A Roundup of Oct. 12 City Council Meeting

The following is a roundup of today's City Council meeting.

City receives golden shovel, donations

During a presentation at the beginning of the meeting, county Environmental Health Services Director Dean Peterson gave the council the golden shovel used earlier today to remove the last of the debris from the disaster area.

Representative from the San Francisco Giants also stopped by to present the council several checks worth more than $119,000 that the team raised last month following the Sept. 9 fire. The money is being donated to the relief fund set up by the city.

The checks kept rolling in.

Residents Jennifer Ohen and Holly Rekow, organizers of the Rally for San Bruno benefit at City Park last month, took a few moments to thanks those who participated in their event. They presented the council with the $21,000 raised at the event for the relief fund.

Valerie Walsh, the mother of Koreena Walsh — the Capuchino High sophomore who organized the Neighbors for Neighbors benefit concert following the fire — also presented the council with $350 in checks from the event.

City Manager Connie Jackson also said she just got word that San Bruno's sister city, Narita, Japan, also raised money for those affected by the fire. She said they donated $16,000 to the relief fund.

PG&E representative gives update

Kirk Johnson, vice president of gas transmissions and distribution for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., gave a quick update on what the utility has been doing since the fire.

Johnson said the utility is looking to complete an analysis required by the state Public Utilities Commission by next month. He also said that because PG&E was required to lower the pressure in Line 132, the natural gas pipeline from which the segment exploded in the Crestmoor neighborhood, the utility's ability to deliver gas during the winter months will be "significantly impacted."

When asked what the utility is working on now in the city, Johnson said crews are evaluating the gas pressure in PG&E's three pipelines that run throughout the Peninsula to compensate for not having all of the lines up and running. Johnson added that crews are also monitoring the safety of the pipelines through a process called external direct corrosion assessments in which crews are able to walk the pipeline with ski pole-like detection tools and gather data on corrosion in the pipes.

Planning process expedited for fire victims

Community Development Director Aaron Aknin gave a report about the expedited planning process the city will be enacting for residents who will be rebuilding their homes following the fire.

Aknin said the residents will have three options available to them, depending on how big they plan to rebuild their homes. For residents who plan to rebuild homes with the same size or up to 2,750 square feet, Aknin said, the city's process to review architectural and building plans could take up to two months as opposed to the three-month process the city usually requires.

For residents who want to build bigger, he said, those plans could take up to three months for the city review. But that process still won't take as long as the normal process.

Aknin also said the city is looking to put back some open space in the neighborhood since the Earl and Glenview Park was destroyed in the fire.

Following the meeting, the council held a closed session meeting to discuss its ongoing litigation related to the lawsuit filed by San Francisco Baykeeper and labor negotiations with the police department's bargaining unit.