The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) will get a status report on the future of the old Castro Valley Library on Redwood Road at Monday’s General Purpose meeting, and the appointed council can expect a new member within then next two months.

The current library, at 3600 Norbridge Avenue, opened in 2009, replacing the location that opened at 20055 Redwood Road in 1962. Castro Valley’s first library opened in 1927 on Castro Valley Boulevard. The MAC last discussed the status of the Redwood Road library site at at September 21, 2015 meeting. According to the meeting minutes:

There are a lot of repairs that need to be completed on the building, such as window replacement, repair of cracks in the ceiling and walls and replacing the carpet. In addition the General Services Agency completed an evaluation of the building in 2014 and concluded there are more serious repairs to be made to the building before it is habitable.”

At the 2015 meeting, interim director of Alameda County’s General Services Agency (GSA) stated at that the building needed repairs to bring it “up to current code standards, such as American’s with Disabilities Act compliance for entrances, exits and bathrooms, electrical and structural work.” The GSA recommended at the time that the MAC work with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to “facilitate a discussion on a community use for the building.”

The agenda names Castro Valley Unified School District on the item for the library discussion.

Other agenda items

• The Eden Area Village, which provides “neighborhood-based support to enable its members to stay in their homes as they age,” will make a presentation to the MAC.
• The Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, and Public Works Agency will have an update on traffic conditions on Palomares Road which has been closed since April 5.

Update on MAC appointment process

In an email to Castro Valley Matters last Tuesday, Kamika Dunlap, Senior Policy Advisor to Supervisor Nate Miley,  confirmed that 13 people have applied for the current vacancy on the MAC and that a new member will be selected  “probably within the next 60 days.”

“Supervisor Miley is looking for people who have expertise, diverse backgrounds, and who are concerned about the community and have the time to dedicate to this important volunteer position,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap also provided clarification as to why there will be no public observation of the MAC selection process, unlike the last round of selections. “Supervisor Miley is conducting the selection process that is thorough, thoughtful and expedient. The experience with the last process was too cumbersome, lengthy and didn’t add value to outcome. Lastly, Supervisor Miley preferred to go back his original process of conducting interviews with the help of his staff.”

Once Miley has selected a preferred candidate, his recommendation will go to the Alameda Board of Supervisors for approval. The seven-member council has been short one member since the resignation of Janet Everson in February.

Castro Valley Matters has advocated for an elected MAC for Castro Valley, and in an email to CVM about the current MAC appointment process, Miley said, “Last summer I stated at a public meeting that the issue of an elected CV MAC would revisited and that remains the case as I am open to exploring this as a possibility.”

The MAC meets Monday at 6:00 pm at the Castro Valley Library on 3600 Norbridge Avenue. Check out CVM’s history of how the community built the Castro Valley Library on Redwood Road.