City of Concord
Awards and Recognition
Awards
Excellence Awards
The California Park & Recreation Society (CPRS) selected two Concord projects to receive 2007 Awards of Excellence, the highest award in their respective categories. The “No Child Left Inside” program won in the Health and Wellness category. “Matteo’s Dream, A Playground for Children of All Abilities” won in the Park Planning category. In addition, Liz Lamach, the Concord resident who worked for several years to make the Matteo’s Dream playground a reality, received the California Association of Park & Recreation Special Award for Outstanding Service.
Distinguished Project Awards
The City of Concord received five 2007 awards from the Northern California Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA).
The Concord Public Works Department received a Distinguished Project Award for a new computerized preventive maintenance management system that was developed and implemented by Facilities Manager Alton Baxley. This program tracks the maintenance history of 310 pieces of critical equipment and automatically generates work orders for scheduled maintenance. Timely maintenance prolongs the life of the equipment and reduces replacement costs.
Associate Civil Engineer Mark Migliore in the Building, Engineering and Neighborhood Services Department received a Distinguished Project Award for Matteo’s Dream, A Playground for Children of All Abilities. The award recognizes his superior project management skills in coordinating hundreds of volunteers, city staff, and numerous specialty contractors to make the project a reality. The result is a unique, 16,000 square foot playground that is accessible to all children, regardless of their abilities.
A Distinguished Project Award was received for the Litter Reduction Program managed by Stormwater Manager Jeff Roubal. This multi-faceted program includes public education, partnering with neighborhood associations and local creek groups on various cleanup activities, installing additional receptacles in litter-prone areas, and having an on-call contractor provide same-day pickup of illegally dumped items in the public right-of-way.
An Award of Merit was presented to Parks Manager John Rego for his leadership of award-winning parks and median landscape maintenance programs. Concord has been honored with 26 consecutive Tree City USA awards and nine consecutive Tree City USA Growth awards. The more than 400,000 people who picnic at Concord’s parks are highly appreciative of the work his team performs, as evidenced by the fact that the Parks division received the highest satisfaction rating of any division in the 2006 City-wide Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Senior Maintenance Team Leader Dana Fitzpatrick received an Award of Merit for his exemplary leadership and guidance of street maintenance activities for the City’s 305 miles of streets. He develops and supervises maintenance activities that provide the right pavement preventive maintenance activity (crack sealing, skin patching, pothole repair, patch paving and slurry seal) at the right time to cost-effectively keep Concord’s streets consistently rated in the top 10 percent of all Bay Area jurisdictions.
The Northern California chapter of the APWA includes eleven counties - San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte – as well as northern San Mateo county.
Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS)
Presidential Service Awards and certificates of appreciation from local Congressional offices were presented to 41 members of Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS), recognizing their significant contribution and time volunteered in 2006.
Community forest
In 2007, Concord was named a Tree City U.S.A. by the National Arbor Day Foundation for the 26th year. The national award honors Concord’s commitment to its community forest. Concord is also the recipient of a Tree City U.S.A. Growth Award for the ninth year for demonstrating progress in its community forestry program.
Aquatic Safety Award
The Concord Community and Recreation Services Department was awarded the “2006 Silver International Aquatic Safety Award” from Jeff Ellis and Associates (E&A). This prestigious award signifies that the Concord life guarding program consistently exceeds industry standards.
Winning faces
The City’s "Faces of Concord" video won the Videographer'sInternational Award of Distinction for production values. The “Faces of Concord” 8-minute videodebuted in January 2006 and is broadcast from time to time on the City's government TV channel.
Fiscal Accountability
Concord received awards from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (CSMFO) for the fourteenth consecutive year for excellence in Financial Reporting for the June 30, 2006 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The City also received CSMFO’s Outstanding Award in Budgeting for the seventh consecutive year and GFAO’s Distinguished Budget Award for the sixth consecutive years. In addition, Concord received the Excellence Award in Capital Budgeting from CSMFO for the CIP/TIP Budget.
Going Green
The City’s Fleet Management Program, Parks Division and Printing Services Division have all received a Bay Area Green Business Award. The Bay Area Green Business Program is a partnership of environmental agencies and utilities that assists, recognizes and promotes businesses and government agencies that volunteer to operate in a more environmentally responsible way. To be certified "green," participants must be in compliance with all regulations and meet program standards for conserving resources, preventing pollution and minimizing waste.
Recognition
Model Program
Concord’s Corporation Yard Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) was selected as a statewide model by the League of California Cities. Concord’s 50-page SWPPP is a plan for containing pollutants on-site and adequately cleaning up and disposing of these pollutants in the safest manner. The SWPPP is a guide for the containment and clean up of spills, as well as direction for daily "good housekeeping" activities to reduce the amounts of pollutants that leave the Corporation Yard through stormwater or other runoff.
Coastal Cleanup
Concord was recognized by the California Coastal Commission for efforts in California Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers cleaned a half mile of creek and one and a half miles of roadside drainage ditches and removed 25 yards of debris weighing 5,000 pounds.
Grants
The City received a significant number of grants/reimbursements augmenting, accelerating and enhancing the delivery of services and projects in FY 2006-07 including:
- $1.2 million: Transportation for Livable Communities grant to replace a deficient 4 ft. asphalt pathway with 4 ½ ft. concrete sidewalk along segments of Monument Boulevard and Meadow Lane, and replace substandard curb ramps and widen ramps that align with crosswalks at Meadow Lane and Robin Lane. Improvements also include a pedestrian-activated overhead flashing beacon to increase pedestrian safety and a sidewalk bulb-out to narrow the roadway.
- $1 million: Monument Blvd/Meadow Lane - County portion of Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) grant.
- $328,702 from Safe Routes To Schools for sidewalk, curb ramps and other improvements along Village Road from Landana Drive to Silverwood Drive, and at Village Road intersections at Boxwood Drive and Silverwood Drive, and on Carlotta Drive to improvement pedestrian access to Monte Gardens Elementary, Sunrise School and Shadelands Center.
- $147,000 was received from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for traffic enforcement activities. Specifically, the OTS grant funds aggressive DUI enforcement efforts, probation checks on convicted DUI drivers and focused enforcement on unlicensed and suspended drivers.
- $130,000: The Mesa Street Trail project to construct approximately 1,100 feet of sidewalk, curb and gutter on the westerly side of San Miguel Road from Cowell Road to Systron Drive. The sidewalk will be six feet wide with a four-foot bicycle lane.
- $120,000 received from the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (Exterior Accessibility Grant Program) to make accessibility modification at Lakeside Apartments and Caldera Place Apartments to benefit low income tenants with physical disabilities.
- $60,000 received from Friends of Camp Concord to send youth and families to camp during the summer.
- $54,855 reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the California State Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) for work done to protect property and repair damage that occurred during the 2006 New Year’s storms. This includes: $44,088 for City-wide debris clearance; $1,327 for a hillside slide repair on Via Montanas; and $9,470 for repair of Bailey Road. All of this work was done during and immediately following the severe winter storms using City crews, equipment, and supplies. Following a presidential disaster declaration in February, staff from Public Works and Finance worked with FEMA, OES, and the Contra Costa County OES to arrange site visits and compile the extensive documentation needed to support each claim.
- $33,487 Beverage Recycling/Container Recycling grant from State of California for recycling programs, public education and litter reduction.
- $24,345 grant was awarded to develop a Bridge Preventive Maintenance Plan to extend the life of bridges by performing certain activities that have been pre-approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
- $22,132: Project to develop plans, specifications and cost estimates (PS&E) for Grant Street Reconstruction Project to reconstruct 1,320 linear feet of pavement and install ADA sidewalk curb ramps along Grant Street between Revere Drive and Solano Way.
- $10,000 was received from the East Bay Foundation Dianda Fund for summer youth scholarships. Low-income Concord youth benefit by attending summer day camps and swim lessons.
Concord Senior Center wins Illumination Design Award
The Concord Senior Center, which opened in 2003, has received the 2005 Illumination Design Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), San Francisco Section. The Concord Senior Center project was noted for overcoming the challenges inherent in lighting a 15,000 square foot facility with a number of specialized lighting needs for its performing arts theater, a commercial kitchen, computer labs, a gymnasium, and other shared areas. State-of-the-art exterior and interior lighting and low voltage lighting control systems were provided for exceptional flexibility in lighting the facility, which is located at 2727 Parkside Circle in Baldwin Park.
The IESNA has been recognized as the technical authority on illumination for over 90 years by providing information on all aspects of good lighting practices.
Legacy Park Central receives Award of Excellence
Legacy Park Central in Concord has received the California Redevelopment Association's Award of Excellence for 2005 in the Multi-Family New Construction Residential category.
Legacy Park Central is a luxury apartment/townhouse complex with 259 upscale units located on Galindo Street at Clayton Road. The transit-oriented development is a short walking distance from the downtown Concord BART station. Legacy has 140 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom flats, 8 two-bedroom townhouses and 12 three-bedroom units. It features a 7,000 sq. ft. clubhouse/business center with an exercise facility, aerobics studio and kitchen as well as a junior Olympic-sized heated swimming pool, spa and sun decks.
The development has generated significant interest in downtown Concord from other residential developers. As the first luxury high-density, urban residential project in downtown Concord, it was a pioneer that has established downtown Concord as a viable upscale residential location. Two additional major residential projects in the downtown, consisting of approximate 600 units, are in the planning process.
Legacy Park Central represents a $52 million investment in downtown Concord. The projects inspired by the Legacy project are expected to bring another $150 million investment in the downtown.
