A good place to be when things get bad
San Mateo County is not as ready for a serious emergency as one might hope. A recent county Civil Grand Jury report detailed the shortcomings, but had a few kind words to say about the Midpeninsula.The report called the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, which also covers Atherton, a model “in the forefront of disaster preparedness.” Woodside Fire Protection District, which covers the unincorporated areas of Woodside and Portola Valley, boasted 300-plus trained residents in its Citizen Emergency Response and Preparedness Program, the highest number in the Peninsula.
Of course, the safest place to be when the big one hits is still probably out in the rural counties that many paramedics, firefighters and police officers call home.
If you’d like to pad Menlo Park fire’s numbers, the district is holding free emergency prep classes starting September 21; call 688-8425 or go to menlofire.org/cert.
A little too rural for Atherton
The bumpy dirt expanse of Selby Lane in Atherton is finally going to get a coating of asphalt, says Duncan Jones, the town’s public works director.Paving work was set back by about a week when soil-compaction tests showed the roadbed dirt was too loose. Adding to the mess, a burst pipe on nearby Gresham Lane created a big mud pit. Additional work to prepare the soil did the trick, Mr. Jones says, and paving is set to start on Thursday, August 6, and should be done by the 13th.
The asphalt should make things a little more pleasant for the street’s residents, but that doesn’t mean Selby Lane will be open to the rest of us any time soon. Mr. Jones says to expect another two months of drainage and other work to be done before the road reopens.
Edited by Andrea Gemmet, agemmet@almanacnews.com.
