partnership with the mta and bicycle coalition. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. same house, same call. amendment passes. next item. >> item 9. allocate $15,016,000 in prop k funds, with conditions, to the san francisco municipal transportation agency for three projects and $1,241,000, with conditions, to the bay area rapid transit district for one project, subject to the attached fiscal year cash flow distribution schedules. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion on this item? simenon, this item is closed. public comment? same house, same call. so moved. >> item 10. commit up to $150 million in additional state regional improvement program funds, with conditions, to the san francisco municipal transportation agency's central subway project to cover potential cost overruns beyond the $1.578 billion baseline project cost. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: terry good. this has been an ongoing

discussion. any continue discussion on this item? simenon, discussion is closed. public comments? public comment is closed. same house, same call. very good. so moved. next item. >> introduction of new items. this is an information item. supervisor mirkarimi: any new items? seeing none, any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item. >> public comment. supervisor mirkarimi: any public comment for those of you who did not have a chance at the previous 11 times? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item. >> adjournment. supervisor mirkarimi: have a great day. deaths

because we have a great waste water system here in san francisco, we do about 80 million gallons of waste water here in san francisco, which means we basically fill up 120 olympic sized swimming pools each and every day here in the city. we protect public health and safety and environment because we are discharging into the bay and into the ocean. this is essentially the first treatment here at our waste

water treatment facility. what we do is slow down the water so that things either settle to the bottom or float to the top. you see we have a nice selection of things floating around there, things from bubble gum wrappers, toilet paper, whatever you dump down the toilet, whatever gets into our storm drains, that's what gets into our waste water treatment and we have to clean. >> see these chains here, this keeps scum from building up. >> on this end in the liquid end basically we're just trying to produce a good water product that doesn't negatively impact the receiving water so that we have recreation and no bad impact on fish and aquatic life. solids is what's happening. . >> by sludge, what exactly do you mean?

is that the actual technical term? . >> it's a technical term and it's used in a lot of different ways, but this is organic sewage sludge. basically what it is is, oh, maybe things that come out of your garbage disposal, things that are fecal in nature. it's sludge left in the water after the primary treatment, then we blend those two over and send them over to digestion. this building is built to replace tanks here that were so odoriferous they would curl your hair. we built this as an interim process. >> is there a coagulant introduced somewhere in the middle of this? . >> this coagulant brings solids

together and lets the water run through. that gives us more time in the digestion process, more time to reduce the amount of solids. these are the biggest ones in the world, like we always like to do in san francisco. they are 4 meter, there's none like it in the world. >> really? wow. >> three meters, usually. we got the biggest, if not the best. so here we are. look at that baby hum. river of sludge. >> one of the things is we use bacteria that's common in our own guts to create this reduction. it's like an extra digestion. one of the things we have to do to facilitate that is heat that sludge up and keep it at the temperature our body likes, 98.6 degrees. >> so what we have here is the heat exchanger for digester no. 6. these clog up with debris and

we're coming in to -- next wet weather season so we always come through here, clean them out, make sure that we get maximum heat exchange during the colder wet weather. sludge season. >> rubber glove. >> right here. >> rubber glove, excellent. all right, guys. >> thank you. >> good luck. >> this is the full on hazmat. . >> residual liquid. we're taking it time to let it drain. we don't want to get sludge on it necessarily. take your time. stand on the side of it. . >> should we let it release for a while? . >> let it release. >> is that the technical term?

. >> this is the most important bolt on the whole thing. this is the locking bolt. it locks this thing right in place. so now. >> take your hammer and what we want to do, we get rag build up right in here. the hot water recirculates right in here, the sludge recirculates in here. the sludge sometimes has rags in it. all we want to do is go around the clean the rags. let me show you how. take the slide hammer, go all the way through the back, go around. >> got you. >> during the real rainy season, how does that change the way dealing with this job? is it a lot more stuff in there? . >> what we do, charles, we do this quarterly. every four months we go around

and clean all the heat exchangers so we don't have a large build up. . >> go around? . >> yeah. (sound of hammering). >> what i'm trying to do, charles, is always pull it out on the low stroke. >> right. so you are not, like, flying out. now talk about clean up. . >> then where does this stuff get deposited? . >> we're going to dump it in a

debris box and it will go back to the plant. >> if you think back, the romans came up with a system of plumbing that allowed us it use water to transport waste away from the hub of civilization, which enabled cities to grow. . >> you have a large bowl, a drive motor and another motor with a planetary gearbox with differential pressure inside there. the large mass up there spinning separating the solids from the liquid. we have to prevent about once a month, we go in there grease those, change the oil, check the vibration levels. the operators can tell just by the hum of that machine that it's a harmonic noise emitted that it's out of balance and the machine needs to be cleaned.

it will start vibrating and we have vibration analysis machines that will come over here and check the levels. so it's kind of an on-going thing that you have to stay on top of on a daily basis. >> handled properly, you take organic residuals, as we call them, that are leftovers of our society and turn them back into some energy. and we have another ability to take that sludge and get a nutrient value for crops there. we actually are running a kind of composting energy recovery system. >> well, this is a dirty job. we try to do it safely and we try to do it without imposing too much on the public. people want to flush their toilets and have things go away and not be bothersome again. we do a lot to try to accomplish that.

i'd like to invite you to come back any time you want. once you got this in your blood, you are not going to be able to stay away. the raging waters are fun and when we do digester cleaning i really hope you can come back. that's quite a sight. >> yeah, that sounds interesting. >> i really appreciate you coming by and it was a >> my father was a lebanese

immigrant. he would say that range today is very good luck. we are seeing good luck on our ceremony today. and an upsurge in interest with the sustainability program. in july of 2009, the executive director -- executive directive talking about healthy and sustainable food for san francisco, i asked all departments to carry out posturing food production in the city. today, we have are before us, literally, groundbreaking legislation. what he will sign into law today, what the mayor will sign into law today represent a big of a to the city's regulation of

local food production. our community gardens and backyard kitchen gardens will be permitted everywhere under this legislation. surprisingly enough, prior to this legislation, the sale of that food was not. the products are primarily derived from locally grown foods. it establishes operational standards to ensure compatibility of urban agriculture within our existing neighborhoods. there are [unintelligible]

from the agricultural commission as well. it is my great pleasure to introduce the champion of environmental sustainability. he was director of public works and the city administrator. he has been instrumental in moving electric vehicle policies forward as well as leading an overall effort to make the city far more sustainable. it is my great pleasure to introduce you today. >> good afternoon, everybody. it is my personal pleasure to be out here.

i want to thank supervisor mar, the environmental department, the agricultural commissioner, the real people and volunteers, i have just been acquitted with the names of eli and caitlin. and all of these more famous people in my opinion because of what they have been doing with this example. we are personally very happy to sign this legislation. i know we got started some time ago. we are out here, but we are not going to be out here for five hours like the planning commission meetings. we are out here to do something very good for neighbors. we have the neighborhood here that are all in concert.

it will be very good deal for the city. my wife wants to be on that list to be able to buy organic. she is one of those crazy 5:00 36:00 in the morning light people. it don't bother me, i am going out. i think this is wonderful. the agricultural ordnance, which is smart legislation, and it is all one of the legislation's that brings government, volunteers, and people of residents closer together. it is things that we do that we are proud of. i would rather win more friends than create political enemies. i will perhaps set the standards a little higher. they have got to come and

support these types of things that are greener, the are more. we have got to break open these lots. we have got to do something more. the supervisors got on that very quickly because it was natural for them to do we will enjoy the food produced here. that is why the health department is involved and that is why there are so many other agencies involved. i am here as a proud moment to

be here with the community and represent that more of this has to be done. i was here when we tried to unclog these flooded streets. and actually do something that label be proud of it for many generations to come. this movement has been fantastic. it is one i clearly endorse. i know that we are going to unveil some really great maps. we will really take advantage of this ordinance that allows us to do this. we will do this, and with the cooperation.

>> of 4 i introduced our next speakers -- before i introduce our next speaker is, from the early stages of this process, we joined with the office and the local at cultural community, i have to say, being in the department for three years, it is one of those were moments when the planning commission will be when everyone was saying

yes instead of no. we are responsible for what you see growing around us today. they are the owners of little city gardens. and they are really testing the economic viability of what we are dealing with this whole concept. they have created a transparent communicative community-based business. we are eager to spotlight the benefits. thank you for hosting us today. [applause] >> my name is brooke, this is kaitlin. we are happy to celebrate this important step forward for agriculture. it is important for us because we have celebrated the first

year anniversary for working this beautiful, fertile piece of land. this lot was an overgrown jungle. really serious leagues. -- weeds. it has been a pretty action packed year for us, transforming the lot from that to this. we can't think of a better way to make this year -- the mark this year of hard work than the signing ceremony. little city gardens is an urban far more people can come to learn about agriculture and talk about food systems. little city gardens is also a small business in that we aim to support the work that we do have a place that we hold in the community by growing, selling, and distributing fresh produce. we started this business because we believe that productive urban farms have a great role to play

in the future of our cities. urban farming has always had an important presence in san francisco. we felt like the agricultural movement could take on the sustainability of some of them could support themselves economically. when we began, there were no gardens that we could look for as a model. we knew there'd be ample benefit and ample challenge in the process. we have experienced plenty of both. we are totally awed every day. and also, as we are trying to carve out a new space, we have challenges every day. as many of you know, the first major obstacle here was the fact that selling the produce was not legal. the zoning code did not allow us

to support ourselves. thank you for all of your hard work and putting together this ordinance. we are grateful for the way we are able to work together to make this happen. close to home is not a new or particularly innovative idea. it is a simple act that the communities have only recently lost. we are pleased to live in a city that recognizes the importance of ideas. with the passage of this legislation, they are validated and inspired. we will be able to test out the business plan. we have a couple of ways to go -- but we have had some ways to go, to recognize the agriculture as part of the necessary city landscape. [applause] >> this is a great testament to your hard work.

hnext, i would like to introduce a president chiu. he was a co-sponsor of the ordinance. david is excited to see this legislation come to fruition. >> it is great to see everyone here today. it takes a village to build a garden. it is great to see this village around us. i want to thank the mayor had his predecessor. and our friends from the department of the environment, you help do this. i also want to thank supervisors as the chair of the land use committee. as was the case at planning, a very friendly reception with a sea of green t-shirts. also all want to thank all the men and women that stand behind

me better part of the urban agriculture alliance. you're the ones that came to my office late last fall and confirmed for me what i had wandered for many years. can we bring it green back to the urban jungle? the district that i represent in the northeast part of the city, we have very little green. one thing i had been wondering for years, why can't we use those little plots of land in the middle to growth in the. what is so exciting about today is that we are creating a new urban experience. the things that we can smell when we are out in the city of the food and the greenery that we can touch, they are of course the things that we can eat. the reason that this is so wonderful is that san francisco has always done the cutting edge of being on the forefront of what it means for the environment. what we are doing in san

francisco hopefully will be on the cutting edge of the urban agriculture movement. and on the cutting edge of what it means to have some of the best food in the country. >> as you mentioned, he was the chairman of the land use committee. they see more legislation than any other on the board. thank you, everyone. >> i was watching, and if i could, i would be doing the same thing. i would have to be digging in the dirt as well. i know your hands are much more dirt and fingernails than mine. i wish i could do that today.

linked to the little city farm, but also the other farms are represented. we are proud to be supportive of the san francisco urban alliance activism. and hopefully around the world. i also want to say that our head of food policy is here. i know at what help us make sure that children and residents, not just their but in the neighborhoods that have a healthy and locally grown produce will have more access. at a recent panel that we were on, and want to see this expanded to every single square mile of the city. this is a really good start but we need to implement the mayor's initiative. we have to be the shining example for the u.s. and also this world. thank you for being here,

everyone. >> i also want to recognize his supervisor avalos. next, i want to introduce a community representative that played a key role in policy development, and that is of the sentences of zero urban agriculture alliance. they promote the growing of food through advocacy education and grass-roots actions. >> today is a good day for san francisco and urban agriculture. san francisco because the leader of cities nationwide that are revisiting their local resident -- regulations and making it easier to grow their own foods and to sell it to make extra cash for a living.