”
Dear Red Phone, it is so irritating and frustrating when bikers
ride their bikes in Morgan Hill and they think they own the
road!
”
“Dear Red Phone, it is so irritating and frustrating when bikers ride their bikes in Morgan Hill and they think they own the road! A couple weeks ago, I was on Butterfield Boulevard when a bunch of bikers were not only refraining from staying in their bike lane, they had absolutely no consideration for the vehicles around them. The bikers did not even comply with the traffic laws of the road. I find this rude, arrogant and unacceptable. Don’t they know they not only put themselves in danger but drivers and pedestrians around them. How can the Morgan Hill police get the word out to educate these bikers to comply to traffic laws and share the road with vehicles.”
Red Phone:Dear Irritated, Red Phone could not agree more. But, like most people behaving badly, it’s a small percentage of bicyclists who act the way you described. However, you are correct in that they put themselves and others in danger by disobeying laws of the road. That’s why we have them. To keep people safe. Not sure what police can do, other than to start ticketing a few. Word will get around.
Good caller, Red Phone forwarded your concerns to the police chief. Realize resources are thin, but we’ll see what happens.
Where is the air monitoring station?
“Do you know if anything further has been done to install the southern monitoring station that would monitor the air quality in the South County as mentioned in a Sept. 4, 2008 story? Please!
I have been unable to find any up-to-date information on the subject.”
Red Phone:Dear Keep The Air Clean, the latest news is not good. Even though the owner of a power plant on Metcalf Road in San Jose and air quality district officials have had difficulty finding suitable sites where air monitoring stations could be installed in Morgan Hill, city officials want them to keep looking.
In 2005, when Calpine Corporation opened the Metcalf Energy Center, they made an agreement with the city of San Jose to install two air quality monitoring stations to measure the natural gas plant’s effects on Santa Clara County’s air. They agreed to provide all the equipment and pay for construction costs associated with the stations, and San Jose would be in charge of finding two suitable sites.
Funding and siting the air stations was not legally required of Calpine, but was more like a gesture of good will agreed to by the energy company and the city of San Jose.
Committee member Larry Carr said, “We were not a party to any agreement. We have tried to be a very loud voice.”
But so far, those voices have not been heard.
State-mandated monitoring instruments are in place at the Metcalf Energy Center, said Eric Stevenson of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Those instruments measure emissions of the plant’s smoke stacks, and would be reliable in determining if a plant failure was imminent.
In 2009, Morgan Hill City Councilwoman Marilyn Librers recommended that the city continue to urge San Jose officials and Calpine to identify a viable air monitoring facility site.
Good caller, let’s hope the city continues prodding Calpine.
