By Association gifts museum to city

Los Altos added the $3.5 million Los Altos History Museum building to its inventory last week.

The Association of the Los Altos Historical Museum gifted the building to the city May 14 as part of an operations agreement. Under the agreement, the city will be responsible for maintaining the building and the association will be responsible for managing museum programs and funding exhibits. The city must maintain $10,000 in reserves in its Facility Replacement Fund for the museum.

Community donations funded the construction of the two-story museum on the city-owned property at the Civic Center. The association has operated the building since its opening in March 2001.

Los Altos

City set to upgrade 43-year-old sewer

Los Altos

Los Altos’ aging sewer system is scheduled to get a boost this year. The Los Altos City Council awarded consulting firm Brown & Caldwell a $299,200 contract last week to conduct a detailed study of the city’s sewer system as part of the process to update the city’s Sanitary Sewer Master Plan.

This is the first time the city has upgraded the plan since 1959.

City officials say the 43-year-old system is outdated and the city lacks any type of comprehensive information about the overall condition of the sewer system and its capacity.

The city’s overall sewer drainage area is approximately 7 square miles, with approximately 130 miles of pipe and pump stations.

The system collects about half of the sanitary sewer flow from Los Altos Hills, or about 1,100 connections, and a portion from unincorporated Santa Clara County.

-Town Crier Staff Report