Lamorinda Weekly Issue 10 Volume 3
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Independent, locally owned and operated! for new Lamorinda clients See our ad on page 5 or call 925-283-5666 Delivered bi-weekly to all Need to contact us? 925.377.0977 Lamorinda homes & businesses for details. $ Edward Zeidan Owner, Lafayette resident for 15 years Nicholas Inserra, Springbrook Swim Team Photo Lisa Dirito Record-breaking Lafayette City Meet Springbrook Hogs are Victorious Again By Jean Follmer he six Lafayette swim teams de- were geared up and ready for action. nals. Smith went on to win the High Point The Springbrook domination began wildly. That was only the beginning of In- Tscended upon Acalanes High School City Meet began with “one to watch” trophy for her age group. Dillan Thoms of with Nicholas Inserra in the Boys 11-12 50- serra’s unbeatable record-breaking streak – for the 43rd annual City Meet on July11. in the girl’s six-and-under 25-yard freestyle. Las Trampas followed suit with a first place yard freestyle. Finishing with a record- he set records in all of his events, Medley Las Trampas, LMYA, Oakwood, Rancho Caitlin Smith, 5-year-old LMYA swimmer, freestyle in the boy’s six-and-under. Thoms breaking time of 24.12, Inserra had the Relay 2:04.49, Free Relay 1:47.95, 50-yard Colorados, Springbrook and Sun Valley finished first in both the preliminaries & fi- also went home with the High Point trophy. endless sea of red and black cheering butterfly 26.57, 100-yard IM 1:01.15. ... continued on page 18 Senior Needs Assessment Study Findings Announced Lafayette Seniors Need Transportation, Housing and a Sense of Community Town News 2, 3, 4, 6 By Jonathan Seclow Life in Lamorinda 5, 7, 8, 9 n Monday, July 13, the Lafayette City Council The study indicated three major areas of concern would like to see those services expanded. Letters to Editor 6 Oheard the results of the Senior Needs Assess- for seniors in Lafayette. Respondents primarily em- The layout of Lafayette demands that its citizens Living Longer & Loving It 8 ment study that it commissioned in March. The study phasized the lack of transportation options for seniors have access to vehicles for transportation. Most of the Community Service 9 was commissioned in an effort to prepare Lafayette for who can’t drive. Currently there are several services in goods and services are centralized in downtown the area that offer rides for seniors. The study found that Lafayette, while most of the residents live in the sur- Real Estate 10 projected growth among the 55 and older population, the rides offered by those services, primarily the Lam- rounding foothills. In order for seniors to continue liv- Business 11 a segment that already comprises 30% of the Lafayette. Due to the aging boomer generation, Con- orinda Spirit Van, Rides for Seniors, or Orinda's Seniors ing where they do, they will need to have some way to Schools 12, 13 tra Costa County estimates 5% growth among that seg- Around Town, did not meet the needs of respondents. In transport themselves to the downtown area. Not to be Missed 14, 15 ment by 2020. executive interviews, participants indicated that they ... continued on page 8 Service Directory 14 HOW TO CONTACT US 15 Advertising In the Back Yard 16 Parklike yard, 11 Lynwood Place, Moraga 4 BR /2 ½ BA , Dining 17 ideal location, 2318 sf single story home Sports 18, 19 absolutely wonderful on .32 acre Classified 18 $969,000 Love Lafayette 20 This Week Read About: Joan Evans Angie Charter City Choice 2 Realtor Village Associates Evans Traxinger ASSOCIATES 93 Moraga Way, #103, Orinda, REAL ESTATE Police Promotions 3 925-260-7555 www.joanevans.com 925-254-0505 Realtor Assistant Who Will Pay for Roads? 4 Cyrano on Stage 5 Safety Fair 5 Parks and Dogs in Moraga: Staff Recommends Community Outreach New Fire Fighters 7 By Sophie Braccini Bruns Legacy 8 On July 22, the Moraga Town Council is sched- The Commission also had to define the locations Garden Lights 11 uled to review the text proposed by the Parks and Recre- for the off-leash areas at Rancho Laguna Park, Moraga Town Hall Kids Back 12 ation Commission to amend the code and consider Commons and the Mulholland Open Space Preserve. Town staff’s recommendation to table the issue indefi- “It was the unanimous recommendation of the Com- nitely. Please check our website for updates, mission that there should be a way for all types of users http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/. to be comfortable in the parks,” said Mallela, regarding PRSRT STD PRSRT Staff suggests that a large community outreach ef- restrictions the new text would impose. PAID U.S.POSTAGE AD-VANTAGE fort be conducted by the Parks and Recreation Com- Dog owners were all in support of clarifying the mission to study the programming of Rancho Laguna times of the day that dogs were authorized off-leash. Park. They wanted to have a clear town ordinance that would The Parks and Recreation Commission consid- supersede the County’s rule that does not authorize off- ered the issue thoroughly and received much public leash dogs in parks. The contention appeared in re- comment. stricting dogs to certain areas. n an effort to clarify the hours during which Rancho “We had to address some poorly stated language “The Parks and Recreation Commission’s pro- ILaguna Park is open to the frolicking of off-leash that was in the old ordinance and correct the signage at the posal to limit our dogs to just the paved path and turf dogs, Moraga Parks and Recreation Director Jay Ingram park,” said Ravi Mallela, chair of the Commission, “some area (at Rancho Laguna Park) created a variety of un- proposed amending the municipal code regarding ani- dog owners had been fined by Contra Costa County An- pleasant emotions,” wrote Bill Carman. mals and unleashed a maelstrom. imal Services because of these inconsistencies.” ... continued on page 3 Beautiful Gazebo Care of Garden Club Orinda Historical Society Restores Bridge By Cathy Tyson By Andrea A. Firth While some residents might grumble about Charlie Vollmar was looking for something to pulling weeds, pruning and fertilizing, sink his teeth into. He wanted his children, seven these folks can't get enough of it. Formed year-old twin girls, to have a sense of grounding, thirty-nine years ago, the dedicated mem- a sense of place. Running his own culinary busi- bers of the Lafayette Garden Club have ness, Epicurean Exchange, and helping to man- spent countless hours supporting civic age his young family did not quite fill every beautification projects. minute of his day. And so, the Orinda Historical At 150 members strong, mostly Society will probably never quite look the same. return to: Lamorinda Weekly • P.O. Box 6133 • Moraga, CA 94570 Box 6133 • Moraga, CA • P.O. Weekly return to: Lamorinda women and a few ... Read on page 2 ... Read on page 6 Mailed and delivered to 24,200 homes and businesses in Lamorinda. Mailed and delivered Page: 2 LAMORINDA WEEKLY www.lamorindaweekly.com 925-377-0977 Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Lafayette Lamorinda Community Lafayette Calendar City Council 7pm New Lafayette Listing: Happy Valley Traditional with Contemporary Flair! Community Center, Manzanita Room 1195 Upper Happy Valley Road, 500 St Mary’s Road Lafayette Monday, July 27 Beautifully updated 2559 +/- sf Planning Comm. 7pm 4BD/2.5BA home Community Center, Manzanita Room Amazing half-acre + park-like property 500 St Mary’s Road w/ outdoor kitchen, pool, spa, sport Thursday, August 6 court, playhouse, cottage gardens, (925) 339-1918 level lawns & more Design Review 7pm [email protected] Community Center, Manzanita Room DanaGreenTeam.com $1,599,000 500 St Mary’s Road Lic. 01482454 Tuesday, August 11 Senior Services 3:00pm Lafayette Moves Forward With Charter City Process Community Center, Alder Room 500 St Mary’s Road By Jonathan Seclow he Lafayette City Council is are fixed at 0.055% in general law when awarding contracts to vendors. that charter cities might be able to would like to support Lafayette’s Thursday, July 23 Tconsidering dropping cities. The benefit of a higher prop- Charter cities are allowed to bypass pay non-prevailing wages for certain pursuit of a charter. City of Lafayette: Lafayette’s general law status in erty transfer tax is that it creates a many of these regulations for con- capital projects. While this seems “We would like to recommend http://www.ci.lafayette.ca.us favor of becoming a charter city. source of local revenue that cannot be tracts under $100,000. This will free possible under California law, it has that Lafayette adopt a shorter and Such a move would place Lafayette withheld by state legislators in Sacra- up time and money for city adminis- proven much harder in practice for broader charter. We would like one Chamber of Commerce: among the 114 cities in California mento. Such a revenue source would trators, who are forced to devote time cities that have tried it. To date, no similar to San Ramon’s,” Noll said. http://www.lafayettechamber.org that have adopted charters. be particularly valuable now, as many to advertising and evaluating bids. It city has been able to pay non-pre- The City Council reacted fa- The City Council assigned a fear large “take-aways” by the state will also allow the city to award con- vailing wages without being con- vorable to the committee’s recom- committee to investigate the advan- during California’s budget crisis. tracts to local vendors in cases where tested. There are several cases mendation.