The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About106-Email from Citizen White.pdfVery Much Appreciated! Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] To: nancy Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 8:54 AM Subject: RE: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Dear Nancy – I will include your email correspondence with the City in the staff report for this item. I will also send you the link to the City website after I have posted the June 2nd agenda. Regards, Ann Sullivan From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 8:32 AM To: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Subject: Re: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Thank You Ann for the update. Very much appreciated! I am familiar with the noticing process which both the City & County are required by law to follow in this regard. I worked for Greenbelt Alliance in my other life. I do not understand why the property was ignored these past years. However, I can assure you, it's now choked with more vegetation. This is a source of concern for the residents along Via Regina Road as I understand. I would like the information & email discussions I've had between Jana, yourself, & I, to be included as part of the public record and be included in the Councils packets for consideration when this item comes to them on June 2nd: Contact numbers, email/websites, names of sources for the purpose of grazing the property for weed/fire abatement -- Steven's Creek Volunteer Fire Department willingness to schedule a training exercise to brush fire lines along the property lines & riparian corridor? -- so it' on hand and I do not have to remake the wheel, so to speak. Additionally, is it possible to go on line to preview/print out the agenda, prior to June 2? I would like to see what order the brush abatement program will be in, so I can adjust my schedule & rally the troops. Can you also provide me with the address of where your City Council meeting is to be held? Best regards, Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] To: Jana Rinaldi ; nancy Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 4:51 PM Subject: RE: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Nancy – My apologies to you, Nancy. I wasn’t aware that you were waiting to hear from me, as our Code Compliance Specialist, Jana Rinaldi, conveyed to you via this email that I had contacted the Santa Clara County Agricultural Department and they confirmed that this property was on their list for inspection; therefore, alerting you that the County has this property on their list of properties to be inspected. The City annually declares hazardous vegetation (brush) a nuisance due to fire danger and enters into a contract (along with other municipalities) with the Office of the Agricultural Commissioner to abate the hazardous vegetation (brush) not removed by property owners by a specific deadline. There are a number of steps that take place prior to the scheduling of this public hearing regarading this phase of the process, such as notification to the property owners from the County regarding hazardous conditions on the property, etc. You are welcome to attend the June 2, 2010 Council meeting where this item – the annual Brush Abatement Program Public Hearing, has been agendized for discussion and action by the Council. The County Agriculture Brush Abatement Program Coordinator will be present at that meeting to address the Council on this item and members of the public are welcome and encouraged to speak on any item on the agenda as well. I hope this helps clarify some of the steps and alleviates your concerns. I assure you that both the City and the County work closely with regard to any type of hazardous vegetation/brush on any property in Saratoga. I look forward to maybe meeting you at that meeting. The meeting starts at 7PM. Regards, Ann Sullivan, CMC City Clerk From: Jana Rinaldi Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 12:30 PM To: 'nancy' Cc: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Subject: RE: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Nancy, I will talk with Ann and find out if she has had any feedback from County Fire. Thank you. Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:32 AM To: Jana Rinaldi Subject: Re: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Jana, Your city clerk has not been in contact with me and I liked to hear from her...Last year, nothing happen after I notified the City & Santa Clara C. Fire...That's not going to happen again....I'll be bird-dogging this for the follow through... Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Jana Rinaldi To: nancy Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 9:07 AM Subject: RE: Code Enforcement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Nancy, I have forwarded your email to our City Clerk. Thank you for your time and efforts. Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 8:55 AM To: Jana Rinaldi Subject: Re: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Jana, This note is to follow up on the phone message I left on your voice mail. Stevens Creek Volunteer Fire Department. PO Box 2673 Cupertino - 95015 -- www.scvfd.org -- email - fire@scvfd.org -- they are stationed out of the Cal-Fire station on Stevens Creek Canyon Road, next to the dam. I spoke with Andrew, can't remember his last name, who schedules trainings for the unit. They're Captain, knew the location of the property and the Peck's, who sold it. They are more than willing to come out and hand brushing for fire abatement, along my paddock fence lines....I asked if they would do a control burn, but got the impression that may not be in their "wheel house"....Andrew seemed very open to being able to come onto the property for this purpose....I got the impression that this would be a "free-be" too....so, if the property owner does not respond to the notice and the City, or County needs to step in, this maybe a very cost-effective solution.... Regards, Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Jana Rinaldi To: nancy Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 3:29 PM Subject: RE: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi, please tell Patrick hello from me! Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 3:27 PM To: Jana Rinaldi Subject: Re: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Jana! Score!...I just got a call back from Mike McClintock, Park Supervisor for Alum Rock Park. His direct line is 408 277-3267....They use goats & sheep for weed/fire abatement....They contract out to "Living Systems Land Management" -- www.LSLM.org.... Contact name is Charlotte Lewis 415 845-6747. Living Systems Land Management work with agency/private interest, for both short & long term range management....they will fence the property with portable electric fencing, -- then remove it when the land is grazed down. they will allow for trail users needs, bring a herd with a herder who lives on sight, in a trailer, and us dogs for herd control & predictor needs...they need a water source for both the animals & herdsman...I believe there is an old water trough on the north west corner, behind the gate I mentioned... He said it cost 17K for the 20+ acres Alum Rock Park has grazed...but it's cheaper than a wild land fire...Who will put up the out of pocket cost if the land owners do not comply, is the key....He also suggested contacting Santa Clara County Open space Authority. The contact name there is Patrick Congdon...I will follow up on Monday with him...I worked at Greenbelt Alliance in my other life...this is familiar territory for me... I will also ask Jan Garrod, if he knows the cost of having the property disks, for a comparison price...I know he could do this work too...disking would really disrupt the wild life habitat though...and not sure how it would effect the slide area. I know the property has been disked before...about 10-12 yrs back...but it was mostly in strips, like fire breaks...along the creek, down the middle, and a couple strips on the west ridge line...like a set back....they didn't disk up near the property lines on the east side... Have a fun weekend! Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Jana Rinaldi To: nancy Cc: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 4:26 PM Subject: RE: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Nancy, It was nice talking with you and hearing about Saratoga history! Ann did hear back from County of Ag and they believe the property is in their jurisdiction. Our contact did say the property has not been inspected to date, but should take place in the next couple of days. I will keep you posted if I hear anymore. Also, let me know what you find out. Thank you. Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 3:14 PM To: Jana Rinaldi Subject: Re: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Thanks for calling Jana....I take a little drive to where I believe is the entrance to this parcel...check out if there are any for sale signs, and check out who is listing this....I also have a friend who is a realtor...I ask her to check to BO, or short sale listings that she is privy too, to see if any thing matching this show up...Like you said,...30 acres, it's probably 29+, is rare in Saratoga...I find out and keep you in the loop... Haven't seen anything from Anne Sullivan....send it when you can... Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Jana Rinaldi To: nancy Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 2:41 PM Subject: FW: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 2:40 PM To: 'Julie Linney (julie.linney@cnt.sccgov.org)'; 'Kumre, Moe' Cc: Jana Rinaldi Subject: FW: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hello Julie – Moe: Please note the message towards the bottom of this chain of emails and let me know if the County or County Ag is aware of this property and if the property owner/s have been notified. We have a Brush Abatement Program Public Hearing scheduled for Wednesday, June 2nd. Thanks. Ann Sullivan City Clerk From: Jana Rinaldi Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:56 PM To: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Subject: FW: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Please see below. Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:40 PM To: Jana Rinaldi Subject: Re: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Jana, It's undeveloped land...as far as I know, there is not a street address...the fire department was able to located it on their maps...the development never happened...it's all part of the public record & on a parcel map...the planning department has it...Please do the leg work on the address/parcel number, it right there in your office...it maybe listed on Mount Eden road... I'm working on getting contacts for grazing herds, as a low impact solution for the weed/fire abatement issue...I have calls into the president of the farm bureau, Alum Rock park who uses sheep & goats for this purpose... Let's share... Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Jana Rinaldi To: nancy Cc: City Clerk [Ann Sullivan] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:13 PM Subject: RE: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hi Nancy, the first thing I need is the address – after I get the address I will follow up with the Fire District. The Fire District is contracted for the weed abatement. Thank you. Jana Rinaldi Jana Rinaldi, Code Compliance Specialist City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us 408.868.1214 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this e-mail message is privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at jrinaldi@saratoga.ca.us or telephone (408) 868-1214. Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail or attachments. From: nancy [mailto:nancy@magicmachining.com] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 11:41 AM To: Jana Rinaldi Cc: Debbie Bretschneider Subject: Code Enforement -- Weed Abatement -- 30 acre parcel Hello Jana, I'm sending you a follow up email, to the voice mail I left today. I board horses on Via Regina Road....there is a 30 acre parcel, the old Peck property, sandwiched between the following roads: Via Regina, Vista Regina, Mt. Eden, and the below the entrance to the Cacardi Estates neighborhood. This property was once aggie...fruit orchards, & hay fields...I'm 56 & grew up in this area...It also has a seasonal creek which flows into Calabasas creek, & riparian corridor, which splits the property, roughly in half, which is clogged with tree debris...bay laurel, eucalyptus, oak.... This property, from my understanding, was to be developed with roughly with 7 -9, executive home on the west side, below the ridge line, with a trail & designated private open space, on the east portion...the east portion of the property has been deemed a active slide area, which prevented the developer from locating housing...I've followed this project at it's beginning phases... Right now, over 9 years, nothing has happen as far as the development is concern....However, the property has been neglected and is a fire hazard...My son, who works for Cal-fire, said it's a tinder box, with plenty of fuel to set it off...I contacted Santa Clara County Fire department last year...nothing was done... This year, I'd like an official notice sent to the property owner on record by the City of Saratoga, to disk the vegetation under , deal with the creek, and clear the weeds that are encroaching onto the neighboring fence lines. The mustard & thistles are easily 8 feet tall along the fence line where I'm located... I know, the property owner can be noticed and asked to comply...if not, the City has the authority to contract out the work, bill, or put a lien on the property as a last resort...Even, contracting with some one who can grave goats, sheep, or cattle on the property would get this situation under control....Worst case scenario...a catastrophic wild land fire, like Oakland Hills, that funnels up into the surrounding properties & homes...the pending finger pointing...charges of whose lack of fore-sight & responsibility it was...here come the law suits... Please give me a call...so we can come up with a solution this issue.... Nancy R. White Owner - Magic Machining Inc 1120 West Evelyn Ave, Units B & C Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408 730-5330 Fax: 408 730-5334 nancy@magicmachining.com