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March 25, 2022

Celebrating Community

Healdsburg St. Patrick's Day Parade 2022

Spring has arrived and we have many reasons to celebrate due to the return of the in-person, traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade and two grant awards which will help the City to move forward with some of our key projects: $7.1 million to build the purple pipeline, and $950,000 for the L&M Village from the County Board of Supervisors. We celebrate the accomplishments of Utility Director Terry Crowley, Utilities Engineering Manager Patrick Fuss and also Housing Administrator Stephen Sotomayor who put in the work to successfully secure the grant awards which now brings the City of Healdsburg closer to completion of these critical projects.

This past month, Healdsburg residents and businesses have had access to a new online tool that has connected community members in the City’s budgetary process. Members of the community can now weigh in on how the City should allocate funding across departments until April 10th. Therefore, this month we celebrate new opportunities, more tools, resources, and ways of connecting as a diverse and growing community who has withstood many challenges during both the pandemic and drought.

We realize that there have been many questions from the community regarding the drought and access to water and City staff have posted an FAQ on our City’s website home page to answer some of the most common questions. We look forward to moving past the recent challenges our community has experienced with creativity and a long-term vision for the future.

St. Patrick's Day Parade 2022

On March 17 the City of Healdsburg brought back the live, in person St. Patrick’s Day Parade after a two-year hiatus. City residents were thrilled to be back in person and experience the feeling of connecting in community with participants wearing festive costumes and celebrating with much cheer. The parade was led by bagpipes played by Hal Wilkes and Lorraine Hame the festival VIP. The parade benefitted from participation from hundreds of residents, City staff, Councilmembers and Mayor Jimenez. The history of the parade goes back 30 years and was organized by the City of Healdsburg’s Community Services Department in partnership with the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club. Lorraine Hame the festival VIP is pictured here in a vintage car with the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club right behind her. After the parade a live Celtic music band and Shiloh Irish step dancers entertained our residents at the Healdsburg Park Plaza.

Municipal Recycled Water Pipeline

The City of Healdsburg was recently awarded a $7.1-million-dollar grant as part of a long-term process to fund a recycled water pipeline aka “the purple pipe.” While the funding is still short of the full budget to build 4.5 miles of pipeline that would allow the City to distribute water to areas of need, this is still a significant achievement by our staff. The City is now very close to reaching the budget target amount of 10 million to begin construction. The Municipal Recycled Water Pipeline will provide water to: City parks, golf course, cemetery and some public school facilities. Yet, because the remaining funding that is needed hinges on approval from a federal FEMA grant we still do not have a timeline of when construction would begin since FEMA requires the City to have the full budget before beginning construction.

Budget Simulation Tool

The budget simulation tool is an interactive tool designed to share information with residents about the City’s budget and help them understand the City’s budgetary process as well as educate them on key financial items in each City department. A process where community residents our involved is important to civic engagement since we can collect data on what the priorities are for our community. The budget simulation tool will allow residents to experience the same constraints that staff face when balancing a budget. The value of the budget simulation tool is that residents can give feedback and make recommendations to the budgetary process virtually from anywhere using a smartphone, tablet or computer. Participants of the simulation tool can make important recommendation in categories that include Public Safety, Community Services, Planning and Building, City Administration, Transportation and Mobility, Utilities, Resources and Sustainability, Housing, Homeless and Low-Income Support, Economic Development, Diversity and Inclusion as well as make recommendations not included in a specific category. There will be a Public Workshop on the Budget - March 26th, 2022 at the Healdsburg Community Center from 10AM-12noon to answer questions from the public and for those who would like to be guided through the process of using the budget simulation tool. For more info please click here.

L&M Village

Photo by the Press Democrat

Thank you to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for this most recent grant award to redevelop the L&M Motel. The City of Healdsburg is thrilled to move forward with the project at the L&M Village to help homeless persons get access to housing and much needed social services.

"The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today, to allocate capital funds in the amount of $950,000 for L&M Village in Healdsburg and $600,000 for The Studios at Montero in Petaluma, both Homekey sites. The funding commitment ensures the two sites will secure additional matching allocations from the state to assist with funding gaps."- Sonoma County

The L&M Village, formerly known as the L&M Hotel, was approved in December 2021 for Project Homekey funding. The City of Healdsburg and Reach for Home, were previously awarded $7 million. The L&M Village, is expected to open later this year. Individuals will be accepted in and will receive ongoing benefits including behavioral health and substance use treatment.

Dear City Council

Thank you to Cristofer Cruz, a resident of Healdsburg and 4th grade student for taking the time to write a letter to the CIty Council to recommend that the City provide more housing for homeless persons and more affordable housing generally. Cristofer exemplifies what it means to care about community and how to participate as an engaged resident. Our director of Housing, Stephen Sotomayor has responded to Cristofer's letter and we have also sent him a City pin to acknowledge his advocacy. Thank you Cristofer!