What to look forward to in 2018

By Bruce McPherson, County Supervisor 5th District

Government, being government, moves slowly and, usually, surely. This year, a handful of big projects that have been moving forward, are actually “going live.”

Here’s some of what to look forward to in 2018 in the Fifth District.

Groundbreaking on the new $10 million Felton Library is anticipated to take place in June. The library, which has been in the works for more than a decade, is in the final planning stages. Bid packages are currently being prepared and the bid opening is expected in April.

The Felton Library is going to be a landmark building in San Lorenzo Valley — 9,000 square feet with a light-filled children’s area, a community room that opens to an outdoor patio, a study area, multi-purpose area, a cozy fireplace and sitting area, art and a new collection of books for opening day.

Bear Creek Recreation and Community Center — The new gem of the Boulder Creek Parks and Recreation District, the former Bear Creek Country Club, will have its first-annual community celebration on June 23, 2018. Please plan to bring the family, sunscreen and swimsuits to celebrate this great community facility.

Legal cannabis is days away. The 14 dispensaries in Santa Cruz County will be able to roll out the green carpet for adult customers at the beginning of January. Locally, we still have many open questions about how and where cannabis will be grown which will need to be determined in 2018. Nevertheless, the cannabis culture has deep roots and a long history in Santa Cruz County. It will be exciting to watch the post-prohibition culture grow into an industry with a distinct Santa Cruz Mountains brand.

Monterey Bay Community Power will go live in 2018. Commercial customers can get service beginning on March 1, and residential customers on July 1. And it’s easy. MBCP will buy carbon-free electricity and charge customers the same as they pay now to PG&E. Both commercial and residential customers can expect a minimum 3% rebate at the end of the year and will have the choice where their rebate will go. To register, please go to mbcommunitypower.org.

As for relief in PG&E’s electric base rate — well, probably that will change in 2018. At the request of the Valley Women’s Club, I asked PG&E to change the base rate for electricity charged to San Lorenzo Valley residents because the Valley had been put in the wrong climate tier. Instead of being assessed based on mountain temperatures, decades ago the Valley was categorized with the coastal communities, which have much less temperature range. PG&E agreed, and has recommended to the California Public Utilities Commission that the change be made. However, the PUC won’t hear the case until current litigation involving rates is resolved. That “may” be in 2018. I hope.

Expect to see a lot of heavy equipment on the roads in 2018 as we continue work on the backlog of county storm-damaged roads. Repairs on (5) Bear Creek Road, (6) East Zayante Road (7), Jamison Creek Road (8), Kings Creek Road (9), Lockhart Gulch (10), Two Bar Road (11), Alba Road (12), Felton Empire Road (13), Little Basin (14), and Lompico Road are on schedule to be completed in 2018.

In addition, the County has allocated $1 million to resurfacing and other nearby repairs. In other words, while crews are there, they will be able to address nearby potholes, slip-outs, and resurfacing.

Highway 9 repair: After relocation of utilities is complete at the end of this December (weather permitting), the second phase of the $4 million slip out repair on Highway 9 in Brookdale will take place. The second phase work will be to construct a hillside viaduct, which is expected to be complete in the summer of 2018.

We’ve also been moving along at government speed on future improvements to Highway 9. In cooperation with Caltrans, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has been working on a Highway 9 Master Plan for the past several years. The first draft of the Highway 9 Master Plan will be released in early spring, 2018.

The draft includes the consultant’s recommendations for priority projects taking into consideration public input and collision data along the corridor. The SCCRTC will host four public meetings within the San Lorenzo Valley during late spring/early summer and a final draft of the Master Plan will be published shortly thereafter.

Flight path changes: Three big changes to the controversial flight path over the Santa Cruz Mountains are expected to be implemented in 2018. First, in February, SERFR, the current procedure for SFO southern arrivals, will be modified to correct some aspects of how it is flown, especially relating to commercial air traffic. Then, in August, the FAA has announced that the ground-path is expected to shift back to BSUR, the former southern arrival path.

Also in August, the FAA is expected to finish the overhaul of Class B, the area designated for commercial traffic. Just as implementation of SERFR, with all its noise and lack of assessment, imposed a terrible injustice on those under its flight path, moving it back to the BSUR ground path (without the same altitudes) may impose noise on a different population under the flight path. I will continue to advocate that both the “fixed” SERFR and the BSUR path be evaluated before any shifts are made.