HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-2014 Item 12 - Quito Road Bridges - Written Comm
City of Saratoga
Memorandum
To: Saratoga City Council
From: Crystal Bothelio, City Clerk
Date: August 20, 2014
Subject: Written Communications Item 12 – Quito Road Bridges Project Approval
After the agenda packet for the August 20, 2014 City Council Meeting was prepared,
staff received written communications on agenda item 12. Attached is an email sent by
Lisa Kurasch on August 20, 2014.
Wednesday,
August
20,
2014
3:31:23
PM
Pacific
Daylight
Time
Page
1
of
1
Subject:City
Council
meeting
8/20/14:
Quito
Road
Bridges
project
Date:Wednesday,
August
20,
2014
3:24:46
PM
Pacific
Daylight
Time
From:SLKURASCH@aol.com
<SLKURASCH@aol.com>
To:Emily
Lo
<elo@saratoga.ca.us>,
Howard
Miller
<hmiller@saratoga.ca.us>,
Manny
Cappello
<mcappello@saratoga.ca.us>,
Chuck
Page
<cpage@saratoga.ca.us>,
Jill
Hunter
<jhunter@saratoga.ca.us>,
James
Lindsay
<jlindsay@saratoga.ca.us>,
City
Clerk
[Crystal
Bothelio]
<ctclerk@saratoga.ca.us>
CC:johns@saratoga.ca.us
<johns@saratoga.ca.us>,
Debbie
Bretschneider
<debbieb@saratoga.ca.us>,
slkurasch@aol.com
<slkurasch@aol.com>
Re: Quito Road Bridges project
To Saratoga City Council Mayor and Members;
The work that has gone into developing the seismic upgrades and rebuilding of the Quito Road bridges
is impressive, especially as to taking public comments into consideration for design and environmental
concerns. As a nearby resident (Ravenwood Dr. by Marshall Lane School) I too am concerned about
impacts to the historic route from the road expansion and loss of trees, both removed trees and those
inevitably affected by the construction itself.
In studying the engineering schematics it is obvious how immense a project this will be. Seismic safety
is indisputably important. I'm not in agreement with road alignment and expansion to "State
standards" unless it is absolutely necessary to accomplish the bridge replacements. For example the
Roberts Road bridge on Los Gatos Creek near Blossom Hill was replaced a few years ago with minimal
changes to the elevation and size of the road and bridge.
Going forward I am confident that you will exercise the sensitivity necessary to set conditions that will
at the least safeguard remaining trees and their environments. They are, after all, part of a wildlife
corridor and their contiguous canopies are important habitats to many area animals, raptors, birds and
reptiles. I hope the City Staff can also come up with guidelines for workers in dealing with wildlife
displaced by construction and tree removal, including numbers to call in case of injured or orphaned
wildlife such as:
The San Jose Animal Control which handles Saratoga responds to wildlife requests (408) 794-7297;
Silicon Valley Wildlife Center operates 7 days (408) 929-9453;
Wildlife Emergency will respond for a fee 24 hrs a day (831-429-2323
Silicon Valley Humane Society in Milpitas accepts wildlife after hours & transports them to SVWC
Thank you for your time and attention to these issues,
Lisa J. Kurasch,
former Saratoga Planning Commissioner
18665 Ravenwood Drive
(408) 374-9472