By Khalida Sarwari
Highway 85, public safety and improvement projects were the hot topics at the Saratoga City Council’s annual joint meeting with Saratoga homeowner and neighborhood associations held on June 18.
The meeting at the Saratoga Senior Center drew about 40 residents who expressed concerns about various happenings in their neighborhoods and received updates on capital improvement projects.
On the topic of Highway 85, many stressed the importance of pressuring the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to to uphold the provisions of the original Highway 85 freeway contracts between Caltrans, the Santa Clara County Transportation Agency and the cities of Saratoga and Cupertino and town of Los Gatos.
Jim Foley and Jeff Schwartz, representing the San Marcos Homeowner’s Association, brought up the issue of wildlife activity, noting that turkeys, bobcats and coyotes have been sighted recently in various neighborhoods. Cheriel Jensen, representing the Quito Road Association, said she, too, has seen an increase in wildlife activity.
“I had 150 roses,” Jensen said. “I don’t have them anymore.”
Problems with wildlife aside, Jensen said one of her biggest concerns is the Santa Clara County Vector Control District’s fogging treatment of mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus. “They’re making it worse, not better,” Jensen said.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Capt. Ken Binder, the division commander of the West Valley Patrol substation, congratulated the city on being named one of the safest cities in the state, but noted that residential burglaries and identity theft continue to be issues for Saratoga. Still, said Binder, “anywhere there are people, there’s going to be a police issue.”
Binder offered some tips for preventing burglaries, especially in the summer. His advice to residents: “Take advantage of technology.” He encouraged residents to install cameras at their front doors, invest in an alarm system and lock all doors and windows before leaving the house.
A few residents told Binder they’d seen a suspicious white van cruising their neighborhoods, and others reported encountering people knocking on their doors and trying to sell them tamales or pies. The white van, Binder assured them, was from a cleaning service, but advised, “Always call in anything that seems suspicious.”
To prevent encounters with fraudulent sales people, he recommended that people simply refrain from answering the door. And if they’re in doubt about the authenticity of a seller’s permit, the best thing to do, Binder said, is to just call 911 and let authorities investigate. With the exception of religious or nonprofit groups, anyone that is selling a product must have a permit, he said.
Public works director John Cherbone presented updates on various city projects that are under way, including those involving the Quito Road bridges, Joe’s Trail, street resurfacing, the Prospect Road median and Blaney Plaza and the Village.
Quito Road will be closed for six to 12 months to replace two bridges on the Los Gatos and Saratoga border, Cherbone said. As for Joe’s Trail at Saratoga de Anza, which parallels the south side of the active railroad tracks that travel through a residential area of Saratoga, Cherbone said the VTA has approved grant funding to add an access point to the trail at Guava Court.
The city will continue to take on street resurfacing projects but will prioritize streets based on their condition and level of use, Cherbone said. And the city was recently awarded a $4.2 million state grant for a beautification and safety project along Prospect Road.
“The north side of the city is getting a facelift and it’s going to look real nice,” said Cherbone.
Construction work on Blaney Plaza began last month and is expected to be completed in October, according to Cherbone. “It will look more like a plaza rather than a street,” he said.
Community development director James Lindsay discussed the housing element, one of seven state-mandated elements of the city’s General Plan that contains policies and programs that encourage housing development for a variety of income levels. He noted that the city will have to accommodate 439 affordable housing units assigned by the Association of Bay Area Governments.
Lindsay encouraged residents to review and comment on the 2015-2023 draft document posted on the city’s website. The issue is expected to go before the Saratoga Planning Commission on July 23.
Finally, the Saratoga community was invited to a retirement reception the city is hosting on July 16 at city hall for city manager Dave Anderson. Anderson’s last day is July 23, and his successor is due to be announced sometime in early July.
Council, residents discuss safety, 85, city projects at joint meeting
