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Menlo Park meets on high-speed rail

by Sandy Brundage

The Menlo Park City Council will hold a closed session meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 21, to discuss taking legal action against the rail authority over its final environmental impact report (EIR), which was re-certified earlier this month.

The California High Speed Rail Authority revised the first EIR, released in 2008, after being sued by Menlo Park, Atherton, and several nonprofit groups.

Mayor Rich Cline, who also chairs the Peninsula Cities Consortium (PCC), said the council may consider litigation after researching what other cities are doing.

The consortium is made up of five elected officials from Menlo Park, Atherton, Palo Alto, Burlingame and Belmont, five cities that would be heavily impacted by construction of a high-speed rail system.

The public will be allowed to comment before the council goes into closed session. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in the community room of the Belle Haven Senior Center at 110 Terminal Ave.

Following the closed session, the council will hold a study session at 7 p.m. on the development plan for the Willow Business Area in the main hall of the senior center.