Evergreen : 1982 Flood

Does it really matter who WANTS THIS sidewalk? Or who will use it?
If the project moves forward as planned - it will increase unfiltered, polluted storm water runoff  into Reed Creek, to the tune of 1.2 million gallons per year.
When runoff combines with high tide, it increases chance of flash flooding.
I'm sure that some people support the "idea" of a sidewalk - but THIS impervious concrete slab - is NOT worth risking the lives and property of our neighbors downstream.
I know a lot of people might think we are a bunch of crazy NIMBYs, but we are not.
What is crazy is to ignore flood plain ordinances, the TAM plan guidelines and ignore people who have lived here for many years - they know what they are talking about - and the TAM plan exists to protect the wetlands downstream.
What is crazy is to engage in construction that will dump 1.2 million gallons of unfiltered polluted runoff into a blue line creek that contains Steel head - a federally protected endangered species.
 - County is still in contract and the workers at Ghilotti have the skills to install the ADA grid system, fix this mess and put Evergreen back to at least close to the way it was, but with a wider shoulder which will create a path and increase pedestrian usability. (link to neighborhood recommendations)
Shoulder repair with increased drainage capability will serve the same purpose as the slab - but it will not cause distress and increase potential for disaster.
 - save the County the time and expense of grading the road.
 - decrease storm water runoff.
 - restore Evergreen's semi-rural character. 

Petition to take up the SLAB:
http://www.change.org/petitions/no-million-dollar-slab-for-evergreen-ave
Please click on the following link to comment on the HEAR US blog - which has another photo  - of the 1982 flood on Evergreen.  The water rise came from REED CREEK.
(LINK)

Evening Evergreen Update

Several neighbors have told me they have calls into DPW, but no response.
Every day I see these Ghilotti construction guys working away.
I'm convinced that in July 2010, the DPW probably figured this was "just another Safe Routes project" and had no idea they were walking into a hornet's nest.  I see all this effort trying to fit this concrete sidewalk onto a street that never needed a raised concrete sidewalk before - that most of us don't want - and as more people find out about it and see it - they scratch and shake their heads.
Just wait until the MHS parents and staff find out they can't park where they used to be able to park.
Got an email from a friend of mine, who has been watching this saga since March.
It said : "I have been down to Evergreen and it is a travesty."
Somebody asked me today -
"Do you think there is any chance they'll take it up? Is there a petition I can sign somewhere?"

http://www.change.org/petitions/no-million-dollar-slab-for-evergreen-ave

Evergreen Feedback

More discussion about the sidewalk :
On Bike to Schoolbus
http://hv94941hearus.blogspot.com/2012/07/bike-to-schoolbus.html

On "I Blame Kinsey"
http://hv94941hearus.blogspot.com/2012/07/evergreen-sidewalk-i-blame-kinsey.html

Petition comments :
http://hv94941hearus.blogspot.com/2012/07/no-slab-for-evergreen-ave-petition-up.html

Evergreen Update : New Photos

New Photos in the "For Evergreen" slideshow.
Neighbors are asking me for more green ribbons - seems someone keeps ripping them off the mailboxes. 

New Posts:
http://www.hv94941.com/2012/07/heartbreak.html

FAQ Page has been updated :
http://evergreensidewalk.blogspot.com/p/faq.html 

Since it has been noted that MHS' giant yellow school bus rarely contains more than a few students, this Bike to Schoolbus is beng suggested again :
http://hv94941hearus.blogspot.com/2012/07/bike-to-schoolbus.html

Evergreen Update : Safe Routes Signs, Neighborhood Feedback

Has anyone else noticed that the Safe Routes to Schools funding signs are missing - both - near Whole Foods and at Melrose?

Evergreen Avenue SR2S mentioned on local blogs:
HEAR US : feedback to "regrets, I have a few" :
http://hv94941hearus.blogspot.com/2012/07/comments-regrets-i-have-few.html 

Sands Box : Evergreen property owner (and one of the few vocal residents who supported the sidewalk project) Dylan Simonds  asks Charles Sands to "take a moment"  - scroll down to see the entire thread : http://thesandsbox.blogspot.com/2012/07/fwd-charles-take-moment.html

-----Original Message-----
From: Dylan Simonds
To: Charles Sands ; hv94941 ; Dylan Simonds
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2012 10:38 pm
Subject: Charles, take a moment...

to consider how out of control this "dialogue" has gotten. Seriously, please think about what you're doing, and to whom. You don't know the first thing about me, yet you direct hateful emails at me and a host of other community members whom you've identified and characterized not simply as supporters of the sidewalk project, but as vile enemies of Homestead Valley. You seem to not even discriminate between pro-sidewalk and anti-sidewalk, when you expend your venom. Your just equitable with your hate, I suppose.

For many months, I endured your constant barrage of incoherent and psychotic emails, before I finally (and on more than one occasion) asked you politely to remove me from your distribution list. Although you first agreed to accommodate my request, I continued to receive your regular correspondence, and I know that the same is true for quite a few other Homesteaders, who just want you to leave them alone. However, now that you have decided to openly deride me before your "readership" as a person undeserving of respect and with apparent affinities for your mortal enemies at MHS, I can no longer abide your foolish, immature, and spiteful BS. Take me off of your distribution list, right now, Charles, and cease your beligerent hate mongering.

If you ever really cared about engaging in discourse that could have a meaningful, positive impact on your beloved Valley, (GUESS IT'S NOT YOURS) you should have approached this process with  courtesy, maturity, and open eyes, ears, and mind  But, it's clear to me and many, many others that you don't truly care about your neighborhood at all. If you did, you'd treat me with the respect due due anyone, irrespective of their point of view. After all, neighborhoods are comprised of people, and being kind to people is the, well, neighborly thing to do.

By the way, I've never replied to your emails as an anonymous sender, and I don't even know how I would do that. It's also worth pointing out that I sent my most recent note to you out of disgust for the way in which you disparaged Mari, stating that she is, in your own thoughtfully chosen words, "either a naive communty organizer, a self-centered egoist using a neighborhood disaster for readership purposes to start-up your Hearus Blog or just plain dumb." You probably know as well as I do that that kind of language does not belong in discourse between neighbors, and it certainly serves no other purpose than to antagonize and patronize. Frankly, given the amount of time, energy, and anger you have dedicated to this epic, months-long rant, I actually wish that I knew you well enough (at all) to have talked with you about these issues in person, neighbor to neighbor. You deserve to have an ear lent to you as much as anyone, but the project and the dialogue are effectively at an end, and I respectfully ask that you observe common decency by leaving me (and anyone else who similarly pleads for peace) alone.

Sincerely,
Dylan Simonds

P.S.- In half-full disclosure, I thought I'd let you know that I have BCCd several of my Homestead Valley friends on this email in order to share my perspective with them. Since you seem to enjoy sharing your own opinions with lots of anonymous email recipients, I figured that you would understand. If they care to weigh in, they'll know how to reach you.

Evergreen Updates : Page Updates, DOT Hotline

Safe Routes Application page has been updated - (LINK) 
We have recieved a number of requests re: who to contact.

If you feel the Evergreen SR2S Project is a waste or misuse of federal/state Safe Routes funding, and you feel that the County is not being responsive to your concerns, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) maintains a Hotline to facilitate the reporting of allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs or operations.
You may report such allegations through the contact information listed at :
  http://www.oig.dot.gov/hotline

Allegations may be reported by DOT employees, contractors, or the general public. OIG’s Hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is operated by a third party contractor. You may find all the information you need on the Safe Routes Application page.

Safe Routes Funding Loss : What Does It Mean For Evergreen?

Saturday's Front Page in the IJ had a photo of Evergreen Avenue's SR2S project and a story about loss in Safe Routes funding on the federal level. Given that fact and all the negative backlash surrounding the concrete slab and its effect upon Reed Creek- will Marin County Supervisors decide to let the funds revert?
http://www.hv94941.com/2012/07/safe-routes-fundng-loss-what-does-it.html