In brief: Entry free Sunday at East Bay regional parks for Juneteenth

Though the holiday is actually on Monday, the no-cost admission is this weekend to serve more visitors.

EAST BAY

The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is celebrating Juneteenth on Sunday with a Free Park Day in recognition of the date when enslaved Black Americans in Texas were notified of their freedom, albeit 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

Please note that while Juneteenth is on Monday, the district’s Free Park Day is on Sunday to serve more visitors. Fees waived for Juneteenth include park entrance, parking, dogs, horses, boat launching and fishing. However, the fee waiver does not apply to swimming, camping, reservable picnic facilities (due to capacity limits), district concessions, state fees for fishing licenses and watercraft inspections for invasive mussels.

— EBRPD

GOP club hears address on problem of human trafficking

Human trafficking was the topic of East Bay Republican Club’s (EBRP) gathering June 10. Speaker Vanessa Russell, the founder and executive director of “Love Never Fails,” explained the dimensions of the problem and her organization’s solutions.

Russell began her work after one of her students was sex-trafficked in the Bay Area. Her group offers preventive awareness education, a search service and a residential program that helps restore, educate and find employment for survivors of human trafficking.

The EBRP now welcomes men as well as women and independents as well as registered Republicans. More details are online at eastbayrepublicanclub.org.

— Jean Solnerdal, EBRP president

PIEDMONT

$2.1M raised to closing funding gap for pool construction

In partnership with the city, the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) has reached an ambitious fundraising target, raising $2.1 million to complete Piedmont’s community pool that is already under construction as designed.

A funding gap had been created by rapidly rising construction costs since the 2020 passage of Measure UU to pay for the pool’s construction, making additional funds necessary to complete the project. Contributions to the capital campaign from individuals and community organizations ranged from $25 up to “Champions,” who donated or surpassed $100,000.

The broad spread support stunned — and pleased — the PRFO and city officials, with PRFO Fundraising Committee leader Eric Havian calling the support “amazing” and “unprecedented.”

The long-awaited project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024 and will result in a a 27-meter competition pool with a diving well, a 3,177-square-foot activity pool with three 25-yard lap lanes and a single-story building with locker rooms, an indoor multipurpose room, two gender-neutral changing rooms and a rooftop pavilion.

Residents being surveyed until July 2 on pickleball project

Piedmont residents are invited to submit feedback about the trial pickleball project at the Beach Field tennis courts by completing a brief online survey. The five-month trial began March 1 and continues through the end of July.

City staff and a subcommittee created by the Recreation Commission expect responses to the survey that closes July 2 to help the city gauge the interest and demand for the now-popular sport. Significant response has already arrived by email, in community petitions and during public comment at Recreation Commission meetings.

The survey asks about residents’ amount of use before and during the trial period and if their tennis- or pickleball-playing habits have changed. The city is simultaneously measuring use, safety and noise at the Beach Field courts.

Depending on the final results at the end of the trial period, the city will determine if the courts should be restriped for tennis only, pickleball only or both.

Council expected to OK new fiscal year’s budget Tuesday

Having received a report Monday from the Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee on Piedmont’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, the City Council is expected to discuss and approve the final 2023-2024 budget at its meeting next week on Tuesday.

The review committee held three public meetings while studying expenditures, revenues, staffing and long-term projections, ultimately endorsing the proposed budget that adheres to the city’s commitment to conservative, financially responsible budgeting.

The committee encouraged consideration of amendments to the budget that include addressing and expanding funding for long-term infrastructure and examining possible revenue sources such as improved tax collection and/or increasing Piedmont’s Real Property Transfer Tax.

Piedmont’s transfer tax was last raised in 1993 and, compared to neighboring cities, is one of the lowest. Piedmont residents are encouraged to provide feedback in-person at the meeting, online or by email. All budget documents can be downloaded from the city’s website at piedmont.ca.gov/budget.

Take survey through Monday on afterschool programs

The Piedmont Recreation Department is inviting input from families and caregivers in the community about its afterschool care programs.

A brief online survey asks for feedback on overall satisfaction with afterschool options and seeks information on child care needs, how often the needs change and top priorities for afterschool care. City staff and the Recreation Commission’s Schoolmates Subcommittee will use the input to inform future programming.

Currently, the department offers its “Schoolmates” program at all three Piedmont elementary school sites and “Minimates” for transitional kindergartners at Havens and Beach elementary schools. Classes include carpentry, creative arts, academic enrichment sessions, taekwando and more.

The survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, is open through Monday and available online at piedmont.ca.gov/SchoolmatesSurvey.

— Lou Fancher, correspondent

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