News from the 5th

Volume 20| January 2020

News from the 5th

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Dear Friends,

I am grateful to my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for supporting a homeless emergency declaration regarding the Joe Rodota Trail in December, and also for unanimously approving a $11.6M suite of solutions. This enabled us to finally treat the Joe Rodota Trail like the emergency that it is, and to have the financial capacity available to address that emergency effectively.

In fact, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and Department of Emergency Management staff have taken the unprecedented step of utilizing the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and an incident command protocol in order to quickly, effectively analyze alternative outdoor shelter locations and plan logistics for the emergency shelter implementation and encampment closure.

What this means: The County of Sonoma’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is in full swing, and today we had staff liaisons present from the City of Santa Rosa as well. This is helping us to mobilize the massive effort needed to offer services and solutions to the 200+ camp residents and to move forward with clearing the camp and reopening the trail.

We will also be holding a TOWN HALL this Friday at 6pm at the Roseland Library to share the results of the EOC planning process, and offer a timeline for what residents can expect, and when they can expect it.

Brief notes regarding current operations:

Emergency Operations Center

· This EOC is developing proposals for the Board to consider, including a plan to move occupants from the Joe Rodota Trail (trail) and develop a temporary shelter by January 31, 2020.

· The intent of the EOC is to address the immediate health and safety concerns and return the trail to its intended use.

· If the Board moves forward with this approach, resources and services will be available at the temporary shelter that support the health and wellbeing of individuals.

· The work of the EOC is occurring parallel to the work staff is doing to address the long term solutions with regard to shared housing, master leasing, indoor-outdoor shelters and support services.

ACCESS Interdepartmental Multi-Disciplinary Team (IMDT)

· The IMDT intensive care coordination on the JRT is scheduled to begin on Wednesday January 8, 2020.

· The IMDT has a comprehensive plan for outreach and engagement and housing placement.

· The ACCESS IMDT addresses the behavioral health, medical, and social service needs of this population through coordinated care.

Master Leases

· RFQ released on January 7, 2020. RFP is now an RFQ for a quicker timeline and ability to partner with landlords with available units.

· We are moving quickly to get individuals placed into housing.

Indoor-Outdoor Shelters

· RFP released on January 7, 2020.

· A community stakeholder engagement meeting for specific design elements of the indoor-outdoor shelter sites occurred January 3, 2020 at the Veteran’s Hall in Santa Rosa from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

· A number of design needs and solutions were discussed and staff will incorporate this feedback in its request for proposals (RFQ).

· The meeting was well received by those who participated and included homeless services providers, advocates, occupants from the trail, and community members.

· The RFP process parallel processes to allow those who are ready to submit to do, while we evaluate other proposals.

Roads Progress Report

Completed/Near Completion Projects:

Coleman Valley Road is completed
Old Monte Rio Road will be paved and a guard rail put up on Monday to complete this project
Moscow Road winterization has been complete and this road remains closed while awaiting full design for this FEMA reconstruction project
King Ridge Road - added 5 retaining walls. Next step is project design for reconstruction.

Projects In Process:

Top priority from the 2017 floods are the Old Cazadero and Cazadero Highway projects. There are $13 million worth of projects that have completed design review with FEMA and are now ready to go to construction. TPW will be contracting these projects shortly.
$5 million is being allocated now to design 2019 flood projects including King Ridge Road, Moscow Road, and Skaggs Springs Road.
Westside Road is waiting for the green light on the scope of work from FEMA to proceed.

As always, the local message boards near the sites themselves provide the most up-to-date information on road closures and work for each particular location.

It's exciting to see so many projects moving ahead. We had $85 million in damage with the 2017 and 2019 floods and are seeing real progress on getting through these substantial projects.

EV Charger Grant Open Now!

Have you signed up yet to get a charger at your business?

This grant is a great opportunity to

bring in electric vehicle customers to your business
show your support for clean power
help grow Sonoma's EV network
save money!

Sonoma Clean Power is managing a project from the CALeVIP program. This project provides funding and support to build out the network of EV chargers throughout Sonoma County. Funding is available for a wide range of eligible applicants and the funding allocated $6 million over 3 years for level 2 and 3 chargers – many of which will be placed in District 5 areas that are currently underserved, rural and low income communities.

Chargers can be placed in most locations that are accessible to the public 24/7, with priority given to spots that currently are lacking charging stations.

This is an exciting opportunity to help grow the capacity for electric vehicles and reduce the significant impact of gas powered transport.

Contact Nelson Lomeli at Sonoma Clean Power at: programs@sonomacleanpower.org

if you are interested in using this financing to add EV charging stations to your public location.

Sonoma County Local Coastal Plan

Public Workshops Schedule

Notice of Public Workshops

Sonoma County Local Coastal Plan Update

Public Review Draft

The Local Coastal Plan Update revises the LCP to reflect policies related to coastal development that were adopted by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in General Plan 2020. In addition, this LCP

focuses on new information, changed conditions, and policies in these key areas:

Agricultural Resources
Public Access
Sea Level Rise
Biotic Resources
Geologic Hazards
Water Quality

The intent of the Local Coastal Plan Update is not to encourage new or increased development. The current Local Coastal Plan meets the goals of the California Coastal Act to preserve coastal resources, and this Update continues the existing protections.

Upcoming Local Coastal Plan Public Workshops:

* January 15th from 5:30 - 7:30 pm Timber Cove Inn, 21780 North Coast Highway 1, Jenner

* January 30th at 1:15pm Permit Sonoma Office, 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa

Printed copies of the Draft are available for your review at Permit Sonoma and various public locations as posted on the webpage. If you would like more information, assistance locating the nearest hard copy, or if you are unable to attend the workshops and would like to submit input please contact Cecily Condon, e-mail: PRMD-LCP-Update@sonoma-county.org phone: 707-565-1958; or at the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department, 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.

January 15th from 5:30 pm, the Coast MAC will hold its bi-monthly meeting at the Timber Cove Inn. This meeting will incorporate a Local Coastal Plan Public Workshop as discussed above.

Upcoming Events

Sebastopol Holiday Gathering: Thursday, January 9, 5:30 - 7:30 pm, Hopmonk Tavern, 230 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol.
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Meeting: Tuesday January 14, 8:30 am
Sonoma Coast MAC meeting/ Local Coastal Plan Workshop: Wednesday, January 15, 5:30 - 7:30 pm, Timber Cove Inn, 21780 North Coast Highway 1, Jenner
North Bay Community Engagement Fair 2020: Sunday, January 19th, 12 - 5pm, Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, Santa rosa
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors: Tuesday, January 21, 8:30 a.m.
Sonoma County Local Coastal Plan Workshop: Thursday, January 30, 1:15 pm, Permit Sonoma Hearing Room, 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa

Fifth District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins | County of Sonoma | 707-565-2241

Lynda.Hopkins@sonoma-county.org