Mayor Lands Attend Calcities Conference at State Capitol with Newly Elected Councilmembers

Mayor Lands and recently elected Councilmembers Marjorie Morgenstern and Brian Wheeler attended the League of California Cities ‘2023 New Mayors and Council Members Academy’ in our State Capital from January 18th-January 20th. Joined by Assistant City Manager Kevin Thompson and City Clerk Mike Maloney, our Cloverdale representatives participated in three days of educational seminars regarding the basic legal and practical framework in which city officials operate, including diversity, relationships between city council and city management, city planning, effective advocacy, financial responsibilities, legal obligations, open government, best practices and more. The attending councilmembers also had the opportunity to network and share ideas with other elected officials and city staff members from across the state. Here’s what they have to say about the experience:

“The best part of the conference was getting to know our new councilmembers, so that we can understand and respect each other as we make decisions for our community”

- Mayor Lands

“I found the Academy in Sacramento to be highly informative. I particularly enjoyed the Do’s and Don’ts of Conducting a Public Meeting segment. It was a humorous segment while still being educational. I also enjoyed while in Sacramento getting to know the following people better: Mayor Todd Lands, Council Member Brian Wheeler, Assistant City Manager Kevin Thompson and City Clerk Michael Maloney.”

- Councilmember Morgenstern

"I enjoyed the great networking opportunities, and meeting leaders in the League of California Cities network. However, the best take away was the presentation on fiduciary responsibilities, bid processes, and emphasis on good stewardship of public funds”.

- Councilmember Wheeler

Overall, the conference was a success with three days of learning, connecting, and

City Council Revises Water Shortage Emergency

Due to improvements in our local water supply conditions, the Cloverdale City Council revised the water shortage emergency from Stage 4 to Stage 3 at the City Council meeting on January 25th.  The reduction in the water shortage emergency stage reduces conservation requirements from 35% to 25% over previous annual usage. Stage 3 aligns with the current state requirements for water conservation.

The City Council will continue efforts to improve our water resiliency in preparation for the next drought.  The City Council will monitor the water supply conditions to determine if further reductions in the water shortage emergency state are supportable. Residents are encouraged to continue to conserve water.

For additional background information about the Council decision, please visit:  Agenda Report - Water Shortage Emergency Revision

Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to Consider Adopting Continuum of Care Board's Strategic Plan on Homelessness

The Sonoma County Continuum of Care Board (CoC Board) and multiple stakeholder groups worked with a consultant (Homebase: https://www.homebaseccc.org ) over the past year to prepare a region-wide Strategic Plan on Homelessness for the 2023-2027 period. The Plan includes multiple strategies and implementation steps, generally surrounding these three themes: (1) More Housing and Prevention; (2) Stronger Supportive Services; and (3) the need for the County, cities, and service providers to Operate as One Coordinated System to reach functional zero in homelessness.

On Tuesday, January 31st, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) will consider adoption of a resolution that will codify the Board of Supervisors’ approval of the Regional Strategic Plan on Homelessness, just as the Continuum of Care Board did on December 14, 2022. Following adoption of the Plan by cities and other governing bodies that participate in the Continuum of Care, County staff, city staff, CoC members, and service providers will work to implement the Plan, focusing on the Plan’s first year implementation actions.

The BOS will also consider authorizing the Department of Health Services (DHS) to issue a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) on behalf of the County consistent with the Strategic Plan’s objectives using up to $3 million of unallocated Measure O funds.

USACE Announces High-Flow Release at Coyote Valley Dam

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District (USACE) issued a news release on January 14th announcing that they will began a series of high-flow releases from Coyote Valley Dam at Lake Mendocino starting mid-day on Monday, Jan. 16th.  The release was in response to reservoir levels and improving downstream conditions on the Russian River.

Accordin to the USACE news release, "the recent storms have significantly increased reservoir levels well into the flood control pool at Lake Mendocino for the first time since 2020.  The high-flow release on Monday is intended to restore conditions capable of accommodating additional rainfall this season. This is the first time in nearly four years that a high-flow release is required to manage rising lake levels." 

The USACE is indicating that "significant high-flow releases of at least 3,000 cfs will be made at Coyote Valley Dam. The release is being timed to allow downstream river levels to recede while still allowing for as much time as possible to evacuate water from the dam prior to the next storm. Releases are expected to increase by approximately 1,000 cfs per hour and will be timed to coincide with decreasing river stage at downstream locations."

For Updated information visit Here: USACE announces high-flow release at Coyote Valley Dam > San Francisco District > News Stories (army.mil)

Parks Update

Parks Staff continued making progress on critical park maintenance and park development projects.  Park projects in progress this week include:

Landscape & Lighting District - Weed Abatement
Cloverdale Boulevard Maintenance
Furber Park Preparation for Little League  
Prescribed Burning at Cloverdale River Park

Weed Abatement in Landscape & Lighting Zones

A full day of park staff work was allocated to the L&L District Jefferson Springs. Weed abatement was completed near the north entrance of the trail and around the park siting area. The large amounts of rain that we recently experienced generated erosion issues. The rising creek levels in Cloverdale Creek began to partially wash out retaining walls and sides of creek bank. Parks staff moved quickly to address this problem to avoid further damage.

Weed abatement in the form of organic herbicide application continued at the L&L District The Cottages and L&L district Vintage Meadows. The main goal is to suppress weeds by implementing the city’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program and use methods such as mowers, string trimmers, hand pulling as well as volunteer groups and fire crews.

Downtown Corridor Maintenance

Landscaping and general clean-up continue in our downtown corridor, in preparation of our annual Citrus Fair festivities. Cloverdale sees a significant traffic through this area during the event weekend.  Park staff continue to address aesthetic improvements within the downtown corridor.

Little League Baseball Field Maintenance

Park maintenance activities this week included performing seasonal maintenance on the baseball field in preparation for the upcoming little League season.  With little league tryouts fast approaching, time is of the essence to level uneven surfaces, remove all weeds from the diamond area and clean the two dugouts. Part of this preparation also includes meetings with volunteer coaches to discuss the schedule and city policy and procedure.

Prescribed Burning at Cloverdale River Park

Sonoma County Regional Parks is planning to perform prescribed pile burning event this Monday the 30th  at Cloverdale River Park. Vegetation accumulated by the Northern Sonoma County Fire Fuels Crew will be subject to prescriptive burning to reduce excess vegetation and ladder fire fuels along the River Park Trail to prevent and minimize the impact of wildfires along the River Park Trail. The vegetation reduction effort was spearheaded by Mayor Lands in collaboration with Sonoma County Regional Parks and the Russian River Watershed Association.

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