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Jenner Jotting by Tim McKusick - August 2019

Do not miss Fish Stock 2019, Jenner’s annual fundraising event featuring live bands, The Jennerators and More! Great Food, Wine & Beer, Auction and free activities for children. Happening on Labor Day weekend, Sunday, September 1 from 11 – 5, http://www.jennercommunitycenter.org/fishstock.html This worthwhile fundraising event is always a hit, assisting the Jenner Community Club, a non-profit to continue the Jenner Community Center Building Restoration Project, and continue to offer community-based activities and social events throughout the year.

The Jenner Community Club maintains the Jenner Community Center building which is home to a division of the Monte Rio Fire District, station #3. This is an essential asset for our coastal communities. Fundraising efforts this year will continue to support the 1st Responders’ access to this important station on the Sonoma Coast. The Jenner Community Center is also designated as a Red Cross Emergency Site. See you there!!

A few years ago, the overhead power and communication wires were relocated underground through the tiny seaside village of Jenner. What a difference to have the skyline free of these unsightly (and dangerous) cables. This was done mostly for aesthetic reasons but made the highway safer as well.

For some reason, the bulky communication cables along the highway south of town were overlooked. The high voltage lines are routed up on the hill, away from the world-class coastal vistas you enjoy approaching this quaint community. It would be a simple task to simply reroute the tele-com cables that mar this pristine landscape, up on the hill with the PG&E lines. Maybe leave one or two poles for the Ospreys to perch on.

Just upstream from Jenner, around the bend is where Sheephouse Creek enters the Russian River Estuary. There are only a few of these estuary-perched streams. They are directly influenced by the flow and water levels of the River. The lower reaches of the River are affected when the river mouth is closed; water backs-up like an inland lake all the way to Austin Creek by Cazadero.

Sheephouse Creek enters the River almost adjacent to Hwy 116 just upstream from the Hwy 1 bridge. The CalTrans highway culvert is mere yards from the confluence. A couple of years ago, a ‘wing-wall’ shoring up the roadside creek bank of the under-highway culvert, collapsed, falling into the streambed. CalTrans has twice attempted to make the needed repairs over the past two years, and twice have had to abandon the critical repair project when the river-mouth closed and water flooded the work area.

It is imperative that they complete the job and get the obstruction out of this critical Coho Salmon Stream as soon as possible. Last Winter’s storms brought record levels of debris and gravel downstream, building up against the concrete slab in the streambed. It needs to flush out before next salmon spawning season. Traffic is at record levels out here, with the inland heat driving the masses to the beach. Be Safe while enjoying our world-class scenery.

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