BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Vol. 18, No. 40
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Brentwood welcomes new library After years of planning, fundraising and building, the new library at the corner of Third and Oak streets opened to the public Saturday, Sept. 29. The library officially opened with the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon by Brentwood Mayor Bob Taylor, followed by speeches from local officials and dignitaries who welcomed more than 5,000 people to the library. The day included refreshments, music, dancing and activities. Liz Fuller, senior community library manager, savored the day after nearly four years of anticipation. “What a day,” said Fuller. “People literally gasped as they walked through the front doors, looking at the openness of the building, the natural light coming through all of the windows and just the newness of it all. Families flocked to the children’s section and checked out stacks of books, and people of all ages checked out both the upstairs and downstairs features, getting their ‘passports’ stamped at eight different locations. Our aim is to make this library a community gathering place for everyone ... This library belongs to the community, so we will do our best to provide services that reflect what people in Brentwood want and need.” The 20,000-square-foot building includes a second story, an outdoor court-
Community Library Manager Andrea Freyler, left, with Liz Fuller, senior library manager, celebrated the opening of Brentwood’s new library, Saturday, Sept. 29.
Staff Writer
The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (ConFire) will soon stop providing fire prevention services to the local East Contra Costa Fire Prevention District (ECCFPD). But the ECCFPD has a plan. The contract between ECCFPD and ConFire – in place since the ECCFPD’s 2002 inception and expiring Nov. 1 – provides development plan review, inspection and investigation services. “Contra Costa County Fire Protection District has provided outstanding services to us for
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yard, study rooms, a community room and a cafe. Brentwood City Manager Gus Vina noted the opening of the library as a city milestone. “This library is iconic, and it helps complete the civic center concept of a library, meeting center, city hall and the city
park with its water features,” said Vina. “This was the last piece we really needed to complete it. It takes a village, and it took a lot of people on many teams to pull this together … but it’s here now, and it will be here for 100 years.” To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
“ Contra Costa County Fire Protection District has provided outstanding services to us for years … they just don’t have the capability to continue to provide us services.
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Brian Helmick, ECCFPD fire chief years,” said ECCFPD Fire Chief Brian Helmick. “Recently, they have been inundated with internal workings of their own, to where they have identified that in the prevention division they cannot provide any external support. They pulled all their inspectors, all their investigators, everybody back into their district, because
they have a lot of mandated and other inspections they need to work on and they just don’t have the capability to continue to provide us services.” The ECCFPD will press forward with a four-phase approach to create its own fire prevention bureau by the end of 2019, but it will have contract services in
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place by November to bridge the gap, Helmick said. “The discontinuation from ConFire was really a surprise to all of us, and it was an additional significant burden on the district, with all the other burdens we have, but I think staff has done a really good job to fill that void in a time frame that avoids having any discontinuation of service,” said ECCFPD fire board member Joe Young. The bureau’s start-up costs are expected to be around $2.1 million, but the division will become cost-neutral with funds recouped for services provided, said Helmick. see Fire page 30A
Bringing Up Baby
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Service • Repair • Installation
Driving Into Autumn
Check out this week’s special edition for everything on cars, boats and RVs. Page 1B
Wishes Can Come True
Photo by Tony Kukulich
District to create prevention bureau by Kyle Szymanski
October 5, 2018
www.thepress.net/news/webextras
CONNECTING PARKS TO PEOPLE www.ebparks.org/features/rin
LOOK INSIDE FOR THE NEW
Activity Guide
Science shows that a baby’s interaction with adults has lifelong impact.
Local couple realizes the dream of a lifetime, thanks to An Elderly Wish Foundation. Page 5A
Liberty High Rings The Bell
Liberty defeats Freedom 55-21 in triumphant second half Bell Game. Page 21A Calendar.............................31A Classifieds..........................25A Cop Logs.............................29A Entertainment..................13A Food.....................................12A Health & Beauty...............14A Kid Scoop...........................10A Opinion...............................20A Pets......................................11A Sports..................................21A
LMC Planning
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The public is invited to participate in a countywide strategic planning process.