Improving emergency communications and pedestrian pathway options on Page Mill Road remain top priorities for the Los Altos Hills City Council in the coming year following its Jan. 23 goal-setting meeting.
The meeting allowed the council to debate and rank important issues for staff to devote time to in the coming year, with quality of life, public safety, governance and infrastructure ranking high on the list. Vice Mayor Lisa Schmidt spearheaded the effort to expand emergency communication notifications during natural disasters, asking city staff to work with a consultant to ensure a large portion of residents can be alerted in emergencies that they need to leave their homes. Santa Clara County has an official emergency alert and warning system called AlertSCC, which the county uses to get up-to-date information on disasters and emergencies. However, Schmidt remained unconvinced of how well AlertSCC would work in more remote parts of Los Altos Hills and asked staff to prioritize exploring improvements.
“We are concerned we can’t get emergency evacuation notices to the entire town,” Schmidt said.
The vice mayor noted that there had been several emergency communication alert issues with substantial fires in other parts of California, like the Paradise Fire, when some people did not know when to evacuate.
“We want to avoid that in our town, and we are not sure we are set up,” Schmidt said. “I don’t think we feel like it’s a failure of the town as much a failure of the county, but we have to take care of it.”
Los Altos Hills City Manager Peter Pirnejad said city staff will work with the Emergency Planning and Response Committee on the scope of an emergency communication notification study focusing on examining options on the best way to notify residents during a natural disaster. A council majority also prioritized off-road pedestrian pathways on Page Mill Road and Via Feliz. Staff will need to coordinate with the Pathways Committee to discuss and review appropriate design and alignment issues and then bring recommendations to the council for further action, according to Pirnejad.
Los Altos Hills will also continue to work with Los Altos on the Fremont-Redwood Grove Path, with city attorneys from both cities involved. The pedestrian path would improve the current makeshift path options through steep brush between Redwood Grove and the end of Fremont Road. The town and Los Altos have previously expressed interest in improving access and safety.
“There is a lot of complexity to what would seemingly be a simple connector trail between us and Los Altos,” Pirnejad said at the meeting.
The proposed priorities from the Jan. 23 session are scheduled for approval at the Feb. 15 council meeting.
