News

The ground was officially broken for the new Felton Library last Saturday, which brought together a large group of dedicated community members, several local elected officials and many county staff members to celebrate. The symbolic act of turning a shovel of dirt didn’t take long, but represented the culmination of more than a decade of collaborative effort to build a brand new, 8,900 square foot library in Felton.

As just a regular homeowner and rate-payer, Wade Leishman took a special interest in the Scotts Valley Water District (SVWD) when rate hikes were discussed toward the end of 2016. Leishman started attending SVWD board meetings regularly and got up to speed on the issues behind the rate increase. Before long, Leishman impressed the district directors with his grasp of the issues for them to appoint him as a board director in July 2017. The seat was unexpectedly left vacant by the death of long-serving director Ken Kannegaard.

Many local residents have by now noticed the recent “base camp” for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) that suddenly appeared on the former Sky Park Airport early last week. The “base camp” is in response to the recent and dramatically increasing wildfire threat, according to PG&E.  The “base camp” looks like a military outpost with temporary canvas buildings, klieg lights and a huge fleet of Davey Tree trucks. The press release sent out by PG&E explains, “Vegetation work is expected to take place between now and the end of the 2018 wildfire season.

When the land use and permitting codes of the county’s cannabis ordinance were hotly debated last spring, many folks in the San Lorenzo Valley expressed real doubt about the county’s ability to enforce those codes in the more remote, hide-away places tucked away from view in the mountains surrounding the valley.   

After almost two weeks of work, the Fall Creek Fish Ladder is finally almost cleared of several feet-deep debris, caused by the storms of 2016 and 2017.

In an effort to hear from the community, developers for the Scotts Valley Town Center project hosted an open house last weekend. The information flow was one-sided, however, because the developers did not disclose any requirements they may have in developing the project. Rather, according to the developers, the idea behind the event was to start a conversation with the community on their vision for the project.

A relatively new member of the Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, wants to continue the work that’s started. Roger Snyder is up for re-election, and according to him, the important issues go beyond just local, they also include statewide public education policies.

Beginning promptly at 7:40 a.m. on Friday, retired Police Lieutenant John Hohmann begins his criminal justice class with a “behind the scenes” tour of the Scotts Valley Police Station. As part of the regional occupation program, 32 students from Scotts Valley High School are offered an opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system with hands on experience.