Page 42 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2017

Ihope this nds all of you groovy readers well and dry! These storms and rising waters remind me of how it used to be in the 60’s when we used to “go to the river house” to clean up after the ood every year. Big shout out to the GPKs (Garbage Patch Kids) and Clean River Alliance, for all of their
The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) plan to ship sewage from Occidental to Guerneville was never presented to the folks most impacted by this decision. It was quite a surprise to many Guerneville residents to find that the obscure and deceptive mailing received just before Christmas with clear maps of Occidental and no clear map of the location of the lift station in Guerneville, was intended to sneak in without any public meeting, a decision with enormous affect on our neighborhood.
The lift station
has been a source of
neighborhood odor
for quite awhile.
In 1993 the SCWA
obtained the lot
in question when
they were sued by
the homeowner
because of the noise
and odor from the
station. In addition,
there exists a
recorded settlement
agreement that
prohibits any
expanding of the
sewage lift station
onto this parcel in
Guernewood Park.
The SCWA should
have been aware of
this prohibition on
expansion as they
received ownership
after being sued
and obtained the
parcel in question
via “inverse condemnation”. They apparently feel they are “above the law” and can ignore what is now a recorded deed restriction on expanding the lift station onto the vacant lot.
cleanup e orts. We have the grooviest community; everyone pitched in and helped each other out! And as stated last month, thank you to Joy at Safeway! She went onto Facebook and reached out to the Community and asked us what we needed for her to stock up on at the store! Nobody has done that since Monte Kerr was the manager!
We, the residents and owners of property in Guerneville and along Bohemian Highway, hereby protest the trucking of raw sewage along Bohemian Highway and the transformation of the vacant lot next to the lift station at the confluence of Riverside Drive and Hwy 116 into a truck dump station for Occidental sewage.
OPEN LETTER:
School News... Co ee with the Principal at Guerneville School... What
a groovy idea! Each month the Principal will host a co ee social and facilitate discussions about important, educational topics. This is a time to learn more about programs, curriculum and events at Guerneville School. This is held on the rst Friday of every month in the school library. El Molino Theater Arts will be presenting the Tony Award-winning musical, In The Heights, through Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 4th. Show time is 7pm and tickets are $10
at the door. El Molino Leadership is hosting their fourth annual chili cook o / bingo night, Chilingo, on Thursday, February 9th from 6-8 pm. This sounds like A LOT of fun! Enjoy delicious homemade chili and play bingo at the same time! $5 pays for admission, a bowl of chili, cornbread, and three bingo cards. If you are interested in entering a pot of chili in the cook o , email Coach Roan at mroan.ehs@wscuhsd.k12.ca.us.
Give Back Tuesday at the Rainbow... This month the bene ciaries are Russian River Sisters’ Grants Fund, Curtain Call Theater, Friends of Fife Creek and the Russian River Senior Center. Every Tuesday at 6pm, join in the groove of raffles, food and fun at the Rainbow Cattle Company; suggested donation of $5 gets you a plate of delicious food and the bar gives back a percentage of the take that night to the charity.
Russian River Chamber of Commerce... will be holding its monthly mixer at Main Street Station on Wednesday, February 1st from 5:30 – 8pm. Come on out and schmooze with your groovy business owners! I saw that the Chamber is hiring an Executive Director; hopefully that position will be lled soon by a local, groovy candidate!
Important dates and meetings for you to be concerned with... Did you know that the Sonoma County Water Agency is proposing the Occidental County Sanitation District Wastewater Transport Compliance Project? In other words, they are proposing the transportation of untreated wastewater from Occidental to Guerneville, to be discharged into the collection system located in the residential neighborhood of Riverside Drive / Hwy 116! Yes, multiple trucks per day of raw sewage will be driving on Bohemian Hwy, one of the worst roads in the county, along with how many bicyclists per day, from Occidental to Guerneville?! Does this make sense? How about you bring all of your neighbors and friends with you to the public hearing that will be held on Thursday February 16th at 6pm to the Monte Rio Community Center! This project review was slated up until January 23rd, but we were able to get it extended, so we really need everyone to attend this meeting! Lynda Hopkins will be the hearing o cer. Hard copies of the study and declaration for the project can be viewed at Occidental, Guerneville and Forestville Library.
We also received an extension to protest the Sonoma County Water Agency’s Fish Habitat Flows and Water Rights Project. In other words, folks this is all about selling our water and leaving us dry. You may not be concerned about this today with all of the water you see in the river, but you better be! If you think toxic algae was a problem before, just wait if this project passes! We only have until February 14th to have all protests led, so come by Community First Credit Union to pick up a protest form to complete and send in asap!
Feeling the love... Don’t forget to shop local for your groovy Valentine and enjoy the array of restaurants we have available to have that special meal with your loved one!
42 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/17
This is an inappropriate development for a residential neighborhood. It will add noise and sewage odor to the neighborhood. Bringing 30 foot tanker trucks into the neighborhood is not only a noise issue but also a safety issue as the trucks will need to make a turn across the impacted Hwy 116 in order to return to Occidental. The 5 to 15 trips a day (with return trips that is a total of 10 to 30 trips) will severely impact our residential neighborhood.
In addition, it is unsafe to add these tanker trucks to Bohemian Hwy, one of the most dangerous roads in the West County. One accident could cause extensive damage to fragile Dutch Bill Creek.
We would like to know why there is no mention of the size of these tanker trucks in the proposed negative declaration? They are to be 4000 gallons each and 30 feet in length according to the SCWA.
We also would like to know why the Graton plant was not explored as
an alternative to the Guerneville neighborhood? This plant is accessed off safer roads and is the closest facility to the Occidental area. If trucking is the solution, we suggest that this alternative or the Airport facility be the primary recipients. Neither site would require dangerous trucks to travel on Bohemian Highway or the establishment of a pumping station on a lot that has a specific deed restriction against such usage.
We would like to know why the SCWA believes they are exempt from the recorded settlement agreement and deed restriction?
If the concern is greenhouse emissions due to truck travel, we suggest that the SCWA use the savings from not developing the Guerneville lot, to purchase clean burning vehicles.
Susan Packer, Guerneville
February 16 Public meeting at Monte Rio Community Center - see information on page 43