John Hart | The Union
In what could result in the passage of a novel approach to regulating a community’s homeless population, Nevada City’s Council is poised to cast the final votes today on a camping ordinance that allows people to sleep on public land, if permitted. If approved, the ordinance would give police legal ammunition to regulate anyone who puts up a tent, shelter or sleeps on public land without a permit.
“To me, it looks like another way to move them out of town,” said Thomas Streicher, who runs Divine Spark, a Nevada City homeless service organization that Streicher says helps 374 people in and around Nevada City, and recently expanded to Truckee.
AP | AP
Despite some serious logistical challenges, Grass Valley will push forward with naming its largest upcoming municipal project after slain U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was born in the town.
“It’s very generous of them to consider honoring Chris,” said Jan Stevens, the emissary’s father, in a phone interview with The Union. “We’re very gracious of their consideration.”
One of those challenges is to garner California legislature approval of changing the name of a nearly $25 million planned project to add on- and off-ramps to Highway 49/20 at Dorsey Drive from “Dorsey Interchange” to something in honor of Stevens. It will require a legislative sponsor, said Public Works Director Tim Kiser.
Staff Writer
A nearly $200,000 sales tax allocation to the city of Grass Valley at the end of September has put its finances in a less-dicey status, said Public Works Director Tim Kiser, the acting city administrator
The city council had enacted a 60-day freeze on discretionary spending in early September due to a concern that revenues from Measure N, a half-percent temporary sales tax increase, were lagging behind. Measure N allocations reach the city several months after the sale point, based on estimates and with a portion withheld, Kiser previously explained. Once sales figures are cemented, that withheld portion is paid in chunks, referred to as a “true up,” and Grass Valley had feared its end-of-September true up would come in low.
John Hart/jhart@theunion.com | The Union
The Nevada City Planning Commission is slated to review the environmental impact of the Commercial Street Boardwalk at its meeting today.
Following former City Councilwoman Reinette Senum’s call on Facebook Wednesday for supporters to attend today’s meeting and defend the boardwalk, the discussion may be contentious.
Constructed in August 2011 by the Nevada County Sustainability Team, Senum and volunteers, the boardwalk is a 50-by-8-foot, wood-planked, deck-like platform built over three street parking spaces to create public space, replete with benches, tables, umbrellas, planter boxes and bicycle parking stations.
After more than two years of gradual improvements, visitors to the boardwalk may not realize that the structure is officially considered a temporary structure, subject to annual Nevada City Council approval. After its initial one-year trial period, the boardwalk was granted a one-year extension in November 2012.