From the archives

guidelines passed

Redwood City leaders hoped to stave off future squabbles over eminent domain the week of Nov. 15, 2005 by unanimously adopting property acquisition guidelines similar to those a civil grand jury suggested earlier that year.

The guidelines were not mandatory but the ad hoc committee in charge of their creation hoped it would push city staff and officials toward greater sensitivity and respect when contemplating land grabs.

In April 2004, Judge Quentin Kopp ruled the city unlawfully seized private property and razed a building to make room for the 20-screen cineplex and parking garage on land bound by Broadway, Jefferson Avenue and Middlefield Road. James Celotti’s two-story building was taken on the grounds that a public parking lot would be built on the land but Kopp ruled it was in fact being used to benefit a private developer. The city declared the block a blighted area and acquired it using eminent domain. Celotti later received a $3 million settlement.

Dog killer cuts deal for axing

The Redwood City man accused of hacking his pet mastiff Titan to death with an ax after the dog bit his girlfriend in the head pleaded no contest the week of Nov. 15, 2005 to felony animal cruelty in return for no more than a year in county jail.

Mark Merjil, 41, was promised no state prison and no more than a year in the county jail.

On March 29, 2005 Merjil and his girlfriend were in the midst of a heated argument at their East Bayshore Boulevard trailer when the dog bit the woman’s head. Merjil reportedly said he was tired of the dog’s antics, fetched an ax and killed the dog with repeated blows.

Vice mayor’s lead

shrinks to 11 votes

Only 11 votes separated the winner from the loser in the Burlingame City Council race the week of Nov. 15, 2005 and the uncertainty forced the cancellation of the city’s swearing in ceremony of new councilmembers.

Incumbent Cathy Baylock led contender John Root by only 11 votes. The difference dwindled from 65 votes on election night and there were still about 6,000 provisional ballots and 3,000 absentee ballots to be counted in the county, according the Elections Specialist Mark Numainville.

Baylock said staying ahead after this last round of results — which counted the majority of absentee ballots — was essential to hanging on to her seat on the council.

Meanwhile, Root remainedoptimistic.

"Of course you wonder what you could have done differently to earn more votes,” Root said. "I’m encouraged, but it’s hard to be sure.”

Toxic dirt costs soar

Cleanup costs for contaminated soil at Burlingame High School was estimated to reach $500,000 as the San Mateo Union High School District during the week of Nov. 15, 2005 created two clean-up plans for lead, arsenic and other toxins discovered earlier that year.

This was the second time in a year the district worked with the state to clean up hazardous material in the soil at Burlingame High School. An effort to identify contaminated soil earlier at the high school turned up higher than normal levels of lead around the main school building and traces of arsenic in the grassy area in front of the school. In July 2003, a site investigation was conducted to determine what prior site uses could have on the soil. Lead-based paint residue and polychlorinated biphenyls — or PCBs — were found in the soil.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.