City seeks funds for fire station

One of the interesting things about being mayor is that I get to care about all city issues, no matter how big or small. You’ve read about such issues here as the size of our recycling cans and litter clean-up, but today I will address a couple of larger issue of importance to our Clayton community: the closing of our Fire Station 11 last year, traffic safety on our roads, and high-speed Internet access.

The City Council recently approved and sent a letter to the Contra Costa Fire District Board of Directors (our County Supervisors) requesting that a portion of the recently received grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency be used to fully staff the Clayton fire station.

We point out that Clayton is the only incorporated city in Contra Costa County without a full-time fire station. We also point out that response times in Clayton have increased more than the other station closure areas. We mention the recent Morgan Fire and the dangers of Marsh Creek Road. Hopefully the fire board will see the need to fully staff Station 11 again.

I received a couple of emails from residents on Keller Ridge Drive expressing concerns about traffic on their street. I am on our streets throughout the week and I have seen some of the problems that were mentioned — drivers rolling quickly through stop signs and speeding. Our police department has been working on the problem, but it is hard for them to be at the right spot at the right time every time.

I calculated that the difference in drive time between 25 m.p.h. and 35 m.p.h. from the top of Keller Ridge to Eagle Peak Avenue is about 50 seconds. (That assumes stopping at the stop sign.) Fifty seconds is not enough of a time savings for the increased risk.

When I was at Clayton Valley High School Mr. Zino was our driver’s education teacher. One of the things I remember was his admonishment that we actually drive a little under 25 m.p.h. in school zones and residential neighborhoods. He cautioned us that if we were driving more than 25 m.p.h. and a child were to dart into the street and we hit the child, we would have to live with the fact that we were speeding and could have possibly saved the child had we not been. No time savings or other pressures are worth that risk.

Lastly, the issue has been raised again recently why there is not more competition for high speed Internet access in Clayton. Comcast is the dominant provider. They provide a good product, but many of us would like to have alternatives. AT&T Uverse is only available in a few of our neighborhoods as part of an AT&T Concord expansion. The company has not been interested in installing Uverse to the rest of the city. Astound considered expanding but pulled back when the recession hit.

Clayton would love to have more options for our residents. Unfortunately, AT&T and Astound have not been interested in making the investment in Clayton. They may feel that Clayton is too small of a market to make it worth their while.

I would suggest that if you would like to have more choices that you contact AT&T, Astound or any other Internet provider and request their service. If these companies see that there is sufficient demand they may decide that an investment in Clayton will pay off.

You can email me at hstratford@ci.clayton.ca.us.