City Manager Summary, Lafayette CA August 19, 2014

Here is the latest in what’s going on in Lafayette from City Manager Steve Falk. Steve does an informative weekly roundup on Friday’s that we follow closely. We found this blog extremely informative and thought we’d pass it along. If you would like to subscribe to the City Manager’s Blog, please visit the City of Lafayette website at www.ci.lafayette.ca.us and on the front page you will see a link for the City Manager’s Updates. Click on this and then look for the link to the City Manager’s Friday Summary. You tool will be better connected to this wonderful City!

From the Engineers: Big Closures and Potential Backups This Weekend

Remember when Los Angeles had “carmaggedon”? Well, Lafayette may have its own version this weekend because Reliez Station Road will be closed all day Saturday between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. for final paving. To make things worse, PG&E will also be completing the last phase of its gas line testing this weekend and will have lane closures at the intersection of Mt. Diablo Boulevard/Moraga Road starting tonight and running all day Saturday until at least 5PM. What this all means is that, with Snake Hill closed and Moraga Road under construction, tomorrow will be the finest day of all to not be in Lafayette. Enjoy Santa Cruz! Hello Mendocino! Meanwhile, if you’re determined to stay in town, grease up that bicycle chain or lace up the walking shoes. This could be bad, but the crews are trying to get the work done now before school starts.

Notes from Chief Christensen: It’s Back to School Time!

Speaking of school, it just seems like yesterday that the school year ended and now it’s time to start up again. Where has the time gone? Kids are excited about the new challenges and seeing their friends. Parents, meanwhile, are stressed about getting the kids where they need to be while at the same time meeting the challenges of their full-time jobs. For us at the police department, it’s also a change of season. As you’d expect, you’ll see the officers spending more times in the neighborhoods of the schools, setting the tone for the new school year. You’ll see the radar trailers urging people to slow down, and you’ll see friendly officers on motorcycles waving to the kids while handing out warnings and citations to the parents who drive on the sidewalk to get to the front of the line because they’re late for work. We can predict with certainty that some people will stop in the middle of the intersection and block the road; not a problem, we know how to deal with that. We’ll have the parents who get so frustrated that they yell at others and hit their cars with fists and purses, and of course we’ll have the neighbors who complain about the speeding cars going to and from the school, the increased traffic, and the congestion in the downtown area. You can mark it on the calendar and set your watch to it. It’s a Broadway show that comes to town, same time every year. We can handle it; this is what we do every autumn. And again, like clockwork, this is our reminder to you that we’ll be out in force to make sure the kids and everyone is safe around the schools. Please you plan ahead and give yourself enough time. If you do, we’ll stay out of your hair.

Recreating at the Community Center

As the Summer season winds down, Lafayette Recreation prepares for Fall. The Fall Recreation Guide has been published and there are exciting new programs including an “Over 68 Men’s Slow Pitch Softball League” (yes, you read that correctly), a variety of “After School Enrichment Classes” at all four elementary school sites, and a “Back Care Yoga Workshop.” The Guide also includes Fall Special events: Fall Recreation Guide.

Lafayette Then In the Now

We got inspired this week by that amazing the collaboration between the Poy Family, Branagh Construction, Craig Semmelmeyer, SZFM Architects and the City of Lafayette to restore the old stores along Plaza Way to their original condition. Curious to see how true the new buildings are, we cranked up the Photoshop machine and inserted the old photos into new images of what’s out there today, and the result was surprisingly satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that we fished out several other old pictures and also dropped them into their current setting. My, how Lafayette has changed. Or, perhaps, hasn’t. Can you identify these Lafayette locations?: