The Los Altos Police Department received a $38,685 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing, which is known as a COP grant.
The police department plans to use the funds for a communications dispatcher, said Chief Lucy Carlton. The city is required to provide a 25 percent match, $12,895. The total of these funds, $51,580, will fund the dispatcher.
The city's portion comes from salary savings in the communications budget, Carlton said in a staff report to the city council.
There are no requirements for the grant other than the matching funds. And there is no requirement for the city to fund the position beyond the one-year grant period, Carlton said.
Motorcyclist killed along Page Mill
An error in judgment proved fatal last week for a Palo Alto motorcyclist who was crushed by a 30-foot trailer on Page Mill Road in Los Altos Hills.
Robert M. Henry, 36, was traveling northbound on Page Mill, north of Alexis Drive, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Oct. 5, when he apparently tried to pass a truck tractor pulling the trailer. According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, Henry tried to pass on the left, across a double yellow line, with an Infinite sedan approaching in the opposite direction. Sheriff's spokesman John Hirokawa said the motorcycle's wheel struck the trailer's wheel, causing the crash. Henry was ejected from the Yamaha motorcycle and was run over by the trailer's wheels.
Hirokawa said Henry suffered severe head wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information about the accident can call the Sheriff's West Valley Substation and traffic investigator Doug Havig at (408) 867-9715.
Hartley promoted to police sergeant
Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton announced recently the promotion of officer Matt Hartley to sergeant.
"It's an exciting promotion," said Capt. Cliff Balch. "It's probably the one most sought after by police officers," he said.
Hartley, 38, joined the Los Altos department in 1987. The department has six sergeant positions. When Sgt. Ron Vierra retired, one of the positions became vacant.
Competition is stiff, Balch said. For the first time in Los Altos, the department opened up the position to officers outside of Los Altos. So there were "in house and external" candidates competing, Balch said. But "We felt our people would rise to the top."
Hartley wore his sergeant stripes for the first time Oct. 5. Currently he is one of the city's two motorcycle traffic officers. Once the department chooses another traffic officer, Hartley will move into serving as a watch commander.
Council begins review
civic center master plan
At its meeting Sept. 28, the Los Altos City Council began considering a review of the master plan for the city's civic center, which includes the city's police department, library, community center, History House Museum, Bus Barn Theatre and city hall.
Mayor Lou Becker appointed Councilman Francis La Poll and himself to a committee to work on a timeline and a process for the review.
Pressure has been growing about what might be added to the 6.1-acre city hall complex. People eye the site as a place for everything from a community pool to a gymnasium, Bus Barn storage or additional library parking.
Currently construction is under way for an educational center as part of the History House Museum. Next door the police department wants to build an additional storage facility for evidence and equipment.
City OKs wireless center
for top of Reach building
Following a public hearing Sept. 29, planning director Larry Tong approved an unstaffed wireless communication antenna facility for the top of the Reach building on San Antonio Road.
Metricom, a Los Gatos-based company that makes a product that allows laptop computers a wireless connection to the Internet, will be adding 16 panel antennas to the building face at 390 S. San Antonio Road.
The 16 36-inch tall antennas will be arranged on the four sides at the top of the building.
Some of the antennas looked like they might overhang a property line on one side, Tong said. The approval was upon condition of Metricom getting permission of the adjacent owner.
"We think the little devices will blend in with the architecture of the Reach building," Tong said.
One neighbor, concerned with safety and aesthetics, attended the hearing. "She seemed satisfied," Tong said, after the hearing.
For Los Altos, "This will be a welcome addition to the wireless community," Tong said. There already are some small Metricom "repeaters" on power poles in Los Altos. "This will be able to boost the signal. It's a key to improving service to Los Altos," he said.
- Joanne Griffith Domingue