Neighbors block lights Neighbors block lights (March 26, 2004)

Council cuts towers from playing field over reservoir at Graham Middle School

By Grace Rauh

Graham Middle School neighbors hugged in celebration Tuesday night after the Mountain View City Council voted unanimously to approve construction of unlit playing fields and an eight million gallon reservoir to go underneath.

Residents from the neighborhood inear the campus urged the council to block installation of lights on the renovated fields at Graham, saying they were prepared to endure two years of construction, but wouldn't accept bright lights shining in their backyards. "We are already willing to suffer for this community," said Heidi Flaherty, who leads the Families for Daytime Use of Graham Middle School Fields group, which formed less than one month before the March 23 council meeting. "This was not the plan when we bought our homes," she said.

The city has touted the $12 million reservoir project since 2001, saying it is a way to increase Mountain View's water storage capacity and also upgrade playing fields.

Flaherty and many of her neighbors mobilized when they learned at a public meeting in February that city staff members were advising the council to approve lit playing fields at Graham so athletic games and practices could run after dark. The letter notifying Flaherty about the February meeting did state that field lighting was planned for the renovations, but she said she was shocked to see diagrams for 70-foot light towers presented to the public. After the meeting, stunned Graham neighbors launched a campaign to block the plans and gathered roughly 350 signatures from concerned residents who opposed the stadium lights. "I'm sure that if we hadn't gotten involved they would have put lights up. I'm sure of it," said Mike Sanchez as he proudly flipped through the petition's pages of signatures.

The last-minute movement brought the neighborhood together in an entirely new way, Flaherty said. Before residents realized that stadium lights were planned for the school's playing fields "we didn't even know each other. That's the beauty of this," Flaherty said. The Families for Daytime Use group is planning a neighborhood block party to celebrate their victory. With the council's approval, earth removal for the underground reservoir is scheduled to begin in June and last through the summer. Construction on the eight million gallon reservoir is expected to begin this fall and last for one year. Renovations on the athletic fields are slated to begin in September 2005 and end in March 2006. The reservoir and field construction is a joint project between the city and the Mountain View-Whisman School District.

The project includes a possible groundwater well, a pump station, pipes and infrastructure support for the reservoir and well. The athletic facility will have an all-weather track and field, a soccer and football field, a soccer field, a baseball and softball field, and basketball and volleyball courts.

The reservoir and field project will cost $12.09 million, of which $9.42 million will come from Water Fund bonds, $1.67 million from the Shoreline Regional Park Community Fund and $1 million from the school district.

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

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