food and clothing provisions from Coastside Hope, a charity that serves low-income coastal residents.

Not surprisingly, they proved especially hard to count during the biennial San Mateo County Homeless Census, held on the coast in late January. A team of volunteers went out at 4 a.m. and counted only 24 people and a scattering of encampments, vans and cars.

In an effort to help residents of the community improve their job skills and employment opportunities, Reece Computer Systems is offering 8 weeks of free computer classes at their office in Half Moon Bay. The 2-hour classes are a quick and easy way to learn new skills and brush up on areas that may have become rusty, or explore new technologies.

The curriculum will cover a wide range of subjects, including how to use the newest blog and social networking tools to your advantage when it comes to job-hunting:

• 3/3:  Introduction to Social Networking
• 3/10:  Introduction to Blogging
• 3/17:  Introduction to the Computer
• 3/24:  Introduction to the Operating System
• 3/31:  Introduction to Microsoft Office
• 4/7:  Introduction Microsoft Word
• 4/14:  Introduction to Microsoft Excel
• 4/21:  Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint

 
The classes can be taken as an entire session or individually, giving students the flexibility to pick and choose the subjects that best meet their individual needs. The two hour sessions will run from 6:00-8:00 PM beginning on Tuesday, March 3 and will continue for 8 weeks through April 21, 2009. Seats are limited, so please contact Reece and reserve a spot ahead of time.  You can reach them at (650) 726-7155 or email: [email protected]

Alto saxophonist and educator Pete Yellin is a native New Yorker who has toured and recorded with many of the seminal names in jazz, among them Joe Henderson (a member of Henderson’s sextet in the 60s and 70s), Tito Puente, Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, Eddie Palmieri, Machito, Mario Bausa and Maynard Ferguson. Featuring Akira Tana, drums; Glen Pearson, piano; Peter Barshay, bass;  Pete Yellin, alto sax; Bob Mintzer, Tenor Sax.
Saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, arranger, leader Mintzer has been nominated for thirteen Grammy Awards both for his solo work and big band recordings and his work with the Yellowjackets. His big band recording, Homage to Count Basie won the Grammy in the best large ensemble category for the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, 2001.
307 Mirada Road, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
$35.  Doors Open at 3 PM for buying tickets, Music from 4:30 to 7:30 PM, with intermission.

We’ve added some more photos to Coastsider’s album, but you should also check out Jack Walicki’s excellent Flickr album for more photos like this one.

when: Fri. Feb. 20, 7:30 pm
where: Methodist Sanctuary, 777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay
(Corner of Johnston & Miramontes)
fee: $6.00 adults, $3.00 children

short: The Spirit of the Himalayas The story of the San Francisco’s American Himalayan Foundation, the work they do, and the people they serve. The scenery is breathtaking, and the story of how a 15th century Tibet emerged from the brink of extinction through the restoration of its most sacred sites is remarkable.

feature: Remembering Gasherbrum I

On July 5, 1958, an American expedition was the first to ever plant a flag on the summit of Gasherbrum I. This “Hidden Peak” on the border of Chinese Pakistani border is the eleventh tallest peak in the world and is the only peak taller that 8000 meters to be conquered first by an American team.

One of the eight members of that American team was a Half Moon Bay High School science teacher named Bob Swift. Fifty years later Swift has assembled a remarkable collection of color slides, black & white photos, & 16 mm film from the original expedition. Using this archival material, plus some beautifully shot modern footage, Bob has crafted a remarkable documentary celebrating the mountain he and his cohorts conquered so long ago. Bob & three other surviving members of the expedition provide narration.

Bob Swift is flying in from his current home in Arizona to attend the screening and take questions from the audience. Several of his former students who also went on to become climbers will help during the Q&A.

More info at www.HMBFilm.org