What's Happening at City Council

Train Noise and Hayward Park Sidetrack

Several residents complained about the increased loudness and length of horn noise

from the new electrified Caltrains. Brian Tietjen of Caltrain suggested the length may be

due to construction near the Hayward Park station and the need for horn signals further

south on the line. He will take all the complaints to Caltrain management and update

Council.

Breaking news: After testing, Caltrain has agreed that the horn sound decibel of several of its electrified trains, while within legal limits, is louder than the diesel trains. They will be adjesting the sound level of their trains during October and thanks the public for its patience. Citizen organizing works!

Hayward Park residents near the Hayward Park Caltrain sidetrack also spoke about

excessive vibration levels at their houses when the southbound train travels by, as well as the need to hold Caltrain to their commitment to build the full length of the barrier wall

agreed to before the project began.

City Manager Alex Khojikian and staff are scheduling a meeting by end of this month

with Caltrains Executive Director Michele Bouchard to share all these complaints and

get Caltrain’s commitment to remedial action.

Central Park Playground

All bids on the proposed Central Park Playground were rejected for being over the City’s

budget of $12.3 million. Council authorized staff to negotiate with the lowest qualified

bidder, Suarez & Muñoz Construction, Inc. and bring back a revised construction

proposal.

Reach Codes

City Council agreed to implement new energy codes to keep incentivizing all-electric

new construction while adhering to new restrictions solidified by an appeals court early

in 2024.

Instead of explicitly requiring that new construction is all-electric, the new codes require

adherence to a certain emissions and compliance score.  This will enable the use of

both gas and electric sources, although it will be less expensive to go all-electric.

These codes, expected to go into effect by March 2025, apply only to space and water

heaters, not appliances such as stoves, washer and dryers, outdoor grills or fire pits. 

The City’s new reach codes would be in effect until the State’s latest, and mandatory,

building codes go into effect in January 2026 — at which point, the City would evaluate

what, if any, additional codes it would like to update.

For more detail, please read City staff’s report on the proposed reach codes, Item #12

of the Regular Meeting Agenda.