A recap of City news and events in November:

• Your City Council approved funding for a Habitat for Humanity project, a voluntary ban on 'alcopops', and a new program for property owners to finance energy upgrades 
• The City's Police Department announced promotions and a retirement, kicked off its "Shop with a Cop Program," and has planned traffic safety presentations to Novato schools
• A settlement was reached in the Osheroff lawsuit
• The Winter/Spring 2003 Activity Guide is now available

To get the latest information on City news and events, you can sign-up for our e-Notification service on a variety of topics, including news releases, community events, and planning updates.

Pacheco Valle resident Gerhard Tripp, assisted by  Doug Horn. Photo taken by Ginny Hanna--a Pacheco Valle resident since 1976--and a key volunteer for the project.

On Saturday, Nov. 24, while many of us may have been recovering from a hearty Thansgiving dinner or taking advantage of some local shopping, our neighbors at Pacheco Valle were planting 175 shrubs, flowers and other native plants at the entrance to their neighborhood off of Alameda Del Prado.

This labor of love was prompted by Novato resident, Marcia Basalla, who adopted a large median down the street from the Pacheco Valle entrance in 2009--as part of the City's "Adopt an Island (median)" program. As interested community members stopped by to chat with Marcia, she took down e-mails to share her plant list and progress.  Marcia got the interest of Ginny Hanna, who was concerned with the growing weeds at the community entrance, and they both approached the City's Maintenance Supervisor Bill Johnson, who gave them the tools and materials to begin weeding and planting the area. The City utilizes volunteers for many of its programs and projects, as resources--including manpower--dwindle due to budget reductions

Armed with her e-mail list, Marcia, Ginny, and neighbor Peter Logan began to publicize their "weed parties" every weekend. Starting in April, neighbors have been offering their assistance--for up to 4 hours at a time--to pull  weeds, clean up trash, and plant native flowers, shrubs, and bushes.

There is still some work to be done, and their next objective, according to Marcia, is to maintain the site and have it "adopted" through the City's program. For more information, please contact City Maintenance Supervisor Bill Johnson or call 899.8959.

Dedicated volunteers include:

Marcia Basalla, Ginny Hanna, Gerhard Tripp, Doug Horn, Gina Purin
Margaret Ballou, Lyman Spencer, Cherie Ross, Rob Hauth, Gerhard Jacobs, Diane Griffeath, Ann Brooks, Peter Logan, Ann Moore, Ken Haupt, Aida Bredesen, Leslee Budge, Craig Griffeath, Jeff Dodson,
Carol Toepfer, Grant Toepfer, Cathy Pozo

 Novato residents, and quiltmakers, Elayne Miller and Judy Shaw 

Left: Quilt back

Right: Quilt front
 

Concrete pour in pile caps

The concrete continues to pour at the City Offices project, located in Downtown Novato at 922 Machin Avenue. Depending on the rain expected over the next few days, the remainder of the foundation may be poured in the next couple of weeks. As some rain delays were factored into the original timeline, the project can still be completed on time.To see the progress, check out our webcam, and get more information on our City Offices project webpage.