Old Red to get new work

The Town council has voted to continue with proposed
improvements to Old Redwood Highway despite the possibility that
the area could be redeveloped by nearby projects.
The Town received $338,000 in 2006 through the Transportation
for Livable Communities grant program to build a safe pedestrian
pathway between the Windsorland Mobile Home Park and the Town Green
area.
The project was revised in 2009 following the unexpected closure
of the mobile home park to include an eight foot wide pedestrian
sidewalk, bicycle lane and installation of LED street lighting.
Funding for the project was shifted from TLC funding to federal
stimulus money because the administering agency, the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission, felt it was the only project in the
county that could make use of the stimulus money in a timely
fashion.
The grant money requires construction on the project to begin by
March 8, 2010 but with the proposed developments of the Windsor
Gateway project and Bell Village project town staff asked the
council for guidance as the three projects would each be altering
Old Redwood Highway without a coordinated plan.
Council were asked if staff should proceed with the proposed
project knowing much of the work would be torn out in the near
future or abandon the project.
While a majority of the council voted to abandon the project at
their November 18 meeting, councilmembers Sam Salmon and Steve
Allen voted to proceed with the work arguing that failure to
utilize the grant would hamper efforts by Windsor and surrounding
municipalities to secure future funding.
Debora Fudge and Cheryl Scholar both voiced distaste for the
project at the November meeting. Fudge said she “didn’t buy” the
argument that future funding would be jeopardized and Scholar said
she couldn’t support the project given the high value the council
placed on consistency. “I don’t want to be put in a position where
we approve something because we won’t get any more money in,” said
Scholar in November.
Despite her opposition, Fudge asked for the issue to be reopened
at the December 2 meeting. “I wanted to understand more about not
accepting the grant, how that could harm our getting grants in the
future, how that could harm other Sonoma County jurisdictions. I
wanted to understand how real that threat might be.”
She said subsequent conversations had convinced her refusing the
money would be detrimental to the Town’s future fundraising ability
and that some aspects of the project could remain in place even
with additional remodels of Old Redwood Highway.
Scholar said she felt “disturbed” to be asked to reconsider the
project as she hadn’t had discussions about the project with other
organizations.
Despite her concerns, Scholar voted to move the project forward
but with a request future projects be handled differently. “What I
would ask is that let’s try not to do something that is jumping for
money before having a conversation about is this the right thing to
do.”
Councilwoman Robin Goble maintained her opposition to the
project. “I’m not in favor of using tax dollars to install public
works projects that could potentially be ripped out.”
Councilmembers Salmon and Allen reiterated their support for the
project at the December meeting.