Page 43 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2017

First, a sparkling thank you to Sister Scarlet of the Russian River Sisters for being our guest columnist last month, while I was healing from some minor surgery. Great job Sister! Thank you for mentioning the newly opened Timberline Restaurant! I hear it is absolutely yummy! Will
Summer mid-year update. What a di erence from last winter. Our communities are looking great, tourism is thriving, and our future is stronger. Hard work from our engaged community volunteers has paid o .
de nitely be visiting them soon...
The Alliances volunteers have been attending meetings, presenting petitions, and coming up with viable solutions to our communities’ issues. Thanks to our county supervisor, Lynda Hopkins, and the support of the other county supervisors, we are looking good. The county just passed their 2017-
2018 budget. It includes an additional $1M for roads (for a total of $15.7M), $1M to address homelessness in the Russian River, and $1M added to the Sheri ’s budget to make up for some of the funding shortfall. The Sheri Department had been proposing cutting a captain at the River Substation to cover the budget shortfall. Fortunately this won’t be necessary. We also assume the COPS program will be continuing. This is where the deputies walk the streets which makes a huge di erence. The community has also requested an additional deputy as
well as additional funds for private security services. Guerneville Community Alliance has also requested funding to provide worker housing temporary assistance, such as covering a new deposit if a local worker is about to become homeless. Our area is highly dependent on tourism. TOT (transient occupancy hotel bed tax) has recently been raised from 9% to 12%. Our area collects the largest amount of tax, yet most of the taxes go towards county advertising and
is not returned to us. As we are impacted by tourism, we should be able to
retain more of the funds to mitigate any negative impacts. Again, our county supervisors have acknowledged the issues we are facing here and have worked together to assist us. That is progress to be proud of and feel grateful for.
Business of the Month is almost impossible to pitch just one this month, as there are so many new groovy places for us to enjoy! I visited the soft opening at The Grove General Store, located in Pocket Canyon/Hwy 116 at Odd Fellows Park Rd. Not only will this be a wonderful addition for the folks at Odd Fellows Park, who lost their store to a re, but also all of Guerneville! Sa , who is pictured here with a giant swan oatie, showed me the full
array of groovy items they are carrying... bathing suits, beach chairs/towels, Stumptown t-shirts, dog toys, jewelry, tiki torches... even toothbrushes! So if you don’t want to sit in tra c, nd parking and deal with the crowds in town, this is for you! More items will be added, along with more types of services, in the future. Thank you Vicky Scesa! Should you decide to venture on downtown groovy Guerneville, check out the Stewards of the Coast & Redwoods and also, Pamper Me, located in the newly remodeled space next to Trio! I don’t know where to begin with these two shops; I have already purchased so much groovy merchandise from them... Go explore on your own; you de nitely will not be disappointed.
Parking in groovy Guerneville can be a bit challenging, as we all experience on a daily basis and now, Rockin’ on the River happening at the plaza every other Thursday, along with all of the beach goers who refuse to pay $5 for parking at Johnson’s Beach. But I must give a huge, groovy shoutout to Dan and Nick at Johnson’s Beach, who now have Handicapped Parking for the rst time in its history! GREAT job guys! Dan mentioned they never realized the
Some progress was also made last month on the air quality front. Open burning of brush in the “Torr Pit” near the Amphitheater entrance is prohibited per Air Quality District regulations. If you have brush that needs to be discarded, please use a chipper or take the brush to the Guerneville dump/transfer station. Help keep our air clean!
full need, until once installed, as it lls up very quickly. Thank you so much for expanding the ability for ALL groovy visitors to our area, to enjoy the beautiful Russian River!
In local business news Jerry Adair Rare Finds has closed shop. Larry Lovett is looking for a new tenant. The location has high visibility and hopefully we can look forward to welcoming a new business soon.
Speaking of Rockin’ the River... the July schedule: Thursday, July 6th The Highway Poets, New Retro Soul and Thursday, July 20th Zepparella, The All-Female Zeppelin Powerhouse. The concerts begin at 6pm and go until 8pm, downtown groovy Guerneville, at the Plaza on First and Main Street. Thank you to Russian River Rotary for providing this venue!
July is a big month in Monte Rio. Take some time to enjoy it. This year
our reworks will be held Sunday July 2nd. This is sponsored by Monte Rio Chamber, Monte Rio Rec & Park, and Monte Rio Fire. Guerneville will also reinstate their reworks this year on Saturday July 1st.
Fireworks, BBQ, more Fireworks and more BBQ at our Independence Day Celebrations! Look throughout the Gazette for each area’s celebration schedule. The Russian River Chamber of Commerce / Friends of Stumptown will be providing Fireworks and a Barbeque Dinner on Saturday, July 1st, downtown Guerneville. The festivities begin at 4pm. So, before that, head on over to groovy Monte Rio Beach where the Big Rocky Games will be held for the kids! Lots of games, contests, food, groovy fun for the whole family. Then stroll across
the bridge to the Monte Rio Volunteer Fire Department to eat some of their yummy barbeque for lunch, while supporting this important fund raiser!
Thursday July 27th, is the 106th annual Monte Rio Variety Show put on by the Bohemian Club. Time after time, it’s always a fun show with great entertainment and relaxing under the redwoods. monterioshow.org.
Public Safety has been the topic of much heated discussion around town lately and really folks, it’s up to you to voice your concerns and opinions to our representatives. Being unincorporated, we sometimes forget, that if we don’t voice our own opinions, others will... while promoting their own agendas, which may or may not be what you believe in. It’s critical that our next Sheri
Got a question about Monte Rio? Suggestions for the community?
Vacation Wonderland. We just keep getting better.
Stormwater Resource Plan
Public Input Opportunity for the Russian River Watershed
is concerned about public safety in the lower river area! Huge shout out to Supervisor Lynda Hopkins and all of the other Supervisors who voted for the allocation of $1 million to be put towards the Sheri Dept, to make sure there are no major cuts at the River, $1 million for CDC to use for homeless issues in the lower river and $15.7 million to x our roads! We now need to support the establishment of an Oversight Committee to monitor the allocation of those funds, to make sure we receive another deputy dedicated to the River Area. Lynda supports this idea, as our deputies work endlessly, in patrolling over 900 square miles! Yes, we appreciate the private security guard the businesses have employed, but we need more, to protect all residents and visitors. Please email your representatives asap to support this! Don’t let someone else speak for you! Steve.Freitas@sonoma-county.org; Lynda.Hopkins@sonoma-county.org; Susan. Gorin@sonoma-county.org; Shirley.zane@sonoma-county.org; david.rabbit@ sonoma-county.org; james.gore@sonoma-county.org.
The Russian River Watershed Association (RRWA) is pleased to announce the development of a grant-funded Storm Water Resources Plan (SWRP(. Public meetings will be held to discuss the SWRP and provide an opportunity for input on watershed priorities, storm water projects to be evaluated, and the prioritization of projects for future implementation. The purpose of the SWRP is to identify and prioritize projects that improve the use of storm water as a resource and “bringing to the top” those multi-bene t projects that can best meet the identi ed priorities on a watershed basis. The SWRP must satisfy
the requirements of Senate Bill 985 and State Water Board SWRP guidelines to establish eligibility for our local agencies and organizations to receive future State storm water grant funds. The RRWA agencies and many local collaborating entities plan to apply for Proposition 1 Implementation Grant Funds from the State Water Resources Control Board’s Storm Water Grant Program in 2018. The SWRP will provide the guidance and tools to support these community organizations in developing competitive projects for state- wide grant funding.
INFO: Russian River Watershed Association’s SWRP website at: bit.ly/RRWA_SWRP.
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