Hi Drew,
I never heard back from you. If you are not able to call me, then a
Zoom meeting would be OK.
Best wishes - Larry
Lawrence R. Bernstein
285 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025-2711 US
Tel.: 650-799-5616
Email: LawrenceRBernstein@gmail.com
On 12/7/2020 11:19 AM, Lawrence Bernstein wrote:
> Hi Drew,
>
> Thank you very much for getting back to me.
>
> This is, in fact, an issue for the City of Menlo Park. A major
> component of the problem is that the City of Menlo Park, unlike most
> other cities in the Bay Area, doesn't maintain the sewer lines from the
> property boundaries to the main line connection (that is, under the
> sidewalks and roads). For us, and probably most people on Willow Road,
> that is where the major problems occur. Because Willow Road is a major
> thoroughfare, for me to repair just that part of the line (which is now
> heavily damaged by cracks and offsets) I am told would cost about
> $30,000. Almost all of that cost is for tearing up the road, traffic
> control, and repairing the road. That is a huge amount for me, and it
> seems unreasonable that the taxes we pay don't cover a basic utility
> that is not on our property. It is particularly unreasonable because
> the extreme traffic on Willow Road, due in part to City policies, is
> likely responsible for much of the damage to the sewer lines.
>
> I'd be happy to have further discussions with you about this. A Zoom
> meeting is probably not necessary; you are welcome to call me at any time.
>
> Take care and best wishes - Larry
>
> Lawrence R. Bernstein
> 285 Willow Road
> Menlo Park, CA 94025-2711 US
> Tel.: 650-799-5616
> Email: LawrenceRBernstein@gmail.com
>
>
> On 12/7/2020 10:53 AM, Combs, Drew wrote:
>> Hi Lawrence, I've reached out to city staff about your email. Since
>> the sewer lines aren't maintained or owned by the city, they weren't
>> able to confirm the information you provided. Have you reached out to
>> WestBay about this issue. Even though this is more of sanitation
>> district issue, I'd been happy to meet with your over Zoom to discuss
>> this further. - Drew
>>
>>
>> Drew Combs
>> Menlo Park City Council
>> 701 Laurel St.
>> Menlo Park CA 94025
>> Tel: 650-924-1890
>> Email: dcombs@menlopark.org
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Lawrence Bernstein
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 9:15 PM
>> To: _CCIN
>> Subject: Serious sewer problems on Willow Road
>>
>> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization.
>> Unless you recognize the sender's email address and know the content
>> is safe, DO NOT click links, open attachments or reply.
>>
>> I moved into my house at 285 Willow Road in 1998. Since then, I’ve had
>> to entirely replace my sewer line twice, and now it has to be replaced
>> again. In addition, the part of the line under Willow Road is broken
>> and severely displaced in several places. Such conditions are common on
>> Willow Road.
>>
>> The main reason for the problems is that there is very little slope
>> between the house and the main line: no matter how many times I replace
>> the line, water will back up and the line will rapidly deteriorate.
>> Today, West Bay Sanitary was out here, and said that the main line
>> itself runs slowly, because it is too small and has too little slope.
>> This contributes to backups into the houses.
>>
>> Menlo Park, unlike most other Bay Area cities (including all of San
>> Jose), does not service sewer lines from the service connection to the
>> main line; that is, the part under the road. In the case of Willow
>> Road, the extreme traffic is certainly responsible for much of the
>> deterioration of the sewer pipes running under the road.
>>
>> It is unconscionable that the residents of Willow Road, who already must
>> endure the city funneling all possible traffic onto Willow Road instead
>> of distributing it more equitably, must also be responsible for sewer
>> damage caused by the heavy traffic and the poor condition of the main
>> sewer line.
>>
>> Now is the time for the city to replace the ancient sewer lines on
>> Willow Road with larger, deeper lines that can serve the present
>> population density, as well to replace all the lateral lines to all the
>> buildings along Willow Road. If this work is not done, I and other
>> property owners will be forced to spend thousands to tens of thousands
>> of dollars every few years to deal with a situation beyond our control,
>> a situation of the city’s making.
>>
>> The hundreds of residents of Willow Road pay the same taxes as all other
>> Menlo Park residents, but we have long been treated as second-class
>> citizens. The city must now do something to help us with the basic
>> necessity of a working sewer system. If a city cannot do at least that,
>> it represents a serious failure of government.
>>
>> Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this matter.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Lawrence R. Bernstein
>> 285 Willow Road
>> Menlo Park, CA 94025
>> Tel.: 650-799-5616
>> Email: LawrenceRBernstein@gmail.com
>>
>>
>
