RONA Meeting, September 2015

Following are updates from the September River Oaks Neighborhood Association (RONA) meeting, September 2015

Status of the new Elementary/High Schools on the former Agnews property

  • At a City Development meeting held in Alviso last week, Larry Adams gave us a status update on the former Agnew’s site.
  • Approval has been given for the toxic soil cleanup and that project is out to bid.
  • Zanker Road will need to be widened on the east side between River Oaks and the Cisco buildings.
  • In the spring of 2016 work will start on the removal of former Agnews buildings.
  • There is a lot of asbestos in the buildings which will need to be cleaned out before the demolition can proceed.
  • Architectural design will take a year.
  • There will be outreach to the neighbors for input.
  • The estimation is that it will take 1.5 years for construction so it may be 3 to 4 years before a new school will open.   There was no indication if the time frame would be for both the elementary and high schools or just the elementary.  More information to follow.
  • The plan is to save the historic water tower.  It, at this time, is not a certainty.

Boston Properties Site (Future Apple Location?)

  • The former? Current? Lockheed site bordered by Research, Montague, Zanker and Innovation (behind Crescent Village and Montague) is about to be renovated.
  • An application is before the city Planning Committee.  It listed as an unknown company planning on Research and Development.
  • It has been rumor to be an Apple site.  The current plan lists keeping four existing buildings and creating two new larger buildings.
  • We were told there will be a neighborhood meeting in late September or early October to discuss impact on our homes.

River Oaks Street Construction Project

  • The paving of River Oaks should be finished in the next few days.
  • There is a bit of uneven road that has not been included in the construction as River Oaks meets Montague.
  • We have been told that area is County property and the other paving is from the city.
  • An outreach to the county was made and their representative said he understands the issue and see what can be done.

Bike Lanes on River Oaks

  • Bike lanes on River Oaks have been promised (in writing) but will not be laid out until the original paving project has been concluded.

Status of Epic Park  

  • This is area behind Epic Apartments to the foot of the Coyote River Path.  Epic Park is not likely to be the real name of the area.
  • This area was where the construction equipment, materials and parking was located during the construction of the Epic Apartments.  The area is best seen from the Coyote Trail path that is behind Epic, Crescendo, Millbrook, Parkside, Verona and Cisco.
  • We were told it could possibly be like the park area in front of Crescent Village.
  • There is a legal document and plan between the city and the developer,  The developer and is asking for clarification on easement from the city.
  • There will be two community meetings to discuss this project, the first may possibly be in early November and the second in January.
  • This will be neighborhood residents chance to give input for the type of park.  Should it be a dog park?  Should it be a quiet area?  etc.  Watch for more information on the dates and location if you are interested.

Our new District 4 City Councilman

  • Mahn Nguyen (first name pronounced Mon) is our newly elected representative. He was invited to the recent River Oaks Neighborhood Association.
  • The invitation was not early enough to get on the Councilman’ agenda but he was able to send his assistant to learn about our neighborhood and our needs.
  • They have indicated they will be at future meetings.