The Healdsburg City Council has a short agenda for their upcoming meeting on Monday, Aug. 2, the first meeting since their July recess. Major agenda items include a city manager update on the drought and COVID-19 and a climate mobilization strategy presentation by the Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA).
While the meeting was originally planned to be held in a hybrid method, in person and on Zoom, it will only be held on Zoom due to the Delta COVID-19 variant and an increase in COVID cases countywide.
The virtual meeting will start at 6 p.m. and will be held on Zoom.
“Our team has worked hard to get the city council chambers set up for hybrid meetings that offer in person and virtual options, but with the rise in cases, we are deferring that for now,” Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay said.
Kay will provide the council with a COVID-19 update, which will likely cover update case rate, testing positivity and hospitalization data as well as information about the new highly transmissible Delta variant.
According to the Sonoma County data dashboard, as of July 30, the active case rate for the Healdsburg ZIP code, 95488, is 218.
Kay will also address the worsening drought conditions.
Climate mobilization strategy presentation
The council will also hear a presentation from the RCPA on their Sonoma County climate mobilization strategy.
According to the agenda item report, “The Sonoma Climate Mobilization Strategy outlines 13 countywide strategies under local authority that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase carbon sequestration by 2030.”
The strategies are organized into four initiatives:
– Decarbonization: Targeting existing source of GHG emissions.
– Carbon sequestration and ecosystem services: Significantly increase carbon stocks.
– Resilience and adaptation: Reduce risk and vulnerability and increase the ability to recover and adapt.
– Community engagement and equity: Support enhance climate actions by engaging local communities and prioritizing those that are the most impacted by climate change.
The overall goal is to achieve carbon neutrality in Sonoma County by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, the county would have to reduce its GHG emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels and achieve an increase in carbon sequestration.
The aforementioned strategies are the ones that have the greatest potential of significantly reducing GHG emissions and increasing carbon sequestration.
To view the strategy in its entirety and to view the complete agenda packet, visit http://healdsburgca.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx.
