Community News

Coyote Valley Research Park Update

Eric Morley gave a brief update on the San Jose City Council approved Coyote Valley Research Park campus. The EIR procedural lawsuits filed by cities to the South including Salinas and Santa Cruz have been going through the process. The CVRP partnership of Cisco Systems, Gibson-Speno, and Divco Construction expect to be under construction by the end of the year. The first phase of building construction will be at the corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Bailey Avenue with 1.3 million square feet of office space for about 3500 employees.

They are currently aligning construction scheduling and permits for flood control and the 101/Bailey Avenue interchange. Design and construction of the 101 interchange and the flood control is expected to take 18-24+ months. Highway 101 widening has already been funded and the bidding will occur this summer with construction beginning later this year.

Q. Will there be a power plant on the Cisco campus?

A. No. Reports of a power plant on the Cisco campus are false.

Q. How do the economy changes and Cisco stock price drop affect the campus?

A. The Coyote Valley campus is still part of Cisco's long term plans.

Q. What is CVRP going to do if the proposed Calpine power plant goes in?

A. CVRP continues to intervene and participate in the CEC process. We will evaluate our ultimate decision when the Calpine issue is final.

Q. What are the main motivators for Cisco to build in Coyote Valley?

A. We are headquartered in San Jose. Coyote Valley is important for several reasons:

• We wanted to find a site that has established community plans.
• The site has two rail opportunities (CalTrain and future Light Rail expansion)
• San Jose houses 50% of Silicon Valley housing and will build 50% of the future housing
• Most of Cisco's current employees live in the transportation corridors of 85/87 and will have a reverse commute to the Coyote Valley campus.

Q. What will be the electrical load for the campus at full buildout?

A. I don't know but can get back to you.

Update from Council Member Forrest Williams

Forrest Williams gave a heartfelt thank you to the community for electing him to City Council. He reiterated his promise to work hard for the community.

Forrest spoke about his campaign promise to reduce traffic congestion. He has been appointed to the VTA Board of Directors. He said the Highway 101 widening work will start sometime this summer which will add two lanes in each direction from Bernal Road to Burnett. One of the additional lanes in each direction will be a commuter lane. He said construction to connect 87 South to 85 North should begin soon. They are working on getting 87 North connected to 101 North. They are working to get more trains on the San Jose to Gilroy CalTrain route. They are working on improving the bussing system in city. Currently there is a shuttle from Cottle Road to the Edenvale industrial businesses.

Forrest went over the different ways to communicate with him and his office. He invited everyone to use his web site. He said his office promises a 9 second response time once they understand the question being asked.

Forrest said the antennas proposed to be installed by Nextel on water towers above Snow Drive have been withdrawn. He said the Edenvale business expansion (101/Silver Creek/Blossom Hill area) has been developing very fast.

Q. When can we expect to have cable modems in our area?

A. We don't have a contract yet. We don't want their old technology. We are holding out for their high-transmission "state of the art" technology.

Q. What is the construction for on Santa Teresa Boulevard south of Bayliss?

A. It is pipe installation for sewer and water to serve Coyote Valley.

Perla Arellano, District 2 outreach coordinator, gave an update on Parks, Recreation Centers and Libraries in our community. Silver Leaf and Los Paseos parks are getting upgraded in 2002. No meetings have been held yet for upgrades to Shady Oaks park but their are plans for a large sports complex there. Some meetings have already been held on the next phase of Southside Community Center improvements. There will be at least one more meeting for community input. The Santa Teresa Library expansion is a long way off. There are plans for a new library in the southern part of the city. Meetings will be held for input on where this library should be sited.

Plaza de Santa Teresa shopping center to get a facelift

Patrick Conway with Duckett-Wilson provided an update on the Plaza de Santa Teresa shopping center located on the corner of Cottle Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard. Duckett-Wilson has plans drawn for the updated center, discussed them with Forrest Williams, and have submitted them to the San Jose planning department. They plan to remodel the facade and to add 10 new planters with larger boxed trees. The plans were submitted five weeks ago and it is expected to take 90 to 120 days.

The center has a signed lease with 24 Hour Fitness. They haven't submitted building permits yet. 24 Hour Fitness would like to get the Dollar Store building as well so they can build a "Sporting Box" 24 Hour Fitness. This would allow 24 Hour Fitness to have a pool and basketball court as well. They expect to wrap up the lease in the next 1 to 2 months.

McDonald's is looking to come back to the center. They think this community can support two McDonald's. Patrick will be meeting with them next week. McDonald's would shell out the old site and build a new McDonald's.

Comment: There are a large number of low income seniors across the street who need convenience items.

Response: We are looking to bring in a convenience store for milk, bread and eggs. Forrest Williams is looking into that too. Rite-Aid does very well at this location. They are looking to Rite-Aid to improve their interior and to improve the quality of their products.

Q. What is going on with the old Wolf Camera location?

A. We have taken that site back and will look for a complementary tenant to 24 Hour Fitness.

Q. Why didn't Lucky's try to make both stores work?

A. They didn't feel they could staff two stores.

Patrick said the deed restriction precluding a grocery store at Plaza de Santa Teresa only applies to the Lucky's building.

They have also had suggestions to look into a Farmers Market in the parking lot on weekends. They plan to hit the leasing of the center harder once construction starts. A few tenants may be leaving and they will be looking for neighborhood serving businesses.

Community Updates

The building at Great Oaks and 85 is a Server Farm and it does have backup generators on the site. They have plans to put another one next to the existing building.

Construction at the corner of San Ignacio Avenue and Via Del Oro next to Symbol Technologies is for Synopsis. They have permits to build four 3-story office buildings.

Final briefs have been filed today with the California Energy Commission for the proposed Metcalf Energy Center. A preliminary decision is expected at the end of May and probably a final decision in July.

Rob Wells with the City of San Jose made a presentation about the Anti-Grafitti program.

Solar Energy Information

John Mackay and Dougal Maclese from the Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group solar energy committee shared their research on community alternatives to the proposed Metcalf Energy Center by installing solar panels. The cost used to be prohibitively expensive but now is close to affordable given the current and expected future cost of electricity to the consumer.

Quick Summary

• $8,000 to $12,000 per KW for a solar panel system
• Average house will need 3 KW system
• State offers an immediate $3000 rebate per KW
• State proposed increasing rebate to $5500 rebate per KW
• Proposed 15% Federal Income Tax Credit
• Proposed 50% California Tax Credit
• Proposal for no state sales tax on purchase
• 25 year warranty
• Solar cells have a 40 to 60 year life expectancy
• Solar system can be combined with power from the grid
• Additional 10% tax credit if you have a home office
• Property taxes can not rise due these building improvements
• Takes about 3 to 5 days to install system
• Will need about 300-500 square feet on a southern exposure
• Need power from PG&E or battery backup in order to produce power with the solar cells
• 10 square feet of panels is equal to about 25 pounds
• Panels more durable than sliding glass door and can withstand hail
• Insufficient data to determine if you would get your return of investment should you sell your home but with current energy market should expect to get your money back in increased value of home
• 4 solar panels wired in series to get 48 volts than 2 sets of 4 wired in parallel
• Installer currently backlogged 2.5 months with a unsure assumption that product would be available
• Installer will provide volume discount quote once it is determined how many people are interested. Trying to get close to contractor prices. Installer will still have to visit each customer as each home and situation is different.
• Solar Energy Committee wants to make a decision by June.
• Suggest looking at financing options now.
• 10% rate Fanny Mae unsecured loans available
• Installer said he had 7% equity loans available
• More information at www.mcsolar.com