08/13/2021 City Manager’s Update

 City Manager’s Update  (pdf)
August 13, 2021

Greetings, all.

COVID-19

• Not much new here….masks are still required indoors in public except when eating and drinking and vaccinations are strongly encouraged and are increasingly being mandated for certain industries, locations, sectors, etc. To follow COVID stats, please visit the County’s website here.

Please Note:

• Construction of playground improvements at Valley Oak and Blue Oak Parks has been delayed to September. The contractor’s crew is from a community evacuated due to wildfire. Fingers cro
• ssed for quick containment and no more homes lost...
• The FCC is conducting a survey about a nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert System. Did you get this alert on your cell phone? I didn’t…Please let FEMA and the FCC know by clicking here.
• Yolo County is looking for candidates to fill vacancies on a number of advisory bodies. Interested in the environment, airports, cannabis, aging and adult services, in-home supportive services or a multitude of other areas, and want to get involved? Please visit yolocounty.org (Government >Advisory bodies) or call the Clerk of the Board at (530) 666-8195.
• The July Fire Department Newsletter has been posted here.
• The Hispanic Advisory Committee is looking for carnitas chefs to compete in the Festival de la Comunidad. Think you have the best carnitas in town? Click here for more information. Food trucks and other vendors may apply as well. This is an iconic Winters event celebrating the community’s Hispanic heritage, September 25, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Viva la Fiesta!

Don’t Miss Out!

• The draft Housing Element has been completed and will be published on the City’s website with a cover report for the Planning Commission sometime next week. The Planning Commission will consider the Housing Element at its August 24^th meeting, as will the City Council on September 7. Please check the website for more information. The report will be published by no later than Thursday, August 19.
• PG&E is offering 7 Saturdays to a More Fire-Resistant Home series (now on the 4^th Saturday…). More information is available here. The Safety Action Center contains a number of emergency preparedness tips, including previous videos for 7 Saturdays and is well worth a visit.

 In Other News…

• The beloved tractor at the Putah Creek car bridge was taken out by a speeding driver early one morning last week….We’re hoping someone might be able to weld the pieces back together or that someone has a similarly historic tractor that could be placed at the median. Feel free to reach out to Eric Lucero at lucero@cityofwinters.org if you can help. By the way, the speed limit on the bridge is 25 mph. Please slow down coming into town.
• The Winters Police and Fire Departments are looking for volunteers for a new Trauma and Grief Support program (TAGS) that is being coordinated in partnership with Catherine Bernstein of the Davis Police Department. Volunteers offer comfort through presence, contacting and enlisting victim’s personal support systems, suggesting referrals to recourses and assisting with death notifications. Volunteers will be trained and must pass background checks. As someone who was a trauma support volunteer for many years at a previous agency, this is an incredibly valuable program and very fulfilling for people passionate about serving others. Please contact Catherine Bernstein at (530) 747-5473 for more information or if you would like to volunteer.

Meals on Wheels is looking for drivers! Unfortunately, delivery services have been cut back until more volunteers participate. Meals are picked up at the Winters community center and delivered to locations around town. Just a couple hours a day, a little gas and you’ve helped multiple people! How easy is that? For more information, please see www.mowyolo.org; call (530) 662-7035 or email volunteer@mowyolo.org.

• In construction updates, Meritage received a grading permit to begin site work for Phases III, IV and V in the area west of Taylor Street, now known as the Hideaway at Winters. Major grading will begin August 16. The basin expansion work at the Rancho Arroyo Detention Pond is moving along, which will accommodate storm flows from these phases. A grading permit was also issued for the LDS-Takhar project, located north of Anderson. Dirt will be trucked to the Walnut 10 location at the north end of Walnut to support future development at that location. Consistent with Council direction, grading permits were issued following environment clearance, neighborhood notifications, and the submittal of bonds covering the cost of the approved work. Chevron remains closed until construction can begin on the required frontage improvements along Grant Avenue, which is a condition of approval for this project. The owner is working with Caltrans and the utilities to coordinate that work. Finally, about 20-30 cows strayed from their home pasture to visit the new Three Oaks Park this morning, chomping on some of the new plant material and leaving free fertilizer behind. Unfortunately, no photo documentation (thank you, Google stock photos); please note the contractor is responsible for repairing any damage, perhaps with the assistance of the cows’ owner.
• The drought and unusually warm temperatures not only create immediate risks for higher wildfire activity, ongoing water supplies are of increasing concern. The City of Winters provides all municipal water through a series of wells in town. Water levels appear to be declining, which is not unusual seasonally or even cyclically during periods of extended drought. However, as we drill down into water availability, no pun intended, please be aware that the sustainability of our water resources is critically important. Please do your part in conserving water by taking shorter showers, fixing leaks, using high efficiency appliances if possible, cutting back on irrigation, and learning more about how to conserve. Please visit these resources for information about our ground water supplies at https://www.yologroundwater.org/ (Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency) and https://www.ycfcwcd.org/ (Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District). For conservation tips: please visit https://water.ca.gov/water-basics/conservation-tips.

Upcoming Council Meeting

There is no Council meeting on August 17, 2021.

Woot Woot!

On August 8, Fire Department crews rotated out of their OES assignment at the Monument Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Captain Schechla, Firefighters Luis Herrera and Chase Dombrowski (below) relieved Captain Mendoza, Engineer Justin Rominger and Firefighter Miguel Zaragoza. Captain Mendoza and his crew spent 7 days on the Monument Fire; they are doing well and glad to be home!

• I would also like to thank the various applicants who have applied for jobs with the City of Winters, either through our own efforts or via contract service providers. This is a very tough job market for employers. Yet, it just takes that one candidate, and we have had some great applicants in Human Resources, Planning, the Police Department and elsewhere at City Hall. You’ll see some new faces around here, like Tom Davis as our new contract Building Official, new HR Manager Alison Bigham, and a few others in the coming weeks. In my mind I like to think the Winters magic whispers into the ears of our applicants, and the quality of our service goals appeals to hard working, creative people who appreciate the value of working for small towns. On that note, I don’t think I formally welcomed back Officer Darion Cueto who has returned to us from a brief stint in a larger agency. We appreciate all of you and welcome you into the Winters family.
• I would also like to thank outgoing Bureau Veritas contract Building Inspector Dan Cahill and Building Official Mark Woods for their five months helping us revamp the Building Division. Dan in particular was committed to supporting City Hall, living here during the week and heading home on the weekends. He joined the pot luck brigade at City Hall competing for the best salsa, tested his carnitas recipes (we’re hoping he comes back to compete in the Carnitas Festival), and worked hard to help the construction in the tracts move along as efficiently as possible. It takes a team, and we appreciate their service to us and the community.