Drug Drop-Off Days - Oct 6-10, 2008

The days of dumping your old prescription drugs into the toilet to get rid of them are officially over in California.

Today, you can only get rid of expired or unused pharmaceuticals through special drop-off events coordinated through a local law enforcement agency.

Suisun City is teaming up with the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District and our Solano County Local Task Force for Integrated Waste Managementpartners to present Pharmaceutical Drop-Off Week from Oct. 6-10 at the Sheriff's Coroner's Office at 520 Clay Street, Fairfield. You can go by the office anytime from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday next week to drop off your old prescriptions.

>>Click here for all the details>>

This is being coordinated as part of a statewide effort called "No Drugs Down the Drain" to educate the public about how to properly dispose of old pharmaceuticals. Research has shown that pharmaceutical waste cannot be removed from wastewater before it is released into state waterways, and that it is evident in concentrations in fish and other wildlife.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board in coordination with local task forces are working on a more permanent solution to this disposal challenge. But until that's in place, hold onto your expired or unused prescriptions and use one of these periodic events.

$100 Dilemma Solved

If you found a $100 bill while you were picking up garbage, what would you do with it?

Quinn Weaver, a 9-year-old Cub Scout from Suisun City, found himself in just that spot during the Coast and Creek Cleanup Day on Sept. 20. Working with his family near Laurel Creek, the boy found a $100 bill among the weeds and litter.

Here's how the Daily Republic's Cecil Conley started his Sept. 27, 2008, A1 story about Quinn:

"Nine-year-old Quinn Weaver grinned when asked whether he would define 'a lot of money' as having two quarters in the palm of his hand.

Quinn may be just a fourth-grade student at Crescent Elementary School in Suisun City, but he knows a thing or two about currency and the value of money.

As Quinn, his father and sister were gathering trash at Laurel Creek last Saturday during the California Coastal Cleanup Day, Quinn found a $100 bill.

'It was a lot of quarters,' he said.

Quinn first thought the bill was a leaf. After his father, Kelly, inspected it, Quinn and his sister, Bridget, soon knew they had found 'a lot of money.'

As the finder of the bill, Quinn could have very well become the keeper of the money. And what would a 9-year-old boy buy with $100?

'Video games,' he said."

Instead, Quinn donated the money to the Cub Scouts!

There's the Suisun City community spirit in action!

Here's a link to the Quinn family's very proud blog post. (Kudos the Quinn's parents for teaching life's real lessons!)

By the way, Crescent Elementary School's slogan: "Stars Rise at Crescent Elementary." Quinn is definitely a star in our book!

Halloween Fun @ Suisun City Library

The Suisun City Library is planning a fun Halloween celebration the night before All Hallow's Eve.

The Thursday Oct. 30 fun includes a couple age-appropriate haunted houses. They are looking for teen or adult helpers to put on this terrific community event. >>Check this link for details!>>

What a great opportunity for a church group, service club or other youth organization!

Slurry sealing starts Monday (Sept. 29)

The second phase of the $1.2 million 2008 Streets Improvement Project gets underway in earnest starting Monday morning (Sept. 29).

Crews with California Pavement Maintenance will apply the thick slurry seal to more than 1.4 million square feet of roadway covering 38 street segments across the City over six workdays, with typical work hours being 7:30 a.m. to about 4 p.m.

The streets that will receive slurry seal will be the same ones that were treated with the rubberized asphalt chip seal earlier this month. The slurry seal is the final, finish coat that will provide a smooth driving surface and cover the gravel 'chips' applied in the initial construction phase. >>Click here to see the schedule and maps!>>

By using the rubberized asphalt treatment in conjunction with the traditional slurry seal, the City was able to significantly upgrade some of the worst-rated streets in the City while extending their useful life by 10 to 15 years.

The process cost 15% of the traditional 'grind, remove and replace' approach while providing the same benefit. Because of the cost savings, Suisun City Public Works was able to improve many more streets than would otherwise have been possible. The vast majority of the funding for this entire project came from the state infrastructure bonds voters approved in recent years.

Plus, the rubberized asphalt process removed 11,219 used vehicle tires from the California waste stream! That's why the California Integrated Waste Management Board gave use a grant to help underwrite this project!

New Fire Truck Is Done!

The brand new 100-foot ladder platform fire truck is done and on the highway en route to Suisun City! In fact, it might be here as early as Friday (Sept. 26)!

Chief Mike O'Brien and Battalion Chiefs Ken Woods and Dave Bellerive went back to Louisiana last week to sign off on this fantastic new addition to the Suisun City Fire Department at the Ferrara Fire Apparatus assembly facility. (Special thanks to Ferrara for all the great construction photos.)

Check out the slideshow!!

Plan to come to the Fire Department open house on October 11 to see the new truck up close!

Dollar Tree open in Suisun City

The City Building Department has completed all the final inspections on the new Dollar Tree store, which I understand opened for business today!

The Dollar Tree, located at 240 Sunset Avenue, Suite A, fills the former furniture store space facing Highway 12 next door to Ace Hardware. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

They advertise themselves as offering everything from everyday to seasonal items for $1 or less - a very welcome price range in these times of high gas prices, particularly for a store within an easy walk of so many Suisun City residents and right alongside the Central County Bikeway!

I'm sure this is a 'soft opening,' so be kind to the staff & stay tuned for grand opening announcements from the company in coming months.

Recall Petitions Fail to Qualify for Ballot

SUISUN CITY — The Solano County Registrar of Voters found that the recall petitions for Mayor Pete Sanchez, Councilmember Jane Day and Councilmember Mike Hudson lack sufficient valid signatures to qualify for a recall election, Suisun City Deputy City Clerk Donna Pock announced today.

City Clerk Linda Hobson requested the Registrar of Voters validate each signature submitted on the petitions to ensure the most accurate and fair assessment of the petitions for all parties involved. For a petition to be sufficient to qualify as a ballot measure, it needed to contain valid signatures of at least 2,013 — or 20% — of registered City voters.

The results of the canvass are as follows:

• Petition seeking recall of Mayor Sanchez contained 1,907 valid signatures.
• Petition seeking recall of Councilmember Day contained 1,852 valid signatures.
• Petition seeking recall of Councilmember Hudson contained 1,894 valid signatures.

Under California elections law, no further action by the governing body is required if the petitions are certified as being insufficient.

Click here for press release
Click for Registrar's summary report for Mayor Sanchez petition
Click for Registrar's summary report for Councilmember Jane Day petition
Click for Registrar's summary report for Councilmember Mike Hudson petition

Doing our part to protect Suisun Marsh

The Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District has won a Silver Peak Performance Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies recognizing its achievement in meeting national regulations and standards for treament of wastewater.

When you live as close as we do to a fantastic natural resource such as the Suisun Marsh, this is an important part of everyday life for Suisun City residents.

Click here for the news coverage of this award.

We've got Cougar Pride!

While Crystal Middle School proudly proclaims itself the "Pride of Suisun," we've got a bit of Cougar pride as well.

For the next couple of weeks, the City Hall lobby will host a collection of student posters portraying various elements of just what it means to have PRIDE:

• Perseverance
• Respect
• Integrity
• Discipline
• Excellence

An initiative of Principal Dave Marshall, the Pride program instills in students a foundation of principles that will serve them well not only in middle school but for years to come.

We applaud all the students who took the time to create their thoughtful posters.

Come by City Hall anytime Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays) and check out the art, and be inspired by Suisun City's kids!

UPDATE: The Daily Republic ran a nice story on the Crystal Middle School PRIDE program on A1 Monday Sept. 29, 2008. Visit www.dailyrepublic.com to check it out.

First-time Homebuyer Program

The Suisun City Redevelopment Agency has launched its First-time Homebuyer Program to help bolster the quality of Suisun City's neighborhoods while providing affordable home-ownership opportunities.

Here are the basics:

• Loans are available to purchase newly renovated foreclosed homes. (The list is available from the RDA.)
• Down payment assistance of up to 25% of the home's purchase price, including closing costs.
• 3% min. homebuyer down payment.
• Income qualification required >>Click here to see the chart>>

Click here for more information on the program and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program

New Fire Truck Nearly Finished!

Suisun City Fire Chief Mike O'Brien and two battalion chiefs are scheduled to make the final pre-delivery inspection of Suisun City's new 100-foot ladder platform fire truck next week!

They are anxiously watching Hurricane Ike and hope to be able to make the trip. If all goes as planned, the new truck may be in Suisun City in time for Fire Prevention Week, which is Oct. 5-11! (Psst! We're planning a Fire Station Open House for Oct. 11!)

We've added new pictures to our slideshow of the new truck being assembled by Ferrara Fire Apparatus in Holden, Louisiana. Check it out here.

Fresh & Easy and Travis Credit Union Coming to Suisun City

The intrepid Daily Republic carried a story today about plans by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Travis Credit Union to set up shop in Suisun City.

Travis Credit Union should be open in the Sunset Shopping Center by the end of the year, while Fresh & Easy plans to open in a portion of the former Albertson's store sometime next year, along with a couple dozen other locations stretching from San Francisco to Sacramento.

Links:

• Click here for the Solano EDC's excerpts of the article.
• For the whole thing, visit the Daily Republic site and click on the business section. (You'll need a subscription.)
• The Suisun City store also was listed on the Fresh & Easy Buzz Blog, which is loaded with info about the company's plans in the region.
  

Suisun Valley Wine Note in NY Times

Sept. 17 update: Not be outdone, the Boston Globe today ran an article on the Scholium Project in Suisun Valley. Seems the East Coast has discovered at least one local winery!

No less a source than the New York Times has taken note of an innovative Suisun Valley winery located just across Interstate 80 from Suisun City.

How's this for an endorsement:

"No winery in California is more unconventional, experimental or even radical than Scholium. Half the wines it makes in any given year are exquisite. The other half are shocking and sometimes undrinkable. All of them are fascinating, which is exactly the way Mr. Schoener wants it."

If you want to read more, here's the link.

Cheers.

Elk Season Near Suisun City

We're going to start sharing with you - our loyal readers - some of the great stories and tidbits we discover in our daily media and online reading. We'll try to come up with a catchy name for it, so if you have a suggestion feel free to share it in the comments link below.

Today, San Francisco Chronicle outdoor columnist Tom Stienstra had a great column on the tule elk of Grizzly Island Wildlife Area.

Here's a bit of what Tom had to say:

"Watching elk is one of California's sensational wildlife shows, and the curtain has been raised for the opening act at the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area. It closes to the public Oct. 1. That gives you 2 1/2 weeks to watch the annual September action.

Grizzly Island Wildlife Area is southeast of Fairfield/Suisun City, and just north of the Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay. For the Department of Fish and Game, which manages the area for waterfowl, elk and other wildlife, it is a crown jewel of the state's wildlife program.

At Grizzly Island, the elk are wild, and tracking close enough for a picture requires stealth, skill, binoculars and patience. The technique is called spot-and-stalk, where you spot a herd in the distance, then try to stalk close enough, usually 100 to 200 yards, for a photograph."

Of course, we here in Suisun City like to lay claim to the area because the only way to get there is through our fair burg. If you are visiting from out of town, be sure to stop in the Waterfront District for a great meal or pick up something on the fly at a casual dining option at Sunset Avenue and Highway 12.

Get Trained to Help During Disasters

You can be trained to help your family, neighbors and community in the aftermath of a major earthquake or other disaster, a critical time when government first-responders are likely to be overwhelmed by calls for service.

The Suisun City Fire Department and the Suisun City Police Department are teaming to bring Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to Suisun City.

To get involved, call the Fire Department at 707-421-7205 or e-mail mzunino@suisun.com. We are planning our first class this winter and are now looking for people who are interested.

The City received an $11,700 grant from Solano County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start up the CERT program in Suisun City.

CERT programs focus on teaching residents to prepare for specific disasters or hazards that may impact the local area then trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

Using skills learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist neighbors or co-workers after a disaster happens, such as a major earthquake, when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in the community.

Contact the Fire Department today to sign up for this important training by calling 707-421-7205 or e-mailing mzunino@suisun.com

K-9 Golf Tournament

The Suisun City Police Department is fortunate to have a trained police dog to deploy in a wide range of law enforcement activities.

For three years, the Suisun City Police Officers' Association and the Suisun City Police and Firefighter Boosters have sponsored a benefit golf tournament to provide funding for the unit, including training and supplies.

It was actually the proceeds from earlier tournaments that underwrote the re-establishment of the K-9 program in Suisun City. This year, proceeds from the tournament will allow the addition of a narcotics detection element to the police dog program.

This year's golf tournament is scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 8 at the beautiful Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo. It's a 1 p.m. shotgun start with lots of fun course events, and a great dinner and exclusive auction after the round. >>Click here for the brochure and tons of info!>>

It's a terrific event for a great cause! Even if you don't golf, consider sponsoring a round for a local high school team or make a straight, tax-deductible donation!

Streets Project Schedule Changes

Just a quick alert to note that the paving dates for the 2008 Streets Improvement Project have been updated.

Make sure to check the project page for the latest information.

The work is scheduled to start on Thursday Sept. 4, and continue on Friday Sept. 5, Monday Sept. 8 and Tuesday Sept. 9. Street sweeping work may happen on Saturday Sept. 6, as well. Click here for detailed street information and maps of the work areas.

The work was rescheduled by the contractor - International Surfacing Systems - due to scheduling and supply challenges. We are not anticipating further changes, but the situation is somewhat fluid.

If you live in an area subject to this work, check the City website for updates. Also remember, this work is the first phase with a slurry seal treatment planned for later this month. Details on that work will be posted as it becomes available.