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City Council Briefs
By Gamaliel Ortiz - Citizen Staff Writer
City OKs plan to pick up needles, medical waste
Prompted by a new California state law that prohibits traditional disposal of medical needles, the Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday passed, in a 3-2 vote, a measure that will assist the nearly 3,700 residents dispose of their hazardous material through the city’s waste services.
Elk Grove City Council Member Sophia Scherman and Mayor Gary Davis opposed the resolution.
“I cannot approve of this thing sitting on the front porch,” Scherman said of the needles that would be picked up by Allied Waste.
This is the second time the resolution has been presented to the city council for approval. On Wednesday, the council approved “option 1,” that requires residents to make an appointment with Allied Waste, which is covering the costs. Waste containers are either hand delivered or left at the front door the day of the appointment.
Scherman was staunchly opposed to the idea of having containers left unsupervised during the time they sit on the porch and are picked up.
“To me it makes no sense,” said Elk Grove City Council member Jim Cooper. “You don’t see drug addicts going out and picking up needles; and with those containers, kids can’t break them open.”
Council members repudiated Scherman’s concerns, saying that not offering residents the Allied Waste option would increase the likelihood of residents disposing needles improperly. Most pharmacies in the area are not yet legally obligated to help, therefore many have not opened the door to waste drop offs.
Cooper said that the resolution’s benefit simply outweighed the possibility of misuse of hazardous containers. The material containers are especially rigid and lock once a user is ready to dispose of materials.
“There’s a lot of ‘what ifs’ all day,” Cooper said, “it’ll be picked up the day of, so I don’t really see an issue.”
He objected to the staff’s recommendation that code enforcement officers involvement would be used when unauthorized parties or individuals pick up the hypodermic needles. The council amended the recommendation to exclude officers. City staff will deal with any problems with pick up.
Calming of speed
Residents who complain and fear the worst with whizzing cars in their neighborhood now have an easier way to ask the city to cut down on speeding.
The Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday approved the change to Capital Improvement Program and added $250,000 in gas tax funding, to start the initiative to more efficiently install speed reducers in areas of concern.
The previous program and processes to install speed bumps or tables took too long and was not cost effective. The method involved then sampled entire neighbors at one time instead of case-by-case complaints. It also took more staff to manage, city staff said.
The speed bumps or tables will also be made with emergency vehicles in mind, giving police and fire officials a way to ease through the speed undulations without compromising response time.
Some of the criteria to qualify for the initiative include street length, amount of daily car traffic, speed limits, and location of schools and parks. Officials from the Elk Grove police and Cosumnes Community Services District fire department must also comment on the request for safety needs, staff reported.
Foreclosure help
The Elk Grove City Council was briefed on a time-sensitive federal funding of $2.4 million to stabilize neighborhoods and low- and mid-income families that have been hit by the economy and foreclosures.
The federal government mandates that the funding be used by June 2010.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently authorized funding through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act to assist communities to preserve homes and help property values get back on track. The council, in a 5-0 vote, approved the amendment so that the city can submit its request to get the funding.
The allocation of the funding includes: $547,613 for nonprofit housing grants; $1.55 million in loan assistance; and $238,965 in administration costs.
Information for loan assistance has been high, staff said.
Moment of silence
Elk Grove City Council member Jim Cooper requested that the council have a moment of silence for a fallen colleague who had earlier in the day crashed his motorcycle cruiser in Rancho Cordova.
Lawrence Canfield, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy, who sustained multiple injuries in a traffic accident, was pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
Regional Transit briefs council on future
Sacramento Regional Transit General Manger Mike Wiley visited the council Wednesday and painted an ambitious picture of the future of public transportation in the region and Elk Grove over the next 30 years.
In his presentation, Wiley talked about the future expansion of the south line of light rail that will break ground mid-2009 and bring the line into the city limits.
He also discussed future expansions and an RT survey, which stated that riders were interested in the expansion and customer service.
Prompted by a new California state law that prohibits traditional disposal of medical needles, the Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday passed, in a 3-2 vote, a measure that will assist the nearly 3,700 residents dispose of their hazardous material through the city’s waste services.
Elk Grove City Council Member Sophia Scherman and Mayor Gary Davis opposed the resolution.
“I cannot approve of this thing sitting on the front porch,” Scherman said of the needles that would be picked up by Allied Waste.
This is the second time the resolution has been presented to the city council for approval. On Wednesday, the council approved “option 1,” that requires residents to make an appointment with Allied Waste, which is covering the costs. Waste containers are either hand delivered or left at the front door the day of the appointment.
Scherman was staunchly opposed to the idea of having containers left unsupervised during the time they sit on the porch and are picked up.
“To me it makes no sense,” said Elk Grove City Council member Jim Cooper. “You don’t see drug addicts going out and picking up needles; and with those containers, kids can’t break them open.”
Council members repudiated Scherman’s concerns, saying that not offering residents the Allied Waste option would increase the likelihood of residents disposing needles improperly. Most pharmacies in the area are not yet legally obligated to help, therefore many have not opened the door to waste drop offs.
Cooper said that the resolution’s benefit simply outweighed the possibility of misuse of hazardous containers. The material containers are especially rigid and lock once a user is ready to dispose of materials.
“There’s a lot of ‘what ifs’ all day,” Cooper said, “it’ll be picked up the day of, so I don’t really see an issue.”
He objected to the staff’s recommendation that code enforcement officers involvement would be used when unauthorized parties or individuals pick up the hypodermic needles. The council amended the recommendation to exclude officers. City staff will deal with any problems with pick up.
Calming of speed
Residents who complain and fear the worst with whizzing cars in their neighborhood now have an easier way to ask the city to cut down on speeding.
The Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday approved the change to Capital Improvement Program and added $250,000 in gas tax funding, to start the initiative to more efficiently install speed reducers in areas of concern.
The previous program and processes to install speed bumps or tables took too long and was not cost effective. The method involved then sampled entire neighbors at one time instead of case-by-case complaints. It also took more staff to manage, city staff said.
The speed bumps or tables will also be made with emergency vehicles in mind, giving police and fire officials a way to ease through the speed undulations without compromising response time.
Some of the criteria to qualify for the initiative include street length, amount of daily car traffic, speed limits, and location of schools and parks. Officials from the Elk Grove police and Cosumnes Community Services District fire department must also comment on the request for safety needs, staff reported.
Foreclosure help
The Elk Grove City Council was briefed on a time-sensitive federal funding of $2.4 million to stabilize neighborhoods and low- and mid-income families that have been hit by the economy and foreclosures.
The federal government mandates that the funding be used by June 2010.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently authorized funding through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act to assist communities to preserve homes and help property values get back on track. The council, in a 5-0 vote, approved the amendment so that the city can submit its request to get the funding.
The allocation of the funding includes: $547,613 for nonprofit housing grants; $1.55 million in loan assistance; and $238,965 in administration costs.
Information for loan assistance has been high, staff said.
Moment of silence
Elk Grove City Council member Jim Cooper requested that the council have a moment of silence for a fallen colleague who had earlier in the day crashed his motorcycle cruiser in Rancho Cordova.
Lawrence Canfield, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy, who sustained multiple injuries in a traffic accident, was pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
Regional Transit briefs council on future
Sacramento Regional Transit General Manger Mike Wiley visited the council Wednesday and painted an ambitious picture of the future of public transportation in the region and Elk Grove over the next 30 years.
In his presentation, Wiley talked about the future expansion of the south line of light rail that will break ground mid-2009 and bring the line into the city limits.
He also discussed future expansions and an RT survey, which stated that riders were interested in the expansion and customer service.
