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January 2010
Alamo’s New MAC Meets, Elects Bowlby Chair
By Sharon Burke
Serving Alamo and Diablo
Alamo Chamber of Commerce Business
Person of the Year
The newly appointed Alamo Municipal Advisory Council met on December 15 and
took some important actions together as Alamo’s first representative government body.
At the annual Tree Lighting ceremoMAC members present were: David Barclay, Ed Best, David Bowlby, Nancy
ny the Alamo Chamber of Commerce
Dommes, Janet Miller Evans, Michael McDonald and Steve Mick. Also present:
presented their 2009 Business Person of
Sup. Piepho, County Staff Jen Quallick and John Oborne, Fire Chief Richard Price,
the Year award to Sharon Schuyler.
CHP Officer Eric Brewer, County Clerk Steve Weir, and several Alamo residents.
It has been only 15 months since the
Alamo Merchants & Professional Association (AMPA) changed it’s name to the
Alamo Chamber of Commerce. From
that point forward Sharon has shown
great energy and vision in spearheading Sharon Schuyler and John Lineweaver
a variety of new Chamber events, including the Business Expo and Trade
Show, the Incorporation Candidates Night, the Crab Feed and Officer Installation, and culminating in putting together our first-ever full color 52 page
Membership Directory, which was distributed to every household in Alamo.
Alamo's new Municipal Advisory Council members are pictured with Supervisor Mary Piepho and She has also spearheaded the start of the brand new Shop Local Campaign,
County Clerk Steve Weir at their swearing-in ceremony. From left to right: David Bowlby, Chair; which was launched in December though the chamber website, www.
David Barclay; Michael McDonald; Sup. Piepho; Steve Mick; County Clerk Steve Weir; Nancy alamochamberofcommerce.com. Sharon has been active in the Chamber
Dommes, Vice Chair; Janet Miller Evans and Ed Best.
and it’s predecessor organization for a number of years, and her energy has
County Clerk Steve Weir swore in the MAC members who duly promised to been a driving force for change and expansion of service.
uphold the Constitution and fulfill their offices to the best of their abilities.
Chief Richard Price of San Ramon Valley Fire District introduced himself and Local Builder Donates Services to Fire District
In mid-December, Jeff Fautt, president
encouraged MAC members and Alamo residents to consider him as Alamo’s fire
and
founder of Fautt Homes of Alamo
chief and contact his office with any questions and concerns.
Eric Brewer of Martinez office of the California Highway Patrol introduced offered to partner with the San Ramon
himself and encouraged Alamo residents and MAC members to contact the CHP Valley Fire Protection District to build
with any questions on traffic enforcement and accident investigation issues. The the new Fire Station 32 at the corner of
Miranda and Stone Valley Road in Alamo.
number to call is in Martinez, 925-646-4980 Monday through Friday, 8 to 5.
First order of business was the election of officers. David Bowlby of Bryan Ranch Mr. Fautt's offer includes the donation
was elected the MAC’s first chair, with Nancy Dommes of the La Serena area elected of his time as the general contractor for
vice chair. Mr. Bowlby has extensive planning experience, with past service on the the construction project. At the Board of
San Ramon Valley Planning Commission, and Ms. Dommes has been a long time Directors meeting on December 17, Mr.
volunteer on Alamo’s parks and landscaping advisory committees.
Fautt addressed the board and pledged to
John Oborne of the county Planning Department of Conservation and Develop- build the new Fire Station 32 as a way to
ment (DCD) discussed current planning issues in Alamo.
give back to his community and create a
The DCD has asked Kinder-Morgan, owner of the jet fuel pipeline that runs legacy for his family. Jeff's father, Sam
through Westside Alamo, to remove a large leaning oak tree that is threatening Fautt, was a firefighter in Hawaii when
the exposed pipeline where it crosses a creek at the Iron Horse Trail near La Ser- Jeff was growing up. Jeff considers the
ena Avenue. As mitigation for removal of the oak tree, the County is requiring donatation of his services as a tribute to his Jeff Fautt speaks at Board of
Kinder-Morgan to plant twelve smaller trees, 15 gallon in size, with the MAC to father, who passed away thirteen years ago. Directors meeting.
provide input on the location of the newly planted trees. The other option is for "If I can somehow give back and memorialize the sacrifice he made
Kinder-Morgan to pay an in-lieu fee instead of planting with county Public Works as a firefighter and a community leader, that would mean more than
to provide an estimated cost to plant and maintain 12 trees for a 2 year period. The anything to me. I wish to donate the construction of the firehouse to
MAC agreed to either option, with comments from MAC members stating that the the community of Alamo,”said
most important immediate priority was to stabilize the tree or resolve the situation Fautt in his address to the Fire
for safety reasons, rather than draw out the request for mitigation. In response to District Board.
a concern expressed by Sup. Piepho, Mr. Oborne stated the tree had recently been
Volume X - Number 1
Fautt, an Alamo resident,
3000F
Danville
Blvd. #117, Alamo, CA 94507
trimmed to address immediate safety concerns.
has been following the planTelephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397
See MAC continued on page 20 ning process of the new station
Fax (925) 406-0547
and wanted to play a much
Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher
PRSRT STD
larger and significant role in
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U.S. Postage
its completion. His father has
Sharon Burke ~ Writer
PAID
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always been an inspiration to
Permit 263
opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do
Alamo CA
him and his fond memories The
not necessarily reflect that of Alamo Today. Alamo Today is not
of time spent at his father’s responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor
See Station cont. on pg. 16
does publication imply endorsement.
Page 16 - January 2010 ~ Alamo Today
The Olive Tree By Blaine Brende and Joe Lamb
www.yourmonthlypaper.com
In the new year trees are used to celebrate hopes for peace and prosperity. It’s a very old custom, older than written history. Trees are powerful symbols of both the regenerative power of nature, and humanity’s purest aspirations.
Deciduous trees earn their place as symbols of self-renewal by returning yearly from their wintry grave carrying
bouquets of flowers. Evergreens earn their symbolism for steadfastness by outlasting the snow and ice without ever
losing their green. For me, however, the everyday miracle of photosynthesis is reason enough for trees’ sacred place
in human mythology. It would be considered alchemy of the highest order, if any scientist could create a machine
that uses sunlight to transform air, water, and soil into delicacies like persimmons, mangos and olives.
The olive tree’s subtle alchemy earned it a central place in human history. Olive oil lit the lamps in biblical times, and trees producing that oil are prominent symbols in the Koran, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Some olive trees alive today bore witness to the time of the Nativity.
It is safe to say that Western civilization, and Islamic civilization for that matter, would be radically different, perhaps unrecognizable, if the olive tree, Olea
europaea, had never evolved. Firewood from olive trees has warmed our nights and cooked our foods from Neolithic campfires to the hearths in ski lodges in
Tahoe. Olives and olive oil have been significant food sources for thousands of years. The first evidence of human consumption of olives for food comes from a
site in Spain dating to 8,000 BCE. The highly advanced Minion civilization built its economy around olives. The Phoenicians traded slips of olive trees around
the Mediterranean. These ancient arborists shaped the environment that in turn shaped the cultures of Mediterranean Africa and Southern Europe.
Olive oil provided the main source of light in the Mediterranean. Perhaps the numerous Biblical references to the olive, about 240, exist because the Bible was written in the soft glow of lamps burning olive oil. Scribes of the Koran were also burning olive oil in their lamps. The Koran also has over 200 references to the olive.
At Brende and Lamb, it is our wish that in 2000 years, when the olive seedlings sprouting now in Bethlehem reach old-age, human compassion and
intelligence will have evolved such that peace and prosperity exists for all people.
The fecundity of the olive tree is not always a blessing for an urban gardener. Harvesting and curing olives requires significant work. Given that the
trees are very messy if not picked clean, and that the fruit stains sidewalks, most landscapers prefer to plant fruitless varieties. Soil type and solar exposure
are important when deciding where to plant a tree. All varieties of olives prefer soils with good drainage. Soggy soils favor tree root pathogens. Olives,
true to their Mediterranean ancestry, flourish best in full sun. Judicious application of fertilizer can benefit the trees’ appearance. Commercial growers
fertilize their trees in the early spring so that the nutrients are available for fruit set. Olives can handle severe pruning. The fruit is produced on last years’
growth. When grown for fruit they are usually pruned on alternate years and are trained to
remain at a height that supports ease of picking. When pruning for aesthetics, the trees can be
gently sculpted to fit their locale and to accentuate their natural form.
If your trees need a little TLC, give us a call at 510-486-8733(TREE) or email us at [email protected] for a free estimate. Please also visit our website at: www.brendelamb.com Advertorial
Station continued from front page
firehouse helped lead him to this decision.
The fire district has a strict public bidding process for construction projects. According
to Fire Chief Richard Price, “the challenge in Mr. Fautt’s donation is finding a fair and legal
path that takes full advantage of the offer. The process must assure that the District receives
the lowest price possible for the work and quality specified.” Since the offer is a donation of
the complete general contracting role, an acceptable method of bidding subcontractor work
must be determined. The District staff is currently in discussions with Mr. Fautt and both
parties are optimistic that a cost saving and fair public process is achievable.
The general contractor’s role in a project of this type, includes management of the overall
effort including managing the subcontractors, materials, expenses and schedule. Typically,
a general contractor will receive between 5-12% of the overall project value as a fee. This
project is currently valued at approximately $3.5M, which puts the value of Mr. Fautt’s donation at between $175k and $420k of savings for the Fire District and the county.
“The Fire District is humbled by the generosity expressed by Jeff Fautt this evening.
Jeff’s love of community and of the fire service is truly an inspiration to all of us, said
Fire Chief Richard Price after the December Board meeting. “Jeff’s vast home building
experience will help the District ensure an exceptional finished product for the residents
of Alamo. We will work diligently in the coming months to see through the details of
this rare and very special offer.”
When contacted Jeff added, “The great thing about this is that the community is already responding to the offer. I didn’t expect this, but since that meeting in December,
I’ve been contacted by several contractors who would like to be a part of the effort.
They’d like to donate their time and be a part of the project on a cost-only basis. They
love Alamo as much as I do, and see it as an opportunity to do something good for the
community.” When asked for specifics about what he could bring to the table, Jeff said
“We have a good reputation because of the quality of our work, and because we run our
projects well. Unlike what we’ve seen from other notable Bay Area public works projects, we know how to bring in a project on time and under-budget, and without going
back to ask for more money. That efficiency and experience is something I can bring to
the Fire District for this project.
Building a new fire station is a long and involved process. They’re currently in what
they call the “design and entitlement” phase, which involves aligning permits, land-use and
See Station continued on page 19
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Whoooooo Are You?
Alamo Today ~ January 2010 - Page 19
By Evan Corstorphine, Portable CIO
Did you take a lot of pictures this Christmas? Maybe
you’re like me, and you take tons of pictures, and then
you leave them all for weeks (months, years..) to sort out
later. If so, there are a couple of programs and websites
you might be interested in trying. Any tool I can find to
help me organize the massive number of pictures, files,
and programs I own is a welcome addition.
The first program, which is for the PC is called Picasa.
It’s offered for free from Google, and it is really easy to
download and use. You can find it at http://picasa.google.com/. This cool software
finds and catalogs all of your pictures and videos that are stored on your computer.
Once all of your media is catalogued, you can sort through all of it very easily
and begin to organize and clean them up. Picasa has expanded the tools with the
program, and in this new release has improved editing features to let you lighten,
darken, crop, remove red-eye, and much more. You can even add visual effects
such as Sepia tone, soft-focus the picture to warm it up, or convert a picture to
black and white, to name just a few.
Another one of the new features they’ve added is facial recognition. This
is a new technology that according to Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), “…
is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person
from a digital image or a video frame from a video source. One of the ways
to do this is by comparing selected facial features from the image and a facial
database.” In the case of Picasa, it lets you identify representative pictures
of different people you know, creating your own little database. As you scan
in or discover new photographs, the software will automatically analyze the
new photos and search them to see if it can identify anyone in your photos
that match your database. In this way, you can automatically ‘tag,” or label,
your photographs. This makes your photos easier to enjoy, particularly if you
upload them to the web using services like Snapfish or Facebook.
Facial recognition is a relatively new technology for personal use. It was
originally designed as a way to identify persons of interest for law enforcement
in high volume settings. For instance, US law enforcement has a database with
pictures of known terrorists, and they have cameras at some major airports
that analyze the facial features of every person walking through the terminal.
Those images are compared to the terrorist picture database, and when they get
a hit, they spring into action. The technology they use is very sophisticated and
hard to fool. Unless the person of interest has significantly altered their facial
structure, it’s very likely the system will correctly identify them.
If you use a Macintosh, the iPhoto program has a similar feature called
‘Faces,’ and it’s just as easy to use as the Picasa program, if not easier. (http://
www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/) Apple always seems to figure out an innovative
way to approach the user interface. But, I digress. If you have a good online
picture of yourself you’d like to play around with, I have a couple of websites
you might find fun visiting. The first is sponsored by Coca Cola, and is found at
http://www.cocacolazero.com.
At this website, you are asked to upload a picture of yourself that can be
compared against the database of all other people who have submitted pictures.
The examples they provide while you’re waiting show some uncanny resemblances between individuals. Their schtick is to try to connect people who look
a lot alike with each other. So, after you’ve done your comparison, you’re given
the opportunity to reach out to the individual you’ve been compared to through
Facebook. I’m not certain that’s something I’m interested in doing, but I think
their technology was interesting. When I tried it, I had a lousy picture of myself
so I only got a 55% match with a guy named Ryan Johnson. I must say, we did
have a lot of features in common, and this software really does work.
The next website you can try is http://celebrity.myheritage.com/facerecognition. At this website, you can upload a picture of yourself (use the
same one as for the Coke site), and it will compare you to all the celebrities
they’ve loaded into their database. Using the same lousy photo I uploaded to
the Coke website, the heritage celebrity facial recognition system determined
that I have a 70% facial match to none other than Sharon Stone. Don’t laugh!
Obviously, the systems aren’t perfect, but it’s a fun thing to do and maybe
you or your kids have an inner star waiting to be discovered!
Digital photography can be a lot of fun. If you need help setting your system up for the best digital results, give the friendly staff at Portable CIO a call
at 552-7953, or drop us an email at [email protected]. Advertorial
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Station continued from page 16
zoning permissions, and getting the project officially recognized by the
County. Paperwork for this process will be completed shortly, and will be
resubmitted in early January. Along the way, information is being provided
to AIA, as they monitor the progression of the project to ensure it preserves
the distinctive character of Alamo.
The Fire District plans to submit final design documents to the County
in early January. If the County approves the design as submitted the District
will begin preparing construction drawings and detailed project specifications. Construction drawings will also need County approval and the issuance of a building permit. According to the District’s Capital Improvement
Plan construction is scheduled to begin in about a year with crews providing
fire protection and ambulance service from the new facility in early 2012
There are many resources available to provide information about the
new fire station. Please visit the Fire District website at www.firedepartment.org/projects to learn more about the Station 32 project. If you have
other questions that aren’t answered by the website, please contact Chief
Richard Price number (925) 838-6600, or email the fire department at
[email protected].
The home that is now located at the future site of the new Station 32 at the corner of Miranda
and Stone Valley Road.