We've been working towards summers that everyone can enjoy - businesses that prosper, residents out in the beauty they live in, and visitors respectfully enjoying our abundant natural beauty. It's about creating balance between all these needs and providing resources to help keep this balance working.
A few of these programs having an impact include:
Parking Enforcement Our office starting paying with TOT funds for additional parking enforcement at the beginning of June. During that month our extra CHP time garnered 91 parking tickets, 21 other category tickets, 4 verbal warnings, and 1 towed car. Our July figures look like they will be similar. Marti and Pip, your MAC chairs, are in direct contact with Melissa Souza of the CHP who is managing the contract. Should you have problem areas to report, you can go directly to Marti/Pip or call CHP and ask for Melissa to shine the light on any trouble spots.
Leave No Trace Collaboration. Regional Parks, Sonoma County Tourism, and Leave No Trace have rolled out messaging to tourists and residents alike to visit our areas without leaving trash, noise, and other debris. One local neighbor who often picks up trash near Mom's Beach said "I've been so surprised at how much less trash there is! And the funny thing is that I stopped by Sam's Market and saw a bag of beer bottles next to the trash can with a note that says 'we bought these here, we are leaving these here.!'" Better stewardship is taking hold!
Other initiatives in this vein include: Sonoma County Tourism is launching a new program called Rewards for Rubbish and recently collaborated with Regional Parks to be part of the Open Road Show with Doug McConnell, talking about visitors being good stewards of our River, Coast, and Redwoods. And the Tri-County Initiative was signed and swings into action this summer with Sonoma County, Marin County, and Mendocino County agreeing to implement Cleaner Coast California messaging and resources to keep our Coast clean.
Regional Parks projects to protect and expand our natural resources. Check out all the projects in progress here. From building the bike and pedestrian Coast Trail section through Bodega, developing public access to the Carrington Ranch and Torr recently acquired parklands, creating a multi-use trail along the Russian River, and so many more are all in the works, ensuring residential and visitor enjoyment along with environmental protection and resilience.
Happy Summer to us all!
|
|
July 21st, 2022 Meeting, 5:30 pm – 7:30pm
In accordance with AB 361, Governor Newsom’s March 4, 2020 State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Resolution 21-0399, the Coast MAC meeting will be held virtually. The meeting will be on Zoom and on Facebook live, links below. After the event, videos are available both on Facebook and on YouTube under Sonoma County 5th District.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/supervisorlyndahopkins
Zoom:
https://sonomacounty.zoom.us/j/96886698062?pwd=TTRLVkxUeXR2TTZsN3Z6ZlpTOXE4UT09
Passcode: 678087
Or One tap mobile : US: +16694449171,,96886698062# or +16699009128,,96886698062#
This meeting will be covering two major topics plus community input and updates:
Regular Calendar Items
a. MAC election and engagement
i. Approval of Amendment to term limit bylaws change. The current bylaws state: “Section 3. Terms. A membership term is a two-year period. Sonoma Coast members may be reappointed. Members may serve a maximum of two terms (four years in total).” Because many of our smaller communities find it difficult to meet this requirement, Supervisor Hopkins and your MAC Chairs suggest that this be updated to “Section 3. Terms. A membership term is a two-year period. Sonoma Coast MAC members may be reappointed.”
ii. Fall election postcard and information
b. Discussion of latest Local Coastal Plan (LCP) process and community feedback items. Community feedback items are attached.
Council Member and Staff Reports
Call for Agenda Items
Disability Accommodations: The Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council will make reasonable accommodations for persons having special needs due to disabilities. Please contact the Fifth District Field Representative at 707-565-2866 during regular business hours at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to ensure necessary accommodations are made.
|
|
The County of Sonoma Department of Transportation and Public Works (TPW) this month announced the department has received a $74,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources to install smart meters for the water system serving approximately 128 connections in the community of Jenner by the Sea. The funding comes as part of an overall $5 million award from the Urban and Multi-benefit Drought Relief Grant Program, which was filed by Humboldt County on behalf of the North Coast Funding Area.
The project aligns with both the Resilient Infrastructure and Climate Action and Resiliency pillars of Sonoma County’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. “Jenner is in a water scarce area that is compounded by ongoing drought and an aging water system that loses between 74,000 to 307,000 gallons of water per month,” said Lynda Hopkins, Sonoma County Supervisor for District Five which includes Jenner. “By switching to smart meters, we can identify if that water loss is due to unrecorded usage or leaks. That means better conservation and better information regarding any necessary repairs to the system.”
In the absence of obvious signs of a system leak such as pooling water, officials have been unable to pinpoint whether current water loss of up to 50 percent of production is due to the age and deterioration of the current equipment resulting in unrecorded use from low flows of water, or from unidentified leaks in the system.
Given the age and limitations of the community’s current water meters, residents do not have a clear idea of how much water they are using. This makes effective conservation more difficult and prevents the water district from having reliable data with which to pinpoint efforts. Over the coming months, the county’s contracted operator, Russian River Utilities, will swap out existing meters with new smart meters, which will track daily usage that will be collected and placed in a cloud-based system. New plastic lids will replace existing concrete vault lids to facilitate good signal strength at each replacement meter location. In addition to the water system for Jenner by the Sea, the County of Sonoma Department of Transportation and Public Works oversees water systems for the communities of Fitch Mountain, Freestone and Salmon Creek.
|
|
Tuition-free Small Business Training
The Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) is a tuition-free executive program to help small businesses build long-term sustainable growth and navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaiser Permanente is excited to partner with ICCC and provide participating businesses with a positive and active experience to support local economies. This year we will have one statewide, California cohort to be held on– August 2nd (9am – 1 pm PT) & August 4th (9am-1:30 pm PT) This program is offered in a dynamic virtual environment that consists of 2 half day trainings while the learning and coaching is self-paced and virtual. More details about requirements are below and in the attached flyer.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESSES TO APPLY
· Be an independent, for-profit or non-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship.
· Have its headquarters or more than 51% of its physical operations located in an economically distressed area OR have more than 40% of employees residing in an economically-distressed area.
· Have revenues for the past 3 years, and a minimum of $150,000 in at least one of those years.
· Have been in operation for three years or more and must be past the proof-of-concept stage. ICCC does not accept start-up companies.
We are accepting nominations and applications. The application deadline has been extended to Sunday July 31, 2022. Attached is a flyer that can be shared with local business partners.
TO APPLY:
|
|
Fifth District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins | County of Sonoma | 707-565-2241
Lynda.Hopkins@sonoma-county.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
