Review of Voice Your Opinion Meetings, May 2007

by Richard Naegle, President, Forestville Planning Association 

The Chamber of Commerce and the FPA are reviewing the results of the two recent “Voice Your Opinion” meetings about the future of our Town. The Boards of both organizations have now scheduled a follow-up meeting with Orrin Thiessen, architect and developer of the proposed commercial and town house project on the Crinella property bordering Highway 116 (where the Town Christmas Tree is put up every year). 

At that time, we will dialogue with Orrin about what we have heard from you about your hopes, fears, and concerns regarding the concept, design, economic impacts, environmental impacts, etc. of the projected development. It should be a lively and interesting exchange. 

If you have more to voice that which you would like represented in the meeting, please contact either the Chamber. Go to the Forestville Chamber Website Contact page: forestvillechamber.org or the email Richard Naegle (because of spam, please include FPA in the subject line of your email — otherwise I may not receive it.).

In a unanimous decision, the FPA Board has sent a letter to the Sonoma County Water Agency opposing the recent low flow proposal while mandatory conservation measures are not required of urban users of SCWA’s water. 

The Good Neighbor Agreement with the Bodean Company, owner of Blue Rock Quarry, establishes a yearly contribution from the Quarry to the Town. That should provide more than $12,000 a year over the next twenty years for “the improvement of downtown Forestville.” The FPA is now working on establishing guidelines for the use of that money, which hopefully will be announced here in the near future. In the meantime, if you have ideas on how that money can best be used, please email me, Richard Naegle.

Many thanks to Lucy Barnett Hardcastle for writing her wonderful article about the Good Neighbor Committee which appeared in this column in March.