Friday Update on Sunday July 28 2019
All,
The heat of summer is upon us and this time of year marks the start of our fiscal year budget and a lot start for many things, meaning smaller agendas with the City Council.
The tentative August 6 City Council Agenda has the following:
- Public Hearing on the Air BnB Ordinance
- Presentation on Climate Resiliency (effects of heat)
- Designation of an alternate City Council liaison for Yolo County Housing Authority
- Installation of a float level transmitter for the East Street Pump Station
- Amplified Sound Permit for Thanksgiving Committee Fundraiser
A couple updates on things:
- First, if you are feeling ignored by not getting response to emails to City Hall, you are probably not alone. We upgraded all of our computer programs last weekend and most of us feel like we have landed on another planet. Be patient and understand that the positive effects of an “upgrade” take months to be realized. We will get there!
- Mark Wednesday, August 21 for a joint City Council/Planning Commission Land Use Planning Workshop as an education forum on many of the topics brought up regarding the north area including Specific Planning, Annexation, General Plan and LAFCO Process. This will be an opportunity for the City, community and stakeholders to get on the same page on the status of many key issues. Look for details to come out in the coming weeks.
- Staff met with about 20 community members with concerns about the North Area Planning issue. It was a facilitated meeting with many questions and some amazing input. I will share that I was grateful for the honesty and directness of folks along with some pretty direct questions to try and clear the air on things. Winters is blessed with many people who love the community. From the meeting, there is more common ground than disagreement on things and I am confident that we will get to understanding and agreement and move forward in a united direction. I will be scheduling a follow up meeting in the coming weeks to check in on some things we are working on at the staff level and get input. The meeting gets 5 out of 5 stars in my view.
- The Planning Commission had a really good workshop on the Economic Development Advisory Committee Report. Some really good input. We have an exceptional group on the Commission and the other night shows!
- On July 9, I was on a panel for the “Sacramento Groundbreakers” which featured Visit Sacramento, Visit Lodi, Rob on the Road from PBS and me representing Winters. Click HERE for a link to the podcast, it came out pretty good for us.
- The Hotel Winters is scheduled to have its grand opening on September 6, 2019.
- The OLS Hotels Team who will operate the Hotel Winters have been training at City Hall and it is really pretty cool. Most of the hires are from here in Winters and the orientation process is absolutely amazing. This is going to be a first class hotel and the emphasis on excellence in the training of their staff shows. This is very exciting!
- I personally walked through the Hotel this week with most of the rooms furnished and the ambiance beginning to emerge. The views from the rooms are amazing and really show off the town and vistas in a way unlike any other place in the City. We cannot wait for the community to see the project, the wait is absolutely worth it.
- Look for the First Street Parking Lot and Newts Expressway to get rocked this week, concrete gutters installed and paving to happen over the next two weeks. The project is blessed with Vintage Paving as our contractor and their quality subs. The project is on schedule and will be really nice when we are done.
- Rumor Control on the First Street Parking Lot- THIS WILL BE A PUBLIC PARKING LOT AND NOT EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE HOTEL.
- Two HUGE projects on the City Manager’s desk are project lists for General City Projects from each Department and a Planning Project List. Both will be presented at the August 20 City Council Meeting. Lot’s going on and the project lists will show that.
- The City hosted a quarterly meeting for the Sacramento Division of the League of California Cities with about 40 elected officials from the greater Northern California in attendance. An update on our Putah Creek Projects, a Tour of the PG&E Academy, a tour of our agricultural assets and finally a tour of Berreyessa Gap Winery and rootstock. It was a first class event organized by City Councilmember Jesse Loren with Buckhorn Truck Food, a presentation and welcome from Mayor Bill Biasi and a quality representation by our businesses. Our little town is the talk of the Sacramento Region and it did not disappoint! Kudos to all who participated!
- The Albarino Wine Stroll is on August 3. Get your tickets at www.albarinowinestroll.com . $45 dollars per person which is a bargain!
Finally, controversy over the past few months has put a real critical eye on these Friday Updates. Social media has not been kind, often taking a different spin and taking something which is relatively non-controversial and making it the coming of the apocalypse. I have some folks telling me to end them.
I have been sending the Friday Updates out to a general distribution for the better part of eight years. In total, I hit about 8,000 people weekly through email, twitter, facebook and Instagram. The goal is pretty simple, to give folks a glimpse into things happening in the City in a concise format and some insight into things happening at Winters City Hall and my desk. I include some perspectives and stories in my own goofy way and sometimes bring a self-effacing approach to some situations. Yup, I am very patriotic, pro public safety, have a really dry sense of humor and put an unfiltered view on things (I get interesting feedback on lots of my views). Not trying to generate controversy, propagandize or proselytize, just my view which can be totally ignored and deleted.
The Friday Update is going to continue. For those on my email distribution who don’t want to be on the list anymore, just respond and Ill take you off. On social media, just ignore it!
Try and avoid the heat and see everyone at the Albarino Stroll.
John