Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - OakleyPress_07.25.08 - Index

YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
National Award Winning Newspapers
Vol. 8, No. 30 Including Surrounding Communities www.oakleypress.com July 25, 2008
Officials fear rail traffic increase
Oakley to sell site for daycare facility
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
City offi cials are seeking buyers for a cityowned,
1-acre site on the northeast corner of
Laurel Road and Main Street who will build
and operate a child care facility on it.
The new facility would help make up
Oakley’s shortfall in child care facilities. The
city is 80 facility spaces short of what’s needed
for children up to age 5, and 610 spaces short
in the ages 6-to-12 range, according to a study
based on 2006 data.
The county required that a 1-acre site for
a child care facility be provided before allowing
the city to go forward with the nearby Oak
Grove residential development. The land was
transferred to the city when Oakley incorporated
in 1999 and has sat idle since then.
The City Council agreed at its July 8 meeting
to send out a request for proposals to child
care facility operators interested in buying and
developing the site. The council will select the
winner from among the top four proposals
selected by a city staff committee from the applications
received by Aug. 15.
Councilman Brad Nix was concerned
that the selection process would discriminate
against small, local daycare center operators.
The proposed criteria included a requirement
that the applicant must have “demonstrated
experience in preparing and implementing
similar types of development projects.”
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.
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
East County residents living
near the little-used Moccoco
railroad line will likely
need to get accustomed to the
house-shaking, 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
Nix asked whether this requirement refers
“to the building of the site – in which case
anybody who’s an operator is left out – or is it
the running of the facility? I have a strong concerns
that this be something open to our local
businesses.”
City Manager Bryan Montgomery responded
that it refers to the ability to implement
the proposal by operating the facility and
putting it into effect.
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
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 decades,
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
see Train page 21A
Photo by Dave Roberts
The city is planning to sell this 1-acre site at Laurel Road and Main Street to be
used for the construction and operation of a daycare center.
Nix noted that an outside franchise such
as Montessori might have a lot of experience
in constructing and operating child care facilities,
but “small operators aren’t as likely to have
experience opening up multiple operations. So
we are in effect discriminating against them.”
Councilwoman Pat Anderson disagreed,
saying, “I believe it’s important that whoever
see Daycare page 21A
THIS WEEK
Recipe for
hope shared
Two families torn by tragedy
benefited from a bake sale provided
by a caring community.
Page 8A
Stuntmaster
falls for film
Check out the derring-do of a
man who pulls crazy stunts for
a living.
Page 3A
Multifaceted
mastery
In their inaugural season, the
Delta Diamonds 12U softballers
made it all the way to
the World Series tournament.
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