Town Hall Meeting – Plan for Hercules

Please clear your calendars and come to this Town Hall meeting this Saturday, November 19th! It’s a very important first step for community involvement in planning the future of Hercules. Below is an excerpt from the new city managers weekly report regarding this process.

A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HERCULES
As noted in last week’s report, staff is organizing two charrette-style town hall meetings to receive community input into a soon to be released draft of a strategic plan for Hercules. A mailer has been sent to all Hercules residents with the basic information, inviting all to participate. In addition to the community meetings, staff is welcoming input by e-mail once the draft plan is posted.

Library Gala

The Hercules Emergency Library Project (HELP) and Friends of the Hercules Library invite you to celebrate the Library’s 5th anniversary. The gala event will include a no-host cocktail party and buffet dinner, followed by dancing, socializing, prizes and a silent auction. Tickets are on sale at the Friends’ bookstore in the library or can be purchased online by downloading the order form at HerculesLibrary.com This is a community event to benefit one of the jewels of Hercules.

Duck Pond Park Grand Opening

The Duck Pond Park’s Grand Opening is next Saturday. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and a potluck.

• Bring your favorite dish to share at the potluck
• Meet the new City Manager and City Attorney
• Challenge the Council Members to a game of horseshoes

When: Saturday, Oct. 15th, 4-6:30 pm
Where: Duck Pond Park, 997 Sycamore Avenue

Here is a flyer that you can print out.

Investors Interested in the Sycamore North Building

The Hercules City Council discussed terms of a possible deal for the Sycamore North project during a session on Tuesday, September 27th.

Here is a summary of the meeting:

• The city has requested proposals for the sale of the building if developed with market rate apartments, 15% affordable units, or retail only. Currently there is only interest to develop the combination of retail and market rate apartments, or 15% affordable housing. So far, there is no interest in developing the retail portion only.
• There are about 8 investors interested. The city council expects to receive formal proposals in the next few weeks. They did not say anything about what the financial expectation is for this deal.
• They are still waiting to see if they will have permission to sell at these conditions – market rate only, or 15% affordable housing.

The deal is not a sure thing yet. But overall, good news.

The city is also actively looking for the sale of Sycamore Crossing (the parcel across from the Sycamore North building). We need to pay attention to what will happen with this new project.

Sycamore North Update

Thanks to all of the Bayside residents and others who joined together and contributed their time and energy to little “town hall” and the petition giving residents a chance to have their voices heard!  This is a little taste of representative democracy in action. Now, we must continue to show up and engage with our representative. We need to stay strong, resolute and united.

If you haven’t seen it already, here’s a link to a status update on Sycamore North.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, 6:55 pm, same place. I do not yet know what will be on that agenda but hopefully there will be an update on Sycamore North and the new city manager selection.

Special City Council Meeting

The City Council will hold a meeting open to the public this Tuesday. There will be a resolution adopted for Sycamore North and the council needs to get our testimony on the record!

The resolution includes:
1. market rate rentals with 15% affordable units
2. a tear down to retail only, as stated in the council agenda.

Bayside Gathering

The Bayside Community Gathering convened on the 14th of August, at 2:15 after 15 minutes of meet and greet time.

Attendance:
Mayor DeVera and entire council came (except Dan Romero). The Police chief – Goswick, Jesse Harder from planning Dept., and Hector Rubio from finance committee all attended. There were a couple of other city staff in attendance but I did not get all the names! We counted ~65 people one point with some people coming and going.

The Petition Is Now Online

Protect Our City and Neighborhood! Form a citizens task force to fix Sycamore North!

Please view and sign the petition online to help reach our goal of 500 signatures!

The Sycamore North building affects the whole city of Hercules because of its large size and central location. Please forward this site to all of your family and friends in town.

Bayside Community Gathering

Please join the Bayside Community Gathering to discuss the proposed alternatives for the future of the Sycamore North building (the construction site right next to our community) and our neighborhood. The Mayor and City Council will be attending. Bring your favorite foods to share.

Sunday, August 14^th
at 2pm
in Central Park
(intersection of Tsushima,  Central and Clark streets)

SPONSORED BY:
Sycamore North Working Group, a collection of residents working to preserve and protect our beautiful community, Bayside, in Hercules, California.