By District 4 Supervisor Kathleen Haff
Hello, Everyone. Sadly, this month’s Yosemite | Hwy 120 Chamber of Commerce member meeting was canceled, but it was still a busy week in Groveland!
Monday, I was delighted to attend and say a few words at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Grand Opening of the Trail Less Traveled Bike & Gear Shop in Groveland. The owners of this new business, JR and Jen are focused on building a solid foundation here. Their vision is to become a true “hub” (pun intended) of the community and to be the best boutique bike shop around where one can rent, fix, or buy a bicycle.
Tuesday evening, I attended a dinner at the Groveland Hotel hosted by James Tate of Yonder Hospitality and Tim Kihm, the Yonder Yosemite Project Manager. It was exciting to see and feel the enthusiastic support of the Hwy 120 business community. Many were interested to hear about the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors’ actions from our May 3rd, 2022 meeting, which you can read below.
And now for what I planned to share at the May meeting:
Reminder! Next Wednesday, May 18th from 5-6 pm is my IN PERSON Town Hall Meeting at
Tenaya School for the Groveland Ambulance Tax Measure W. If approved by a 66.7% or higher vote, Measure W will continue to fund the 24/7 Advanced Life Services Ambulance here in Groveland at the same rate you have been paying since 2018. Please bring your questions to this event. Representatives of EMS and Health and Human Services will be joining me to answer any and all questions. Everyone is welcome!
Transit Service from Groveland to Sonora, and on to Columbia College (and back) may just become a reality, thanks to those people from the Groveland area who filled out that survey
who needed public transportation to go to Columbia College. This service could potentially be for folks who want to go to college or just want to visit Sonora from Groveland. No details have been worked out as yet. If the finer details can be solidified, service could start as early as August. Stay tuned!
But Wait...There’s More!
At our May 3rd Board of Supervisors Meeting, we voted to spend $1M to add another engine and staffing to the GCSD Firehouse, year-round. This is in addition to staffing the fire station on Merrell Road. We will be adding this funding to the current CalFire contract and hope to have it up and running by this July. The county administrator, fire chief, GCSD general manager and I are meeting to discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics and other matters in order to bring this enhanced service to you as soon as humanly possible.
For long-term funding of fire and emergency services along the Hwy 120 corridor (excluding ambulance, which has its own enterprise fund), the Board of Supervisors will be looking into creating a mechanism from which to charge newly constructed resorts their fair share of these services. Other already existing developments may want to join in. We hope to make it attractive to them as well. The Board is working with an attorney and will need to hire consultants to tailor this mechanism to suit our specific needs. There is agreement on our Board to explore this option that will benefit the local Groveland area. More, when I have more to report.
The Groveland Community Hall’s HVAC has finally been fixed. The County’s Finance Committee is reviewing the fee schedule for rentals of County buildings, parks, etc. Expect some changes. Non-profits will probably have to pay a nominal fee per hour to cover the utilities and staff (if needed), rather than reserve the space for free. The Resilience Centers will probably have an entirely different fee schedule. Regardless of what the Finance Committee comes up with, the Board will still have to approve the new schedule before these new fees take effect.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have: 209.533.5526 desk phone or khaff@co.tuolumne.ca.us Thank you.