Thursday, July 6, 2017 VOLUME LIV, NUMBER 27 Your Local News Source Since 1963 SERVING DUBLIN, LIVERMORE, PLEASANTON, SUNOL Valley Water Taste, Odor Bring Pile of Complaints By Ron McNicoll 7 treatment plants to correct the is distributed to all of the Valley Musty water from algae blooms An outpouring of complaints problem. Although unpleasant, the retailers in a network of pipes is not unusual in the summer, but See Inside Section A to Zone 7 Water Agency and the musty water is no threat to health, that circulate water throughout typically the situation is not as Section A is filled with Valley’s four water retailers has say Valley water experts. the Valley. bad as the recent problem, said information about arts, people, revealed the extent of musty odor Some 80% of Zone 7 water The cause of the problems is Dave Lennier, Water Supervisor entertainment and special events. and taste in drinking water. comes from the State Water Project early season algae blooms in the for Livermore’s municipal wa- There are education stories, a Zone 7 and the California State (SWP) at Lake Oroville Dam. It Delta segment of the water Zone ter department. The department variety of features, and the arts Department of Water Resources flows into the Delta and into the 7 imports. The algae blooms serves one-third of the city’s water and entertainment and (DWR) are aware of it. They have South Bay Aqueduct, where Zone were accelerated by many days customers. bulletin board. begun safe chemical treatment of 7 pumps it into its treatment plants. of 100-degree heat more than a “It’s usually later in the season, the water in the Delta and at Zone From those facilities, the water week ago. (See WATER, page 2) The Feed Tri-Valley Drive Set The cities of Pleasanton, Liver- more and Dublin, along with local food providers are pleased to an- nounce the second annual Feed Tri-Valley, a food drive aimed at ending hunger in the Tri-Valley region. The drive this year will begin on Monday, July 10 and run through Sunday, July 23, 2017. “Last year was our first year to focus attention on hunger in our own community,” said Pleasanton Recreation Supervisor Nicole Thomas, adding “and our commu- nity donated close to 4,000 pounds of food, which was an enormous help to some families in the Tri- Valley community.” Feed Tri-Valley was launched as a way to help local residents A mural has been painted to cover graffiti along the Arroyo Bike Trail. To learn more, go to page 8. struggling with poverty and food insecurity, particularly in the summer months. For donors who prefer an alternative way of giving, Pleasanton Starts School Construction Bond Process grocery store gift cards are also available. Most collection sites will have By Ron McNicoll become the district’s Director of Facilities and Construction to oversee barrels with Feed Tri-Valley ban- The Pleasanton Unified School District Board has launched its first the project work. Olsen helped Dublin with its facilities construction ners on them, and certain sites effort to build facilities that will be paid by revenue from Measure I1. authorized by its bond-finaning. He lives in Pleasanton with his wife will accept grocery store cards. At its June 27 meeting, the board voted unanimously to issue bond and two daughters, who attend district schools. For a list of sites with barrels and proceeds of $70 million from the $270 million dollar total that voters Also, as part of the facilities project launch, the board unanimously receptacles for gift cards, along authorized in the November 2016 election. approved the hiring of HKIT Architects, based in Oakland. The firm The board was introduced to Nicholas Olsen, who was hired to (See SCHOOL BOND, page 8) (See FEED, page 2) Los Alamos National Lab Contract Competition Underway The competition for operating The competition comes in the Extension without competition is Los Alamos National Laboratory face of a series of safety incidents a common course when the fed- is moving ahead with a website and federal criticism of the north- eral government is pleased with a posting last week by the Labora- ern New Mexico laboratory's op- contractor’s performance. tory’s federal sponsor, the National erations over the past several years. In a series of NNSA perfor- Nuclear Security Administration NNSA announced at the end of mance reviews that year, Los (NNSA). 2015 that the contract would be Alamos received “very good” or Lawrence Livermore National opened for competition because “excellent” scores in areas re- Laboratory is closely connected of dissatisfaction with some parts lated to science, engineering and to Los Alamos. of the Laboratory’s operation. (See CONTRACT, page 4) Livermore Downtown Steering Committee Plans to Be Sent to the City Council Four alternatives to guide de- rate groups of steering committee Avenue. velopment on eight acres in Liver- members contributed to the four In addition to the development more's downtown core will be sent selected alternatives. alternatives, the council will re- to the Livermore City Council. Two of the proposals feature view a recommended information None of the concept plans were a hotel located on the eastside presentation and a public outreach endorsed or recommended by the of Livermore Avenue adjacent to program. Downtown Steering Committee the Bankhead Theater; two place The Committee completed its as a whole, although three sepa- the hotel on the westside of the (See DOWNTOWN, page 8) State of the City: Livermore a Great Place to Live, Work and Be A great place to live, work and Expansion of i-GATE/The asset management were among be summarizes the theme of Liver- Switch and the city's jobs/housing the priorities. Marchand noted more Mayor John Marchand's an- balance were two of the highlights that Livermore owns and operates nual State of the City presentation. mentioned by Marchand during $2.5 billion in infrastructure. That The Livermore Valley Chamber his speech. amounts to $30,000 per person of Commerce hosted the talk on His presentation centered for every man woman and child June 21 at the Robert Livermore around council priorities; how they in the city. The city is currently in Photo - Doug Jorgensen Community Center as part of its have been implemented and future the process of planning for ways to A juggler entertained a visitor to the Alameda County Fair. For more Wine Country Luncheon series. objectives. Financial stability and (See STATE OF THE CITY, page 2) photos, go to page 6. PET OF THE WEEK Edelweiss would be very happy to meet you! The 6-year-old INSIDE mini Schnauzer mix is recovering from an infection, but she is already looking for her new family. Let this gentle senior be MAIN SECTION Sports .................................... 7 the one to greet you every morning! Grow fond of Edelweiss Classifieds........................... 10 Obituaries .............................. 9 at Valley Humane Society, 3670 Nevada Street in Pleasanton, Editorial ................................. 4 SECTION A Tuesday through Saturday from 10am – 4pm. For more information, visit valleyhumane.org or call (925) 426-8656. Mailbox .................................. 4 Art & Entertainment .............. 8 Photo - Valley Humane Society/V.Kelly Roundup ................................ 3 Bulletin Board ..................... 10 Short Notes ........................... 9 Milestones ........................... 12 2 The Independent • July 6, 2017 STATE OF THE CITY FEED UNITED (continued from page on) (continued from page on) CONSTRUCTION finance the maintenance and Fostering innovation jobs and very little housing. with food recommendations replacement of these assets. boosts the local economy The result is that people Tri-Valley Area… smaller visit: http://www.ptownlife. REMODELING Marchand noted that by creating new businesses have to drive long distances, places like Livermore have org/feed-tri-valley/. ROOFING when it comes to finances, along with new jobs. I- creating enormous traffic been making a name for Interested businesses can themselves as well…Home PAINTING most of the city's revenue GATE has led to the cre- problems. join the effort by placing a PLUMBING comes from sales and prop- ation of new business and He said Livermore has to award-winning wineries Feed Tri-Valley food barrel erty taxes. "That underscores jobs using technology from been responsible in that and state-of-the-art golf onsite. For more informa- courses, the Tri-Valley re- (209) 818-9300 the importance of buying lo- Lawrence Livermore Na- it has established a 1 to 1 tion, please contact Nicole [email protected] cally," he commented. Over tional Laboratory and San- jobs-housing balance. There gion maintains a quiet and Thomas at 925-931-3432. License #916970 50% of the budget finances dia National Laboratories. are 42,300 jobs and 42,000 laid-back vibe while still what residents have identi- He noted that over $50 mil- housing units in the city. providing visitors with an fied as a top priority, police lion in angel venture capital With the addition of 1000 abundance of restaurants NEW ON THE MARKET! and fire services, Marchand has been generated through jobs, 1000 new housing and striking landscapes for stated. i-GATE. Marchand stated units will be built over the a truly one-of-a-kind vaca- Disaster preparedness, that expansion of I-GATE/ next few years. "The rest of tion…” for Millennials. another council priority, in- The Switch is underway. the region is out of balance." The city was among cludes the use of technology The current, 6000 sq. ft. In another priority area, "eight great downtowns" to enhance public safety; facility will be expanded to Marchand said efforts are that attract retirees. Where develoment of a comprehen- 24,000 sq. ft. by using the underway to deal with to Retire magazine wrote, “…It’s (Livermore) com- Linda Futral sive disaster preparedness old Penney's building in the homelessness and housing Broker/Realtor fortable and casual.