Page 41 - Sonoma County Gazette Sept 2017

Clean Energy moves forward in Sonoma County. First off SMART has finally arrived. Anyone that has ridden the train is impressed. The views and the comfort are great, plus there’s food, beer, wine, and wifi. Maybe not the fastest way to get to the City, but it’s good to know that one Clipper Card can get you on a bus in Monte Rio, on a SMART train in Railroad Square, on a Ferry in Larkspur, and then you are in downtown San Francisco. With additional train cars, parking spaces, and extended scheduled service, SMART has potential.
Fife Creek Restoration - UPDATE
Second, Sonoma Clean Power is offering incredible deals on new electric vehicles. This year the promotion includes more cars and more dealers to choose from. The prices are pre-negotiated so the hassle factor is gone. How much can you save? How about getting a $30,000 car for under $10,000? Would you believe for under $5,000 if you are low income? Tired of standing still commuting on Hwy 101 watching a few HOV lane drivers whiz by? That could be you! My husband and I test drove EVs recently. The dealerships were so busy, finding someone to sell you a car was a task in and of itself. I was surprised at how well these smaller cars handled and rode. The acceleration is great with no lag time. The VW e-Golf we test drove had self-park. You push a button, let go of the steering wheel, and it parallel parks.
Bridge Restoration Project in Guerneville along the Lower Russian River. Otto Walker had been working on cleaning up Fife Creek for 6 months, clearing dense invasive plants scattered with garbage and homeless encampments polluting the creek. Otto would take one bag of garbage out, and two or three would replace it the next day. He was frustrated and needed help.
Technology has come a long way in the past few years. One important factor of course is the battery range. The driving range can vary from around 85 miles to 240. There are charging stations available for longer trips and “charge cards” you can get to get you where you need to be. Most cars also let you know if
you will run out of power before you reach your destination and where the last charging station is located. I think I can handle this! One disclaimer that you won’t find on Sonoma Clean Power website or Press Democrat articles is the VW e-Golf only has around an 85 mile range. The articles incorrectly state a 125 mile range, which will be on the next e-Golf coming out any time now, but it is not currently available, and is not part of the current promotion. The promotion also includes two free residential charging stations. Aside from Sonoma Clean Power, our Northern Sonoma County Air District has also contributed to the promotion. The promotions end 10/31 so now is the time to make the move to go green and save big. Go to SonomaCleanPower.org for more info.
Fife Creek is a seasonal tributary that had long ago stopped being a healthy spawning environment. I told Otto I would come down and take a look to see how I could help. It was overwhelming. I kept coming back
to help Otto, guring it was another learning experience!
In a related development, I just purchased a River EcoFlow Mobile Power Station. I got mine in pre-production through Indiegogo, but it is now available for retail. This is basically an 11 pound stylish battery that outputs up to 300 watts A/C and 200 watts D/C. It will hold a full charge for a year. I had lights on during our last short blackout in August. Of course it charges all your mobile devices as well. It takes the place of an expensive large heavy noisy gas powered generator and it will be great for camping. My small electric heater and small electric blanket are ready for tent camping in the Sierras this fall. It’s apparently great for charging drones as well. It can also come with solar panels if you really want to be off the grid in the middle of nowhere. Life is good.
I learned that the property along
side Fourth Street to River Rd.,
Brookside Lane paralleling Fife Creek,
was owned by West Sonoma Inn and
the Woods Resort. The owners of this
property gave us permission to work
on their property and supported our
e orts. We learned that other groups
had tried for seven years to restore
this parcel along the creek and beyond
where Fife Creek empties into the
Russian River behind Dawn Ranch
and next to Safeway. Our project took
a serious turn when Don McEnhill,
our local Riverkeeper, encouraged us
to ask Dave Morton, riparian restoration expert, to join and advise us.
Back home, we are making progress in the River as well. Our streets are cleaned up, our roads are beginning to get repaved, and our local businesses are doing well thanks to the incredible influx of tourists this year. It’s been a fun and busy summer. While we continue to work on several initiatives, the next major task for Monte Rio is solving our wastewater issues. The time has come to deal with this. We are now coming up against state enforced deadlines. If we come up with our own local acceptable solutions, we will most likely have an easier and less expensive outcome. Imagine if the Pink, our historic watering hole, could be reopened. Imagine if our homes and businesses could renovate and expand. Imagine a downtown Monte Rio that came back to some semblance of its former glory days. I will be providing more information on our wastewater solutions next month, but know that mandatory questionnaires will be going out in late 2018 from the County asking you what type of septic system (or redwood box) you have. It seems that permitted existing septic systems will be tested every five years, and the rest of us will need to do some serious upgrading. Hopefully there will be low cost funds available to assist with this endeavor. It is a game changer for Monte Rio. We can do it right, and we will.
Volunteers Chuck Sommers, Ted Waddell, and Bill Grummer were our main crew. Others came and went. In Feb, 2016 Su Edmonds joined us! Since our last update, we needed to purchase a storage shed for our tools and supplies, to have an invasive tree removed, and to get our own meter and irrigation system to help get new plants established without hand watering.
Vacation Wonderland. We just keep getting better.
Please JOIN US on Thursdays at Fife Creek for our VOLUNTEER
work days. We start at 11 AM and work until 2 PM Every hand is welcome and needed. Please wear sturdy shoes and clothes. Bring gloves if you have them. We meet in The Woods RESORT Parking LOT on FOURTH Street, (behind the Guerneville post o ce).
NEXT GIVE-BACK-TUESDAY is Sept. 19 - 6 pm at Rainbow Cattle Co. downtown Guerneville. Please join us for our nrasier ra e and silent auction.
THANK YOU!
By Vira Burgerman, A.K.A. The California Mermaid ®
Four years ago on June 22, 2013, we o cially started Fife Creek Bridge to
I had moved to the river from Bodega Bay on a mission to restore creeks and tributaries where sh spawned as a way to support our commercial shing industry. For years I had produced Mermaid Festivals in Bodega Bay to give commercial sherman a voice. Now, I was learning from our Russian Riverkeepers and volunteers how to restore creeks and tributaries.
We have been raising funds through our “Finraisers” and “Give Back Tuesdays “ at the Rainbow Bar and Cattle Co. on Main St in downtown Guerneville. Purple Productions, along with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Falcon Mike of Falcon Enterprises, Michael Preaseau, Mike Fauss with Don Frank. Jim Howes, and Sean Dower, Credo High School students and every person who shows up just to work a few hours has helped.
We also want to thank these generous people: The Marks, Mario Torrigino, Ken Billheimer, and Nick DiBlasio for their cash donations!
We have turned what was a TOXIC creek environment with NO life, not a worm, a butter y or bee, back to a supportive habitat for all native life.
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