|
||||||
Advertisement |
Dear Editor, At 50 cents per mile (the IRS reimbursement amount for personal car usage), Kapler is getting reimbursed ($250/month) for driving 500 miles per month. That takes him around our fair island city about 36 times per month, or almost twice a day per workday. That seems sufficient, right? During a Dec. 2, City Council meeting, issues regarding a $3 million repayment of Alameda’s sewer fund was debated. Work on removing the debris from the Fleet Industrial Supply Center’s (FISC) burned down hospital, is almost finished. In order to complete the work of demolishing the hospital and cleaning up the area, the CIC had to borrow $3 million from the sewer fund. [...] According to a December 2nd, 2009 City staff report to Alameda City Council, which also sits as the Community Improvement Commission (CIC) and the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority (ARRA), the clean-up bill for raising the former Army Medical Depot building that burned earlier this year has topped $2 million. Tonight, Alameda’s City Council members, sitting as the Alameda Re-use and Redevelopment Authority (ARRA), will consider a request from City staff to spend another $500,000 – on top of the roughly $1.5 million spent already – to abate the emergency condition posed by the buildings at the site of the former army medical depot hospital, which burned on March 29th, 2009, in what has become known as the “FISC fire.” In this story available from CNN.com, Alameda fire services cutbacks, with video from the Bay Farm Inverness fire are referenced as examples of nation-wide cutbacks in fire services, potentially impacting public safety. On their website, Alameda firefighters are now saying that four firefighters were injured fighting that fire. Continue reading Alameda Fire Services Cutbacks Mentioned in CNN Story by Denise Lai I almost missed the June 16 City Council meeting that became one of the most significant this year! I tuned in at home when Fire Chief Kapler was answering questions about a recent Bay Farm Island fire in which two firefighters sustained significant burns. I was taken aback at the glib and vague answers the chief gave, as though being affable and having a general understanding of the event was sufficient. By Liz Williams. Liz Williams is an Alameda resident. You can read more about the fallout from the FISC fire at this website. After several weeks of playing cat and mouse with the city attorney and the fire marshal, I received a copy of the Alameda Fire Department’s policies last week. I requested them so I could read the procedures for three and four-alarm fires like the FISC fire on March 29, as well as the department’s hazardous materials policies. The City of Alameda’s own documents and studies provide evidence to support estimates of 50,000 to 60,000 new vehicle trips per day in Alameda’s West End as a result of SunCal’s Alameda Point Revitalization Initiative. If the FISC property ever gets built-out by Catellus, it will mean even more traffic. By all accounts coming into our news desk, our City leaders and the senior officials at the Alameda Fire Department were, and are ill-equipped to properly respond to events such as the March 29th FISC fire. Next time, here’s who to call. In a press release, and FAQ posted to the City of Alameda website, the City is downplaying the risk to residents from the March 29th FISC Fire, in part with the classic “Research shows…” that airborne levels of asbestos from the fire were not at high-enough concentrations to pose a health risk. |
 |
||||
|
Copyright © - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
Recent Comments