Upcoming Council and Committee Meetings
Finance Advisory Committee
Special Meeting on Monday, October 12, 2015 at 6:00pm
Sarge Littlehale Community Room
City Hall, 22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
Planning Commission
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7:00pm
Library Auditorium, Orinda Library
26 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
Citizen's Infrastructure Oversight Commission (CIOC)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 6:30pm
Sarge Littlehale Community Room
City Hall, 22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
Art in Public Places Committee
Monday, October 19, 2015 at 3:30pm
May Room, Orinda Library
26 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
Traffic Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC)
Monday, October 19, 2015 at 7:00pm
Sarge Littlehale Room, City Hall
22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 9456
City Council Regular Meeting:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 7:00pm
Library Auditorium, Orinda Library
26 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
Special Meeting:
Study Session on Wilder Art & Garden Center
Monday, November 2, 2015, 6:00pm
Location TBD
Mayor's Community Liaison Meeting:
Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 8:30am
Sarge Littlehale Community Room
City Hall, 22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563
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Blue Ribbon Award goes to Del Rey Elementary School!!
Del Rey Elementary was honored with the National Blue Ribbon Award on September 25, 2015. The award was presented to 335 public and private schools throughout the US (34 from California). It is the first school in our district (but not the last!) to be recognized on a national level based on overall academic excellence. The schools represent public and non-public elementary, middle and high schools, including traditional, charter, magnet schools, parochial and independent schools in 45 States, and Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Germany and Korea.
The Department will honor all 285 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on Nov. 9-10 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Each school will receive an award plaque and a flag as symbols of their accomplishments. In its 33-year history, more than 8,000 of America's schools have received the coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award.
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| | Del Rey receives National Blue Ribbon Award in 2015! |
Congratulations!!!!
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Go Solar with East Bay SunShares
Thinking about installing solar but don't know where to start or think it's just too expensive? The City of Walnut Creek is holding a final, free workshop for homeowners interested in going solar through the East Bay SunShares program and the event is open to Orinda residents.
East Bay SunShares helps homeowners reduce the cost and complexity of going solar through group-purchasing. The workshop will be on Thursday, October 15, 2015 from 7:00-8:30pm at the Walnut Creek City Hall, located at 1666 North Main Street.
In addition to a presentation on East Bay SunShares,
there will be a meet and greet with solar installers.
To RSVP for the workshop, go to: http://goinggreenwc.eventbrite.com.
For more information about East Bay SunShares, visit: www.mygroupenergy.com/eastbaysunshares
East Bay SunShares: Simple. Affordable. Together.
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Public Works & Engineering Services
2015 Annual and Measure J & L Pavement Rehabilitation Project
Bay Cities Grading & Paving have begun paving operations on Ridge and Normandy Lanes this week. The existing roadway pavement surface is being milled off and will be replaced with new asphalt pavement early next week. Miscellaneous items such as manhole lids, utility covers, monument re-establishment, and drainage dikes will be completed in a separate operation after the paving is complete. These operations are performed by separate crews so the paving crew can move on to the next street on our list. Bay Cities is tentatively planning to perform pavement recycling work along Canon Drive and Camino Sobrante starting on October 14th.
These roads will be pulverized and essentially be gravel roads for 3-4 days, then cement additive will be mixed into the pulverized gravel which needs to harden for about a week before the final asphalt is placed. This is essentially a two week process. During that time, the roadway surface will be gravel, then a compacted cement treated surface, and finally a new black asphalt pavement. Due to the narrowness of these roads, vehicular traffic will be restricted out of the immediate construction area. Residents may need to park outside of the construction area and walk some distance in order to use their vehicles during active construction work. Notifications will be sent to residents early next week about possible access restrictions.
Traffic Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC)
The next Traffic Safety Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday October 19th at 7:00pm. in the Sarge Littlehale conference room at City Hall. TSAC will be discussing two new traffic calming requests; 1) placement of three pedestrian crosswalks across Orindawoods Drive near Kite Hill Road, Ironbark Circle, and Graystone Terrace; 2) installation of speed cushions along Orchard Road between Moraga Way and Glorietta Blvd. including turn restrictions at Moraga Way and Glorietta Blvd. to eliminate cut through traffic from Moraga Way.
Camino Pablo Pavement Rehabilitation
The new signal poles at Brookwood Road were installed and operational on Thursday (October 8th) morning. St. Francis Electric is planning on completing the signal light switch over at Santa Maria Intersection by Friday (October 9th) morning. The overall project is nearly complete, with some miscellaneous outstanding items and the conflict zone green striping for the new bike lane be scheduled with the striping company.
Lamorinda Program Management Committee (LPMC)
On Monday the LPMC received a presentation from Nelson Nygaard on recommended service strategies for implementing the Lamorinda Service Plan. The recommended plans are for a Moraga/Orinda BART Shuttle, a Taxi Subsidy program, Expansion of the School Bus Program and Increased School Bus Program Coordination. The LPMC board discussed the four plans/program and recommended that they be included in the final report and recommendation.
Southwest Area Transportation Committee (SWAT)
The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reviewed that upcoming Telephone Town Hall meetings. These meetings are part of the outreach CCTA is doing for the Transportation Expenditure Plan which may go to the voters in November 2016. The Town Hall meeting for the SWAT region is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27th. CCTA will be notifying the general public over the next two weeks via mail, email and phone.
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Planning Department
The next regularly scheduled Planning Commission Meeting
will be held on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 @ 7:00pm
Public Hearing(s):
- 4 Sunrise Hill Road - The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider design review and elevated deck permit applications to allow a new two-story, 4,955 adjusted square foot, single-family residence on a vacant parcel.
- 89 Dairy Creek Lane - The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider a design review application for a new 6,058 adjusted square foot, two-story, single-family home in the Wilder subdivision.
- 106 Camino Don Miguel - The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider an Appeal to the Zoning Official's decision to permit grading on a slope greater than 15% for a new rear yard lawn area and new wood retaining walls approximately three feet in height.
New Projects:
- 17 Keith Drive - Application submitted to convert an existing storage space, into a 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 752 adjusted sq. ft., secondary unit, on an established driveway.
- 14 Van Ripper Lane - Application submitted for a second-story addition on an established, single-story, single-family residence on a 26,250 sq. ft. lot.
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Crime Statistics
October 4, 2015 to October 10, 2015
| Description | Statistic | Location | | Commercial Burglary | 1 | 10 Block Orinda Way | | | 10 Block La Sombra Court
| | | | | Shoplift | 1 | Safeway | | | | | Petty Theft | 2 | 10 Block Orinda Way | | | | | Auto Burglary | 2 | 10 Block Theatre Square | | | Wilder Blvd / EB Hwy 24 | | | | | Hit and Run Misdemeanor | 1 | 100 Block Moraga Way | | | | | Arrest - DUI | 1 | Moraga Way / Brookside Rd | | | |
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Celebrate Discover & Go Month in October!
October is Discover & Go Month! Contra Costa County Library is celebrating our ongoing
Discover & Go partnership with Bay Area museums and cultural venues. Visit a participating library branch, enter our drawing for some great prizes, and help give back to your community at the same time! We will be partnering with the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano - for every donation of a non perishable food item you bring to a participating branch, you can enter to win special premium awards for some of our most popular Bay Area attractions. Discover something new this month! Additional information can be found here.
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NOTICE FROM PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC
We are performing tree work in your neighborhood.
Please read for more information.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company is currently performing tree work on city property in your neighborhood. Our licensed tree workers will clear trees and brush identified during our recent routine inspection as potentially posing a fire or power line safety risk. This work is part of our commitment towards providing safe, reliable and affordable clean energy to our customers.
Our tree workers perform this work for you
Unless properly pruned and maintained, trees can cause dangerous conflicts with power lines. The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) requires that persons working within certain distances of overhead power lines be qualified and trained properly. There are strict state regulations that dictate the requirements for working around power lines. We hire only qualified power line clearance specialists. Hiring unqualified tree workers can jeopardize their personal safety since they are not trained on the dangers of working near power lines.
What you can expect
Work is expected to begin on September 21 and last until October 31. We will clearly mark all work areas. Please plan for potential minor delays when driving through Orinda. You will see PG&E and our line certified tree contractors on site with trucks and other heavy equipment. Our work should not interrupt your electric service, but we will contact you if there are any changes. Weather and other factors affecting safe working conditions may impact our schedule.
Questions
We encourage you to contact PG&E with any questions at
We appreciate your patience as we work to reduce fire risk and
enhance the safety and reliability of our service in your neighborhood.
Victor Baker, MBA
Diablo Division Senior Manager
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
P.O. Box 770000, San Francisco, CA 94177-1490
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Parks and Recreation
Weekly Instructor Spotlight
This week the Parks and Recreation Department would like to introduce you to a new Instructor who will be offering Spanish Conversation through Film (barcode 19931) or Intermediate Spanish through Literature (barcode 19933) beginning Wednesday, October 21 for adults 18 years and up.
 Join Patricia Jorgensen this month Click Here to register and search by barcode or register by calling (925) 254-2445. 1. How did you become interested in what your class focuses on?
I have always liked both literature and film. It is like spying into a different world that is 'true' while you are watching it. If you can suspend your disbelief, you become more and more curious about these characters, their 'history' and their motivations. At the same time, we discover things about our own world today: we find out how things that happen in these stories, that to us are unthinkable, at some point in the history of society, they were completely normal. 2. What is your history with teaching on the subject?
I have been teaching language through literature and film for almost 20 years. I have taught at renowned universities and community colleges. I enjoy teaching to those that want to get their four-year college degree as well as those that just have an interest in the subject. 3. What is your favorite part about what you teach?
I am originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I love the cultural exchange that happens when people from different cultures and backgrounds discuss a story. I love seeing my students wake up to a new perspective and I absolutely love to hear theirs: I learn all the time from this exchange. 4. What do you hope students will learn/gain from your class?
I am humbly hoping that my students will learn to enjoy literature and films from other countries and that they will learn to look at them from a different perspective, all while practicing and improving their Spanish. 5. Any fun facts about you that you would like to include!
A few things about me: I absolutely love travelling and hope that at some point I will be able to live three or four months in Argentina and the rest of the time here in the US. Right now I usually spend 1.5 months a year in Buenos Aires. Next year I hope to spend a month in Europe. I backpacked for a year around Europe and the US when I was 26, right before going to graduate school here in the US. I love foreign films from Argentina, Spain, Italy and I also love Hitchcock. I absolutely love theater: it's an even closer window into another world: you feel like you can almost be in the story. I also enjoy reading about Psychology a lot. This love of psychology is what gives me the curiosity to look into the characters' 'mind'. I also love being a tourist everywhere, including the bay area: I love exploring cities and learning about their history and the way people lived in the past. And, of course, being from Argentina, there is nothing like watching a great soccer game!
I'm a Park and Rec Kid SM
This week City Clerk Michele Olsen shared why she's a Park and Rec Kid. To watch her video, click here. Now it's your turn, create and share your own "I'm a Park and Rec Kid" short video and post it on Twitter, Facebook and/or YouTube. Just make sure to use #ImAParkandRecKid and #OrindaParksRec in your post. The Orinda Parks and Recreation Department is accepting the challenge from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) to share their "Park and Rec Kid" stories. The goal is to inspire individuals of all ages to use their community parks and recreation as a solution for happier, healthier lives.
39th Annual Orinda Holiday Bazaar
Over 50 exhibitors including returning favorites featuring
home décor, specialty foods,
holiday decorations,
accessories and jewelers
will be at this year's
Holiday Bazaar
There are over 20 new exhibitors this year featuring
succulents, handmade cards, lotions, women's clothing,
handmade bags, knitwear, decorative trays, candles and paper mache items.
Mark your calendars because you will not want to miss this
one day only opportunity to get your holiday shopping off to a bang!
Saturday, November 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
at the Orinda Community Center.
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Holocaust survivor Dora Sorell to speak at Orinda Library
Thursday October 22, 7:00pm
Dora Apsan Sorell will speak about her memories and her memoir,
Tell the Children: Letters to Miriam at the Orinda Library auditorium on Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 7:00pm. 
The East Bay resident is one of a handful of Bay Area Holocaust survivors still on the lecture circuit. Born in Sighet, Romania, Sorell was deported to Auschwitz along with most of the town's 10,000 Jewish residents. She survived the ordeal but her parents, two of her brothers and over 40 members of her extended family died in the gas chambers. She was liberated two days before the end of World War II, and returned to Sighet and to medical school. She eventually moved to New York and practiced medicine there. After retirement, Sorell and her husband moved to the Bay Area to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Sorell's memoir, Tell The Children: Letters to Miriam, is written in the form of letters to her granddaughter. Sorell states "It is important that young people know what happened so long ago, and those who already know should not forget."
Noted scholar and historian Elie Wiesel has said of her memoir, "informative, perceptive and poignant. It's emotional impact is powerful. To read it is to come closer to historical events that will forever haunt mankind's conscience."
Cosponsored by the Orinda Library and Rotary Club of Orinda, this program is free and open to the public. Preregistration is not required. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.
Click here for additional information or contact the Orinda Library at 925-254-2184.
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 A big "Thank You" goes to the City of Lafayette! At their recent Food and Wine Festival, "Adore Orinda" bumper stickers were distributed.
In a nod to the Lamorinda area and the residents who Adore, Love and have Amore for this community, a limited number of the bumper stickers are available on a first come basis at the receptionist area of the Orinda Community Center located at 28 Orinda Way. |
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