Springs Municipal Advisory Council discusses fire, transit, Springs Plaza

Public comments focused on extended bus routes and the Mattsons.|

The Springs Municipal Advisory Council met on Wednesday, Dec. 14, to discuss a new fire protection plan, infrastructure improvements and the proposed Springs plaza.

Council member Hannah Perot said that the public feedback they had received so far reflected that there is a desire for a plaza, but disapproval for the project as it currently stands.

“Of course people want improvements in there, where they live, but there’s a tremendous amount of concern about the process and about the reliability of the Mattsons as development partners,” Perot said.

The council members agreed that they need more public comments and feedback before they have enough material to draft a letter expressing their opinions o the proposal for county consideration. They will revisit the idea in January.

Council member Celeste Winders said it was important to keep plaza communications public.

Public comments on the plaza included concern over working with the Mattsons, both because of their political alignments and failure to follow through quickly on other development properties. Multiple people also expressed a desire for a public meeting focused on the plaza in a format that would allow all questions to be fully answered.

The nearly three-hour meeting also included comments advocating for the extension of a bus line to ease the commute for Sonoma students attending Santa Rosa schools.

Andrea Akmenkalns, the executive director at Credo High School, said that families at the high school have been advocating for years to add an extension to a current bus line.

Linda Odetto, a parent of a Credo student, said that the communicate can take up to two hours and a bus route that goes from Sonoma to some of the major Santa Rosa school campuses would help alleviate the burden of both student and parents.

The council went into the announcement of community events and many council members, and many expressed their excitement for the upcoming Springs Winter Celebration taking place on Sunday, Dec. 18. Representatives from the Springs MAC as well as Sonoma Immigrant Services will be at the event to answer questions and hear ideas from the community. There will be Santa, hot chocolate and snacks at the event.

Council member Maricarmen Reyes added that the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center will be continuing its free vaccine clinic every Wednesday through Jan. 4.

Council member Maite Iturri also said that the council will consider going back to meeting in-person in January, with plans to continue offering a hybird model for those who don’t feel comfortable attending.

Fire Chief Steve Acker gave an update that included the department’s recent service extension to Kenwood, because of its department’s staffing shortage.

First District Supervisor Susan Gorin said the supervisors interviewed two internal candidates for chief administrative officer, and that the board would select one of them by the end of this week or next.

To close, she urged the public to “mask up.”

“The numbers of COVID, RSV and the flu have increased dramatically,” Gorin said.

The Springs Fire Safe Council update included a presentation about its Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

The council is currently in its drafting stage of its process. The presentation stated that placing shaded fuel breaks along the Mayacamas was its big priority project. Other projects listed included roadside management, defensible space education, improved address visibility, evacuation education and strengthening the council.

Public and government stakeholders will provide input on the plan, and the public can send comments, questions and suggestions to firesafesprings.org for consideration up until Dec. 27.

When the floor opened for public comments, there were a few concerns from community members about the lack of evacuation strategy addressed in the plan.

During the CalTrans update, there was a review of multiple projects that have been completed since the last update, including the addition of a pedestrian interval at the Siesta Way and Highway 12 crosswalk.

There was also an update on the Hooker Creek and Sonoma Creek bridge repairs, which have been delayed until springs, but will happen.

Iturri made a comment about how the improvement of infrastructure in the Springs has been a long road.

“I just want to acknowledge that is has been 20 plus years of work for the Springs to provide safe streets. From the people who started 20 years ago working on the sidewalks, meeting, and making all that happen -- to the streetlights to the current work that’s happening,” Iturri said. “This has been a strong community effort and I just want to acknowledge all the people who have done all that work for so long.”

The council also pushed back deciding on a new Springs MAC logo design until January. They hope to get local artists involved and then narrow down submissions as a council to around two or three finalists that the public can then vote for.

During its consideration of future agenda items, the council said that January’s meeting would center around mental health and suicide prevention, February’s would focus on economic growth and housing and March’s meeting would revisit transit.

Contact the reporter Rebecca Wolff at rebecca.wolff@sonomanews.com.

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