UPDATED with Windows Media files

The big dispute the Tuesday’s Half Moon Bay City Council meeting was over whether the council should accept an administrative Coastal Development Permit for the renovations of the the Cunha Middle School. This item was taken off the Consent Agenda and moved to the end of the meeting to allow for discussion.

Several speakers said that the hearing was poorly publicized over the holidays and that it was inappropriate for the city’s planning director to grant a CDP for what will be the largest downtown project in the city’s history without a hearing before the Planning Commission.  Planning Commissioner Kevin Lansing filed a protest with the council that raised several questions about the process [PDF]. Council members Grady and Muller voted to refer the matter to the Planning Commission, but were overruled by Patridge, McClung, and Fraser who accepted the CDP as granted. The permit is likely to be appealed to the Planning Commission.

The council also voted to make the Midcoast membership on the Parks and Recreation Commission optional rather than required.  Council members Patridge, McClung, and Fraser voted yes. Muller and Grady voted against.

The meeting also marked Naomi Patridge’s first city council meeting presiding as mayor in this term—this is her fifth term as mayor.

The clips of the Parks and Recreation Commission and CDP discussions are both worth watching if you’re too busy to watch everything.

The agenda is posted on the city’s web site.  Individual items below are linked to supporting documents on the city’s site.

• Mayor (incoming/outgoing) comments   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Presentations/Proclamations   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Oral Communications   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Council Member Reports   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Staff Reports   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Consent Calendar   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Making Midcoast member of Parks and Recreation Commission a optional rather than required position   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Appointments to boards and commissions   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Mayor’s Appointments   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Proposed Transient Occupancy (Hotel) Tax Rate Ballot Measure   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Measure A Phasing Agreement for an Affordable Housing Project at 501 Church Street   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Granting mayor selection authority   | Quicktime | WMP |
• Approval of administrative CDP for Cuhna renovations (removed from Consent Calendar)   | Quicktime | WMP |

Although Coastsiders live with the trucks, flying garbage on the highways, seagulls, and bacteria that come with having a landfill in our back yard, we pay a lot more for the privilege of dumping our garbage there, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

The South Bayside Waste Management Authority includes Belmont, Burlingame, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, Hillsborough and the six South County cities in the West Bay Sanitary District. The rest of the cities pay the maximum rate, except South San Francisco, which has its own rate agreement.

In 2005, when South Bayside customers paid $31.07, the rest of the county was paying the maximum rate of $43.56 in tipping fees. This year, South Bayside will again receive a 29 percent discount, paying $32.09 per ton while the rest of the county pays $45.56, according to the group’s rate consultant.

Allied Waste, which operates the dump, says South Bayside negotiated at a more-favorable time and got a better deal. Since then, several other Bay Area dumps have closed and it’s not clear the county, which negotiated the Midcoast’s deal in 1999, could get the same deal. Half Moon Bay negotiates separately with Allied.

Joao Pierini, a Half Moon Bay martial arts instructor, pleaded not guilty to charges includling lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor 14 or 15 years old, sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, reports the County Times.

[The] teacher will appear in court Friday for his preliminary hearing on charges that he drank beer with four teenage pupils and inappropriately touched them.

On Dec. 15, Pierini reportedly came across the four boys, ages 15 to 17, at a local Starbucks coffee shop, prosecutors report.

The boys, who had purchased beer earlier in the day, were invited by Pierini back to his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studio, Half Moon Bay Police Chief Ike Ortiz said.

According to the prosecutor, the boys spent one night at Pierini’s studio at 2830 North Cabrillo Highway in Half Moon Bay

The Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee announced that applications for their annual distribution of grants will be accepted through February 28. Last year, $100,000 was awarded to coastside non-profits, educational organizations and municipal agencies. Funding for the grants comes from the annual Art & Pumpkin Festival, which is organized and operated by the Beautification Committee.

To qualify for consideration applicants must complete and submit the grant request form by the specified deadline, show current documentation of non-profit status, and serve residents of the coastside area, from Montara to Pescadero.
Applications will be considered from non-profit organizations serving children, youth, families, and seniors, as well as for Main Street and community projects. Applications from political organizations will not be considered, nor will requests that include payment of staff salary or consultant fees. The donations are a one-time contribution per fiscal year and should not be considered an ongoing part of an organization’s operating expenses.

To request an application, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee, PO Box 274, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019.

The Coastside Mothers’ Club will host its sixth annual education roundtable: A Parent Perspective—Schools on the Coastside. The roundtable will be held Thursday, February 8, 2007 at The Bell Building, 565 Kelly Street, Half Moon Bay, 7 to 9pm. 

This event is recommended for families who are beginning to plan for kindergarten and is open to the public, free of charge, as a community service to all Coastside residents.

The roundtable: A Parent Perspective - Schools on the Coastside is a unique opportunity to hear Coastside parents openly discuss their thoughts on selecting an elementary school (public, private or home schooled) that was right for their child.

Each of the parent speakers will share their experiences in choosing a kindergarten program and what they feel makes their school unique.  Some of the factors past panel members have discussed include: school size, parental involvement, finding the right school to match their child’s learning needs, or finding a school which offers a variety of enrichment activities (art, music, science, etc).

Pescadero Conservation Alliance is putting a Coastside spin on a global phenomenon.

There’s more involved in coastal flooding due to global warming than just the elevation of sea-level rise. Come and see-or see again, the movie An Inconvenient Truth. Afterwards join in the discussions of the impending effects of sea-level rise along the San Mateo Coast.

Join Monty Hampton, marine geologist emeritus of the USGS, and biologist LisaMarie Wyndham Myers of the USGS and Adjunct Professor of Lehigh University for informative short discussions after the movie. Learn what you can do.
                               
"An Inconvenient Truth" & Follow-up Lectures
1:00-2:45 pm Movie
3:00-3:30 pm Coastal Erosion & Sea Level Rise
3:30-4:00 pm Effects on Coastal Marshes

Native Sons Hall, Stage Rd, Pescadero (next to post office)
         
Free, $5 donation per person or family suggested

Take Hwy.1 to Pescadero Creek Road, an intersection marked by a flashing light.
Travel into Pescadero to the stop sign at the center of town, by the flag pole.
Turn south onto Stage Road. Native Sons Hall is just past the Post Office.
Allow approximately 30 minutes travel time from Half Moon Bay or 45 minutes from Santa Cruz.

The following article is from a January, 1947 issue of the Half Moon Bay Review

There will be a meeting for residents of Montara and El Granada this week to discuss the Midcoast parks and recreation plan.  Two residents of each community will be selected for the implementation team. 

Montara residents: January 16, 7:00pm, Seton Medical Center, Fireside Room, 600 Marine Blvd., Moss Beach

El Granada residents: January 17, 7:00pm, El Granada Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 400 Santiago Street, El Granada

For more information, see our earlier story.

To all Coastsiders and visitors:

It looks like it will be clear tonight (Saturday)—I’m planning on viewing the comet again in the paved parking lot above Montara State Beach (across from 3rd street).

If anyone hasn’t seen the comet yet feel free to stop by—I’ll have various scopes and binoculars to share—but feel free to bring your own binoculars, if you have them.

Come see the comet! (Weather permitting…)

Viewing should start right around 5:15 and will be over by 5:45.

Dress warm!

Hope to see you there,

—Darin