What's Happening in Piedmont

The Piedmont City Council will consider the annual budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 at three separate meetings. The first, a Saturday work session was held on May 11, 2013. Public hearings regarding the proposed budget and the levy of the Municipal Services Tax and Sewer Tax will be held during regularly scheduled City Council meetings on June 3 and June 17, 2013.

May 1st is just around the corner and the Piedmont Community Pool is ready for the season! Annual and Seasonal Passes are available NOW! Stop by and purchase your pass today.Annual Passes are valid for 365 days from the date of purchase, while seasonal passes are valid from May 1st through October 31, 2013. Prices and other details about passes are available on the Piedmont Community Pool web page. Download, fill out, and return the pass form to purchase or renew your pass today!

On Thursday, March 14, 2013, staff delivered the final grant application to the Alameda County Transportation Commission for funding of our proposed Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan with a Safe Routes to School Component (Ped/Bike/SR2S Plan). According to the Alameda CTC schedule, we will likely learn of the preliminary recommendation on our grant request in May and the final recommendation in June, and, if granted, will receive funding in the fall.

On March 21, 2013, the California Court of Appeal sided with the City of Piedmont in a procedural motion in its suit against the two engineering firms who designed the Piedmont Hills Undergrounding Assessment District.The Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that the City’s filing of its suit in Superior Court was indeed proper and that arbitration was not mandated by the City’s contract with its engineers. The case will now go back to Superior Court and will be tried on its merits. No trial date has been set.

The Piedmont Police and Fire Departments are now offering an email alert system for public safety related news. Residents who register with the city will receive notices regarding major street closures, public safety situations, and planned power outages at the same time information is sent to the press. In addition, sign ups are being taken for neighborhood safety meetings.

At the City Council meeting on November 19, 2012, Mayor John Chiang announced that the City of Piedmont has reached and executed an agreement with the Friends of Moraga Canyon (FOMC) to settle the lawsuit brought by that organization regarding the CEQA process for the Blair Park element of the Moraga Canyon Sports Fields Project. Blair Park, LLC and the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) have also joined in the settlement. Click to read the press release or the settlement agreement.

The City of Piedmont invites public comment on the matrix combining the recommendations of the City Council Audit Subcommittee, Municipal Tax Review Committee, and League of Women Voters Task Force to Investigate and Report on Piedmont Hills Undergrounding District. This matrix, along with the full reports of each of these bodies are linked below.