Grassroots Graton by Heather Granahan - June 2017
This May our village celebrated a love story and mourned another, within blocks and hours of each other.
The day before, a small family group joined in a front garden a couple of blocks away and witnessed the re-marriage of a loving couple who had been married for 25 years, divorced and solo blossoming for 10, and now reunited with grace and passion. It was inspiring, moving, and included a ritual burning of the divorce papers and a beautiful lunch at Fork Roadhouse. Young love doesn’t have a corner on the market – my long-time friend and fiancé Peter Watson and I just tied the knot ourselves this month, too, in a ceremony at the old Watson School (no relation) followed by a little party at the Bodega Casino Bar and Grill. Long live unstoppable love in all its ages and forms.
(Side)Walk It Off ~ Our big downtown project is adding sidewalks that make us look like a real, welcoming tiny town and are certainly stirring things up with curious (and always opinionated) Gratonites. Many like the increased accessibility as things are brought to ADA code, the improved drainage and traffic-slowing extended curb corners at the intersection of Edison/Graton Rds. Some have questions. It is not all on Graton shoulders and mind; Occidental is slated to get the improvements next, in 2018.
Some are concerned about if the funds for new sidewalks are taking funds from the scant road-paving budget – which we sorely need. Questions are partly due to inaccurate musings by the workers from Brelji and Race, contracted by the County to execute the job. Thankfully, a curious Gratonite wrote the County asking about the money trail and got word back from Jennifer Larocque, Public Affairs Program Manager for Sonoma County Transportation and Public Works:
“Typically, Transportation and Public Works makes ADA improvements when we are modifying an adjacent facility, like a road that is connected to a pedestrian ramp.” she writes. “The construction in Graton and Occidental (coming soon) has a different approach – these improvements are isolated and not related to adjacent construction – because the work is mandated in a legal settlement.
“We have been using existing reserves from our Road Fund Balance to finance all three phases of the work in Graton and Occidental.No funds for this project were redirected from paving projects, which are funded with discretionary funds dedicated by the Board of Supervisors.” (Emphasis mine).
Other questions were raised about the potential new concrete sending road-dirtied water into the creek. Curious, I took a slow turn around the mostly completed sections, and saw none built upon previously permeable soil. I did see some isolated sections of sidewalk ending in little ramps to the underlaying roadbed, and gravel drain beds. Many drain opportunities. We all see how the creek inundates Graton Rd at the bridge frequently. Isn’t that more of a point for road-contaminated water?
Speaking of drainage, some of you may recall a column in which I interviewed George Melo, the then-new owner of the former firehouse. He explained that rainwater floods into the building, and pointed out the mid-floor drain. The County had previously acquired the strip of land for the right-hand turn lane onto West-bound Occidental Rd. Melo felt they should engineer a proper curb and gutter/drain instead of sloping asphalt that shunts water into the building. The County refused to take up any part of the project at the time. Now I see a regulation curb, gutter and sidewalk in front of the old firehouse and I say Huzzah. I hope he can now pursue his dream of a café/bike shop that serves bike trail users and the downtown.
