Though probably not a surprise to loyal customers, the owners of Mountain Feed and Farm Supply in Ben Lomond were taken aback when they learned they had been named regional small business of the year.The Small Business of 2017 honor was given earlier this month to about 80 private business owners out of roughly 3 million small businesses in the state.The all-purpose feed-and-farm supply store on Highway 9 was honored this month as the 29th Assembly District’s winner.“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Jorah Roussopoolous, who owns the store with wife Andi. “It’s sort of the American dream.”The elaborate feed store was nominated by occasional customer Mark Stone, Assemblyman for the 29th District.“Owners Jorah and Andi Roussopoolous provide our region with invaluable resources for sustainable independent living and homesteading,” Stone said.  “They are an important part of our local economy.”The business owners traveled to the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento to receive the honor, and were given a tour of the State Capitol by Stone. “It was a warm welcome,” said Roussopoolous. “It made me proud to be a Californian.”Customers travel to Mountain Feed and Farm Supply from as far away as Carmel Valley and San Francisco.The store, composed of a warren of connected smaller buildings, serves as a hub for classes, nursery items, small-scale food production, housewares and sustainable methods of farming.“It feels like home,” said Ben Lomond resident Cheryl Martin, who has been shopping at the store for 10 years. “I can come here for just about anything.”It wasn’t always that way.When the Roussopoolous couple purchased the property in 2004 it was not much to speak of: just the former empty site of then-vacant Ben Lomond Feed.It would be nice to say that Roussopoolous, in their mid-20s at the time, had a dream of building their future. Not so fast.“We were forced to figure out how we would pay the mortgage,” remembered Roussopoolous, who began by opening a small feed store. “It was just youthful enthusiasm.”It wasn’t long before the outgoing couple’s counter became a magnet for residents, who conversed about small-town news on a first-name basis.“It’s not just a store; it’s a community hub,” said Roussopoolous, who lives in Bonny Doon with Andi and children Ember and Reese.Little by little, a vision began to take shape. Nursery pots appeared, the small gift shop (where the couple had lived in the beginning) was transformed, and fences and gates sprouted.These days, the busy store employs 30 workers during peak months — full-time employees who are provided healthcare insurance at no charge.Lisa Berg, a customer since the store opened, treks over from Los Gatos to do her shopping and take her 14-year-old cat, Earl, to the on-site vet.“It’s worth the drive,” she said. “I love the eclectic feel and everything is so high quality.”Roussopoolous said it’s his employees who should receive the award.“I have amazing people, past and present,” he said. “They deserve 100 percent of the credit.”

The San Lorenzo Valley Water District has imposed new restrictions on public comments at its Board of Directors meetings, effective at the June 15 meeting.

As you walk up the blacktop service road from Graham Hill Road in Felton, you begin to hear the sound about 50 yards away from the large, round redwood water storage tank, owned by the San Lorenzo Valley Water District:The sound of running water, as if multiple outdoor hose faucets or outdoor showers had been left on.That sound has been disturbing the hilltop serenity of this place for at least seven years, perhaps longer.Water is pumped into the tank by the district, to provide water pressure for homes and fire hydrants in the sandhills overlooking Felton.The water district for several years has had replacement of this tank on its list of needed capital improvement projects, but it hasn’t had the money – nearly $1.7 million – to do the job.It also has had to identify ways to protect endangered plants and animals in the area.Through drought years and rainy seasons, the water has poured out of the bottom and sides of the large round structure, from cracks, holes, and seams, creating a constantly running stream around the bottom of the tank, and into a specially made catch basin and back into the aquifer.There has been no exact estimate of the water lost, but it’s likely in the thousands of gallons. Picture a half dozen homes that left their bathtub faucets or sprinkler systems running nonstop, for seven years.The site is located between the closed Hanson Quarry and the Santa Cruz County Probation Center and juvenile detention facility. The water district calls the tank, the “Probation Tank.”This month, the district moved a step closer to the planned replacement of the leaking 100,000-gallon redwood tank with a 527,000-gallon welded steel tank by holding a hearing on a plan to mitigate any damage the construction project might do to several endangered plant and animal species: the Ben Lomond spineflower and Ben Lomond buckwheat, the Santa Cruz kangaroo rat, the Zayante band-winged grasshopper, and of course, the now-infamous Mt. Hermon June Beetle. No one spoke at the hearing.The next step is for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission to approve the plan, and release the project for construction permits.A similar process at the nearby Scotts Valley Middle School caused a more-than-one-year delay in construction of the new school.The water district is hopeful the tank could be replaced in 2018 at the earliest. Meanwhile, water continues to pour out of the tank, day and night.The district in 2016 imposed a “drought surcharge” of $1 for each unit of water, in hopes of building up depleted capital reserves to fund projects like the Probation Tank replacement. This month, it begins discussion of whether to retain the drought surcharge, and of how much capital improvement money to build into a probable multi-year rate hike.

The president of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District’s board of directors, Gene Ratcliffe, on May 25 changed the meeting protocol, restricting public comment “in the interest of efficiency,” in two ways.

It’s a holiday weekend. The beds are made. The silverware is polished. The windows are clean. The sidewalks are swept. The refrigerators and kitchen cabinets are full. The first guests arrive today.

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Cherie Anderson of Scotts Valley has been promoted to Advertising Director of the Press Banner, publisher Will Fleet announced this week.She had been an Advertising Representative with the newspaper.“Cherie brings a good combination of advertising experience and local community involvement,” Fleet said. Anderson brings 30 years of advertising, marketing, and management experience to her new position.She also is president of the Ambassadors for the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband Kevin were voted Co-Ambassadors of the Year in 2016.  “I’m very excited about what this new role means to me personally and professionally,” Anderson said. “The changes in our paper over the past year have been significant and positive.”“Many local business people are already familiar with Cherie through her activities in the Scotts Valley Chamber,” said Fleet. “I believe she is going to help us fulfill our community service mission, while also helping bring our business to the next level.”“My goal is to continue to develop new strategies that bring solutions for our business community, while maintaining the community focus and benefits,” said Anderson. “The most recent example of this has been our new Real Estate section, and there’s more to come.”Anderson succeeds Jeannette Close, who decided to pursue new opportunities out of the area.The Press Banner is owned by Tank Town Media, of which Ralph Alldredge and Will Fleet are co-publishers.