More than 50 residents attended the Annual Meeting on May 28 to hear guest speaker City Manager Kimbra McCarthy. She showed slides as she explained how the City works and the council’s seven Strategic Priorities, then addressed three topics that will affect our neighborhood.
– The future park at 538 Thompson Ave. Monta Loma residents will be invited to participate in the design, scheduled to begin later this year. The City has purchased one adjoining property, 2231 W. Middlefield Rd., and hopes to purchase adjacent properties to enlarge the future park.
– The Rengstorff Avenue Grade Separation Project. Due to the increase in cost, the project to lower Rengstorff Avenue to pass under the Caltrain tracks has been postponed. The City is looking for Federal money to fill the gap.
– The San Antonio Corridor Plan. This will impact our neighborhood directly due to our proximity. Monta Loma residents were urged to participate in Palo Alto’s planning process by applying for a seat on the Community Advisory Group by the May 30 deadline.
Police Chief Mike Canfield came with Kimbra and explained the newly installed ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers) with FLOCK brand cameras. Working with other police departments, the MVPD tracked a car that had been used multiple burglaries. When the car was identified, a SWAT team was sent to the driver’s location, where jewelry and firearms were found.
The Mountain View Transparency dashboard. Monta Loma is in Beat 3. This shows a decrease in the number of crimes in our area. Chief Canfield encouraged residents to use the Portal and to give feedback.
The Monta Loma Community Portal. Monta Loma is the first neighborhood to pilot a portal to upload digital evidence to the Mountain View Police Department. Content would include footage from Ring or security cameras that may be useful to track down burglary suspects. Feedback is encouraged.