Common Roots Farm, By Krista Brassfield When Will County Enter Orange Tier?, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS When Will County Enter Orange Tier?

By Jondi Gumz

With new COVID-19 cases back to levels of last May, Santa Cruz County is poised to move after three weeks in the Red Tier to the less restrictive Orange Tier.

Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel Newel anticipates moving to the Orange Tier by March 31.

As of March 10, restaurants, gyms and fitness centers, movie theaters and museums were allowed to open indoors with restrictions for the first time since mid-November. Capacity for retail stores and shopping centers increased to 50 percent, shortening the lines at Trader Joe’s.

The Orange Tier allows 50 percent capacity (up from 25 percent) for restaurants, movie theaters, museums, and places of worship and 25 percent (up from 10 percent) for gyms and fitness centers, 25 percent at dance studios, bowling alleys and climbing walls, with wineries and breweries allowed indoor service at 25 percent.

Santa Cruz County’s adjusted COVID case rate is 3.5 per day per 100,000, below the rate of 3.9 required for the Orange Tier, and the test positivity rate is 1.3 percent.

Since March 13, wineries and breweries without meals were allowed to have outdoor service with a 90-minute time limit and 8 p.m. close.

Starting April 1, the state is allowing outdoor live events at 20 percent capacity and 15 percent capacity at amusement parks — such as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which will open April 1.

As of June 1, the state will allow overnight sleepaway camps.

CineLux Capitola reopened March 12. Capitola Beach Co. plans to offer surf lesson and rentals on April 1. Santa Cruz Shakespeare plans a small, safe outdoor live season in July and August. Arts Council Santa Cruz County plans to resume Open Studios in October. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History is opening to members.

Newel lifted her prohibition on visits at nursing homes and assisted living centers, allowing family members to see loved ones after restrictions to prevent the contagious coronavirus from spreading kept them apart for a year. Deaths at those facilities have slowed to a trickle.

200 Have Died

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 57,000 Californians and 200 Santa Cruz County residents, with 51 percent of those local deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Locally, 78 percent of those who died were age 70 or older and 78 percent had other health conditions.

A year after the pandemic began, case rates have plummeted, and with 16 million vaccine does administered, 39 counties are in the Red Tier and nine in the Orange Tier. On March 15, Soquel Union Elementary School District reopened kindergarten for inperson instruction on a hybrid schedule, which brings back half the students to campus on alternating days.

The federal and state six-foot distancing requirement between desks is why most public schools are offering hybrid instruction, with half the students on campus and half online, rather than bring all students back at the same time. Private schools with smaller class sizes have brought all the students back because they have the space to meet the distancing requirement.

Research is scanty on how much distance is protective and Indiana changed its requirement to three feet, in line with the World Health Organization guidance. An MIT study this summer concluded distancing rules are based on outdated science and factors such as ventilation and occupancy and exposure time made a difference.

On March 19, the federal Centers for Disease Control changed its guidance to say three feet of distance is protective, and the state followed suit on March 20.

Fall: In-Person Instruction

In a letter to parents March 24, all of the local school superintendents said switching from a hybrid schedule to full reopening “would require vast environmental changes to classrooms and redesign of our instructional programs,” with some conditions requiring negotiations with bargaining units.

The letter added, “However, we are confident that as long as community transmission of COVID-19 remains low, all public schools in Santa Cruz County will be fully open for in-person instruction in the fall 2021.”

Two cases of the B117 variant, which spreads more easily, were reported in January and February but Newel said a large surge of cases forecasted for March and April due to virus variants is unlikely. Dr. Andrew Smythe, of Dignity Health Medical–Dominican, vaccinates a community member at the Harbor High School vaccination site.

On Friday, the county reported only three people hospitalized with COVID, including one in intensive care, only 200 active cases, and more than 122,000 negative test results.

Newel said all K-12 educators in the county have had an opportunity to receive their first dose of vaccine.

She urged everyone to get a vaccine once they are eligible and in the meantime, wear masks and practice social distancing in public so as to protect unvaccinated elders and those who are medically vulnerable. Santa Cruz County has ranked in the top 10 in the state for vaccinations per capita. The state dashboard reports 142,000 doses have been given to county residents, more than half of the population. The state has required 70 percent of doses go to people age 65 and up who are at greater risk of dying, 30 percent to people in riskier jobs — and 10 percent set aside for educational and child care workers.

“COVID Update” page 14

“Electric Rail” from page 6

Assuming construction costs at $478 million, that would include construction, $364 million; vehicles, $64 million; final design and permitting, $34 million; preliminary engineering, preparing environmental documents, $17 million; initial and final conceptual design, cost estimates and ridership projections, $5 million; identifying critical design issues and governance strategy, $600,000.

As for right-of-way acquisition, no costs are anticipated as the RTC owns the branch line, which extends 32 miles from Davenport to Watsonville.

The plan expects passenger service to terminate in Westside Santa Cruz.

The timetable assumes the initial operating plan will be ready in fiscal year 2022-23, environmental documents in fiscal year 2025-26, construction starting in 2029-30 with rail vehicle acquisition in 2031-32, with both finishing in 2034-35.

Federal Funding Sources

The biggest federal funding source for construction is the Federal Transit Administration New Starts and requires a local match before a grant is awarded. The assumption is $100 million.

Grants are not provided until 30% of the preliminary engineering is complete to provide confidence on cost estimate accuracy. Typically, the project sponsor must front these costs for two to four years until the grant arrives.

The second construction source of funding is the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development transportation discretionary grants, which may require a 20 % non-federal match. The assumption is $15 million.

The third federal source, which can be used for pre-construction construction and vehicles, is the Surface Transportation Block Grant, for which a 11.47% non-federal match is required. The assumption is $9 million.

Funding is considered unlikely from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement program, Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment and Railway Highway Crossing Section 130 to eliminate hazards. The assumption is $0.

State Funding Sources

The largest state funding source for construction and vehicles is SB 1, Solutions for Congested Corridors Program. The assumption is 52 million.

The second largest state source for construction and vehicles is the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The assumption is $30 million.

Next is the SB 1 Local Partnership competitive grants for construction and vehicles, which require a one-to-one match of state funds. The assumption is $25 million.

SB 1 State Rail Assistance could fund any part of the project from environmental review to maintenance. The assumption is $17 million.

State Transportation Improvement Program dollars, which goes to projects selected by the Santa Cruz County RTC, can fund all parts of construction. The assumption is $10 million.

Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grants fund projects that benefit low-income communities by increasing access to key destinations with low-carbon transportation. The assumption is $10 million.

Sustainable Transportation Equity Project funds can be used for construction and vehicles to increase access to key destinations. The assumption is $7 million.

Operations Funding Sources

With operations estimated at $275 million a year, all of these funding sources are smaller than those for construction.

Here are the funding assumptions: • Federal State of Good Repair Grants: $2.25 million a year for seven years. • State Transit Assistance: $220,000 a year • State SB 1 Local Partnership: $150,000 a year once final designs. • SB 1 State Rail Assistance: $500,000 a year. • Local operations funding • Measure D 2016 county transportation sales tax: $1.6 million a year to preserve the rail line once it is built. • Rail Line lease/concessions/ads: $750,000 a year. • Fare revenue: $105.5 million a year • Maintenance paid by freight operator: $0.

The report suggested private financing as a possibility, forming a partnership with a private partner to accelerate the project or lower costs.

Such arrangements usually are made near the completion of environmental documents. If the 11-member RTC Commission is interested, staff would issue a request to see if any private entities are interested. n •••

To read the business plan, see https://sccrtc. org/projects/multi-modal/transitcorridoraa/

“Letter to the Board” from page 8

Many of the 1000+ property owners who have lost their homes or have had them damaged to the point of them being uninhabitable until repaired by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire now face three years before their “streamlined” permitting process will possibly allow them to begin rebuilding.

These people must be allowed to live on their own property in ADU’s and/or mobile/ modular homes while their main residence is rebuilt. 7) I do not think that utilities and the telecommunication industries should be exempt from requirements for road widths and on-site water sources. The telecommunication industry is being pressured to improve battery backup and include on-site generators in order to maintain communications for emergency responders and the public. This will likely add more on-site above ground combustible fuel tanks for sustained generator power. It is imperative that these sites also be required to meet any Fire Safe Regulations approved. 8) Would solar arrays and wind turbines on ridge-tops be exempt from Fire Safe Regulations? Alternative energy farms will likely expand in the near future with the State goal of providing 100% Greenhouse Gas-Free energy by 2045. 9) Creating “no build zones” will burden the already-scarce affordable housing stock. 10) Section 1273.13 (a) Secondary access requirements alarm me: “a) SHALL meet standards of new roads” and “SHALL provide for legal and deeded access that serves typical travel to and from building construction.”

This will cause many existing good neighbor informal agreements to disappear because property owners are often hesitant to legally change their deeded access allowed. My neighborhood has just such agreement for our only alternate route out that is understood and annually re-conveyed with a neighborly discussion and handshake for our neighborhood fire evacuation drill.

If this property owner is required to change his property deed, he would refuse, and no longer allow such use. This would greatly harm my community, and the one on the other side of the evacuation route that also depends upon it for emergency fire evacuation from their dead-end road. I think this requirement should be removed. 11) I think that the Board of Forestry needs to focus on the Good Neighbor Authority for the ability to allow property owners with homes and other structures to clear defensible space and create shaded fuel breaks on vacant lands adjacent. This would be helpful in my neighborhood, as we all are adjacent to State Parks land that has no vegetation management at all in our area.

The Board of Forestry needs to work to get more resources for the State’s wildfire protection work that we are constantly reminded will intensify due to climate change. At a CalFire town hall meeting last night for the CZU Lightning Complex Fire made it known that there are only 356 CalFire engines for the entire State of California. ClaFire Chief Larkin repeatedly emphasized that the shortage of resources last August is what lead to the fire’s expansion and ultimate destruction of 86,509 acres and 1,409 structures.

In Santa Cruz County alone, 911 homes burned. Chief Larkin explained that had he been able to get the resources that he needed and ordered, the damages would likely not have been so devastating.

Rather than spending so much Board energy creating what appear to be “no build zones,” why not instead increase resources to help with vegetation management plans, fuel reduction efforts and protection for the people and the environment?

Imposing stringent requirements upon landowners but providing no resources to help them accomplish the Fire Safe improvements to reduce fire risk will only drive people into a sense of financial despair and likely push them out of the state. This will harm the property tax and sales tax base that local governments depend upon for broad infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

Please slow this accelerated rule making process and craft a well-thought-out document that will address the real issues and respect peoples’ livelihoods and property rights. Please do not make Fire Safe Regulations that are so onerous that only the very wealthy are able to live in the rural areas of California. — Becky Steinbruner

“Common Roots Farm” from page 7

The club is looking forward to hosting a CPR class during the summer and the club’s treasurer Ana E. Mickey is looking into establishing a food pantry to help individuals and families who are struggling. Also on the radar is the club’s desire to funds needed to build for a new barn for the Common Roots Farm.

Lions Club President Fred Flint said he is excited about leading a strong group of service minded individuals that are focused on making an indelible impact in their neighborhoods by restoring the environment, enhancing the local biota, participating in hunger projects, supporting the Common Roots Farm and serving the community. n •••

If you are interested in learning more about the Capitola Coast Lions Club and would like to join them, contact Membership Chairperson Elaine Cole at coastlionsclub@gmail.com. Check out https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/capitola_ coast/ or the club’s Facebook page, https:// www.facebook.com/CapitolaCoastLions.

For information on Common Roots Farm, see www.commonrootsfarm.org.

For information about California Lions Clubs visit www.californialions.org. California Lions Clubs are part of Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service club organization, with more than 1.35 million members in 210 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1918, Lions Clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world.