March 3, 2010

Dear Friend

Councilman Michael Brownrigg and I would like to invite you to a community meeting on Monday, March 8, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to help draft our city’s application for Google Fiber for Communities. The meeting will take place in the Lane Room at the main Burlingame Public Library, 480 Primrose Road.

Google Fiber for Communities would make Internet access in Burlingame 100 times faster than most Americans have access to today. The U.S. lags behind other developed countries in this area. If our city is one of those selected for the trial, residents and businesses would greatly benefit from ultra-high-speed broadband.

Our task on Monday evening will be to craft a creative and compelling proposal. It’s an opportunity to envision a future when high-speed bandwidth will enable innovations that aren’t possible today. We seek your input and ideas for presenting our case – and also for envisioning how Burlingame could embrace technology. Our conversation will help inform future planning for our city.

Please RSVP by Sunday, March 7, to terry@terrynagel.com to let us know if you can attend. Click here ton view the Google for Communities application .

High Speed Rail Alternatives Analysis

The California High Speed Rail Authority announced on Thursday that it will release the draft Alternatives Analysis for the Peninsula section of the high speed rail line on Thursday, April 8, during its regular board meeting. This time, the board will meet in the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Chambers in the County Government Center at 70 W. Hedding in San Jose to be closer to those affected by the project.

The Alternatives Analysis will begin to narrow the alignments contemplated for the project running along the Caltrain corridor, including Burlingame. The report will be posted on the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Web site here: www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/

A number of cities have requested that the 45-day comment period for the Alternatives Analysis be extended. Burlingame has joined the other cities in the Peninsula Cities Consortium in requesting that it be 90 days. The San Mateo County Transportation Authority voiced support for a longer extension at its Thursday evening meeting.

High Speed Rail EIR/EIS

The CHSRA has issued its draft response to the Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Study update, which was requested by Judge Kinney in the Atherton/Menlo Park lawsuit. It is posted on the CHSRA Web site here.

The draft will be fully distributed by March 11, which will begin a 45-day comment period that ends April 26. Comments may only be made on the revised materials in the document. In addition, the CHSRA board has tentatively scheduled a public hearing on the draft response to the EIR/EIS on the morning of April 7, also in the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Chambers.

To stay updated on high speed rail issues, I invite you to sign up for the Peninsula Cities Consortium mailing list at www.peninsularail.com.

See you around town!