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HOME > ABOUT > PRESS > HEALTH CENTER TO GET RAC AID
Article published - August 10, 2009
Credit: SONOMA NEWS
Health center to get Redevelopment Advisory Committee aid
By Bill Hoban
With little debate Thursday, the Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee approved a request from the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center for funding to help build a proposed 20,000-square-foot health center in the Springs.
The $2.5 million the committee recommended will go for studies and fees and, eventually, the purchase of four lots along Highway 12. The recommendation must work its way to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors who need to approve the request.
Patricia Talbot, CEO of the health center, told the committee that she had just finished a request for nearly $6 million in federal stimulus money earlier in the day. Talbot told the committee that she'll hear by mid-October if the health center will receive the federal grant, while Cas Ellena, the county's redevelopment manager, said that would be about the same time frame needed for the proposal to be vetted for the supervisors.
Talbot said once the health center receives the grant, it must move quickly.
"The money has to be obligated within two years," she said.
She estimated that the proposed health center would break ground sometime next summer and be completed by October 2011.
"Our goal is to be in by Oct. 15, 2011," she said.
The two-story, 20,000-square-foot building would replace the cramped facilities the center currently occupies at 430 W. Napa St., in Sonoma.
In addition to the redevelopment money and the federal stimulus money, Talbot said the health center has also applied for a Cal-Mortgage loan to help build the $13.3 million facility.
Two members of the RAC were absent (Kara Olness Reyes and Donna Hayes), and another, Dave Whiteley, had to recuse himself since he is one of the owners of the property.
The remaining four RAC members wholeheartedly supported the health-center plans.
"I'm excited to see it come to reality," said Rich Lee, a longtime RAC member. "This is the cornerstone of the Springs ..."
RAC member Ryan Lely, in supporting the project, called it "a holistic project." And said it would bring health care and jobs to the Springs.
Ellen Conlan, a first-term RAC member, said she was initially concerned about what it might do to the RAC's budget but decided there "wasn't a downside. I very much like it."
RAC chairman and longtime RAC member, Steve Cox, called it a fantastic project. "This (project) leverages redevelopment funds better than anything we've done," he said. "This is a great opportunity for us to reach out to the local businesses during construction and engage local businesses."
"This is a stimulus package for the community," he added.
Ellena said the project next moves to the Board of Supervisors for its OK to proceed with the project from the county's side.
"The Supervisors need to decide if they want us to proceed with due diligence and negotiating for property acquisition," she said.
Ellena thinks the Supes might tackle that question about the end of August. If they agree, the county's Community Development Commission could enter into the negotiations with the owners of the four lots in the 17800 block of Sonoma Highway. The four lots sit on 1.4 acres.
"The health center has entered into option agreements with the owners," Ellena said. "This would allow us to assume the options."
Even when the supervisors give the OK to proceed, it could take another six months of studies.
"If the health center gets the OK on the federal stimulus grant, that means they (the feds) believe it can be done," Ellena said. "And we'll do whatever we can to move it along."
The Community Development Commission can't give the health center the funds to buy the lots, but the CDC can buy the property itself and later convey it to the health center either under a favorable lease or a favorable sale.
The proposed new health center would have 16 exam rooms, three procedure rooms, six operatories (three of which would not be upfitted until 2012) and four behavioral-health counseling rooms.
Among the services the health center would offer are pediatrics, family practice medicine, obstetrics, specialty medicine, dental services, mental health services, substance abuse counseling, nutrition and health education, laboratory and pharmacy.
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