The San Mateo County Transit District Board of Directors is looking for applicants for its Citizens Advisory Committees. CAC member responsibilities include providing input to the board on current and potential transit needs. CAC members play a vital role in the development of transit and transportation related issues throughout San Mateo County.

The  SamTrans CAC is comprised of 15 volunteer members, who represent a specific segment of the community. This recruitment seeks to fill five member positions, which will serve until April 2009.

• Two Community representatives
• Two Bus Rider representatives
• One Multimodal representative

The CAC meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in San Carlos. Applicants will be interviewed by a board subcommittee, with the whole board approving the successful candidates. Interested persons can download an application from the SamTrans Web site at www.samtrans.com or contact the board secretary at 650-508-6279. Application deadline is Friday, April 14, 2006 at 5:00 p.m.

The San Mateo County Transit District manages the fixed-route bus and Redi-Wheels paratransit services; administers Caltrain rail service which is governed by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board; operates a shuttle program; and is a partner in operating the BART-SFO extension.

Jesse James Cole a 25-year-old Pescadero resident and La Honda volunteer firefighter was killed Sunday morning after his vehicle rolled over and wound up submerged in a ditch just after 9am at Alpine and Pescadero Creek Roads. No one witnessed the accident, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.The Mercury News says, "The car tumbled into some swiftly moving water about 200 feet off the road near Sam McDonald County Park. Cole’s body was found in the water shortly after, the CHP said."  There is a moving tribute at the La Honda Voice. 

The Memorial will be Saturday, April 1 at Coastside Baptist Church in Half Moon Bay, at 10:30am

Coastsiders who use Devil’s Slide have noticed for a couple of days that the road has developed a decided dip in the northbound lane above Shamrock Ranch, just before you get to Linda Mar in Pacifica.

Wednesday, Caltrans set up one-way traffic control so they could make temporary repairs at the site. Caltrans says that motorists can expect one-way traffic closures until April 5 as Caltrans works in the area:

Crews will be drilling two 80 feet deep holes, installing 2.5-inch diameter plastic casing and lowering sensitive measuring instruments into the tubes to determine the depth at which the slide is occurring.  The slide plane depth is needed to design a permanent repair that will prevent future problems.

MCTV, the Coastside’s cable access Channel 6, is still unhappy with the county’s proposed allocation of franchise fees from Comcast.  The county’s approach to allocating special fees collected from Coastside customers to MCTV has improved from a plan to give none of the money collected on the Coastside to the Coastside’s public access access station. But the current proposal gives only a third of the money collected on the Coastside to MCTV and uses the remainder to build a Bayside network [PDF of county staff recommendations].

Comcast will collect $.55 per subscribing household over the next 15 years to pay for two things: (1) $380,000 in cash for capital items for public, educational, and government (PEG) stations, i.e. MCTV and Pen TV, and (2)$620,000 to build a fiber optic network (called INET) connecting county offices and Pen TV to allow for the transmission of live programming.

About 22% of the funds will be collected from Comcast subscribers on the Coastside. Pen TV provides programming to Bayside cable systems.

County staff has proposed to the Board of Supervisors that MCTV receive 22% of the PEG capital grants, about $83,000. But the entire $620,000 would be spent to INET, which will not connect to the Coastside, although 22% of its cost will be collected from Coastside subscribers.

MCTV wants the county to allocate another $140,000 (22% of the $620,000 for INET) to it as well. They argue that the fiber network will not benefit Coastsiders, and that $83,000 would be insufficient for MCTV’s capital needs over the next 15 years.

Because the $620,000 is being provided to the county as in-kind services by Comcast in building the fiber network, MCTV proposes to take the additional $140,000 out of $398,000 in cash for PEG capital spending.

The supervisors are likely to take this up again at their April 4 meeting, and MCTV is asking Coastsiders to show up and support them.

We’ve solved the technical problems keeping Internet Explorer users from using our streaming videos of the planning commission interviews and the Half Moon Bay Fire Chief’s recommendations.

The videos are now on special pages that are designed to work with all browsers.  Please let us know if you have any problems.

The annual Mel Mello Farm Day Luncheon, featuring tables of locally grown produce, honored Half Moon Bay Nursery owner Ron Mickelsen as Farmer of the Year, reports the County Times.

Half Moon Bay Nursery owner Ron Mickelsen, 74, was the first flower farmer on the coast back in 1956. On Friday, he became the 37th Farmer of the Year award recipient since the Chamber of Commerce began holding the luncheon in 1969.

In that time, the number of Coastside farms still in operation has dwindled to the point where the Farm Day Committee recently made a decision to begin honoring fishermen and lumberyard owners as well as farmers, according to committee member and Half Moon Bay City Councilwoman Naomi Patridge.

...

Other community service awards were presented to local developer Keet Nerhan and former City Councilman David Meir. The audience gave a standing ovation to a local veteran, retired U.S. Army Air Corps Capt. Ray Martini, who flew missions during World War II and was present on D-Day.

Devil’s Slide is still closed due to a mudslide. There is no estimate for when it will be opened as of noon Saturday, according to Caltrans.  For the most recent information, Click here to check the caltrans web site.

UPDATE: At 3:01pm, Caltrans says the road is open.

A mentally-ill man was found handing out gold coins at Apple Jacks, a man is arrested in Princeton for holding enough marijuana to sell, two DUI’s are arrested in El Granada and one in Half Moon Bay, a minor possesses alcohol and another (who may be a gang member) has a switchblade in Moss Beach, a car is burglarized in Pescadero, and a man is arrested for possessing a glass pipe in Half Moon Bay.

This week, Half Moon Bay police responded to some cases of drinking at the High School on St. Patrick’s Day, identity theft of an eight-year-old, theft of $450 in cigarettes from the Shell station, a pushing match between two teenaged girls in a store where one of them worked, driving with a suspended license, a 14-year-old truant and a 15-year-old runaway, and the theft of CD’s from an unlocked car.  And more.

The county Resource Conservation District invites Coastsiers to the first Blue Circle meeting in San Mateo County.  Sponsored by the SMC RCD, The Blue Circle is a quarterly community forum for sharing ideas, information and resources for the goal of natural resource management, education, and stewardship.

The meeting is at 3:00pm on Thursday, March 30, 2006.  It will be held at the Harbor House in Princeton [map].

The program is titled, "Coastside Water—Then and Now—How did we get here, where are we going:  A detailed historical perspective".

This informal talk includes speakers Hank Sciaroni, Retired Farm Advisor, University of California; Farmer John Muller, Half Moon Bay; and Al Wanger, California Coastal Commission.  A Blue Circle Social featuring food, beer, wine, and a raffle will follow.

The organizers promise "no agenda, no minutes, no action items.  Check your guns at the door and enjoy the company of like-minded people who care deeply about the resource future of San Mateo County."

RSVP at 650-712-7765 or by email to [email protected]