09/16/2022 City Manager’s Update

City Manager’s Update (pdf)
September 16, 2022

Greetings, all. There are a lot of upcoming events! Please see below…

Don’t Miss Out! Special Event Alert

• 9/18 – Porch Fest is this Sunday, from 12 – 6 p.m. primarily at City Park and on Main Street, although don’t miss the porch at Third & Russell! Food trucks and lots of music.
• 9/24 is the return of the Carnitas Festival. Get ready for carnitas and a celebration of Hispanic heritage! Advance tickets for carnitas are available here. The event is 4:30 – 10:30 p.m.
• 10/7 from 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. is the high school pep rally (subject to the street closure request being approved by Council at Tuesday’s 9/20 meeting). Main Street will be closed at Railroad beginning at 10 a.m. The intersection of Main & First will be closed with traffic detouring through the alleys during the rally.
• 10/12 Winters is hosting the high school track meet from PG&E Way along the nature park trail. Watch out for runners, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Rotary Park will be busy beginning at 2:30 p.m.
• 10/14 the Rotary Club’s Food & Wine Gala returns at Hotel Winters. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased at Ace Hardware, First Northern Bank or from any Rotarian. Proceeds support Rotary’s community programs.
• 10/30 is the return of the Spooktackular 10k/5k/Fun Run. Open to all runners and walkers, the 5k/10k route begins at Rotary Park, loops around Main & Abbey Streets west of Railroad and then through the neighborhoods east of Railroad. The intersection of Railroad & Main will be closed for about 30 minutes as the race starts to allow runners to clear the intersection (beginning at 8 a.m.). Please note: the race course will be noticed as no parking on the shoulder to allow space for runners. Signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance. The 1 mile monster dash begins at 10 a.m. along the Putah Creek trail. Please sign up at the link above. Proceeds support the High School Cross Country & Track team. There should be plenty of great costumes!
• The Salmon Festival is back! 11/5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Rotary Park. Booths, vendors and food trucks will be on site. Activities for youth. Start watching from the trestle bridge for the salmon!
• The Winters Volunteer Firefighters are also bringing back their famous shrimp feed on 11/5 for dinner. Mark your calendars and watch for updates!

Seniors on the Move!

• Introducing a new section to share senior related activities and programs, offered by the Winters Senior Commission (WSC) and the Senior Foundation (SF).
  - Every Wednesday, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Yoga. St. Anthony’s, follow the signs. (SF)
  - Tuesday & Thursday mornings at 8 a.m. and Saturday 1 p.m. – NEW! A walking group will meet at the Community Center parking lot doors. Distance and route TBD based on participants. (WSC)
  - Every Thursday 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. Socialization & Game Day. St. Anthony’s, follow the signs. (SF)Please Note:
• Businesses: if you have not yet ordered your organics or green waste recycling bin, or filed for an exemption at City Hall, please expect a letter from Waste Management. The City is required under SB1383 to enforce organics recycling so you will need to either schedule service or obtain an exemption. For more information, please contact Waste Management at (530) 406-4330.
• Walker Consultants is helping with the Downtown Visioning project. A landing page has been created here and will be updated regularly. The consultants will be at Fourth Friday on September 23rd to solicit input from residents and visitors, and a community survey will be linked to the landing page soon. Downtown businesses – watch for an email about a business workshop on September 23rd and business survey. A community workshop is scheduled for later in the fall, stay tuned.
• The City of Winters is actively recruiting for a senior accountant, fire chief, community center attendants and after school instructional aides. If you’re interested, please click here and join a great team of dedicated, fun-loving employees who believe in community service and good governance.
• As we approach Veteran’s Day, the exhibit, “Honoring the Dead of WWI: A Photographic Exhibition Commemorating the Centennial of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Yolo County Fallen,” opens October 7 through November 29 at Gallery 625, Erwin Meier Building, 625 Court Street. Curated by Yolo Arts, guided tours are available, no reservations required.
• A Design Review Committee meeting to discuss the latest site plan for the Farmstead project is being scheduled for October 7 during business hours. Time will be confirmed next week. This meeting will be open to the public given the scale of the project and community interest. This meeting is for senior staff, the applicant and designated representatives from Council and the Planning Commission to discuss the latest proposed site plan for the project. The public will have an opportunity to provide comment. This is a high level look at the project. Once the proposed site plan is sufficiently confirmed, then additional engineering and environmental work can proceed, which may and often does result in modifications for a final site plan. The meeting will be in person in the large conference room at City Hall, Abbey Street entrance.

Upcoming Council Meeting – September 20
This meeting has items from September 6 as well. It is a full agenda. The packet will be available on the City’s landing page here. Items of interest include (but not all) Main Street closure requests for the pep rally and Carnitas Festival, appointing Karen Croley to the Senior Commission, the purchase of a Fire command vehicle and $50,000 grant to support PD’s impaired driving enforcement efforts, an easement to extend Valley Oak Drive into Winters Highland, amending the Winters Highland Development Agreement, rejecting the bid for the emergency generator at the Community Center, and modifying the underground utility district for Newt’s Expressway to maintain overhead wires on First Street.

Also, please note that on Monday evening, September 19 beginning at 6:30 p.m., the Natural Resources Commission will hear a report about replacing the temporary 2” gas line on the trestle bridge with a permanent 4” line. The packet will be posted here. The meeting will be remote.

COVID-19

• Free test kits are available in the vending machine next to City Hall’s side employee entrance. The County stocks the machine and has noticed low usage so we’re trying to get the word out.
• Bivalent boosters that target the original COVID strain and Omicron variants are now available from Moderna and Pfizer at pharmacies, public clinics and through health care providers, including Winters Health Care which serves anyone at no cost to the patient. More information is here.

A Moment of Reflection…
I’ve thought about whether to share this or not and am taking the leap into the more personal….I don’t know how other people feel, but 2022 came in hard with Omicron, and the challenges have just kept coming. This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for the City team with more staffing transitions, COVID disruptions, supply delays, and whatever else has bombarded the community in general. We want to be out of the pandemic, but we’re still struggling with its impacts. There are a lot of balls in the air, projects in various stages, events and reservations to process, fires to fight and bad folks to chase; no shortage of things to get done, not all of which can be done at the same time. The pool heater and deck operations have been the bane of our existence this season, and it is likely the pool will close early as a result…We’re getting quotes for a new heater and assessing whether more band-aid repairs are worth it. Stay tuned.

I want to recognize the City team for their hard work and perseverance. Please thank our staff as you see them out and about. A kind word and moment of appreciation means a great deal, especially to those who choose to serve others, whether it’s at the City or your favorite restaurant. A relatively new resident called on Tuesday to say he had lost his house in Paradise and then again in Napa due to wildfires. He rents here in Winters and shared how much he appreciates this community and the City for our collective efforts to serve others. I took a moment to think about life from his perspective and reset my expectations on what is positive and not so much. His small gesture was the highlight of the day for several of us.

I would also like to give us here at the City some space and grace to catch our breaths and prioritize what is most important for ourselves, the organization and the community. We apologize for any delays in service or work in progress, and thank you for your understanding and patience.