Looking into the future Looking into the future (January 07, 2005)

Predictions of the next 12 months

By Julie O'Shea and Jon Wiener

While there are some clouds in Mountain View's crystal ball, there are a number of things we can all expect in 2005: new people, new buildings and new issues.

We will open the doors to the efficiency studios, a new high school campus and new restaurants while closing the doors of an elementary school. We'll say hello to new council members and new superintendents. And we'll find more things to debate as we try to make our lives better.
City projects moving ahead

The Mayfield Mall housing development will be under review for the better part of the year, while a number of other large city-sponsored projects will be breaking ground or opening their doors this year. * Demolition is set to begin in February on the old Emporium building on El Camino Real and The Americana Way. Construction on the Camino Medical Group's $150 million three-story building will begin in early spring. * Construction on a new, permanent senior center on Escuela Avenue will begin this summer. Next door, the Avenidas Senior Day Health Center will break ground this month and should be open by early September. The building will provide day care targeted at seniors with specific needs and disabilities. * The 120-unit efficiency studio project next to the Community School of Music and Arts will open for qualified residents by Christmas. The project, backed by a division of Catholic Charities, is located on a city-owned lot on San Antonio Circle. * A new 2.3-million gallon reservoir will be built on a Mountain View lot between Stanley and Berry Avenues in Los Altos. The reservoir, which has drawn complaints from Los Altos residents who fear it could flood their homes in an earthquake, is expected to be completed by late fall.
One school closing, other doors opening

Legal battles, superintendent searches, construction projects and budget woes are just some of the things Mountain View and Los Altos' public schools will face over the next 12 months. * Mountain View-Whisman officials will be in court Jan. 14, when a judge is expected to set a trial date for a case that is challenging the legality of the school district's $1.6 million parcel tax. Aaron Katz is claiming last March's tax election was conducted illegally because not all property owners were allowed to cast a vote. * Due to declining enrollment and budget troubles, Mountain View-Whisman Superintendent Eleanor Yick said one of the district's seven elementary schools must close by the end of June. On Jan. 27, Yick will announce which campus she is recommending for closure. The school board is scheduled to approve that recommendation at its Feb. 3 meeting. * Both Mountain View-Whisman and Los Altos school districts are in the process of looking for new superintendents. Los Altos' Marge Gratiot announced she will retire in June, and in August, Mountain View-Whisman Superintendent Jim Negri resigned. Yick was given a 10-month contract. * Alta Vista High School will break ground this month on its new $5 million campus. Construction is slated to take 10 to 12 months, and Principal Bill Pierce said he is hoping to move into the new digs by the middle of the next school year. The new campus will include eight classrooms, a library, a tech center, a multipurpose building and an administration wing.
Hospital about to break ground

More than a year after voters approved a $148 million bond measure, El Camino Hospital is nearly ready to break ground on a major construction project that will include new medical buildings and bring the campus up to the state's new seismic safety standards. * The hospital will begin construction on its new bed tower this fall, according to hospital spokesperson Judy Twitchell. * Construction of a new dialysis center at the corner of South and Hospital Drives will begin in the spring.
New downtown openings

The area known as Restaurant Row will be getting some new tenants this year. * The Monte Carlo, a restaurant and jazz club, will be the next tenant at the Castro Street site that once housed the Limelight and the Rio Grande. Other new restaurants have been approved for the spaces formerly occupied by Florentine, the Mountain View Hotel and Wienerschnitzel. * The Jehning family, owners of Mountain View Lock and Key (now Mountain View Door Closer), will be ready to open up the doors to the neighboring Ames building in early 2005. The Jehning Family Lock Museum of Mountain View will display artifacts from around the world. * The city will accept bids this spring on a 405-space parking garage at the corner of California and Bryant Streets. A groundbreaking is planned for August. The garage, which will feature retail space on the ground floor and solar panels on the roof, will take about 14 months and cost $15.7 million to complete.
Big transit decisions on the horizon

Caltrain and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) both will be making decisions with big ramifications for public transportation in Mountain View. * In February, Caltrain will conduct its first formal review of the baby bullet service, which kicked off last June. A decision on the future of the baby bullet, including the possibility of expanded service, will follow. * The VTA board is expected to propose a new half-percent sales tax to help fund the controversial BART-to-San-Jose project, which could take resources away from service from Mountain View and nearby cities. The tax would be on the November 2006 ballot. * The construction at Highways 85 and 101 could be completed as soon as December. The $124 million interchange project began in early 2003 and is already one of the most expensive highway improvement projects in the South Bay.
Trials scheduled

Several trials of crimes against Mountain View residents have hearings scheduled for early in the year. * Three San Jose men accused of the October 2003 murder of 77-year-old Doris Condon are expected to stand trial in February. Enrique Chavez, David Olayo and Jose Sosa have been held in custody for over a year, but attorneys expect to wrap the trial up in early 2005. * David Espino, on trial for murder after a hit-and-run collision with two bicyclists on Highway 9, will be in court again in March. Mountain View resident Jim Dein died in the crash. His friend Ted Aberg, a Palo Alto resident, is still recovering from the injuries that he suffered in the crash. * Marco Nava, suspected of a series of burglaries in Mountain View and Los Altos is due back in court Monday for a plea hearing. Nava faces a maximum sentence of 11 years and four months.
Toxic sampling to continue

Citizens groups, property owners, private companies and government agencies will continue to negotiate solutions to the toxic pollution at various Superfund sites throughout the city. * The Environmental Protection Agency will continue its sampling of homes in the neighborhood west of Whisman Road and in the housing complex at Whisman Station. A small number of homes in both locations have turned up unsafe levels of trichloroethene (TCE), a cancer-causing solvent. * Council member Greg Perry said he will propose a law that would ban the sale of products containing TCE, also used in dry-cleaning, aerosols and paint thinner. * The Navy, after years of pressure from the community and a more recent request by NASA, will study what it would take to turn a polluted Moffett Field drainage pond back into a tidal marsh. The Navy will also decide whether to do a similar study of the polluted interior of Hangar One.
NASA projects take off

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Mars rover mission. The twin rovers, named Opportunity and Spirit, had a life expectancy of just three months, but 12 months later, they are still going strong. And now, the space agency has its sights set on more exploration. * This spring, NASA Ames will unveil SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), an 8-foot telescope that will look at new galaxies, stars and planets. The telescope will make its observations on the back of a 747 aircraft, 40,000 feet in the air. Ames Director G. Scott Hubbard said SOFIA will fly several times a week and be airborne six to eight hours during each flight. * Ames will also began the development of another telescope this year. The Kepler mission telescope, set to be launched in 2009, will look for Earth-like planets among 100,000 stars. * Ames will do conceptual design work to make air travel safer and more efficient, said Hubbard.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com and Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com.

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