Watsonville Mayor's Monthly Update

The City of Watsonville strives to provide excellent customer service. We are committed to providing programs and services that will create a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly community. We do it with pride and we do it with less!

There are a lot of exciting things happening in Watsonville:

Many of you have heard about the City of Watsonville's ongoing efforts to improve Downtown.  In 2009 and 2010 we converted several vacant lots into attractive new pocket parks and parking lots.  In 2012 and 2013 we added twinkle lights in our trees and new banners on our light poles.  As part of that same project, we rebuilt our underground infrastructure for our streetlights on Main Street - providing the opportunity for increased capacity for broadband in Downtown.  And while we have done all of this wonderful work, Downtown continues to struggle.  

In 2009, the Gottschalks Corporation went bankrupt and with the failure of the chain came the loss of our only Downtown anchor store.  The City and the property owner have been working hard to find an adequate replacement.  We have had some nibbles, and even a few big bites - but so far no new store has emerged.  Unfortunately, due to the economic problems we are currently experiencing, retailers are having a difficult time growing - and as a result we have seen this store remain empty.  We continue to work to fill the store - but we have heard from several of the potential tenants that the Highway 152 and the one-way streets in Downtown are part of the problem.

In 2011, City staff asked CalTrans to consider relinquishing a small area of unused Right-of-Way back to the City.  They refused, but offered to relinquish all of 152 in the Watsonville City Limits.  Since then, the City and CalTrans have been taking the steps required by state law to move forward with this relinquishment.  The City and State are discussing the terms of the relinquishment and we are hopeful that we can make a deal that would allow us to take control of the streets Downtown. Of course, this presents our community with an opportunity to change the course of Downtown.  

Earlier this year, we formed a group of stakeholders that have been discussing the best practice for Downtown areas.  We will be making recommendations on what direction we should take - but we also want to hear from you.  We are partnering with the Santa Cruz Business Council and with a local start-up called Civinomics to host an online discussion.  We will also be surveying the Downtown Business Community next week. So with that in mind - I hope you will all visit our online discussion of Downtown at Civinomics.  You can visit our effort directly by clicking the link below.   Thank you in advance for keeping the discussion positive and for helping us out! https://civinomics.com/workshop/4K0t/improve-downtown-watsonville

The City’s Field Services Division of the Public Works & Utilities Department will be replacing the water main on Clifford Avenue in September.

The current Clifford water main in this area is well over 50 years old and historically has had some major mainline breaks. The new water main will reinforce our water system in this area by reducing system disruptions, improving water quality, and increasing system reliability.

The project is taking place on Clifford Avenue from Pennsylvania Avenue to Claremont Avenue so expect traffic delays and detours.  Parking on the eastern side of Clifford between the project boundaries will be closed, so please make necessary preparations.

On Saturday, September 21, 2013, the City of Watsonville’s Neighborhood Services Division, Public Works and Utilities Department, and Save our Shores (SOS) will join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the “30th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day”. The City of Watsonville will be hosting five sites in the South County area. The event will take place from 9 am till Noon. There will be morning refreshments and lunch available to volunteer’s at all three inland sites. If you seek information regarding the inland sites in Watsonville, please contact Neighborhood Services at 763-5678.

Beginning on September 7th, eBooks will be made available at the library. We have purchased a subscription to Overdrive – an electronic book service that makes it easy to check out books from the library to read on your e-reader. Many current titles will be available as well as thousands of classic titles. Beginning Saturday, September 7th, the library will be open on Saturdays from 12-4pm!

I love to hear from our community, so please feel free to email me directly at: lowell.hurst@cityofwatsonville.org.

Sincerely,

Mayor Lowell Hurst