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November 22, 2019

City Manager's Office

Welcome Home, Healdsburg!

The "Welcome Home, Healdsburg!" event on Nov. 8 was a homecoming, a party, and a big thank-you rolled into one. People packed the downtown plaza, which the Community Services Department decorated and featured kids’ activities and a “gratitude” public-art installation. Firefighters from the Healdsburg Fire Department as well as Cal Fire and other fire departments handed out Halloween candy and parked fire engines around the plaza. State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood spoke, as did Healdsburg Mayor David Hagele and City Manager David Mickaelian. Many thanks to everyone who made this event happen and everyone who came, as well as to Foley Family Wines for their $225,000 donation to the Wine Country to the Rescue fundraiser. Live video: https://www.facebook.com/cityofhealdsburg/videos/573125423494857/

Community Services

Nov. 24: Día de los Muertos

Corazón Healdsburg, in partnership With the City of Healdsburg, presents Unidad y Comunidad con Corazón, the fourth annual Día de los Muertos event. The event, which was originally scheduled on Oct. 27, the weekend of the Kincade Fire evacuation, will take place this Sunday, Nov. 24, on the grounds of Healdsburg's City Hall. The event will bring the community together through music, food, dance, traditional altars, classic cars, and activities for the whole family. The event will also serve as a community fundraiser for Kincade Fire relief. More info: https://www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us/911/Da-De-Los-Muertos

Holiday Décor Installation

Parks Maintenance Staff began installing holiday décor throughout the downtown area this week. LED banners and life-size interactive displays have been installed in the roundabout. That will be followed by decorating the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the plaza and installing lighting on 145 streetlight posts. Staff will flip the light switch next week for the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Soccer Season Wrap-Up

The soccer season kicked off on Sept. 7 and was scheduled to end on Nov. 2. However, the Kincade Fire interrupted the last two weeks of the season. Nov. 9 was selected for the teams to play a final game and close out the season properly. This season showed growth in registration for the second year in a row. The league ended with 460 registered players, 81 percent of whom live in the 95448 zipcode. This is an 11 percent increase in participation from 2018. Community Services Staff is working with the Healdsburg Youth Soccer Association to debrief and make any needed changes for the 2020 season.

Holiday Drop N’ Shop Program

The holiday season is here, which means the return of the Holiday Drop N’ Shop Program! Families can drop off their children in a festive and supervised environment while parents focus on last-minute holiday errands or get some much needed rest. Drop N’ Shops run for three consecutive weekends, starting Dec. 7. New this year is a Polar Express-themed evening program on Dec. 14. More info: http://bit.ly/holidaydropnshop

Planning & Building

North Village Master Conditional-Use Permit

On Nov. 12, the Planning Commission held a workshop so Comstock Healdsburg, LLC could discuss their vision for a mixed-use neighborhood on the 30-acre site. The meeting was well attended and there was general support for the variety of uses. Comstock will return for a second workshop on Dec. 10 at 4 PM to discuss traffic circulation concerns and parking.

South Entry Plan Update

On Nov. 18, the City Council authorized the Planning Department to move forward on the City’s SB2 planning grant to prepare an area plan and environmental-impact review (EIR) for the area south of Memorial Bridge to the southern City limits. The South Entry Plan aims to evaluate the redevelopment potential of the area.

Public Works

Healdsburg Avenue Paving

New paving on Healdsburg Avenue -- from the crossing of Foss Creek to the northern city limits -- was completed last week. Road striping will begin today. There will be another week or two of minor work to raise manholes to match the finished grade.

Farmstand Roundabout and Grove Street Update

The new mini roundabout on Grove St. is now complete and we will open Grove St. in both directions by the end of the day. The roundabout looks great and will be a long-term neighborhood improvement. The undergrounding of the electrical lines will also change the look of the street for the better. We thank everyone for their patience of the northbound lane closure that was extended beyond what was initially expected. The closure allowed the undergrounding and striping work to be completed much faster.

Healdsburg Airport Perimeter Fencing and Gates Project

Construction is underway on the Healdsburg Airport Perimeter Fencing and Gates Project, which will install about 1,900 ft. of chain-link fencing and gates along the eastern and western perimeters of the airport. The aim is to increase safety and security and to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. We do not anticipate closing runways as part of this project. This project is funded with an FAA 90 percent reimbursement grant, with the City providing the required matching funds of approximately 10 percent. The project is expected to be complete in mid-December. 

Utility

Grove Street Electric Undergrounding Work

Something’s missing on Grove St. -- the power poles. In conjunction with the Farmstand development, City Electric crews removed overhead wires along a portion of Grove street. This work was completed over last weekend to speed the re-opening of Grove St. This work will provide electric power to the development and improve the street’s aesthetics. 

Floating Solar Update

On Monday, Nov. 18, the City Council approved moving forward with a letter of agreement for the development of floating solar at the City’s water reclamation facility (WRF). The letter allows the City and the solar developer to finalize terms of a power purchase agreement and design requirements. The City’s WRF includes two recycled water ponds that are ideal for a floating solar array. As conceived today, the floating area would be roughly 2.7MW and provide the City with 4,700 mega-watt hours of energy -- enough energy to power roughly 600 homes every year.

Residential LED Rebate Program Ends Dec. 31

Since 2015, residents have received incentives for converting nearly 1,300 lights from incandescent and fluorescent to energy-saving LEDs. Please submit your residential LED rebate applications before Dec. 31. We offer $2.50 per screw-in bulb or $.10 per bulb for holiday lights. Although the rebate is ending soon, the Electric Department will continue to offer free screw-in LEDs at City Hall and at community events. The rebate application can be found here: https://healdsburg.seamlessdocs.com/f/ResLightReb