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Citizenship Forum dates announced News, Page 2
Park Winters expands with farmstand Features, Page 1
Volume 140, Number 40 — Locally-owned since 1884
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, November 1, 2023
The hometown paper of Diane & John Burns
School board convenes at city hall council chamber Express staff Winters Joint Unified School District will convene in the city council chamber for its upcoming Board of Trustees on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. With the Winters JUSD office building in the process of disarray from the Oct. 23 fire that destroyed the warehouse and caused smoke and water damage to the rest of the building, office personnel are temporarily working
at other offices and school sites as repairs are underway. The public can attend the meeting in person or view it on Zoom at https://bit. ly/3QBPZK0. The Zoom meeting link is available on the meeting agenda, which can be accessed online at wintersjusd.diligent. community. Superintendent Rody Boonchouy will present a brief overview of school district incidents including the fire and
the Oct. 20 sewage backup at Waggoner Elementary School. Assistant Superintendent Phoebe Girimonte will present an informational item on the Youth Truth survey that Winters JUSD plans to implement at the end of 2023. Trustees are expected to take action on job descriptions for an Expanded Learning Program Coordinator and an ExpandedLearningProgram Site Lead.
MOW celebrates Senior Nutrition Center grand opening Thursday
EXPRESS
The alleyway ramp behind the Berryessa Gap Tasting Room was the topic of great discussion at the Oct. 3 Winters City Council meeting.
City, Berryessa Gap clash over alleyway ramp details By Amelia Biscardi Express staff writer An hour-and-a-half of back-and-forth about the Americans Disability Act compliance of the ramp in the alleyway behind Berryessa Gap Tasting Room, on Oct. 3, the Winters city council voted 4–1 that an exemption would not be made and that the ramp will be removed. However, since then, according to acting city manager Joe Gordon, there have been “productive meetings” between the city and owners of Berryessa Gap. Going forward and working with Corinne Martinez and Dan Martinez, co-owners of Berryessa Gap
Express staff On Thursday, Nov. 3, Meals on Wheels Yolo County hosts a grand opening event to celebrate the Winters Senior Nutrition Center which more than doubles the organization’s meal production capacity countywide. The event is free and open to the public, with no RSVP required. The facility is located at 111 Main St., formerly the Buckhorn Restaurant’s catering operation. “This meal-production kitchen amplifies senior nutrition in Yolo County,” said Joy Cohan, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels Yolo County. “Once this kitchen’s current capabilities are maximized, we’ll be able to nourish as many as 1,700 seniors countywide, and, over time, a full build-out of this facility could provide for at least 2,600 food-insecure aging adults in Yolo County.”
Crystal Apilado/Winters Express
Courtesy photo
The addition of the Winters Senior Nutrition Center kitchen will more than double the efforts to prepare meals out of the Woodland kitchen facility. MOW Yolo County currently provides five nutritious, freshly prepared hot or frozen meals each week via doorstep delivery to 800 seniors in nearly every part of the county, representing a 110 percent increase over the past two years. An opportunity for congre-
gate dining is available once a week at several locations. Guided by the nonprofit’s “Operation Accelerate” initiative, the organization will pair the 5,300 square foot capacity of the Winters center with its existing 2,800 square foot kitchen
See KITCHEN, Page 3
Index Features ........................ B-1
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Oct. 25
.00
76˚
53˚
Oct. 26
.00
66˚
41˚
Oct. 27
.00
67˚
37˚
Oct. 28
.00
67˚
37˚
Oct. 29
.00
68˚
41˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Oct. 30
.00
73˚
36˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Oct. 31
.00
72˚
36˚
Sports ........................... B-5
Rain for week: 0.00 in. Season’s total: 0.79 in. Last sn. to date: 0.99 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. A-2 Eventos hispanos ....... A-2
A&E ............................... B-6
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/23. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
Vineyards, the current stated plan is to create a tabletop for pedestrians. However Corinne Martinez has yet to receive any official notification from the city as to what must be done. The discussion was contentious, with former city manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa presenting via Zoom the context of the situation. As well, with Corinne Martinez brought her own documentation and receipts of emails into the discussion. In 2019, the Berryessa Gap Tasting Room decided to add an expansion of a patio which was approved. ADA compliance required for there to be
an entrance accessible to all in the back portion of the building. A door to the ramp, in one of the earlier documents, which originally was supposed to be compliant, was unable to be ADA compliant. In 2021, this led to an agreement between the business and city to turn it into a window and the plan was to ensure that compliance happened elsewhere. In March, Corinne Martinez submitted a plan for a pergola and according to an employee staff report by Trepa, the report claims that it did not reference
See RAMP, Page 3
Solano supervisors approve wildfire prevention plan Parts of Pleasants Valley given extreme fire risk rating Express staff The Solano County supervisors approved the 2023 Solano County Community Wildfire Protection Plan on Tuesday, Oct. 24. The recommendations are divided into three categories — Resilient Landscape, Fire Adapted Communities and Fire Response — with general tasks outlined to accomplish the goals and priorities for each. The primary goals and objectives, Robyn Rains, Office of Emergency Services manager, said, include Enhance Safety of residents and responders; Mitigate wildfire impacts; Foster support through planning; Promote long-term community resilience; Perform risk and hard assessments; Analyze data
to support mitigation recommendations; and Create resource and grant opportunities. “These are very important and drive the rest of the plan,” Rains said. Central to the plan is the wildland-urban interface – the areas in the county that separate wildlands from the cities, and rely heavily on underfunded rural fire districts as the first line of defense. The areas are defined as having housing and other developments in direct contact with wildland vegetation. The zones where wildlands exceed the level of human inhabitation are known as intermix areas. Addressing the fire risk factors in those areas, the plan states, is a high priority. Planning for reducing
the fire risk in these areas also should extend into Napa County and include the nearby cities. Planning for future growth in the interface areas also must be addressed, the plan states. The plan also delves into vulnerable populations and areas, as well as other disaster elements such as topography and forest health, climate and weather patterns, the fire history of the county, demographics, monitoring strategies and mitigation strategies. “Solano County faces a particular risk of wind-driven wildfires due to its unique topography and regional weather patterns,” the staff report to the board states. “Recent large wildfires, such as the LNU Lightning
See RISKS, Page 3
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Contact David DeLeon at David@WintersExpress.com