City Council Set Subcommittee Appointments and Meeting Times for 2023

At their January 11th Meeting, the City Council reviewed the City Manager's recommended Subcommittee Appointments.  The City Council recommended Council appointments for the five Council subcommittees. the Council will ratify their recommendations at the January 25th meeting.

Recommended City Council Subcommittee Appointments:

2023 January Storm Update

The Bay Area continues to be affected by an ongoing storm event that started on approximately December 26th.  At least three more waves of Atmospheric River conditions will continue to impact the West Coast today into early next week, including California. Additional storms are forecast for Sonoma County over the weekend and coming week ahead. 

• Two (2) storms are incoming over the weekend: One on Saturday and another Sunday afternoon through Monday. 
• Flood Watch in effect starting Saturday, January 14 at 4AM through Monday, January 16 at 4PM 
• Sonoma Coast under High Surf Warning through Saturday morning 

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the next storm is expected to hit Sonoma County on Friday evening, bringing up to 3-4 inches of rain through Sunday.  An additional storm on Monday, January 16th is expected to bring additional precipitation to the North bay and last through Wednesday January 18th of up to 1.5".  3-4 inches of rain. The storms are expected to bring high winds with gusts of 30-45 mph).  The Russian River is forecast to exceed flood stage (32") in Guerneville on Sunday, January 15th.

A number of actions have been taken by the City and County in response to the ongoing storm event:

• On January 5th, Cloverdale City Manager executed a proclamation declaring a local disaster due to the ongoing storm event.
• The Cloverdale City Council ratified the Emergency Proclamation on January 11th.
• The City submitted Initial Damage Estimates to the California Department of Emergency Services.
• The City implemented an emergency riverbank /well protection project at the Cloverdale River Park adjancet to the City's Water Treatment Plant.
• City conducted an emergency debris removal at 3rd Street Bridge to remove debris restricting the flow of water in Cloverdale Creek.
• Governor’s Office has issued an emergency proclamation, non-specific to any county in response to the winter storms.
• Sonoma County Emergency Services Director proclaimed a local emergency due to the ongoing impacts of the storm event. 
• County EOC will be activated over the weekend with light crew.  

For More information about how to prepare for the storm events, please visit: News Flash • City of Cloverdale • CivicEngage 

City Weathers Storm Events, Braces for More to Come  

City staff continue to monitor weather forecasts, and the projected levels of the Russian River. Public Works and Parks crews continue to prepare and respond to the ongoing storm. Generally, staff responded promptly to localized flooding by clearing storm drains and placing signage where necessary.  

Public Works staff is on standby and ready to respond to downed trees in the public right of way and/or City Parks and clogged storm drains.

Sand Bags Available

The City of Cloverdale’ maintains sandbag stations for residents and business. Sandbag Stations are provided at the following locations:

1. Cloverdale City Park - 450 W 2nd St, Cloverdale, CA 95425
2. Furber Park - 102 Grape Gables Way, Cloverdale, CA 95425

Sand and empty bags will be provided, however we recommended you bring a shovel to fill bags, gloves to protect your hands, a helper to assist in filling. Staff will monitor the sand bag station and replenish sand as needed. 

• For flooding, downed trees that are not blocking a roadway, or power outages, please call the City’s 24/7/365 non-Emergency at (707) 894-2150.
• For emergencies that pose a threat to life and/or property, such as a downed power line, or downed trees blocking a roadway, always dial 9-1-1.

For more information about the weather event impacting the North Bay, visit: San Francisco Bay Area, CA (weather.gov)

Parks Update 

Parks staff continues to respond to damage at local parks and landscape area resulting from the ongoing late December/Early January storm event.  Parks staff spent much of the week dedicated to cleaning up storm debris. 

• Several days have been dedicated to emergency reparis at the Porterfield Creek Preserve Open Space. The high winds and the heavy rains has meant significant additional labor in the park. Several mudslide incidents as well as several downed trees were reported on different trails. Parks staff have worked diligently to clear all debris encroaching trails as well as address erosion issues incurred during the consecutive storms.
• Parks staff also undertook the 3-mile-long River Park trail by clearing all debris and removing large logs brought down by the strength of the river’s current. Similar efforts continued in all city parks and open spaces as well as regular park maintenance completed this week. 

Parks staff continue to collaborate with all city department on flooding and storm related maintenance issues.

Park Closure Update

Due to saturation of turf areas, localized flooding and high winds , park closures remain in effect at the following parks:

•  2nd Street City Park; 
• Cloverdale River Park Trails; and 
• Porterfield Creek Preserve.

Park closures are expected to remain in effect through the weekend . Park closures are in effect to ensure the safety from fallen trees, flooding and otherwise potentially dangerous conditions due to the storm. the parks will be reopened as soon as they are inspected and any hazards addressed. 

Integrated Pest Management

Parks Superintendent attended an interview process by Sonoma County Department Of Agriculture / Weights and Measures to renew the City of Cloverdale Operator Identification Permit. The operator permit allows parks staff to apply herbicides inside the city limits on city property. The City's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Policy focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health, the environment and non-target organisms. These strategies require the selection, integration and implementation of various pest control techniques considering the various economic, ecological and sociological consequences. 

Mechanical means of weed abatement including use of discs, weed mowers, string trimmers, hoes, and hand pulling shall be used where appropriate. CDC Fire Crew CUSD volunteer groups are currently recruited for use in this type of suppression as well as the use of natural or organic pesticide alternatives (typically those which are derived from plants which have pesticidal properties).

Fuels Crew to Conduct Prescribed Burn at Porterfield Creek Open Space on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

In collaboration with Cloverdale Fire Protection District, the Sonoma County Fuels Crew is planning to conduct prescribed pile burns at Porterfield Creek Open Space on Tuesday, January 17. Woody material from Phase 3 of the ongoing vegetation management project were thinned and piled by the Fuels Crew’ staff over the last several months. The prescribed burn will begin on the morning of the 17th and continue throughout the day. Fire agencies will provide fire apparatus and crews to manage the burning process.

Porterfield Creek Trails will remain open, and park users may see or smell smoke in the area during the burn. Some areas of the Open Space including the 3 bridges Trail are expected to be temporarily closed for public safety. Those areas that are closed will be posted with closure signs.

The upcoming prescribed pile burning at Porterfield Open Space is a continuation of fuels reduction work that began earlier this year with the Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District’s Fuels Crew thinning vegetation along the main trail that runs through the park. Thinning vegetation coupled with prescribed burning reduces surface and ladder fuels to help protect the Park’s natural resources including native trees and adjacent communities from future wildfire severity.

2023 Sonoma County Homeless Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Registration 

Now Open- January 27^th!

Friday, January 27, 2023, is the Sonoma County Point-in-Time (PIT) Street Count for all populations of persons experiencing homelessness. The Count is required to receive federal homeless assistance funds and provides critical data to understand homelessness locally and to support strategic decisions about our program. We hope that you can help by participating this year!

This year, we will resume regional deployment sites. We will have five regional deployment sites located in North County, West County, Sonoma Valley, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa; locations will be announced at a later date. 

Registration

For more information and to register for the count, please use the following link: https://asr.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Ica9S7b3cMsb8W

Things you’ll need for the count

1. A charged smartphone 
2. A vehicle 
3. The knowledge you’re doing important work! 

Volunteers will be asked to work in teams and drive all assigned routes from approximately 5:00 am to 10:00 am on the morning of Friday, January 27th, 2023. 

Questions?

Please send any questions related to the Homeless Count to Karissa White, Continuum of Care Coordinator, at [email protected] or by telephone at 707-565-1884. 

For technical questions on how to sign up, please contact [email protected]  or call 877-728-4545.

Thank you for your interest in the 2023 Sonoma County Homeless Point-in-Time Count! 

Interested in accessing Homeless PIT Count Reports from previous years? Visit the following website: https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/development-services/community-development-commission/divisions/homeless-services/what-we-know-about-homelessness/homeless-count 

Code Enforcement Update 

City Abates Code Violations at Abandoned Car Wash 

Through the City's Code Enforcment procedures, the city obtained a Code Enforcement Order for 680 South Cloverdale Boulevard.  the property is commonly referred to as the "carwash property." the Order determined that "Maintenance of premises in such condition as to be detrimental to the public, health, safety or general welfare or in such manner as to constitute a public nuisance as defined by California Civil Code Section 3480. The property owner was ordered to correct the code violations within 30 days of the date of this order. 

Due to the failure of the property owner to correct the violations, the City took action to have a third-party contractor clean the abandoned car wash at 680 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Durnt the preceding week, several tons of garbage and debris were removed, along with an abandoned vehicle and trailer. In addition, trees were limbed up to ensure visibility into the rear of the property.  In order to ensure that the site is not accessible by vehicles for dumping of trash or abandoned vehicles, concrete blocks were installed at the driveway entrances. The city will continue to monitor the site to ensure it maintained in accordance with city requirements. The City will take further action to recoup the cost of abating the code violations on the property from the property owner.  Thus far the city has assessed costs and penalties totaling $19,530. The cost of abating the nuisances was an additional amount of approximately $9,500. 

Energy & Resilience Workshop Series Expand to Include In-person Events

The County of Sonoma, Climate Action and Resiliency Division is pleased to announce the latest homeowner workshops in an on-going series for those interested in learning more about the benefits of making improvements that will help make your home more energy efficient and resilient.  

The online workshops cover a range of topics including evaluating energy use, making a project plan, funding your projects, solar photovoltaics and battery storage, heat pumps for HVAC and water heating.  In addition to the online series, two in-person workshops have been added.  Presentations will include information about saving energy at home with DIY projects to making bigger improvements to increase your home’s efficiency.  Attendees will also learn the latest updates on the current and upcoming rebates along with information about the County’s property-based financing program and other resources such as no-cost consultations.

To register, please click on the workshops below that you would like to attend. All registered attendees will receive copies of the presentation and slides upon conclusion of the workshop.

Online workshops are held on Wednesdays 11:30am – 12:30pm

January 18           Funding Your Improvements – Incentives, Rebates, and Financing     

January 25           Solar, Storage, and Electrification – A Perfect Match Part II

February 1           Understanding Heat Pumps for Residential Heating and Cooling

February 8           Understanding Heat Pumps for Residential Water Heating

In-person workshops:

Saving Energy at Home – a Free Workshop

When:  February 18^th 11:00am – 12:00pm

Where:  Santa Rosa Central Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa

What uses the most energy in your home?  What repairs or upgrades around the house will make the biggest impact on your energy bills?  What DIY projects can you tackle yourself?  Why all the buzz about going all-electric?  We dig into all of that and more during our free Home Energy Workshop brought to you by the County of Sonoma’s Climate Action and Resiliency Division.

Presentations will also include information about current and upcoming incentives, rebates, and financing to get your projects done.

Come early for light refreshments, giveaways, and a drawing for a Home Energy Score Rating valued up to $450*

Ahorro de Energía en el Hogar – Un taller gratuito

Cuando: 21 de febrero de 6pm a 7:30pm

Dónde: Biblioteca Roseland, 470 Sebastopol Rd., Santa Rosa

¿Qué es lo que consume más energía en su hogar?   ¿Qué tipo de reparaciones o mejoras en la casa tendrán el mayor impacto en sus facturas de energía?  ¿Qué proyectos puedes hacer tú mismo?  ¿Por qué hay todo este alboroto de hacer el cambio a todo eléctrico?  Hablaremos más a fondo de todo esto y mucho más durante nuestro Taller gratuito de Energía para el Hogar.  El taller es presentado por la County of Sonoma’s Climate Action and Resiliency Division.

La presentación también incluirá información sobre incentivos, reembolsos y los financiamientos existentes y futuros para realizar sus proyectos.

Llegue temprano y disfrute de los bocadillos.  Llévese información, algunos regalitos y entre su nombre en la rifa de una calificación de puntaje del programa Home Energy Score valorada en hasta $450 dólares*

For more information or to RSVP directly, call 707-565-6470 or email [email protected]

Meeting Notices and Schedule:

Subcommittee Meeting Schedules:

Finance, Administration & Police - Next Meeting: February 6, 2023
Planning & Sustainability - Next Meeting: February 21, 2023
Public Works & Facilities - Next Meeting: February 28, 2023
Joint City/Cloverdale Unified School District - Next Meeting:  TBD
Homelessness Community Advisory Group - Next Meeting:  TBD

Regional Board Meetings:

Sonoma Clean Power - February 2, 2023
RCPA/SCTA Board of Directors Meeting - February 1, 2023, March 1, and April 4, 2023
Sonoma County Library Commission - January 4, 2023
Northern Sonoma County Air District Board Meeting - February 8, 2023

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