Expanded, relocated Health Center gets initial approval

A new 20,000 square foot business in Boyes Hot  .Springs would be a healthy move in more ways than one, the Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee decided Thursday, Aug. 6. A proposal to relocate and enlarge the Sonoma Valley Community Health Clinic, bringing 60-plus jobs and a hearty stream of foot traffic to the area, was unanimously approved.
“It’s a fantastic project,” RAC member Stephen Cox said of the $10.2 million proposal.  “It leverages redevelopment funds better than anything this committee has seen.”
Under the plan, the RAC would spend $2.1 to buy 17880 Sonoma Highway and the three parcels immediately to the north. The land – now two empty lots, five apartments, an office building and the Taqueria La Hacienda – would be cleared to make way for the new building.
SVCHC Chief Executive Officer Patricia Talbot said her group has been working with the owners of those properties, and all have stated an interest in selling. By law, the RAC must buy the property, but is then free to negotiate the subsequent loan (however favorable) with the SVCHC.
The SVCHC currently operates out of a 5,000 square-foot space at 430 West Napa. “We can’t get new people in the door,” Talbot said. The office managed to serve 6,370 patients last year, during 25,875 visits, but can improve service and care only with more room. “We don’t have the capacity for comprehensive preventative services.”
A detailed business plan projects the enlarged facility would be self-sustaining. “I love my story,” Talbot said. “We can afford this.”
Talbot said the new building, which has already been designed, will embrace all the green initiatives, such as water conservation, sustainability, recycled building materials and, if feasible, solar. Its construction would generate jobs for over a year, she said, and in supplies, furnishings and décor she would encourage a “shop Sonoma attitude.”
Talbot said she has just submitted a proposal for a $6 million federal stimulus grant. A key prerequisite of that funding is that a facility must have the land on which to build.
The RAC decision puts that in motion. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the RAC would set $2.5 million aside to get the project moving. Redevelopment Manager Cas Ellena said $400,000 of that money would fund mandated land studies and environmental reports. There will likely be costs to relocate current tenants as well, she said.
Once all the legalities are in place, the remaining $2.1 would be used to buy the property. Meanwhile, working under an exclusive negotiating agreement, the RAC and the Center would negotiate terms of the $2.1 loan.
In what Project Manager Bennett Martin acknowledged was “an aggressive schedule,” construction would begin in August of 2010 and be completed about a year later. A move-in period would follow that, Talbot said, with the Center up and running by October 15, 2011. “We want to be shovel-ready when the money comes in,” she said. “We hope the County can move that fast.”
Also covered on the RAC agenda: The bulk of the Highway 12 improvement project will be completed by the end of the month, according Kevin Howze of the Sonoma County Department of Transportation and Public Works. Replacing some traffic lights may take longer due to their complexity, he said, but sidewalks, paving and landscaping should be in place by September, with much of the work being done at night.
Looking forward to the phase of work extending north of Boyes Boulevard, Howze announced some good news. Cal Trans has simplified the plan, which will save the project $500,000.