CARMICHAEL’S ANNUAL AWARDS
The Carmichael Chamber of Commerce will be recognizing four community leaders this month at the group’s annual awards banquet on January 24 with a portion of the proceeds raised to assist the Sheriff’s Community Impact Program benefitting at risk youth.
Person of the Year honors will go to District Attorney Jan Scully, a career prosecutor first elected to be D.A. in 1994 and now concluding her fifth term in office.
Also being honored is Dr. General Davie, former superintendent of the San Juan Unified School District, as the Educator of the Year. Don and Marie Hall, the founders of Be Money Smart USA, will be awarded Business of the Year. They are the successful organizers of several local Farmers Markets including the always popular Sunday market at Carmichael Park that introduces youngsters to the world of business, entrepreneurship, and money management. And Paul Scholl of Messenger Publishing, which produces The Carmichael Times and the American River Messenger, will be honored as the Media Person of the Year.
SHERIFF’S JANUARY COMMUNITY MEETINGS
The Sheriff’s Department holds regular community meetings to share information about trends in crime and recent activities. During January several meetings will be held for residents living in the Third District:
JANUARY COMMUNITY COFFEE MEETING
Please join me for the first Community Coffee Meeting for the 2014 series starting on Wednesday, January 15, 7:30 am at the Fair Oaks Water District’s conference room, 10326 Fair Oaks Blvd.near Winding Way. That morning’s topic will be the state of our local water supply presented by the San Juan Water District. Coffee, of course, will be provided. I hope you can attend.
I also will be holding a series of “Office Hours” in 2014 continuing a tradition started in 2005, which involves me setting up a table at various community events throughout the year where residents can drop by and talk about items of interest with no appointment necessary. These informal visiting opportunities are handled on a “first come basis” and will start in the spring so be sure to checkmy webpage or follow me on Facebook for dates, times and locations.
IMPROVING SAFETY & PREVENTING LOITERING
Last month the Board of Supervisors authorized plans by the Department of Transportation to install a metal fence along the medians on Fair Oaks Boulevard adjacent to the left turn pockets east and west of Watt Avenue.
The intersection of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Watt Avenue is one of the busiest locations in Sacramento County with over 70,000 vehicles per day passing through. Pedestrian loitering in the median islands is a significant safety concern and it is impossible for law enforcement to maintain a presence there 24/7 to discourage such behavior.
The alternate approach is to utilize design so SACDOT plans to install a 4 foot high decorative fence along those medians except for a portion of the “nose” area where there will be rocky cobble stones. The fence height and rock formation should prevent secure footing and discourage any sort of straddling. Bids for the work are expect this month with construction anticipated to be completed in April.
GET ROAD CLOSURE ALERTS
Here’s a way to help avoid the frustration when encountering a road lane closure while driving – sign up for email alerts about planned road closures. Sacramento County issues periodic alerts providing a list of planned closures for all road ways in the unincorporated area.
I use these alerts to plan my trips. While the list of lane closures is not all-inclusive, it nevertheless provides notice of those planned closures most affecting the traveling public. Criteria considered include time of day (peak traffic hours), duration, location, number of lanes, and scope of work.
Please click on this link to sign up and receive road and lane closure updates via email.
IDEAS FOR CARMICHAEL PARK
Now is your opportunity to help shape the future of Carmichael Park by participating in the upcoming planning process to develop a park master plan.
EFFIE YEAW NATURE CENTER’S BIRD SERIES
While some birds do migrate south for the winter, many more birds flock to the Sacramento region during this period.
The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is offering a lecture program and field studies on “Birds of Winter” starting January 22 running through to March 1. Did you know that cranes, ducks, geese, gulls, raptors, kinglets, and sparrows are a few of the many birds that reside here during the cold months?
Participants are recommended to have binoculars and a recent field guide on birds. Note also a moderate amount of walking will occur for most trips requiring appropriate footwear and clothing.
REDUCING SPEEDING ON LOCAL STREETS
Slowing down speeders on roadways in the unincorporated area is a top priority of the Board of Supervisors and last year several residential streets were made safer with the installation of speed control devices.
In Carmichael, California Avenue between Palm Drive and Van Alstine had speed tables installed. Also receiving devices was Gibbons Park Way between Engle Road and Salem Way. Speed bumps were installed on Arden Park’s San Ramon Way between La Sierra Drive and Fair Oaks Boulevard plus the intersection of Castec Drive and El Sur Way got an all-way stop installed. Other locations receiving devices were Montclair Street between Whitney and Marconi Avenues; Morse Avenue between El Camino Avenue and Ellington Circle; Mission Avenue between El Camino and Marconi Avenues; Robertson Avenue between Eastern and Mission Avenues; and McClaren Drive between Arden Way and Gary Way, which also received a speed bump near Shelley Way. And North Highlands’ Stephen Drive received devices between Lila Lane and Gilman Way as did Fair Oaks’ Winding Way between Hazel and Illinois Avenues.
The aforementioned installations were the result of the Department of Transportation’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, which involves residents submitting a petition request. That triggers the department performing an evaluation using objective criteria like volume, speed and collision history. Each request is ranked by SACDOT and the Board of Supervisors authorizes which streets to include.
Once authorized, residents on each street come up with a traffic management plan that can include calming devices like speed bumps, traffic circles, raised traffic islands, etc. Such devices add restrictions to maneuverability of motorists that should result in slowing vehicle speed. After a plan is developed the neighbors are surveyed on the proposed devices. To move forward, majority approval is required with at least 50 percent of the households participating in the survey.
CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM FOR PROPERTY OWNERS
Recently a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program for both commercial and residential property owners was authorized for the unincorporated area.
Offered by the County through program administrator, Ygrene Energy Fund, PACE allows businesses and homeowners to finance energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy upgrades with low upfront costs. The improvements are paid for by a voluntary tax on the owner’s property tax bill. All commercial and residential property owners in the unincorporated area of Sacramento County may use this financing option.
PACE’s unique financing mechanism is tied to the property, rather than the individual. Eligibility is based primarily on property value and equity (a minimum of 15 percent is required) rather than a credit score, and the payment obligation may transfer to a new owner if the property is sold. The voluntary program addresses the financial hurdles to capital-intensive energy efficiency projects, because there are low upfront costs to property owners. Homes and businesses that participate are likely to enjoy increased property values and reduced energy costs.
Ygrene Energy Fund is now accepting applications for the PACE program at CleanEnergySac.com.
Ygrene is a developer and administrator of clean energy financing programs throughout the U.S. They opened a Ygrene Energy Center in Sacramento’s Midtown area at 2600 Capitol Avenue, where, Ygrene offers contractor training, energy efficiency workshops and provides information on cutting-edge green products and consultations about participating in Clean Energy Sacramento.
VISITING WITH NEIGHBORS
During December I participated in a number of holiday events. The month started with the annual holiday tree lighting ceremony at Carmichael Park sponsored by the Carmichael Recreation and Park District, the Mission Oaks Recreation and Park District, the Carmichael Kiwanis Club and the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce. A few days later I celebrated the holiday season in Fair Oaks participating in the annual “Christmas in the Village” sponsored by the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce. And that same night I visited Tognotti’s Auto World at the corner of Fulton and El Camino Avenues for the annual tree lighting sponsored by the Fulton Avenue Association. It was a fun event since both Santa Claus and the Grinch attended plus I had the thrill of riding in a fire truck courtesy of the Metropolitan Fire District.
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
For all of you that have a Facebook account please feel free to check out my Facebook fan page and I invite you to like my page so you can be notified of my postings. I put information on my fan page periodically about events, activities and constituents with respect to the Third District. The page can be found by searching for Supervisor Susan Peters within the Facebook site or you can access via my website and click on the Facebook logo under District Links.
| 
