HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/01/2010, - GARDEN STREET SEWER PROJECT. RECEIVED
JUN 0 3 2010
From: david arndt[SMTP:D.ARNDT@ATT.NET]
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 3:44:26 PM SLO CITY CLERK
To: Council, S1ocity
Cc: Walter, Jay; Mattingly; Carrie; Lichtig, Katie; Marianne Orme
Subject: Garden Street sewer project_
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Mayor Romero and Council members;
I 'd like to follow up on my comments made last evening regarding the �e• l �u ��/L
upcoming sewer improvement project on Garden Street, scheduled to /KGS
begin June 7th.
For Mayor Romero's benefit, here is a recap: My wife and I own /Ln
Linnaea's Cafe, at 1110 Garden Street, and I spoke to this issue
during the Public Comment period at the City Council meeting
yesterday evening.
For all of you, here's an update: Jay Walter, Public Works Director,
informed us this afternoon that the project will start after
graduation rather than the week before. This is great news. Thank
you to Mr. Walter and all who helped shift the start date.
Two concerns remain:
#1) Notification to affected business owners of this work was
inadequate.
Several of us Garden Street business owners did not find out it was
scheduled till the contractor visited us on the Friday before
Memorial Day. That is just 10 calendar days prior to proposed
construction. This leaves very little time to voice concerns. And
we have concerns.
We've been told the Downtown Association has been handed, officially
or unofficially, responsibility for communications between the City
and downtown business owners. If that is true, the Downtown
Association woefully dropped the ball. If that is not true, someone
at the City dropped the ball regarding notification.
We ask that you, the City Council, review how future notifications go
out to affected business owners in situations such as this. if the
Downtown Association will continue to have responsibility, some sort
of City oversight is warranted.
#2) The proposed timing of this project couldn't have been worse.
The proposed start, June 7th, is one week before graduation at Cal
Poly. The project is scheduled to last for two weeks. This means
one of our premier blocks in the downtown core would have been closed
to traffic and subjected to construction noise, dust, and debris
during one of the busiest times of year for our downtown.
Specifically for those of us on Garden Street, the impact had the
potential to be severe.
We find it worrisome that the project got so far along without anyone
raising a red flag about this timing conflict. Particularly, the
r •
Downtown Association should have been concerned as soon as they heard
the start date. It seems logical the role of the Downtown
Association would one of monitoring potentially negative impacts such
as this, and bringing it to the attention of City staff in a timely
manner. Again, it appears someone dropped the ball.
We are grateful City staff listened to our concerns, and responded
quickly to help alleviate what could have been a tough time for us on
Garden Street. Thank you again. But can we perhaps get some
workable solution so these timing conflicts can be avoided much
earlier in the process? We hope so.
Thank you all for your concerns and efforts.
David Arndt and Marianne Orme