Monte Rio Musings by Chuck Ramsey - July 2017
What a difference from last winter. Our communities are looking great, tourism is thriving, and our future is stronger. Hard work from our engaged community volunteers has paid off.
The Alliances volunteers have been attending meetings, presenting petitions, and coming up with viable solutions to our communities’ issues. Thanks to our county supervisor, Lynda Hopkins, and the support of the other county supervisors, we are looking good. The county just passed their 2017-2018 budget. It includes an additional $1M for roads (for a total of $15.7M), $1M to address homelessness in the Russian River, and $1M added to the Sheriff’s budget to make up for some of the funding shortfall. The Sheriff Department had been proposing cutting a captain at the River Substation to cover the budget shortfall. Fortunately this won’t be necessary. We also assume the COPS program will be continuing. This is where the deputies walk the streets which makes a huge difference. The community has also requested an additional deputy as well as additional funds for private security services. Guerneville Community Alliance has also requested funding to provide worker housing temporary assistance, such as covering a new deposit if a local worker is about to become homeless. Our area is highly dependent on tourism.TOT (transient occupancy hotel bed tax) has recently been raised from 9% to 12%. Our area collects the largest amount of tax, yet most of the taxes go towards county advertising and is not returned to us. As we are impacted by tourism, we should be able to retain more of the funds to mitigate any negative impacts. Again, our county supervisors have acknowledged the issues we are facing here and have worked together to assist us. That is progress to be proud of and feel grateful for.
Some progress was also made last month on the air quality front. Open burning of brush in the “Torr Pit” near the Amphitheater entrance is prohibited per Air Quality District regulations. If you have brush that needs to be discarded, please use a chipper or take the brush to the Guerneville dump/transfer station. Help keep our air clean!
In local business news Jerry Adair Rare Finds has closed shop. Larry Lovett is looking for a new tenant. The location has high visibility and hopefully we can look forward to welcoming a new business soon.
July is a big month in Monte Rio. Take some time to enjoy it. This year our fireworks will be heldSunday, July 2nd. This is sponsored by Monte Rio Chamber, Monte Rio Rec & Park, and Monte Rio Fire. Guerneville will also reinstate their fireworks this year on Saturday July 1st.
Thursday July 27th, is the 106th annual Monte Rio Variety Show put on by theBohemian Club. Time after time, it’s always a fun show with great entertainment and relaxing under the redwoods. monterioshow.org.
Got a question about Monte Rio? Suggestions for the community? Send me an email. Happy Summer!
