Article in Davis Enterprise - Friday > Rexroad.com

Elisabeth Sherwin did capture my excitement from the meeting on Tuesday with this article that was in the newspaper on Friday. The article is below.
By Elisabeth Sherwin
Enterprise staff writer

Yolo County Supervisor Matt Rexroad, who represents most of Woodland in his Third District, got a lot of work done on Tuesday.

„It was a great day for Woodland,‰ he said.

Woodland, the county seat, is the town he formerly served as mayor and a member of the City Council before being elected supervisor last November.

Specifically, Rexroad was delighted with four items passed by the Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting earlier this week.

One brought attention to the needs of the Gibson House (the Yolo County Historical Museum), another measure killed a state-proposed roundabout at Kentucky Avenue and County Road 98, another provided financing to pay for levee upgrades at Huff‚s Corner west of the city, and the fourth committed the county to join with the flood control district and Woodland to pay for a flood specialist.

The board moved to create a new county Parks Department and in the course of the discussion about the many projects the department must work on, Rexroad asked that more attention be paid to the museum on Gibson Road in Woodland.

„The Gibson Mansion is a forgotten stepchild,‰ complained Rexroad. It is viewed as a county facility and a park maintained by county crews, but it is run by a non-profit corporation and left largely alone.

Supervisor Helen Thomson of Davis agreed that the Gibson House could be a money generating asset for the county if it were upgraded. Dinners, fund-raisers, weddings and receptions could be held there, but it needs new bathrooms and other upgrades.

Before the vote was taken to approve the new department and move it out of Planning, Resources and Public Works, Rexroad made sure his colleagues knew it was on his list of things to do.

„It will become a key point for me during budget discussions,‰ he said.

Second, the county unanimously agreed to join Woodland and the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District in ponying up $200,000 each for a total of $600,000 to finance a two-year flood management pilot project that will include hiring an experienced flood management employee to develop an institutional, financial and legal framework for creating an ongoing flood management division within the water district.

Over the past year, staff from the city, county and the water district have been discussing the challenges in addressing the array of impacts from flooding. The consensus was that the water district was the best equipped of the three groups to address flooding issues.

„This is a significant step in flood control cooperation between the city, county and the water district,‰ said Rexroad.

Third, the board approved (with Supervisor Mike McGowan dissenting) the construction by Caltrans of a traffic signal at the intersection Kentucky Avenue and CR 98. The county agreed to cover 25 percent of the cost or $375,000. Caltrans had earlier made the controversial suggestion of putting a roundabout at the intersection..

And, fourth, the board unanimously authorized John Bencomo, the director of Planning, Resources and Public Works, to advertise for competitive bids to repair the Huff‚s Corner levee in unincorporated Yolo County, which could cost up to $2 million.

The county found that if the Huff‚s Corner levee on Cache Creek (which was severely damaged in the New Year‚s storm of 2006) were to fail, about 10 homes in the unincorporated county, the industrial area on the north side of Woodland, and about 40 homes and businesses in the city would be at risk.

Huff‚s Corner is located just south of Interstate 5, north and west of State Route 16 on County Road 97A.

„I got a lot of work done for Woodland on Tuesday,‰ said Rexroad. „It was the best day ever.‰

-- Reach Elisabeth Sherwin at gizmo@dcn.org

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