Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_07.25.08 - Index

YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No. 30 Including Surrounding Communities www.brentwoodpress.com July 25, 2008
Officials fear rail traffic increase
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
East County residents living
near the little-used Moccoco
railroad line will likely need
to get accustomed to the houseshaking,
horn-blaring roar of
as many as 40 trains rumbling
by each day. Those trains also
will lead to traffi c tie-ups at several
major intersections.
“This has a tremendously
negative impact on the community,”
said Antioch Mayor
Don Freitas at the July 8 City
Council meeting. “That means
that cars will be stopped at
Hillcrest, at “A” Street, at Somersville.
There’s going to be issues
of circulation, fi re vehicles,
ambulances, school buses. This
is a very big issue for this community.
“People who have their
houses backed up to this line
have not experienced a train
rumbling by and shaking their
house and backyard. We better
clearly understand the impact
that it has. It impacts public
Photo by Dave Roberts
The Union Pacifi c Railroad’s Moccoco Line, which runs through
East County (and beneath Highway 4, above), has been used
mostly for train storage. Local offi cials are concerned about a
plan to run as many as 40 trains on that line each day.
safety, economic development,
quality of life. It also becomes
a nuisance.”
Freitas said that the Union
Pacifi c Railroad’s Moccoco
Line, which also runs through
Oakley, Brentwood and Byron,
has been primarily used as
a storage yard and hasn’t been
maintained or repaired in de-
cades, forcing trains to travel no
more than 2 to 5 miles per hour
on it.
“So when I read that no
signifi cant improvements are
planned, that concerns me from
a safety perspective,” he said. “I
want to know exactly what they
are going to do – because they
have done nothing for decades
on this particular line. So this is
a big issue.”
Freitas said he’s also concerned
about noise.
“If we are going across
Hillcrest, “A” Street and Somersville,
those trains will be using
their horns,” he said. “It’s a
constant source of irritation for
many people in this community.
If there are 40 trains that are
going to be doing that all during
the day and night, it will exacerbate
a nuisance that a lot of
people would like to see stopped
entirely. We are very concerned
about this.”
Union Pacifi c spokeswoman
Zoe Richmond said the plan
see Train page 21A
Attracting employers is Job One
by Rick Lemyre
Staff Writer “ We don’t have the land
City offi cials should continue to shift
their focus from bringing in new retailers to
attracting jobs, the City Council said this
week.
A staff report on the city’s Economic
Strategic Action Plan was presented at the
Council’s meeting Tuesday, showing that
the city has reached its goals with regard
to retailers and had begun to shift its emphasis
to job creation. To that end, the report
says, the city offers employers some
advantages, but there are also challenges to
making Brentwood a practical destination
for them.
According to a recent study, Brentwood,
Antioch and Discovery Bay have a
higher concentration of “settled” workers
(workers between 30 and 44 years old, own
a house and have a family) than do Bay
Point, Pittsburg and Oakley, compared to
which the Brentwood, Antioch and Discovery
Bay workforce also has a higher average
income and lives in more two-person
income households – positive signs to large
employers.
congregated to do what we
have to do, and we have to
figure out a way to deal with
that.
Councilman Chris Becnel
But while Brentwood has some properly
zoned land on which to build the
business parks and other job centers that
large employers seek, that land is mostly
scattered in small parcels around the city
(except for the area west of the Highway
4 Bypass).
“The fundamental issue is allocation
of land,” Councilman Chris Becnel said.
“We have a surplus of 200 acres for retail,
but we’re under on offi ce and industrial
(land). We don’t have the land congregated
to do what we have to do, and we have to
fi gure out a way to deal with that.”
The city’s General Plan calls for Brentwood
to have 1.5 jobs per household, which
at build-out would mean some 40,000 jobs
within the city. Currently, the city has about
15,000 jobs, or about one per household.
“We may have to revisit that (1.5) number
as a target,” Becnel said, adding jokingly
that “Maybe we should tell people that if
they want to move here, they have to work
in the city, or bring a job with them.”
Councilman Erick Stonebarger said
there could well be employers out there
who would consider a move to Brentwood
if they knew more about the city.
“I don’t know if we go out and try to
sell ourselves enough,” he said. “Maybe we
could identify industries we want to pursue.
I don’t want to wait for them to come
to us.”
Mayor Bob Taylor also said that the
effort to attract employers could benefi t
from largely untapped resources in its several
retirement communities.
“We’d probably be shocked at how
many retired CEOs we have,” he said, adding
that their contacts in the business world
could help bolster Brentwood’s prospects
as a job center. He also suggested that the
city take better advantage of its golf and
see Employers page 21A
National Award Winning Newspapers
THIS WEEK
Fired up
for film fame
If you think you’re capable
of pulling some crazy stunts,
check out the derring-do of a
man who does it for a living.
Page 3A
Recipe for
hope shared
Two families torn by tragedy
benefited from a bake sale provided
by a caring community.
Page 8A
Dream shot
postponed
A local swimmer who narrowly
missed the cut at the Olympic
Trials is getting right back to
work for the next time around.
Page 1B
INSIDE
Business .......................... 9A
Calendar ........................23B
Classifieds ......................15B
Community .................... 3A
Education .....................10A
Entertainment ..............22B
Food ..............................12B
Health & Beauty........... 10B
Milestones .......................9B
Opinion ........................16A
Public Notices ................18B
Sports ...............................1B