* WATER AND SEWER UPGRADES: At our last meeting we were favored by the attendance of two gentlemen from the City Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Hetchy Water and Power and The Clean Water Program (Sewer). We had an outstanding presentation on two most important responsibilities of the PUC: water and sewer facilities for our homes and businesses. Some of the major points of the presentation were: one of Water and Power’s primary goals is to provide high quality drinking water to our homes and businesses. The network of pipes bringing water to us in the City and from the source in the Sierras is in many cases quite old and in need of seismic upgrading and the same applies to the sewer pipe network that carries our waste away. The PUC has for sometime had an ongoing program of upgrading both water and sewer pipes in the City and in the transmission piping from the source at Hetch Hetchy. This work is done not only by dedicated projects but also in conjunction with other public works projects involving opening of the street—for example the two Muni projects mentioned below include work on the water and sewer pipes in the vicinity of the projects. Bond issues fund this work and although some projects might experience cost overruns, other projects come in under estimate and overall the program cost stays within the estimated cost. Our sewer system is a combined sanitary and storm type that combines sewer and rain runoff into a single pipe system. This design limits our discharge of polluted water into the Bay or Ocean during periods of heavy rainfall. The huge overflow tank built under the Great Highway serves to protect sewer outfall from polluting the Ocean. Finally, the two speakers reminded us to read the information included with our water bill. Although we have yet to ration water, this is no reason for us to waste water. http://www.sfwater.org
*The undergrounding of electrical facilities on portions of 9th and 10th Avenues and Ortega Street has been completed and it looks very good. At past SHARP meetings members have asked, “When can I get this done in front of my house?” In the light of the City’s financial crisis I do not expect much undergrounding to be done for a spell. However, even in normal times the City’s policy is to wherever possible relate the undergrounding to a similar job to be done in the area. In the case of 9th and 10th Avenues, the “similar job” was the undergrounding of Muni’s feeders for their electric buses on these two streets. As for the remaining electric bus wires, I believe that these buses are considerably more environmentally friendly than our diesel buses, even our bio-diesel buses.
* On March 28, ground was broken on the SHARP headquarters building at 1738 9th Avenue, 2009. A fair representation of members was present to witness the event. see photos We're thinking about burying a 100-year historic time capsule. If you have anything you'd like to contribute, contact us at the address below.
*The traffic signal upgrading project on 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Blvd. is proceeding and already we see more visible overhead signal lights and features like “count-down” pedestrian signals. I will cover these in a later issue of the newsletter.
*Many of you have undoubtedly had your car jarred by the Muni crossings at
19th Avenue and Judah and Taraval, as well as at the intersection of these two cross streets with Sunset Boulevard. The many patches simply did not hold up. Well, help is on the way, albeit with some necessary inconvenience. To do the job properly the City found it essential to close one direction of 19th Avenue near the crossings on certain weekends. One direction of 19th Avenue will then be detoured onto the parallel streets for a few blocks. The same technique will be used on Sunset Boulevard. We may have the project manager or one of her staff come to one of our meetings in the near future and explain these detours. This project is to begin in the summer of 2009 and end in the summer of 2010.
Another jarring ride can be had when you drive across St. Francis Circle in certain directions. As currently scheduled the intersection may be closed for long periods. A project to fix this is currently under design and when it gets to the proper stage we hope to have a presentation on this work.
If you have any information you would like included in the newsletter please mail or e-mail it to me at this address:
Vern Waight, Editor, Phone: (415) 564-7760,
Email: vernatsf@aol.com
Address: 1711 10th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122-4625
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Renew Your Membership Or Join SHARP
The Sunset Heights Association of Responsible People (SHARP) is a 100+ year old neighborhood organization open to anyone who lives or works in the area bounded by Lincoln Blvd, 5th Ave-Laguna Honda, Dewey-Taraval, and 19th Avenue. Dues are $10.00/year. We are a member-supported organization devoted to neighborhood improvement, with dues set at $10 per person annually. Please renew your membership for 2009 or join us by filling out and returning the coupon below in the enclosed envelope.
Printed Name: ___________________________
Address: _______________________________
City: ___________________ ZIP: ___________
Email: _________________________________
Phone: _________________________________
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