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Pat Kohnen said she and her husband have lived in Dublin since 1978 and decided to move to <br />Pleasanton because of the exceptional and unique project in Stoneridge Creek. She thanked <br />everyone for working with the task force and asked the Council to vote in support of the project. <br />Mayor Hosterman closed the public hearing. <br />Councilmember Cook - Kallio said she is pleased with the Policy Statement. She thought <br />everyone involved did an extraordinary job, and acknowledged the man hours involved in this <br />type of decision. She said the statement addresses environmental, safety, noise, and traffic <br />issues to her general satisfaction and provides the public with assurances that it will be done <br />right and with thorough input. She stressed her appreciation for everyone's work, most <br />importantly the compelling and effective engagement of the community. <br />Councilmember McGovern said she is thrilled to see this level of public participation. All the <br />agreements reached with environmental groups and Safe Streets of Pleasanton are quality <br />agreements that she can honestly support. She thanked all staff for working with her so closely <br />and said it feels good to be able to get this huge project underway. <br />Vice Mayor Thorne concurred, said it is a great thing that everyone came together to reach <br />these agreements and move this project forward. He said many people share in the <br />responsibility for this taking as long as it has and suggested the following as ways to encourage <br />this level of participation and cooperation from the get go: 1) Never consider the time it takes to <br />get there as an appropriate measure of the quality of a project, and 2) Ask, "how can we get this <br />done" rather than consider how many obstacles could be erected. He hoped that no one has <br />lost their eligibility to reside in Stoneridge Creek as a result of the length of this process. <br />Pleasanton is blessed with the range of commercial properties provided by the visionaries of the <br />past, although that gravy train may well derail in this economy. He hoped they could come <br />together as a community and embrace projects that provide a huge benefit, such as has been <br />done with this project in the last several months. He offered his full support for the project, with <br />the amendments recommended by Councilmember McGovern. <br />Councilmember Sullivan concurred that these agreements are good ones and allow the project <br />to move forward with the proper mitigation, provide assurances to the Stoneridge Drive <br />neighbors regarding its extension, and allows the opening of Stoneridge Drive when the <br />conditions are right. He said the conditions have always been of key importance to him and <br />have been suitably outlined both in the Policy Statement and regional framework. He also <br />thanked everyone involved, particularly Troy Bourne and Matt Morrison for kicking it off. He <br />maintained his concerns over the ice rink and commercial site and said he reserves the right to <br />work through those issues when they are discussed later. <br />He agrees with the Policy Statement and part of tonight's action also includes acceptance of the <br />regional framework which discusses the roadway and other regional improvements, and <br />concurred that work on SR -84 is not part of the contingency of opening Stoneridge Drive but it is <br />certainly part of the Council's policy in adopting this that the framework is adopted by all the <br />region. He thanked Safe Streets Pleasanton in particular for their perseverance and <br />commitment to this community. <br />Mayor Hosterman said this has been a long, protracted, and sometimes painful journey. She <br />said it has not always been possible to say "yes" and do all the wonderful things the Council <br />would love to do for the community. This is the largest project in Pleasanton since Hacienda <br />Business Park and required a tremendous amount of input from the entire region. She said the <br />Special City Council Minutes <br />Page 8 of 9 August 24, 2010 <br />