The Healdsburg City Council will consider adopting the Healdsburg 2020 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) along with an update to the city’s water shortage contingency plan at its next council meeting on Oct. 18. The council will also consider adopting a resolution to submit a joint application for Project Homekey.
The meeting will be held via Zoom and will start at 6 p.m. following a closed session meeting at 5 p.m.
Presentations and reports
Monday’s meeting will kick off with a COVID-19 and water supply update from Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay.
Kay will review local case rates and water supply data as well as how the city is doing on water conservation levels. City staff will also introduce longtime city planner Scott Duiven as Healdsburg’s new community development director.
Urban Water Management Plan
With this year’s exceptional drought, the UWMP has been a big topic among council members, city staff and Healdsburg residents.
Submission of the 2020 UWMP allows the city to access state grants that could fund city infrastructure projects like well drilling, that help conserve water.
The plan is also vital to city planning and operation because it lays out water demand data and how the city will be able to meet that demand depending on wet or dry years.
A draft UWMP was first presented to the public during a workshop on May 18. Another public workshop was held with residents and city council members on Aug. 23.
In a review of the draft, city council members and residents felt that the plan was a bit too broad and didn’t adequately consider climate change in its analysis.
After receiving much feedback on the draft, city staff went to work making a few changes, most notably a recommendation to update the city’s water shortage contingency plan with new stages of water conservation that would include restrictions on the issuance of temporary or final occupancy for new development within Healdsburg.
The proposed amendments to the water shortage plan expand the current three conservation stages to six stages.
According to the agenda item report, “The six stages are designed to achieve progressively higher levels of conservation through the use or various water use restrictions as well as establishment of water budgets in the higher stages.”
The plan also includes recommendations to increase the city’s water supply through the construction of groundwater wells.
Overall, the 2020 UWMP indicates that under normal conditions, the city’s water is sufficient to meet the forecasted demands from an estimated 3% population growth, but under drought conditions, there will be a need to conserve and look for ways to bolster the city’s water supply.
You can read the agenda item report on the UWMP and the proposed 2020 UWMP here.
New business
The city council will also consider adopting a resolution to submit a joint application for Project Homekey program funding.
Project Homekey, a $750 million state program, was launched last year with the goal of helping local communities rapidly acquire hotels, motels, commercial buildings and other housing types to rapidly house people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Sept. 13, 2021, the city council held a special workshop to address homelessness. During the workshop, the city council expressed interest in working to create an interim housing shelter in Healdsburg.
Applications for the fiscal year 2021-22 Project Homekey are currently open for eligible projects and are being taken on a continual over-the-county basis.
Project Homekey would provide funding for capital and operational costs on a “per-door” basis depending on the population served and the funding match the applicant gets.
With this in mind, city staff has been working to identify a location for an interim housing project that could work under Project Homekey.
According to the agenda item report, “Staff has been working with the owner’s representative from the L&M Motel located at 70 Healdsburg Avenue to analyze the potential for the site’s acquisition under the Project Homekey program. Based on the initial site visits and due diligence, City staff and our non-profit partners believe the site has the potential to add an extremely effective resource to the city’s ongoing efforts to combat homelessness.”
The site would provide 21 spaces of interim housing for the city of Healdsburg. Reach for Home would be the service provider for the property.
