City Manager’s Update December 18, 2020

City Manager’s Update (click for pdf)
December 18, 2020

Happy Holidays, all.

From all of us at City Hall, we wish you good health and plenty of cheer this holiday season, and much joy in the moments with family and friends, even if it is via Zoom, FaceTime or some other remote platform.

Also worthy of a big shout out: all of those tractors promoted by the Winters Chamber of Commerce and the real ones being staged around town are wonderful!! So creative! Visit the Winters Chamber of Commerce Facebook page to see the photos (link above).  Better yet, work off some holiday sweets and walk around to see them in person. The downtown is looking really festive!

COVID Update

Yolo County has received its first delivery of the Pfizer vaccine! 975 doses were put on some serious ice until they are dispensed. The first shots are being provided to front line medical staff at Sutter Davis and Woodland Memorial Hospitals. More information regarding the vaccine’s effectiveness, safety, and priority use is available on the County’s website here.

Until then, please help our medical staff as they struggle to handle the surge in cases by wearing a mask and not gathering inside with people outside of your household. Lives depend on us.

Please Note:

• City Hall will be closed from Thursday, December 24^th – Sunday, January 3^rd. Public Works will field half their crew for call out and critical maintenance services, and Building will work part-time to conduct inspections. Police and Fire staffing will not change during the holiday break.
• The January 5, 2020 Council meeting has been cancelled.

Don’t Miss Out!

Please help support our local businesses and restaurants with your last minute shopping and holiday meals! They are all open!  And there are some great collaborative deals in the works as businesses join forces to help each other.  Make sure you follow our businesses on Facebook and Instagram to catch the latest news and offerings.

 Council Meeting Recap

• At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, staff provided an update about the trees at the Rancho Arroyo detention pond. The engineers have determined that the pond can be expanded by going down and out, reducing the adjacent trail slightly to accommodate storm flows from future phases without impacting the existing trees. Pond expansion will begin in the spring, and the trees will be protected in place. Council will consider a resolution on the January 15 agenda declaring the City’s intent to protect the grove site in perpetuity, for as long as the trees shall live.

In other business, the Council authorized a work order with Woodard & Curran to conduct a well assessment and approved a grant deed for water, drainage and emergency access easements for the Shandala Subdivision at the Church of Latter Day Saints location.  Ordinance 2020-06 was adopted repealing the suspension of Transient Occupancy Tax payments. Collection will begin again in the spring.

Council also heard a presentation by Valley Clean Energy about the City’s enrollment in that clean energy source. Non-solar customers will be automatically enrolled in January and solar customers will be enrolled during their annual true up month.  More information about the benefits of joining VCE at no additional cost can be found here. Customers can opt out at any time, but it’s cleaner! And we could do with a little less climate change these days…

Woot Woot!

 A final shout out for some long running City employees who are retiring. Both have made major contributions to the City and the community through their years of dedicated service.  Both love to travel, and are looking forward to spending more time with family and friends. If you know them, please give them a big round of applause for their commitment to the Winters community.

• City Clerk & Records Manager Tracy Jenkins is retiring after 15 years with the City. Her last day in the office is today.
• Administrative Coordinator Karla Ferguson, who supports both the Police and Fire Departments is retiring after thirty years with the City! Her last day is next Tuesday, 12/22^nd. She is being replaced by former CSO II Gail Jimenez.
• Gail Jimenez graduated from UC Davis with a degree in History and minor in education. She began volunteering with the Winters Police Department in 2001 and was hired as a Community Services Officer in 2006. Gail was recognized as the Office of the Year in 2016 (the first non-sworn to receive that honor!) and was promoted to a CSO II in 2018. She is ready to take the leap and become the administrative backbone of our public safety departments.