Mayor’s Blog – Sept. 21, 2017

Mayor Steve Martin
Mayor Steve Martin

As usual, our city is a busy place. Here’s the latest.

We have initiated a process that may result in significant changes at 101 and 46-West. If appraisals and development plans are approved, we will swap city-owned property for the River Lodge Motel. This would result in the development of a new Hyatt Place Hotel and place the motel under city ownership. There’s a great difference of opinion as to whether the motel is “historical.” If the swap occurs, we have to make that determination as part of the decision of how to proceed with that property. Stay tuned.

Citizens continue to do a great job conserving water. Recent wet weather combined with an easing of state-mandated restrictions mean we aren’t feeling the pinch so much anymore, but it’s always wise to conserve water. There are currently no mandatory restrictions in place. That being said, there are still many who think we are OUT of water. That is, seriously, not the case. The City of Paso Robles has multiple sources of water with sufficient supplies to service industrial, commercial and residential needs through the build-out capacity stipulated by the General Plan. “Why don’t water rates go down, then?” Because the current rate structure pays for the collection, treatment and distribution of water, not the water itself. It’s sort of like buying a car on credit. It doesn’t matter whether you drive it or not, you still have to make the monthly payment. (Extra credit question: If you are a Paso Robles water customer, how much does it cost to draw a gallon of fresh water from your sink? Answer: less than one-cent.)

Don’t you wish people would ask YOUR opinion about what’s going on in the city? Okay, let’s do that. Starting October 1st we will be surveying citizens. It’s one of the first steps in the City’s Community Engagement effort, helping to determine what residents think about the quality and breadth of local services and what community issues they find most important.  The results will assist in long-range strategic planning and set a benchmark for measuring the City’s future performance over time and in relation to other similar cities.  This citizen survey will be administered by the National Research Center.

We hope you get a charge out of this. The State of California has mandated we make it easy for people to install electrical vehicle charging stations. Transportation market projections are that electrical vehicle usage will continue to increase over time, and the State is promoting and encouraging the establishment of additional vehicular charging stations where possible.   The City Council held first reading of an ordinance that will create an expedited and streamlined permitting process for EV charging stations in Paso Robles

Time is flying. Pioneer Day is just around the corner!

Until next we blog, here’s to you Paso Robles!