Clayton’s in a sweet spot for 2016

Looking back at 2015, Clayton fared quite well. We began and ended the year with a balanced budget and a small surplus.
Here are a few highlights of Clayton’s 2015 accomplishments (in no particular order):

We produced 10 well-attended Saturday Concerts in the Grove Park and our 2016 Saturday Concert schedule is approved.

Clayton was named by two independent studies as the third safest city in California and the 10th best city for young families to settle in Northern California.
We honored two Eagle Scouts and are benefiting from their Scout projects in the Clayton Dog Park.

Measure “P” passed with 81.25 percent of your votes. This will maintain and operate The Grove Park for 10 more years. The Grove Park tot lot playground’s resilient play surface was replaced and largely paid for by the original installer. We also remodeled the water play feature in The Grove but due to water drought restrictions it cannot be turned on yet.

Fire Station 11 in Clayton reopened.

We hired Mindy Gentry, a Clayton resident, as our Community Development Director.

We hired Chris Wenzel as our new Police Chief.

Gary Napper, Clayton City Manager, successfully re-negotiated the Clayton Community Gym Agreement with MDUSD. We then renewed our contract with All Out Sports League to continue our after-school sports programs.

Boom Town

With an improved economy, Clayton has three approved projects on its books and five other projects in process. From single-family homes on per-acre-plus lots to townhomes, we should expect diversification as our limited buildable space starts filling in. Our staff is working on additions to the city website which will allow you to access the progress status of these and future developments.

The city-owned lot on Main Street had interest from four potential developers and I look forward to reporting progress in future columns.

In its quest to build a church on its lot adjacent to Mt. Diablo Elementary School, Sean Robinson, Pastor of the Clayton Community Church, has opened up dialogue with our new community development director to obtain information on the city’s Municipal Code regarding development standards and the entitlement process.

Morgan Fire

Since the Morgan Fire in 2013, the Diablo Fire Safe Council (DFSC) received grant funds for folks living in Clayton Valley for defensible space projects on their property. A neighborhood gets together and does the “sweat equity” work by cutting down any trees, shrubs, vegetation, etc. to create defensible space around their property. DFSC will then provide funds for a contractor to come in and mulch all of the cuttings. DFSC is holding meetings in Clayton every other month to create the plan. Their next meeting will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at the Clayton Library.

Today is the oldest you have ever been; yet the youngest you’ll ever be. Enjoy each day while it lasts. Always remember that health is real wealth. May 2016 bring you and your family good health and may you prosper.

E-Mail questions or comments to: Hgeller@ci.clayton.ca.us.