Dear Council Member Taylor
The consent calendar for December 6 has an item E-6 that deserves to be pulled so that light can be shed on the recycled water project at Bedwell Bayfront Park. Staff’s report says the item is ministerial, but there’s no mention as to how the staff will administer its plan to protect the use and enjoyment of the park by the public during the construction and the operation of the plant.
I ask that the item be pulled and moved to a later date when the City can get a commitment from West Bay Sanitary District that its construction schedule will be made available to the public. Notifications should be posted in a user-friendly capacity in English and Spanish at the park and on West Bay and the City’s websites. Construction Schedules should also be included in the Council’s meeting agenda. As the City’s largest park with a wide demographic usage, this public service is reasonable and necessary.
Protection of Park User’s enjoyment
The EIR for the West Bay Sanitary District’s recycled water project appears to include little recognition of the parks features, benefits or its growing popularity. The number of daily users has increased over the years, including many that come from Facebook. They join the many park goers from Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and the San Mateo County towns that were parties to the 1973 agreement creating the park.
History
Bayfront Park is one of the City’s largest open spaces and it offers passive, peaceful recreational uses to District 1 and all of Menlo Park. Once a garbage dump in the marshlands, the idea to create a park was initiated by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in 1969. The members of the Garbage District made up of Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, Woodside and Menlo Park agreed to allow Menlo Park to manage the park and operate the methane collection generated by the decomposition of the organic material in the landfill.
A Bumpy road
Menlo Park’s management has not always been a smooth process. Some of the failings have included the 2002-2006 Council’s failed attempt to redesign the land as a golf course; the City’s cancellation of the Ranger’s contract; the Citys extermination by poison of the resident ground squirrels; and the several dumping operations by the City of road asphalt in the upper meadow.
Bayfront Park’s Master Plan
The plan reconfirms the 1981 mission statement of maintaining the park as a passive recreational site for hiking, picnicking and “just plain enjoyment of silence, the fresh breeze and the view. Public vehicles will not be allowed in the interior of the proposed park.” (3/27/74 letter from the City of Menlo Park to the Army Corps of Engineers). Large construction trucks entering and exiting the one and only road will create an unsafe condition for the public.
This goal of passive recreation has been a challenging one, due to the methane collection operation occurring over the years. It is clear that the General Plan allows uses in the park that are beneficial to the public. Water recycling is clearly such a use, but an equitable balance of use requires the City to establish public notification of any and all disturbances and unsafe events due to the construction and operation of the plant by West Bay Sanitary District. Weekend Construction should not be allowed.
Thank you for your consideration.
Brielle Johnck
Former Board Member of Friends of Bayfront Park
