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August 12, 2022

Community Encuentro

The City of Healdsburg will be hosting an event titled “Community Encuentro” as we begin the process of engaging residents in a community dialogue about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Residents are invited to participate in the conversations about how the City and community can embrace the voices of all residents who live here. Come join us and help us shape our priorities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)!

The “Community Encuentro” will be held on August 29, 2022, at the Healdsburg Library at 139 Piper Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448.

The City of Healdsburg is committed to engaging the community in important conversations to develop meaningful actions and sustainable strategies that support a more inclusive Healdsburg. We invite community residents of all races, ethnic identities, genders, religions, gender orientations, and abilities to join us in this important dialogue. Your participation is important to ensure that we identify where changes are needed. Your experiences and participation will directly inform the goals and strategies the City implements to deconstruct institutional barriers to inclusion.

Water Update

Aquifer Storage and Recovery Well Funding Milestone – Last week the City received news that our application to fund the proposed aquifer storage and recovery wells passed a major funding milestone by being deemed feasible, eligible, and cost-effective by the Office of Emergency Services. This is a big win for the City as this step helps our application move forward in the process. Once we can secure funding for this project the City of Healdsburg will be able to increase water availability during the summer months and help alleviate the effects of the ongoing drought. The City has now passed the State and Federal review of the project’s sub-application with a tentative award of $6.0 million. Over the next several months this tentative award will be confirmed through a series of clarifying questions about the project scope and timeline.

Water Curtailments – The State Water Board, which controls the use of public waters, has reduced (curtailed) water diversion from the upper Russian River. While the City’s water rights were curtailed under these recent orders, the City has access to stored water within Lake Mendocino. This stored water, a result of flows through the Potter Valley Project, has helped to maintain our conservation target at 20% rather than the higher levels experienced last summer. While the City of Healdsburg continues to exceed the 20% conservation target, we do remind water customers to monitor usage and continue to maintain the lower usage through the summer months, the water saved today is the water you’ll need this fall.

Sundays in the Plaza with the David Correa Trio

This Sunday afternoon is your last opportunity of the summer to join us for Sundays in the Plaza. From 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, the David Correa Trio will perform in the Healdsburg Plaza on August 21, 2022. David Correa has entertained audiences in the Bay Area since 1999 with his vibrant and distinctive blend of instrumental Latin/World style guitar. The music is a blend of the Spanish guitar with Latin rhythms from Mexico & Central America, Afro-Cuban, and Rumba Flamenco. You can bring a blanket, pack a lunch, and enjoy the warm weather on a music-filled Sunday afternoon. For more information, please visit: https://www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us/899/Sundays-in-the-Plaza

Pathway to Income Equity

The City of Healdsburg is participating in a new guaranteed basic income program that is investing in family households to access $500 per month for two years. This funding is an unrestricted COVID Disaster relief and is not taxable income.

Program eligibility:
-The applicant is pregnant or
-is a parent/guardian of a child under the age of 6 and
-has income at less than 185% of the federal poverty level ($42,606 for 3 people)
-was impacted by COVID-19 (loss of income, housing instability).
Applications are available starting on September 1, 2022, at Corazón Healdsburg and other participating agencies. For questions or more information, please call 707-200-7924 or email yguzman@first5sonomacounty.org.

Free Compost Bins

The City of Healdsburg will soon be sending residents a voucher to receive a free kitchen countertop stainless steel compost bin. The free compost bins are part of an effort to encourage organic waste recycling which is now the law as of January 1, 2022. When you bring in the voucher to City Hall you will receive a free kitchen countertop stainless steel compost bin (like the one in the graphic shown above in box #1). The voucher will be included with the upcoming August utility billing mailings and electronic notifications.

Please bring the voucher to Healdsburg City Hall to redeem the compost bin. The compost bins will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and will be available while supplies last. Only one bin is allowed per voucher. Thank you for your continued support and efforts to help eliminate organic waste!

Are You Prepared In Case of a Wildfire?

Are you prepared for Wildfire? The Healdsburg Fire Department and Wildfire Services Group are developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and need your input.

Please join us for a community meeting, we want to hear from you! The meeting will be held in a bilingual format. Participants will learn more about the CWPP process and are encouraged to provide input.

Tuesday, August 23 at 5:30 pm
Healdsburg Community Center
1557 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA
rsvp to: info@wildfireservices.biz

Ceramic Plaques Around Town

The City of Healdsburg in partnership with the Healdsburg High School Ceramics program is proposing to add ceramic plaques on storm drains in various locations throughout town, as well as embellishing some of those already in place. This is currently being worked on by students taking ceramics at Healdsburg High School.

Some of the storm drains around town have cautionary plaques on them,
however, many do not. The students in ceramics have been making the plaques from glazed, ceramic slabs and have fixed them to the concrete, or steel drain faces, with strong adhesive in prominent locations. The students and HS ceramics teacher and students are working with the City Engineers to ensure that no sidewalk encroachment would raise safety issues. Six plaques were placed just last week with more to come. You can view the plaques near the street corners of Black Oak Coffee.

Come Work For The City of Healdsburg!

We have many positions available at the City of Healdsburg. To apply please visit us at: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/healdsburgca/ .Positions that are available include:

Administrative Analyst II (Housing Department)
Code Enforcement Officer
Finance Director
Parking Enforcement Officer
Police Officer
Reserve Firefighter
Senior Building Inspector
Utility Worker II.