CityScape

From the City Manager
Pride in Public Service
City Hall and the Community Development Center will return to a five days per week schedule. The change has been made in order to enhance customer service. Effective March 3 City Hall will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the CDC will be open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Congratulations!
The 2013 Reserve Firefighter of the Year award was given to Reserve Firefighter Blake Ratto. Achievements completed by Blake during the year include: responding to over 350 calls, participating in over 200 training hours and dedicating over 2,000 hours to the Fire Department.
Jonah Brem was awarded the 2013 Healdsburg Fire Explorer of the Year. Jonah was introduced to the Fire Department through the Healdsburg High Schools Internship Program and subsequently joined our Fire Explorer Program. He successfully interviewed to be a Reserve Firefighter and will begin the firefighter recruit academy in April.
Water Conservation Update
After the City Council enacted Stage 2 water conservation measures, the February 2014 water production was 6 percent less than water production of February 2013. As January 2014 water production was 17 percent more than January 2013, the City’s water customers were able to achieve a combined reduction of 23 percent or a savings of 7.6 million gallon.  This is a large achievement considering rainfall is still well below average.
The City is requesting ongoing water conservation through reduced outdoor irrigation and other commonsense water conservation measures.  For more information on water conservation, please follow the links below.
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/car-wash-tips/
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/water-meter/
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/toilet/
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/irrigation-tips/
http://www.h2ouse.org/tour/index.cfm
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/partners/
City Parks Water Conservation Efforts
Parks employees will be working with Gardenworks to enhance water conservation efforts at City Hall and the Fire Department. Staff will begin by removing the turf grass and replacing it with a drought tolerant landscaping.  The sprinkler system will be replaced with a drip system that will require less maintenance and conserve up to 50 percent more water than the irrigation system currently in use.
In addition, staff will be laying mulch in some of the landscape strips at city parks.  The mulch will allow the soil to stay moist for longer periods of time, reducing the need for irrigation. The athletic fields will be mowed to a higher length to allow more shade to the soil, creating less water loss through evaporation. Employees will aerate parks on a more frequent basis to permit air, water, and nutrients to the grass roots. This will improve grass growth and result in a more vigorous and lush lawn.
Administrative Services Update
The Administrative Services Department is comprised of finance, IT, human resources and general services. Over the past year staff has been evaluating processes and looking for opportunities to provide even better customer service to our customers.
During the evaluation it became very clear that significant technology changes are needed to provide ourselves, and all of our internal customers (other City departments), the tools needed to operate at peak efficiency while maintaining the exceptional customer service for which the City is known.
IT staff started deploying new copiers with updated features and increased scanning/ copying speeds to each department for which the existing copier’s lease had expired. The total cost for the new machines will be less than what the City is currently paying for its copiers. Additional replacements will be evaluated as the current leases expire.
Staff is also researching opportunities to increase internet bandwidth with AT&T and other vendors. As more departments add services which utilize the internet it has become increasingly important that the City have the structure in place to ensure those services are successful and that users do not get ‘bogged down’ in slow connections.
Another major project is replacement of the City’s ERP system which is running on an outdated platform and is sorely in need of upgrading.  A needs assessment was conducted to ensure the new product will match department criteria.  The final criteria will be included in the Request for Proposal (RFP) that will be sent out to vendors.
Healthy Healdsburg (HH)
The HH partners have named “community connectivity” as their initial priority work area with the focus on inventorying, connecting and supporting existing community, school, faith based and municipal gardens in Healdsburg and Geyserville. In recognition of the drought, the water wise gardening education will be a key component of the communication with the garden leaders. The chapter will be applying for $25,000 in grant funding available from the County to support Chapter activities.  
Electric Department Powder Coating
and LED Retrofit Project
The Electric Department has started powder coating light fixtures and retrofitting them with LED lights in the downtown area. Approximately 12 lights in different areas have been removed in order to gain some inventory to send out for powder coating. The foundation bolts left behind are covered with a cone and barricade to avoid any tripping hazard. Areas where the lights were removed were staggered to avoid any major loss of light.Once these powder-coated lights are returned, the process will be to take down and install a replacement at the same time. When the newly powder coated poles go up there will be two noticeable differences. The poles will be black and the lighting will be LED which is a whiter light compared to the orange glow of the current high pressure sodium.
The entire project will take at least six months to complete. Staff will not be working on this daily; this project work will be scheduled around other projects and priorities.  Work will be completed in the early morning hours to minimize disruption to parking.  
Marjie Pettus is the Healdsburg City Manager. To submit ideas or questions for this column, email [email protected].