Come on people, this is a temporary inconvenience which will end soon and kids will end up having much better school facilities for it. I'm not just armchair quarterbacking here, Landels construction is happening outside my bedroom window. Every morning, giant trucks show up at 6am and make a giant racket. The temporary classrooms are up, but the multi-use building will take a while to complete. This is the price we pay for living in a densely populated area.

I have nonstop construction coming from 4 directions in my previously quiet neighborhood. Then, I drive through construction areas all through town. I don't like it, but it's the new MV.

"Resident" plainly is not a neighbor impacted by pre-dawn construction work. The school district superintendent apparently does not give a rat's rump about neighbors or probably anyone not his employ or family. It is light out until after 8 pm. Pre-dawn work by the district is utterly unjustified and quite telling. And the school board just goes along.

Did you actually read the article? The District has instructed construction crews to honor the city's ordinance codes.

If you have a problem, call the District office. OH...but wait, you might have to actually use your name then. You would not want to do that.

Not only didn't read the article, but didn't read the comment he/she is criticizing as well. "Resident" clearly says they have to deal with 6am construction on a regular basis.

Yes, it is an inconvenience, but if you keep complaining and overly restrict their hours, all you will do is drag it out longer and cost the district more money. Just suck it up and get it over with.

6 AM is a totally unacceptable time to start making construction noise. In our 'hood, construction noise doesn't start until 7 AM, and gardening noise (particularly leaf blowers) until 8 AM, and they're over by mid-afternoon. Our biggest inappropriate noise problem is selfish individual homeowners who seem to think it's OK to wait until the last possible minute and use their mowers and leaf blowers at 8 AM Sunday nights. Shut it down, selfish fools. Do your lawns between 8 AM and 5 PM on weekdays and leave things quiet on weekends when families are home.

Dear anonymous "resident" or School District Employee, Yes. I see that line. Another poster reports construction is underway by 6am. When did it actually change to 7am? Maybe you could get up at 5am and 6:30 am Saturday to check on whether the noise has started. Give us a report - unless your employer would object. Then just keeping posting - anonymously. As to the cost of work after say 5pm, it should not cost extra for workers to avoid the afternoon rush during the week. Construction projects should respect neighbors. Too much to ask? Yes, for this superintendent and his posters.

"Maybe you could get up at 5am and 6:30 am Saturday to check on whether the noise has started."

Generally it's not necessary to "check". That racket brutally jolts anyone out of their sleep.

We had to live next door to construction for four-plus years, and they regularly violated the posted work hours. Much empathy to current victims. (At least this is for a good cause - we do want our children to have nice school facilities.)

Same Resident here as the first comment.

I'm most certainly impacted by construction, like I said, I live next to Landels, directly next to it on Mercy St, not some streets away. There are dawn truck convoys on most weekdays, but no weekend work. I wasn't even aware they were supposed to work after 8am, they've been here by 6am, even earlier when they were delivering the temporary classrooms. I'm not going to complain to the city though.

Many construction workers get up at 4am in the Central Valley to come to work here. They have to miss traffic because one can get fired for being late. Should they sleep in front of our houses for two hours and get home even later, or should they get started, leave by 2pm and have a little time at home? Stevenson's temp campus is under construction 6 days a week, back up alarms are designed to be heard! Much of this will be over in a couple of weeks when schools open. If you have decent windows, and you close them, it is possible to sleep, even through the back up alarms. If we are so entitled that we can't do that over the summer for our school children, then I guess our kids do not deserve new buildings. As I recall, Measure G passed by a wide margin. This is the best use of that money, to work "flat out" all summer long. (in construction we have several other, more colorful phrases for this kind of a work schedule). Family publication and all that...

Anyone who says something like,"If you have decent windows, and you close them, it is possible to sleep, even through the backup alarms." clearly is not residing within a couple hundred yards of the construction zone.

We sleep with our doors and windows closed and are constantly awoken by the backup beeps, and/or the sounds of large trucks staging, or general construction noise. As a matter of fact, often the first thing I hear every morning is not the sound of my alarm or any routine noise,but I awaken nearly every morning to the noose of construction.

I even stepped outside one morning and measured the racket on a decibel meter, and it registered 79db at 6.30am, which seems a little ridiculous to me, but whatever.

@Sleep Deprived: The last time our local school was worked on, we had the original 1968 aluminum, single pane windows. I could hear everything. Now we have newer, double pane, better energy efficient windows. Most newer homes come with them, and subsidies have been available from PG&E for many years. I am less than 100 yards to the closest school construction entrance.

Our home went through a major rehab/remodel - which included all new double paned (energy efficient) windows as well as new insulation and a new roof - within the last ten years.

Sound travels directionally, so it could depend on your orientation to the origin of the sound as to how loud the sound will register 100 yards away in one direction VS 100 yards away in a different direction.

I'd like to recommend a small pack of foam ear plugs. They cost $3 at CVS and let me sleep through the morning trucks without issue. Once this is all over, kids will have better facilities and the noise will be gone.

My personal comfort is more important than yours because I have more money. -general theme of the Peninsula.

The public policy directive of the MVWSD Board has been to complete the process of planning and building new and renovated public school facilities ASAP. Since the inspection and building approval processes of school districts and cities are different (Division of the State Architect), the district may legally avoid some of the city restrictions that apply to private property building construction (commercial or residential).

The desire of the Board that I served on was to get this 'loud work' done as much as possible during the summer - when students and teachers were not working. Of secondary importance - was neighborhood disruption for a few summer months.

These facilities will be serving the community for literally decades to come. It is a matter of public priority.

I live near Bubb, I find the complete 'close off' of the campus (restricting side walking playground access) a bit excessive. But - so far the noise environment with demolition is not bad. IMO

Steven Nelson

(PS, that means I support the Administration and project manager Greystone West in their 'quick build' process)

God forbid a few philistines would like to enjoy peace and quiet in their own homes at reasonable hours. Gosh, they open windows to cool their homes, too, especially now with double digit heat.
Let the contractors obey the law. Maybe they would like to pay for a few hotel rooms for residents until their nuisance has stopped.

What I don't understand is why no work was done at Bubb during most of the Summer!

Yes, they closed off the campus right away and put up the new portables quickly, but then NOTHING happened for many weeks until a few weeks ago.

Doesn't look like there is any way they can get enough done for classes to resume on time.

I walked by monta loma the other day. I know they won't be finishing the multi until December but it doesn't look like anything will be ready by the 14th. Blacktop is cut up, there's nowhere to play, and kids will all need to eat outside (where will tables go??) because said multi won't be ready until December. Anyone know if this will be ready in 1.5 weeks??

Web Link

Monta Loma construction update page [hope it is up-dated-monthly]

The District Office seems to be doing a very reasonable job of this [if-up-to-date]. The web page access sequence is IMO fairly easy and logical! www.MVWSD.org, web page header "District Business" pop-down menu pick "Facilities". Then "School construction".

When you get to that page the text has a list of all school sites and (along with Bubb) there is the "Monta Loma Elementary" blue-text designated hypertext link to the page at the header of this comment.

your taxes at work
( the MVWSD was able to get it's facilities update construction going in less-than-one-thousand-days :)

Web Link

Thanks for the link.

Looks like the last update was May 12. I'm really surprised that teachers may not be let into classrooms until the day before school. I'm really wondering if it will be finished by then. Wish they'd be updating the site!

Folks,
Kids will return to school excited to see their friends and meet their new teachers. They are not going to focus on anything else. MVWSD teachers are amazing professionals and I am certain that they will be ready to educate our children and ensure they will create the best "first day of school" memories ever!
Focus on the positive.
Life is short and nothing is perfect.
Contribute to your school community to make it even better.
Thank you MVWSD.
Looking forward to an awesome school year.

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