Meeting Time: January 26, 2021 at 9:00am PST

Agenda Item

8a) Authorize Staff to Coordinate Anderson Valley Community Services District's Access to Perform Preliminary Tests at County Owned Fairgrounds in Boonville for Purpose of Determining Wastewater Alternative Project Location Feasibility (Sponsor: Supervisor Williams) Recommended Action/Motion:

   Oppose     Neutral     Support    
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    Danya Hildebrand almost 4 years ago

    The fairgrounds is a vital source of income for the community not only during the fair season but year round for events, during fires and especially to the youth of our community.
    Families camp there, travelers camp there and vendors camp there.
    Of all the issues this county has to deal with why has this come to the forefront? You supervisors have overlooked huge issues with homeless trash and major code enforcement issues.
    BOS need to get their priorities straight and make more effort to fix the issues than band aid it. BOS is going to ruin practically a historical tradition in September. Our fair community suffer so much now this is like a stab in the back.
    What kick back is Mr. Williams getting from this?

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    Stacey Anderson almost 4 years ago

    Please do NOT use any part of the Mendocino County fair grounds for a potential home of a sewer treatment facility.

    Mendocino County has limited resources and space as you are well aware of.

    The fair grounds are used year round to house and hold large groups and events. There is no where else in our county that has the ability or accommodations.

    It has been the camping location for National Guard during the fires. It has housed the set and some of the cast for
    a large movie operation.

    The Beer festival the generally happens once a year opens our county up for a lot of visitors and tax revenue. This event couldn’t take place if there was no camping or fair grounds.

    The fairgrounds is so much more than just a fair. We personally hold cattle camps and shows there, for there is no where else in the county that can house and event like this.

    Do to the location of the fair grounds and the lack of overnight accommodations the camping area is a crucial component for daily operating of the fairgrounds.

    99.9% of all exhibitors at the fair, rodeo stock, rodeo exhibitors, sheep dog trails all stay over night at the campground.

    Without the ability to stay on grounds we would not have exhibitors. That would be detrimental to the Mendocino County Fair and Apple show.

    If you have ever been at an event at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds you will see the love and pride the Fair Manager and Fair board has for the facility and grounds. Their love and pride has kept the grounds in tip top shape with a meniscal budget. Giving joy to thousands of members in our community.

    Our county does not have areas to hold extracurricular or recreational events. Our county does not have facilities for the public to use other than the fair grounds. Please do not take any part of it away.

    How many soccer games, foot ball games, baseball games, horse shows, weddings....... are held annually at the fair grounds? Every weekend on a normal year, that grounds are booked solid. Every inch of the fair grounds is used for parking, housing storage for events, and house overnight guests.

    The impact would be so much bigger and deeper than you could imagine if you took away any piece of the fair grounds.

    Please reconsider this possibility and find a new location elsewhere. Our county can not handle the loss of our fairgrounds at any capacity.

    Stacey Anderson

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    Kathy Babcock almost 4 years ago

    I am writing to express my opposition to the wastewater project on Mendocino County Fairgrounds. I am part of a fourth generation fairgoer in Mendocino County. Our family has attended events at the Fairgrounds every year for those four generations. I believe that placing this project on the Fairgrounds would have a severe impact on its ability to survive its current use. A wastewater project would be an eyesore and a smell sore to say the least. The public will definitely not want to attend outside events so close to such a facility.

    There is a lot of property in Anderson Valley. I do not know what is available, however I am sure this proposed site is partially because it's easy and already owned by the county. That CANNOT be the deciding factor. There must be other options.

    As time continues there are less and less organized activities for families outside of the home. This Fairgrounds has provided many generations of memories, camaraderie and learned life skills. Our youth needs to have this option in their lives. The community needs a beautiful gathering place for events. You cannot tell me adding the wastewater project there will not severely impact the properties public use?

    As someone who comes to the Fairgrounds multiple times a year, and I can express our families concern, do not approve this proposal and look for other options for the location of the wastewater plant for Anderson Valley. I know there must be another alternative.

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    Sarah Bennett almost 4 years ago

    When most people think about the Mendocino County Fairgrounds, they think about apple & pumkin competitions, baked potatoes, sheepdog trials, sheep and wool shows, 4-H meetings, PTAV events, music performances, farming workshop to name a few of the things that happen annually at our beloved fairgrounds.Unfortunately, in recent years,we now think of our fairgrounds and we think about safety nets.I have seen the Mendocino County fairgrounds in Boonville host thousands of national guard during the 2008 fires that burned for months in our county.I have seen the fairgrounds open it's doors in the last couple fire storm years to all the farmers and homeowners with livestock with nowhere else to flee to.The Fairgrounds is a place to gather, not a place to send you waste too.If we loose the availability of this county owned land we loose the flexibility of what this open land provides us in an emergency. I believe this project has also included very little room for growth and pigeon holing yourself into a small site has a major disadvantage.I don’t claim to be bipartisan, as a business owner and property owner directly downwind of the site.My tourism based business is also highly dependent on being surrounded by a beautiful landscape and the smell of wastewater being broken down by bacteria is not flowers and spice. Our general plan says that we should avoid building critical infastructure within the flood zone. While the site it self is not within a flood zone (although I pump my septic all the way up to a hill 100’ above the proposed site as ground water is too high for a standard septic), it is extremely close to the floodzone. The floodzone includes part of the fairgrounds property. This is just too close in so many respects. Too close to our businesses, our county land that provides so much to the community, and too close to waterways.

    Thank you for your consideration.

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    Jo Athey almost 4 years ago

    Right in the middle of town? On the fairgrounds property? Clearly this has not been well thought out. This property supports a huge number of local small town events and activities. A sewage treatment plant in the middle of town does not bode well for this community.

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    Deborah Cahn almost 4 years ago

    In December of 2019 the Mendocino County Fair Board passed a resolution rejecting the fairgrounds as a site for a waste water system. They did the same in December of 2020, despite an promise of funds from the chairman of AVCSD. The Board of Supervisors overruling the local Fair Board makes a mockery of community involvements and dooms the eventual vote of property owners. The Mendocino Fair has been a highlight of community activity for 96 years and making it the site of a sewage treatment plant is a sure way to spell out its doom. Please use your knowledge and expertise to search for an alternative site outside the center of town instead of wasting energy on a site rejected by the Fair board and most of the community.

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    Sadie DeMarta almost 4 years ago

    Definitely oppose agenda item to research the County fairgrounds for a water treatment facility. Although I agree Anderson Valley residents are long over due for proper sanitation facilities as well as clean water. The location of the fairgrounds might be the easiest way out, to provide these services to residents. How many people can this treatment plant accommodate? What happens when or if the town outgrows the plant? Have other areas been considered? Have you ever lived near one? Or seen a treatment plant in the middle of a small touristy, rustic, happening, every body knows your second cousin town?
    I lived about 3 miles away from the SR treatment plant for about a year before moving back to Mendocino County, and the stench was unbearable at times. Obviously residents, businesses, wildlife, rivers/creeks and our ecosystems need clean water to thrive- but feel a better location can be achieved. For these reasons I oppose the agenda item of researching the Mendo Co fairgrounds for a water treatment facility. Thank you for your time.

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    Jay Newcomer almost 4 years ago

    This location is right in the middle of our town. The Fair Board does not want a wastewater plant at this location and believe the plan is flawed on many levels including assuming 3.4 people per parcel. The AVCSD is relentless in ramming this project down our throats despite the continued objections of the board and staff of The Mendocino County Fair Grounds. Please urge them to find a suitable site outside the middle of town. Jay Newcomer MCF Board of Directors Member.

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    Jeffrey Burroughs almost 4 years ago

    Please don't do this. The people of Boonville do not want this sewer water project to continue. And we do not want our community fairgrounds destroyed and taken from us without our permission. We have not been allowed to vote on this. There are many voters who will send Mr Ted Williams packing if he continues to support this most egregious act.