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Proposed NEW Mid-County Medical Campus
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On December 13, Pacific Medical Buildings, a developer of medical office buildings, will host a community meeting about a proposal for a new facility located on the Soquel Avenue frontage road, near the Sheriff's Center. The proposed facility will likely be a 3-4-story medical center with over 150,000 square feet of space for health care providers. Included in their plans will be a parking garage.
If successful in the medical office building entitlement process, Kaiser Permanente has expressed interest in occupying the facility, significantly expanding their presence and level of services to the Santa Cruz County community.
The addition of a new medical center will have a variety of impacts on the local health care ecosystem. The County has hired a firm to study these impacts and identify any changes that need to be made to assure that all parts of our health care system stay strong and viable. This new project will also include a detailed traffic analysis to minimize impacts on surrounding roadways.
The healthcare industry is one of the economic and job providing pillars of the county. Local residents have been educated at Cabrillo College for years to enter the medical profession which pays living wages. The potential of new living wage jobs in our community is one of many aspects that should be considered during the important community conversation about this project.
I encourage you to attend the Open House and find out more about what is being proposed.
Pacific Medical Buildings Community Meeting
Thursday, December 13
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Simpkins Family Swim Center
979 17th Avenue
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On behalf of our entire County government staff, we are grateful for the community's strong support in favor of Measure G in the most recent election. While we have worked hard to strengthen the County's financial foundation, we heard about the unmet needs and used a new tool to raise the funds to address those concerns. At this week's meeting, the Board is expected to vote on a plan to start work on our parks. Our Health Services Agency, Sheriff's Department and County Administrative Office are also working on the roll-out of a new behavioral health effort that will seek to address those who need help and are disruptive in our community. The County will be working with all of our local cities and the newly elected council members towards the creation of new year-round homeless shelters. All of this would not have been possible without your support.
Thank you, and let's continue to work together to help our community.
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Recently I went to Washington, D.C. and had time to meet with Congressional staff and staff from the FAA about the Select Committee's recommendations. The FAA says they have been working on the Committee's flight path recommendations, which generated another 14 procedural changes. Their technical group will be meeting again in January to continue to work out the conflicts. After my return, I joined Save Our Skies in a meeting with Congressman Panetta. He said that the new interim FAA Director committed to communicating with all three members of Congress every six weeks to update them on the progress of this issue. I will continue to work hard to encourage the FAA to honor the Select Committee's recommendations and will share updates with you as I have them.
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Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor Plan Adoption
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Thank you for participating in the Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor community planning process! The draft Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor Study, including the Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor Vision and Guiding Design Principles and the Streetscape Concepts for Portola Drive, has been revised to incorporate feedback from the community workshops and the online survey. The draft documents can be viewed on the Planning Department webpage, by clicking on the "Project Documents" button in the Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor Section if you click
HERE.
The Planning Department will be presenting the draft Pleasure Point Commercial Corridor Study at the Board of Supervisors Meeting on
Tuesday, December 11, which begins at 9 am. Planning staff will recommend that the Board of Supervisors accept the Study, and direct Planning staff to incorporate the Study into the Sustainability Policy and Regulatory Update and evaluate it in the Environmental Impact Report. At this meeting, there will be an opportunity for the public comments.
The meeting agenda for the December 11 Board of Supervisors meeting and all agenda materials will be available on Thursday, December 7. Thank you again for your engagement in helping to ensure that the recommendations for the Pleasure Point Corridor reflect the community vision.
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| Community Meetings - Emergency Services Discussion |
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Local residents have shared their concerns about disaster planning and response as it relates to both summer (fire) and winter (landslides and flooding) disasters. I am hosting two meetings with our Office of Emergency Services and local Fire departments to address topics of individual and community preparation, evacuation and response to natural disasters. We will explain how to register your phone for local emergency notifications (County Code Red: HERE) and use of other technology and resources (PG&E Power Outage Map
HERE
)
in the event of an emergency. You will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss concerns. We welcome your attendance and participation so that we can all be better prepared for what mother nature may throw our way. We will be hosting two upcoming meetings, one for our Summit area residents and the one for our Live Oak constituents:
Summit Meeting for rural residents
Tuesday, December 11
5:30 pm-7:00 pm
Loma Prieta School Temporary Community Room
23845 Summit Rd. (North side of Summit Rd.)
&
Live Oak Meeting for Urban Residents
Wednesday, December 12
7:00 pm-8:30 pm
Sheriff Center Community Room
5200 Soquel Avenue
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An Opportunity To Serve On The Civil Grand Jury
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I want to make you all aware of a wonderful opportunity for county residents to serve on the civil grand jury. The Grand Jury is one of the oldest, most respected, and powerful civil institutions in the United States. More than 40 states have some form of the Grand Jury. The State of California mandates that 19 randomly selected citizens be empanelled every year as a Grand Jury in Santa Cruz. Grand Jury duties, powers, responsibilities, qualifications, and the selection process are set forth in the California Penal Code. If you are interested in being considered to serve as a juror, please contact [email protected].
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