Resolution 327
RESOLUTION NO.327
WHEREAS~ the Department o~ Public Works,Division o~ Highways,o~
the State of California, has entered into a written agreement with
the City of Gilroy for t he improvement of Monterey Street in the
said City of Gilroy,which street is a part of the state Highway
system,and said agre~ment was entered into after extended negot-
iations between the ~arties thereto and after pUblic meetings were
held in the City of Gilray to obtain the sentiments of its citizens
relating to the improvement,~rom which meetings it developed that
there was almost unanimous approval of the project in general but
there was most vigorous opposition on the part o~ many citizens and
property owners to the inclusion in the work of a center or dividing
strip; and
WHEREAS, prior to the execution of the a~oresaid agreement,the
Common Council of the City of Gilroy did consider the matter o~
the improvement and the eb3ections to the center strip,and the
said Common Council was unanimously opposed to the inclusion of
a center strip but, because it had been advised by the Division of
Highways and in~ormed that unless the center strip was included in
the project the entire work would be cancelled and abandoned, it
nevertheless entered into the agreement because of the over-all
desirability of' obtaining the improvement; and
WHEREAS, the City of Gilroy has agreed to contribute $150,000.00,
a very substantial amount from its own tax money,toward the cost
of t he improvement, and the op1.n1.on and desire of its citizens and of
the Common Council of the City of Gilroy relating to the type of im-
provement, e:specially the center strip, should be given serious con-
sideration by the Department of Public Works;and
WHEREAS, the people of' the City of Gilroy are practically unanimous
in favor of improving Monterey Street if the said center strip is elim-
inated but nearly all of the owners of property located along Monterey
Street are very seriously opposed to the inclusion of a center strip
and to the improvement if said center strip is a part of the work,and a
considerable number of the owners of businesses located along Monterey
street will suffer losses ~f the center strip is a part of the project;
and '
WHEREAS, the members of the present Common Council of the City of
Gilroy and of the preceding Council which authorized the execution of
the said contract were unanimously opposed to the inclusion of the center
strip but have been led to believe that the said center strip could not
be done away with unless the entire improvement waS abandoned;and
WHEREAS, this Common Council of the City of Gilroy believes that the
Department of Public Works has never understood the extent of the oppos-
ition to the said center strip o~ the strife it has created among the
citizens and Foperty owners of the City and the reasons for the oppos-
ition,and that this serious situation should be called to the attention
of the Department of Public Works and an effort made to secure the elimina
tion of the center strip from the plans and spe:cifications for said project.
NOiV , THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
That this Common Council of the City of Gilroy does oppose the inclusion
of a center strip in the improvement of Monterey street in the City of
Gilroy and does recommend and request that the Department of Public Works
defer the awarding of any contract covering the improvement until it can
investigate the matter of said center strip and the opposition thereto, and
that upon such investigation it eliminate the center strip and revise its
plans and specifications covering the project accordingly.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That a copy of the Resolution duly certified by the City Clerk of the
City of Gilroy be forwarded to Frank B.Durkee,.Director of Public Works,
and to George T.McCoy"State Highway Engineer.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 28th day of June,1954, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmen Pate,Gallo,Kennedy,Rush,Petersen,Sanchez
NOES: Councilmen None
ABSENT: Councilmen None
/1v:J.( JJ: ~7
.YOR '
Att~:
V~.~
City Clerk