Healdsburg ready to put money into downtown creek
Clark Mason
The Press Democrat
04/22/2009
For decades, Foss Creek in downtown Healdsburg has been regarded as more drainage ditch than creek.
But three sets of donors have stepped up with almost $100,000 total to help restore a portion of the waterway to its natural condition.
The money will be put to work clearing out invasive plants along the creek and replacing them with native species.
“Foss Creek is a real asset to the future of the well being of this community,” said City Councilman Mike McGuire. He said the project is part of a larger vision of restoring the creek, opening it up to the public and extending a nearby walking trail and bike path the length of town.
The City Council this week approved a contract with Russian Riverkeeper to manage the Foss Creek project. Riverkeeper is a conservation group that advocates for clean water and healthy rivers.
The funding of approximately $98,000 is coming from several sets of benefactors, including the Wetzel family, vineyard owners Barbara Grasseschi and Tony Crabb, and the owners of h2hotel.
The project focuses on 1,200 feet of creek running from the north end of the Cerri site at North Street, downstream to the five-way intersection at Healdsburg Avenue, Vine and Mill streets.
The tree-lined, banked stream wends its way between a parking lot and the back of the Healdsburg Hotel and Bear Republic Brewery, before disappearing into a culvert beneath a parking lot for 180 feet.
McGuire, who helped coordinate the participation of donors, said the creek has suffered for decades, similar to the neglect waterways have experienced in other communities.
Only in more recent years has Foss Creek been viewed as a valuable ecosystem, a visual and community asset.
McGuire noted that several new or planned housing projects near Foss Creek are designed to face it.
“Long gone are the days in Healdsburg where development has turned its back on the creek,” said McGuire. “Foss Creek has caught the attention of local residents and visitors, and also Rainbow Trout that are making their way up the creek on an annual basis.”
The project is seen as a way of restoring habitat for fish, pond turtles and other species, such as birds, raccoons and possums.
“It’s part of a larger project to improve Foss Creek overall and for a trail to go through the area,” said Don McEnhill, program director of Russian Riverkeeper. “We want a trail next to an aesthetically pleasing wildlife-filled Foss Creek, as opposed to a drainage ditch where everyone’s dumpster backdoor faces the creek with nasty stuff and rats.”
“We can make it a gem that flows not only through the downtown ... but all the way up,” said Crabb, owner of the “biodynamic” Puma Springs Vineyards in Alexander Valley and one of the three sets of donors.
Another benefactor, the Wetzel family, owns Alexander Valley Vineyards Winery and has been involved in a number of philanthropic causes, including funding improvements at Healdsburg District Hospital. Glazer Distributing Co., which sells the family’s wines, is also donating to the project.
The h2hotel, affiliated with the Healdsburg Hotel, is a 36-room inn under construction on the bank of Foss Creek using some of the highest environmental guidelines.
