The Diamond Springs Community Park is an exciting opportunity made possible by a generous donor and in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, the Marshall Foundation for Community Health, the Mother Lode School District and EDC. We are now at the point to start planning, and we need your input! What do you want? What park amenities are important to you? Please join us for the start of the planning process! Look forward to seeing you there.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING...
 On May 10, staff facilitated a workshop with the BOS and the Planning Commission on the development of an Affordable Housing Ordinance. Here are some important facts that were presented that bring context to our housing challenge. Just looking at the West Slope..
Median Household Income: $92,754 (That's considered a "Moderate Income")
Threshold for "Low Income": $72,500/year
Maximum Affordable Housing Price for Moderate Income Level: $484,877
Maximum Affordable Housing Price for Low Income: $321,592
Countywide Medium Home Price: $645,000
"Houston, we have a problem..."
Links to the Agenda Item: Affordable Housing Study
Workshop Presentation
Staff presented a comprehensive study on our housing needs and offered policy options for the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission to debate and provide direction on in order to accomplish a broader range of attainable housing in El Dorado County.
After an engaged discussion, we directed the CAO's Office to convene a limited and focused Task Force to work with our staff on developing a suite of incentives to incorporate within an Inclusionary Zoning policy along with exploring a Green Zone and Housing Overlay along the Missouri Flat Corridor (to shift development out of older, established neighborhoods where the traffic and community impact is great and channel it to existing infrastructure that can handle an increased demand)
This will be an ongoing conversation and we look forward to your engagement.
 Design and design features are critically important to preserving, honoring and enhancing a sense of place, and I am very excited that we are moving forward with protecting the character of our communities. Shingle Springs will be first (Summer 2022) and then it will be our turn with the Diamond Springs/El Dorado Community (Summer 2023). This will be an interactive process and we will need your engagement! Here are some helpful links to let you know what this process will look like. Can't wait!
Link to County Website: Commercial and Multi-Family Residential Design Standards Project
 Spent an incredible week in DC with Supervisor Parlin, ED Water Agency Director Ken Payne, EDCTC Director Woody Deloria and 350+ other delegates as part of the Sac Metro Chamber's Cap-to-Cap program that has been advocating in Washington for the past 50 years on local issues.
Supervisor Parlin and I went on behalf of the El Dorado Water Agency, and the trip was impactful and important in many different ways. We met with agencies and legislative offices and we will be following up on funding opportunities for local projects. Water is such a critical issue, and we focused on 1) Need for new upstream storage projects to address water vulnerabilities, 2) Request for continued federal collaboration for wildfire recovery and prevention, 3) Funding for expanded snow-pack monitoring to increase forecast reliability, 4) Continued support for pilot project to use cattle grazing for fuels maintenance on federal lands.
Additionally, I worked with Woody Deloria of the El Dorado County Transportation Commission and advocated for 3 projects: 1) A technological response for the traffic congestion on Highway 50 through Placerville during holiday and harvest seasons, 2) The El Dorado Hills System Preservation Project (maintaining this critical transit and active transportation corridor), and 3) Funding for the City of Placerville Police/EDC Fire Combined Public Safety Facility.
We also built relationships with local electeds, businesses and agencies that will strengthen our ability to collaborate on issues of mutual concern.
Finally, we did have a bit of fun along the way experiencing our national monuments at night, going to the National Archives to bear witness to our founding documents (may have shed a tear standing before the U.S. Constitution), and taking a guided tour of the Capitol. Incredible experience that I believe will bear fruit for our county and our region.

It was FARM DAY in El Dorado County...a beloved tradition where for the last 20 years, 3rd graders from El Dorado Hills to South Lake Tahoe have descended on the Fairgrounds to learn about agriculture and its role in our everyday life. It was a great day, and the FFA students from Ponderosa who led some of the learning stations were darned impressive!
Farm Day is a part of Ag in the Classroom, a rich program that provides teaching resources and hands-on agricultural experiences, thanks to the team of local ranchers and teachers that are dedicated to keeping ag relevant and accessible to the newest generation. Check out all the amazing things they do: https://agintheclass-edc.org/programs-resources/farm-day/
"An industry that feeds you is an industry worth fighting for."
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