The Burlingame Voice

Nice House: I'm gonna miss this one

I was taken by surprise on my dog walk this week.  I usually go a bit further than Costa Rica Ave., but with the rain and all we cut it short.  I saw the dumpster first and thought it might be a clean up.  But alas, this delightful house got scraped.  I'm gonna miss this one.  Luckily Google Maps still had a street view photo of it, but it will live on here at the Voice much, much longer than on Google..............

 

 

Planning for a Rollicking Rollins Rd.

I’m very excited by the impending housing growth in North Burlingame that will end up bringing “thousands of new homes” to the Rollins Rd. industrial section of town.  The amount of planning that went into this decision by state and county officials, the City Council, the Planning Commission and city staff is impressive.  Here are the details:

Water:   I know the decision makers have a grasp on our dire water situation because they said so back in May  calling it “alarming”.  They also know the SFPUC cannot be trusted to keep the Peninsula’s water interests front-of-mind regardless of whatever “contract” we have with them, so the negotiations with the state to gain access to Bayfront land for our new desalinization plant (instead of a park) are to be complemented.  Desalinized drinking water is about ten times as expensive as water agencies buy now due to the energy costs.  Then there is the cost of getting rid of the brine, but the free land access will help the economics.  The new water tank on Rollins will ensure reliable water for the new neighborhood.

Outflow:  In the spirit of “what goes in, must come out”, the city study on sewage treatment capacity at the Bayfront plant will probably find a need for additional capacity, but we can be sure that raising the sewer rates to pay for it will be easy as we just saw this year.  Burlingame is a welcoming community, so higher rates will be fine with the public.

Power:  The decision makers’ extensive negotiations with PG&E to get it to strengthen the Burlingame grid are to be complemented.  Not only will the grid improvements supply the new desalinization plant’s load, but it will also ensure grid stability for the rest of the city.  Generous state and federal funding for new solar panels on the new construction and some existing Rollins Rd. buildings will help; as will a brand new grid-based battery facility.  Whoever got that big grant should get a promotion.  The natural gas pipes should be fine since there won’t be any natural gas allowed.

Schools:  Given the thousands of new homes coming, it was prescient of the city council to snap up a large parcel on Rollins Rd. and sign a long-term, low-cost lease with the Burlingame School District.  This will enable BSD to build a new school serving North Burlingame Eastside students.  The parcel may be large enough to also build a BIS Annex to cut down on car traffic to BIS.  I expect that the next school bond measure to pay for it all will pass easily as Burlingame is a welcoming community.

Traffic:  As we consider the extensive traffic study conducted as part of the General Plan update, it is gratifying to see that the Broadway grade separation project is now fully funded and we are ready to start The Big B'game Dig in 2022.  As today's SF Comicle notes:

The intersection of Caltrain and Broadway in Burlingame has the ignominious distinction of being the street-level train crossing most in need of fixing in the state, based on a calculation that factors in number of accidents, disruptions to local traffic and other overall safety concerns.  The busy crossing serves demand from trains, vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, a hectic mix that has resulted in 11 car-train collisions in the past five years, a number of near misses and some fatal accidents. It has also caused considerable traffic backups: The crossing gate is currently down about an hour per day, and the city estimates that will rise to nearly three hours per day by 2040.

The project should go fast as most of them do; and be completed in time to help ease the load on Millbrae Ave. and Rollins Rd. for the new North Burlingame residents.  Luckily, the city’s negotiations with Caltrain were also successful in getting the Broadway station to reopen.  That will make a big difference for local traffic through the B'way intersection over the next 10 years.

Of course, Rollins Rd. isn't the only part of town with strong growth so all of these impending improvements will benefit the whole town.  That's why Burlingame is a welcoming community.

I admit I was initially skeptical about a huge new residential section at the north end of town.  It seemed like many of the growing pains would be intractable problems, but with a lot of diligent work everything appears to be on track.  Many people are to be complemented.

EssEff: London is Calling BS

This Examiner front page is just too good not to post.  You would be forgiven if your immediate reaction is "What took you so long?"  We have to keep an eye on SF since "when they sneeze, we get a cold" from the derivative impact.  You may have seen a bit of that in town and I don't just mean the Apple store smash and grabs.  We are far from a crime-free city and I will be updating the B'game statistics for this year when they come available.  In the meantime, Ms. Breed seems to have gotten that Old Time Religion and the Gavinor sounds like he thinks the California rep for crime might hinder his presidential aspirations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom confronted the national media furor over mass retail theft in California on Friday, unveiling a more than $300 million proposal to help law enforcement fight organized criminal rings.  The Democratic governor said his plan will include $255 million for a grant program to give police more tools to arrest and investigate thieves who participate in such smash-and-grab crimes, increasingly brazen heists that have drawn widespread attention in recent months.

Again, you would be forgiven if your immediate reaction is "What took you so long?" followed by "Wait, shouldn't these priorities already be in the $1.8 billion budget?"  Here in B'game, we spent a lot of time on policing last year (remember the big Townhall that showed nothing?)  No matter, if Gavin wants to pass out money, we should stick out our hand.  The net effect of the Defund the Police movement is to increase police funding.....the Law of Unintended Consequences will not be denied.

EV Charging: Still Slow Uptake at Lot Y

It has been a year since we checked in on the usage of the eight EV charging spaces in Lot Y south of Broadway on Chula Vista.  I use Lot Y often and have noticed some uptick in usage which has been extremely low in the past as noted here.  Last October/November 2020 usage was running a half of a charge per day, per space during Covid limitations.  Things have opened up a lot since then--just look at the traffic in town these days.  So one would expect some uptick in EV charging as well.  Here's the numbers from the city:

                   2020 minutes    2020 sessions          2021 minutes    2021 sessions

October            2650                121                        12,287                366

November         3571                137                        13,386                360

So the spaces are being used 2.8 times as frequently and providing 4.1 times as many minutes of juice.  That tallies to one and a half charging sessions per space per day.  That is still very light usage although I once saw four EVs charging at the same time.  I was at the lot on Wednesday afternoon when the regular spaces were very close to full and the eight EV spaces were empty.

There has been plenty written about the increasing load on the California grid from EVs, but not as much about the environmental effects of all the new batteries for EVs.  NBC News jumped on that last week

A nickel mine stretching nearly 4 square miles scars the forest above farmland (in the Philippines). The mine, Rio Tuba, plays a vital role in satisfying the global demand for a mineral more coveted than ever due in part to the explosion of the electric car industry.  The raw nickel dug out of the ground here ends up in the lithium batteries of plug-in vehicles manufactured by Tesla, Toyota and other automakers, according to an NBC News review of company filings and shipping records.

With the demand for nickel skyrocketing, the Rio Tuba mine is now on the brink of expanding deeper into the rainforest, adding almost 10 square miles to its current footprint. Local environmentalists fear that it will wipe out the forest’s fragile ecosystem and increase toxic runoff into the rivers that flow past the farmland down below, jeopardizing the crops.

I'm sure there are other mining areas seeing the same growth.  There's no free lunch, somewhere, somehow someone pays.  

Parklets are here to stay, if restaurants can afford them. Safety first.

By now our parklet lifelines to local restaurants have the feel of permanence on the streets of B'game.  Back in August 2020, I noted that parklets are far superior to closing the whole darn street and that has played out as expected.  Now comes the question of permanence and payment.  The Daily Journal is reporting that

While businesses thus far have not been charged for use of the public space, the City Council this week voiced favor for establishing cleaning and rental fees likely to cost upwards of $5,100 yearly.  The charges would likely begin at some point next year for a one-year pilot period, after which the city would reassess and make changes as needed. The bulk of the cost, a $300 per month cleaning fee, could be reduced if the city’s expenses for the service were less than expected.

The remaining rental cost was determined based on Mountain View’s permanent parklet program that charges 9% of going rental rates. Given Burlingame commercial rents and the typical 300-square-foot size of parklets, a $1,500 yearly charge was decided on. Additionally, a $769 new application fee and $205 permit renewal fee would be levied.

If that is the algorithm, and I'm not sure it should be, then B'way parklets should be a little cheaper than on the Avenew.  Burlingame is currently home to 43 parklets occupying 88 parking spaces, according to the city.  So we are talking about $220K per year added to the restaurant bills in town.  I'm not fluent in restaurants' P&L's but I will ask a few owners to find out.  They are probably in "what choice do I have?" mode which might explain this:

Councilmember Mike Brownrigg, part of the economic subcommittee tasked with determining appropriate fees and guidelines, noted input from businesses in the process had been limited, though “not for want of trying.”

And then there is the street parking issue for non-restaurants which may come to a head when "permanence" starts filtering out

Also, in some instances where parklets extend into the frontage of a neighboring storefront, the neighboring business could request the parklet be moved or shrunk. Councilmember Donna Colson suggested the neighboring business could be required to pay for part of the rebuilding, or a timeframe could be established in which parklets would not be required to be moved or rebuilt. 

“You have to have some fairness, you can’t build a $40,000 parklet and then your neighbor says ‘you know what, you have to take it down now,’” she said.

Left unsaid was the hubbub from San Francisco where a 60 page rulebook landed on restaurants' doorsteps causing havoc according to the Comicle.

The notices from multiple city agencies cited rules that she’d never seen: The walls needed to be lowered. The roof needed to be removed. It could occupy only one parking space. And if it wasn’t all fixed in 14 days, she’d be fined $100, then $200, then $500 on the third day onward.

Sidewalks less than 10' wide mean Fire Department access to the building would be impeded by having a roof on the parklet and they need to have 3' of buffer (meaning an opening) on each side also for emergency access.  I'm reminded of the Chicken Chicken! fire in 2005.  And SF wants a 20' clearance from any intersection which seems too small to me.  I also worry about being able to see through the parklets to see on-coming traffic.  When I drive north on Laguna at B'way, the Rocca parklet has a takeout sign on the side of the parklet that blocks the visibility of eastbound traffic.  It's very tricky to get through that intersection in any direction.

Bottom Line:  There are some refinements to be made and money to be collected, but parklets are here to stay at least until some climate warrior outlaws propane heaters.  And there are some really nice ones in town.  Maybe Beautification should start a new category-- Best Parklet.

Caltrain: Electrification Costs Spiral

I revisit the electrification story about once a year and the situation never seems to change--it is taking longer than expected, costing more than expected and the duration and total costs are still unknown; as is the money source.  Here are some snippets from the DJ article:

Following the Friday announcement of additional cost overruns for Caltrain’s electrification modernization project, its board has authorized spending increases to ensure its completion, despite concerns over where funding will materialize.  Caltrain’s electrification project faces $462 million in additional costs following its settlement agreement with contractor Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, higher than its initial June estimate of $333 million.  COVID-19 related delays, utility issues and real estate have also played a role in increasing costs, Caltrain staff said.

Board Member Steve Heminger supported the additional funding for the project. However, he cautioned the board to prepare for the worst when it comes to a funding strategy. Heminger noted only slightly more than half of the extra costs are known and covered through federal grants and Measure RR funds, with the rest still to be found.  It has received around $52.4 million from the federal government... Credit financing will cover another $150 million, with Measure RR capital reserve funding accounting for $60 million.

That last bit, using Measure RR funds, is controversial because the alternative is "relying on member agency funding".  "$100 million here, $100 million there, pretty soon you are talking about real money" to paraphrase C. Everett Dirksen.  You can guess what that means.  At least the catenary wires have arrived in B'game as seen here near B'way.  And the bulk of the work on this is above ground.  Keep that in mind at the El Camino Real project gets discussed.

 

BSD: 50 Years of Music Instruction

Doing anything successfully for 50 years merits notice, and the SF Chronicle has provided a nice write-up on Carol Prater's long career teaching music to B'game students.  You can read the whole piece here but a couple of my favorite bits are:

On a mid-November day in 2021, Prater smiled at her band and cued the first notes of “Jingle Bells,” complete with the squawks and squeaks that have peppered her entire professional life.  These fourth- and fifth-graders are likely among the last of an estimated 25,000 students Prater will have taught music to during her 50-year career in the Peninsula city’s public schools. She’s leaning toward retiring — but isn’t firm about it.  (I added the bold :-)

“I just don’t know about 51 ...,” Prater said with a laugh after a group of Roosevelt Elementary kindergartners had filed out of her music room after singing and dancing with her. Her husband, Doy Prater, who was also a music teacher in the district, retired years ago.

And a good testimonial is worth its weight in gold...

Phil Grenadier was one of her first students to hear them when he was in the fourth grade in 1972. He is now a professional jazz trumpet player in New York, touring and recording, and remembers how “Mrs. Prater” saw something in him.  “She struck me as a young lady back then,” he said, realizing 50 years has passed for both of them.  She taught him to read music, helping him understand the difference between 16th, eighth and quarter notes with her mantra: “Mississippi, candy, Coke.”

Gotta love that little timing trick.  If you click through be sure to note that BCE apparently has a new name, and we also have a new school (Jefferson) that I am not familiar with.  Congrats on 50, Carol, don't rush into any decision on next school year!

Salt Water Taffy for Politicians

Sea Level Rise is a cynical, ladder-climbing politician's perfect issue.  It is notoriously hard to measure.  It's even harder to predict.  And if anything noticeable happens IRL, the politician will be long out-of-office and probably off the planet.  But they can appear to Care and to Be Doing Something About It.  It's perfect.  There might even be some federal money in it.  The insurance companies love it too since it allows them to raise the risk factor which raises the rates and everybody says "yup".  I just reread Steven Koonin's chapter about it in Unsettled?.  Let me try to "boil it down" for you from his Chapter 8:

The sea level has been rising and falling, and rising and falling, and rising and falling for all of determinable time--more than 400,000 years. 

"Slow cycles--variations in the earth's orbit and the tilt of its axis over tens of thousands of years--change the amount of sunlight absorbed by the Northern and Southern Hemispheres...(this) cases the ice sheets covering the continents to grow or melt, putting more or less water in the oceans....So the question is not whether the sea level is rising--it's been doing that for the past 20,000 years.

Climate scientists use the concept of Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL), which is inferred from measurements over the whole globe; even though "water seeks it's own level," there are variations that are important given the fraction-of-a-millimeter precision required--the GSML is rising today at a rate of only a few millimeters per year.

And it varies all over the globe for a dozen reasons: differences in the earth's gravity from place to place, ocean currents, temperature and salinity of parts of the ocean, air pressure, local land sinking (think pumping ground water) and the vagaries of instruments like the satellites circling at 600 km (370 miles above the earth) detecting fractions of a millimeter in ocean height.  Given all of that, the rise in more recent decades is higher than the average for the 20th century, but similar to the rise from 1920-1950--a period before carbon intensive development.  On May 26, 1927, Henry Ford watched the 15 millionth Model T Ford roll off the assembly line at his factory in Highland Park, Michigan.  There are 289.5 million cars in the US right now.

In fact, the rate of rise between 1925 and 1940--a period almost as long as eighteen-year satellite record now available--was almost the same as the recent satellite value, about 3 mm (0.12 inches) per year.

If the B'game city council wants to put new Bayfront buildings on stilts and build levees because the sea might rise a foot in the next 30 years (333% more than it may have risen over the last 30 years)  and "up to six feet over the next century", go for it.  But boy do I wish they were as worried about having too little fresh water as much as they are worried about facing too much salt water.

March 1 update:  Here is the Greenland chart that is referenced in the comment section.