City of Benicia This Week
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In this edition: City Expands Use of Goats in Fire Prevention, Water Education Program Wraps Up School Year, Fire Department Publishes Annual Report, What Can You Do When You're Fully Vaccinated?, COVID Assistance
Message from the City Manager
March 29, 2021

Hello Everyone,
Last Tuesday was another important Council workshop discussing the possible development of the City-owned dirt lot on East E Street between First Street and East Second Street, as well as a further discussion over housing, affordable housing, and other available City properties. This is a critically important discussion for the City in light of the increased mandates from the State to allow for housing development. This workshop was in alignment with the City Council’s recently established priorities, specifically priority 4.2 – “Support the Community Development Department with initiatives to assess developing undeveloped City properties and report back to Council fall of 2021”. This workshop was the first of a number of Council meetings that will be happening related to this priority over the coming months, and an important step towards helping us determine a pathway to increase housing opportunity.
 
Ultimately, Council decided to direct staff to move forward with establishing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop the property as a housing site that would allow a large number of units, up to four stories, with a possible commercial (restaurant, etc.) or community benefit (performance venue, meeting spaces, etc.). Staff will be returning to Council with a draft RFP for their review and approval in the coming months.
 
In relation to another important Council priority, today is the first day for our new part-time, limited duration Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager. This ties to the Council’s Strategic Goal of High Performing Government under Priority 6.4 – “Hire Equity Manager by April 2021, implement equity committee within two months of hiring manager, conduct equity study by December 2021”. These tasks were directed by Council Resolution in August of 2020. I am very excited to be able to bring on such a remarkable manager in Dr. Maliika Chambers. The two panels who interviewed the candidates (community and staff) both were incredibly impressed with Maliika. During my interview with her I found her to be very powerful, positive and committed to bringing people together to find strength in unity, diversity and equity. Her bio is included below.

Thank you for your interest in the City of Benicia This Week!

Erik Upson
City Manager
Dr. Maliika Chambers is a renowned learning, talent, and leadership development expert with over 20 years of experience transforming organizational culture to build diverse, inclusive, and equitable spaces where communities live, learn, and work successfully.

As a university professor, she worked to prepare the next generation of professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and business. She has authored several trade and academic journal articles focused on best practices in driving cultural change through crisis response management, tailoring solutions to the needs of diverse audiences, and the role of executive engagement in successful business transformation efforts.

As a systems architect, her work helps corporations design the infrastructure that drives business strategy, promotes employee development, and retains top talent around the world. Dr. Chambers’ leadership and talent development work spans multiple industries including utility, healthcare, and high-tech. In those roles, she developed strategic business plans to address three critical areas: the alignment of human capital management and business priorities; the design of equitable spaces for cross-functional collaboration; and the critical attributes of sustainable cultural transformation.

Dr. Chambers holds advanced degrees in Sociology, Curriculum Development, Systems Design, Leadership and Organizational Development. She is a certified project manager, credentialed educator, and professional advisor to the California State Board of Education, the Western Association of Colleges and Universities, and the US Department of Education. Dr. Chambers also serves as a Governing Board member for Junior Achievement of Northern California.

“The challenges of equity, inclusivity, and accessibility we face continue to evolve and persist in communities, classrooms, and boardrooms today. I’m excited by the opportunity to build on the current efforts in the City of Benicia to yield positive change, and wholeheartedly support the desire to sustain a vibrant, inclusive, and more equitable environment for Benicia employees, residents, and the local business community.”Text Link
City News
City Expands Use of Goats in Fire Prevention
At the March 16, 2021 Benicia City Council meeting, a new agreement with Goats R Us was approved, which will bring more goats to Benicia to graze open space areas. The goats will graze from late March through June removing combustible vegetation.

The rolling hills of northern Benicia are a result of incorporating natural open spaces into the area’s residential development with approximately 50 separate open space areas totaling over 1,800 acres. The blending of the open space with residential neighborhoods creates unique challenges for the Benicia Fire Department during summer fire season.

Currently, the fire department uses a variety of strategies to limit the impact of wildfires spreading from these open spaces to surrounding residential properties. Historically, the department has contracted with heavy equipment disking companies each spring to disrupt the vegetation around the perimeter of each open space. This created limited fire breaks designed to slow the spread of fire so that firefighters have time to respond and extinguish fires before they impact developed properties.

The addition of herds of goats has been used to effectively eat large areas of vegetation. Prior agreements with goat herding companies brought a limited number of goats to graze only during winter months. This allowed much of the vegetation to re-grow before the summer fire season. The new agreement brings a greater number of goats to the area during spring months and stipulates that the herds graze the areas between residential property lines and 50 feet into the open spaces.

Fire Chief Josh Chadwick states, “While it is important to remember that no realistic vegetation management program will completely alleviate all risks, we believe the increased and targeted utilization of goats will improve fire safety while also reducing air pollution, noise pollution, and erosion.”

For more information, contact Josh Chadwick, Fire Chief at jchadwick@ci.benicia.ca.us or 707.746.4275.

Photo courtesy Marnix A. van Ammers
Water Education Program Wraps Up School Year
Lidia Tropeano, education coordinator for Solano Resource Conservation District (Solano RCD), was preparing to live stream her final virtual field trip from the shores of Lake Herman when a child walking a dog with his family caught her attention.

“I know you,” shouted the boy, a student from Matthew Turner Elementary. “You were on my virtual field trip here yesterday.”

Tropeano and a small team of Solano RCD educators were just wrapping up a full week of virtual field trips from the Lake Herman Recreation Area when the family stopped by. According to the boy’s grandmother, the student was so inspired by his virtual field trip that he asked to visit Lake Herman in person the very next day.

Delivered to Benicia’s fifth graders, the Lake Herman virtual field trip was one of four activities offered exclusively to Benicia students as part of this year’s Benicia Water Education Program, a collaborative effort between the City of Benicia Public Works Department and Solano RCD to teach local students about their water resources. While the program traditionally take place in person, lessons and tours were live streamed this year as students participated in distance learning from their homes.

“The City of Benicia is happy to continue the Benicia Water Education Program and work with the next generation of leaders and scientists, providing Benicia students the opportunity to become stewards of their local waterways and learn the importance of protecting our valuable water resources,” stated Marc Bautista, Water Quality Supervisor for the City of Benicia Public Works Department. “Especially in this time of COVID-19, we felt it was critical to be able to continue to support Benicia students through our partnership with Solano Resource Conservation District.”

Over 200 fourth graders learned how Benicia’s wastewater is treated by creating their own home-made wastewater filters and participating in a virtual lesson and tour of the Benicia Wastewater Treatment Plant. 260 fifth graders participated in the Lake Herman field trip and received a virtual tour of the Benicia Water Treatment Plant. Students had the opportunity to interact with treatment plant staff and ask questions, many of which varied from what the wastewater treatment plant smells like to how they can track their water use at home.

Many students and their families listening in shared that they were surprised to learn that they can actually track their water use using WaterSmart, an online tool helping Benicia residents use less water and avoid costly leaks. Others explained that they did not realize Lake Herman is a drinking water source for Benicia residents and that it provides valuable habitat to a variety of wildlife, including otters, osprey, deer, and foxes.

“Working with Solano RCD, the program quickly pivoted to online learning and video tours, and continued to provide valuable educational experiences virtually. Hopefully we will be back in the classroom and at City facilities for in-person learning next school year,” added Bautista.

Funding for the Benicia Water Education program comes from the City of Benicia Public Works Department. Solano RCD, who manages and delivers the program, works with multiple partners to provide students from elementary through high school with tangible scientific learning experiences in their local watershed. Benicia’s third and sixth graders participated in Solano RCD’s virtual Watershed Explorers and Suisun Marsh Watershed Programs earlier this year, and its tenth graders will be participating in a creek monitoring program this May.

For more information, visit solanorcd.org.
Fire Department Publishes Annual Report
The 2020 Benicia Fire Department Annual Report has been published. Learn about their accomplishment and milestones, personnel, facilities and fleet, education and training, special teams and mutual aid, services and response, highlights and achievements, fire prevention, code enforcement, COVID-19 pandemic, community involvement and public education, emergency preparedness, thoughts and goals.

Members of Benicia Fire Department thank you for the privilege of serving you and yours during an incredibly challenging year. They look forward to reconnecting with our amazing community when it is safe to do so. They invite you to take the time to review their annual report, highlighting their activities in 2020.
What Can You Do When You're Fully Vaccinated?
Solano County Public Health wants you to know that, based on what they know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.

  • You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
  • You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with is at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness.
  • If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.

Please continue to keep taking precautions in public settings like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces until more people are vaccinated from COVID-19.

Additional vaccine information is available at www.solanocounty.com/covidvaccine. To be notified when appointments are available for vaccine clinics, sign up at https://myturn.ca.gov/.
COVID Assistance
Find resources and information for seniors, local food access, basic needs and rental assistance, mental health, stress and coping, and more courtesy of Solano County Public Health. Benicia residents in need of help during these difficult times may find assistance through these local resources:
Save the Date
Modified service due to COVID-19
City Hall is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you require entrance to City Hall offices outside of these hours, please make arrangements with staff from the department that you will be visiting.

All visitors shall be required to enter City Hall from East L street through the door located on the left (East) side of the building closest to the Post Office. Please check in with the staff person at the designated Welcome Window.

You will be required to wear a face covering over both your nose and mouth for the duration of your visit to City Hall. Please maintain 6 feet of social distancing between other visitors and staff. Do not visit City Hall if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Appointments can always be rescheduled.
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