Hospital Board hammers out RFP for land sale

By Fred Allebach | Special to The Sun

The Sonoma Valley Hospital board of directors, at a meeting on 2/2/17, reviewed the wording for a Request for Proposal (RFP), of what ways public and private entities may see fit to develop the South Lot hospital property. Chair Hirsch was absent.

During initial public comment, Norman Gilroy praised staff’s proposed new RFP wording as an improvement that opens the door to a variety of options. Gilroy said potential uses should be explicitly mentioned in the RFP, and that the city should be met with to discuss direction.

Norman’s core point is to have a set-aside, a half acre of land, staged as part of any future development plans, where the hospital would have an ownership stake, and be able to develop for future hospital infrastructure uses.

John Kelly, school board trustee speaking as an individual, noted that affordable housing for school district employees was continually out of reach because landlords raise rents faster than pay increases are able to match. He noted that school districts are legislatively allowed to pursue housing options for employees. Kelly encouraged the Board to look into cooperative government agency work, between the hospital and school districts, to see what the options are for school district-based housing.

After Public comment, the Board and staff began to hammer out the RFP wording. The sense was to be as inclusive as possible without making specific mention of any particular interests.

During the meeting, a number of possible specific uses were mentioned: health care, workforce housing, senior housing, market rate housing, commercial development, and inter-governmental cooperative projects centered on affordable housing.

The same inclusive sense on the RFP wording was brought to bear on the question of who to send the RFP to. Board member Nevins wanted to make sure all legal requirement for the RFP were met, and all relevant issues and options covered.

At the next hospital board meeting a list will be provided as to who received the RFP.