Friday Update on Thursday August 8 2019
All,
A couple of items this week:
- From the City Council Meeting, the Air B&B Ordinance was continued to the August 20 Meeting with a request for more information on how Accessory Dwelling Units are treated within the scope of affordable housing and as vacation rentals.
- Approved at the meeting was an upgrade to the City’s Building Permit System with direction to include a “citizen portal” to allow permit applications, payment and tracking online.
- Mayor Pro Tem Wade Cowan was selected as the Alternate Board Member to represent the City on the Yolo Housing Authority.
Some miscellaneous items:
- Due to unavoidable issues, the paving work schedule for Downtown streets and the First Street Parking Lot has changed: On Saturday, August 10, Vintage Paving will be doing road work on Railroad Ave and on Abbey St. The south bound lane on Railroad from Abbey to Main will be closed. The north bound lane will be open but moved over to the east side a few feet. Their will be no parking on the east side of Railroad from Main to Abbey during this construction period which is scheduled to be from 6am to 4pm. Abbey St will be closed on the West side from the west edge of the hotel to the First/Abbey intersection. There will be access to Napa Auto Parts and the Barber Shop from Railroad. Vintage will be paving the entrance into Newts Expressway, the entrance into the parking lot and will be paving Newts Expressway. On Monday, August 12, they will be paving the parking lot but no road closure.
- Congratulations to the Winters Joint Unified School District for their open house and the launch of the new buildings on the Winters High School Campus. A really important sign of the upgrades to the school and the investment the community has in our education system. 10 new classrooms for our students. Well done!
- Kudo’s to the Downtown Merchants for the Albarino Wine Stroll. A first class event which really took things to a new level! Estimates have the participants at about 400+.
- For those interested in Planning and Development, mark you calendar for Wednesday, August 21 from 5:00 to 8:30 at the Public Safety Facility (700 Main Street). The Workshop for August 21 2019 will be mostly educational in nature but will cover some of the hot topics of the past few months. Think the ABC’s of planning, Topics to be covered at the workshop will include an update on any status of the North Area/Annexation Project, Overview of the land development application process, Status of the General Plan, Overview of the LAFCO and Annexation Process, the difference between General Plan and General Plan Implementation and Planning Trends in California. Good news on this is that the session will be facilitated and presented by both our Contract Planner Heidi Tschudin and City Attorney Ethan Walsh!
City Hall is extremely busy! A key project I am working on involves the development of a key project list to inform the City Council and the public about the myriad of issues and projects we are working on. Lots of projects which are interconnected means the need to plan the appropriate sequencing to maximize the overall efficiency and effectiveness of how we proceed. For some folks it may seem frustrating but it is just the reality for how we need to proceed.
Finally, I would like to highlight the Police Department’s Cadet Program which provides personal development and leadership opportunities for young people in our community. The young men and women in the program have the chance to not only learn about law enforcement and public safety, but to make a genuine impact on their community and become role models amongst their peers and especially with children.
In 2019, the Cadets have represented the community in a number of events, most notably at the services for fallen Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona. I will share that I saw the cadets the morning of the services, looking amazingly professional and ready to go represent. They shined at the event and those in the Department and I could never have been prouder to have such fine young people wearing the name “Winters” on their uniforms. It was special!
Cadet positions are non- sworn volunteer positions and complement the Winters Police Volunteer Program. The goals of the Police Cadet program are to expose men and women to the various aspects of police work in order to prepare them for a career in law enforcement. The Police Cadet program also helps to provide quality candidates for all law enforcement. Cadets increase services the Police Department can provide to our community and can provide support in the following areas:
- School, Park, and Bike trail Patrols
- Community Events and Festivals
- Safety Presentations
- Traffic control and scene management during emergencies
- Senior wellness checks
- Vacation checks
- Clerical/ Office Support
The program is administered by Cadet Program Director Officer Alan Pinette and Coordinator CSO Gail Jimenez. For more information regarding the Cadet Program please contact: Cadet Program Winters Police Department 702 Main St Winters, CA 95694 (530) 795-2261 ext 146 tips.winters@winterspolice.org Or download our information brochure by clicking this link: Cadet Brochure
Have a good weekend!
John