Richmond Rising committee reviews $35 million grant projects, approves minutes and hears school safety concerns

The Richmond Rising committee met to review progress on neighborhood projects funded through a multi-million dollar grant and to hear community concerns about school-area pedestrian safety. The committee approved the prior meeting minutes, heard program-by-program financial and implementation updates, and scheduled outreach and City Council presentations.

The committee’s moderator said the initiative — which the meeting described as a collaboration between the city and six local organizations — aims to strengthen the economy, public health and the environment in neighborhoods of the Santa Fe and Coronado triangle. “Richmond Rising busca fortalecer la economía, mejorar la salud pública y el medio ambiente,” the moderator said, adding that the city and partners were administering a $35 million grant to support the work.

Why it matters: Committee members and community partners reported that work is underway across multiple projects — from complete-streets design and the Sendero del Bienestar trail to a library bike-share pilot, solar installations and tree plantings. These activities involve ongoing design, environmental review and grant applications and require coordination with city transportation staff and federal environmental reviewers.

Project updates and budgets: Presenters reported the program has completed roughly half of its scheduled meetings and submitted multiple bimonthly reports to grant administrators. The moderator reported $311,000 in cumulative spending on the complete-streets work with a remaining budget of roughly $4,869,000 and described the streets effort as split into two phases, with the first phase nearing advanced design. Staff also reported design work for the Sendero del Bienestar trail is about 90% complete and that photometric studies for lighting and solar wiring are in progress.

A bike-share/library pilot reported $325,000 spent to date and ongoing grant applications, including outreach for Union Pacific and Opportunity funding. Alternatives, the resilient-homes partner, said it has installed two solar arrays, provided door-to-door outreach and will launch an installer training program in October; the Alternatives presenter reported $1.5 million spent and $5.3 million remaining in the program budget. Other partners reported tree distributions (more than 100 trees), community garden planning, a six-week Orchard For training program (four graduates), and nutrition and environmental workshops.

Governance and next steps: The committee moved to approve the previous meeting’s minutes; the motion was seconded by Curtis and passed with a majority and one abstention (exact tally not specified in the transcript). Organizers said they will provide updated spending and project-completion figures at the next committee meeting and plan to present the district grant to the City Council on May 10 (date given in the meeting). The committee also plans outreach at community festivals and a Nichols Park design day on May 16.

Public safety concerns: During public comment, Ariana Morales invited the committee to present at a school fair and asked for clearer program information. Ivona Riaga, a neighborhood parent, described near-miss vehicle behavior around a pedestrian refuge island by Lincoln School and urged safety measures: “un carro quería pasar alrededor de la isla y no pudo porque otro carro venía de frente... los niños están en peligro de ser atropellados,” Riaga said. Staff responded by urging residents to file reports through the city app so the city can assign a response number, offered to convene engineers who built the island to explain its purpose, and directed attendees to Richmond Rising web pages and social media for updates.

Other items: Organizers announced forthcoming hires (one manager and two coordinators), plans to install a larger projector screen at the community center, and multiple community events including a free jazz night and youth bicycle activities. Nominations for new youth participants will be made at the next meeting.

The meeting concluded after a formal motion to adjourn. Updated financial figures and a revised project completion dashboard were promised for the committee’s next session.