Board in Brief — Tuesday, October 13, 2026

A 355-acre ranch on the Sonoma Coast is now permanently protected

What happened: The Board, sitting as the Ag + Open Space District, approved $2,480,000 toward a conservation easement over the 354.74-acre Osprey Hill Ranch at 6700 Highway 1 on the Sonoma Coast.

The full deal: Sonoma Land Trust is buying the ranch for $7,800,000 and conveying the easement to the county district at closing. The county's $2.48M (voter-approved Measure F money) is matched by $3,050,000 from the State Coastal Conservancy, $1,800,000 from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and $470,000 from Sonoma Land Trust's Watkins Land Protection Fund — the pieces add up to the full purchase price.

Why it matters: The easement permanently protects the ranch's natural, agricultural, scenic, and recreational values while allowing continued agriculture. A condition of the state funding is public trail access, and the easement accommodates a future extension of the California Coastal Trail.

Vote: Approved as recommended, 5–0 (Resolution 26-0380).

$510,000 more for environmental compliance at the Wohler Road Bridge

What happened: The Board approved a construction contract change order of up to $510,000 with Ghilotti Construction for environmental-compliance work on the Wohler Road Bridge seismic retrofit over the Russian River — biological monitoring and related permit measures during a third construction season in 2026.

The nuance: Staff state the change order does not raise the contract's total not-to-exceed amount of $26,232,083. The project is eligible for 88.7% reimbursement through the Federal Highway Administration; the county has applied, but that reimbursement was not yet approved.

Vote: Approved as recommended, 5–0.

$1.4 million in tribal mitigation funds went to community projects

Lytton Tribal Mitigation Fund — $950,000 in grants: Russian Riverkeeper $400,000 for the Russian River Floodplain Restoration Project at the Hanson Pits near Windsor (converting ponds on 360 acres into seasonal floodplain wetlands and salmonid habitat); LandPaths $300,000 for environmental education and ecological stewardship; Nuestra Comunidad $150,000 for infrastructure upgrades and community resilience; Progressive Tribal Alliance $100,000 for cultural education, including the Native Arts Festival in Windsor. The fund balance was about $2.16 million before this draw.

Dry Creek Tribal Mitigation Fund — $450,000: $200,000 to Creative Sonoma for a permanent veterans memorial artwork at Healdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach; $100,000 to the Community Foundation's Fitch Mountain Fund for wildfire prevention and ecological restoration; $50,000 to Sonoma Water for Alexander Valley floodplain restoration; $50,000 to the City of Healdsburg for FFA Fairgrounds roof and facility repairs; $50,000 to Corazón Healdsburg for the resident-led Geyserville Comité and bilingual outreach. The Dry Creek fund held $460,000 unallocated before this item.

Vote: Both approved as recommended, 5–0 (Resolutions 26-0382 and 26-0381).

District 4 community infrastructure grants: $317,995 to eight partners

What happened: The Board authorized grant agreements totaling up to $317,995 from District 4 Community Infrastructure Funds with eight community partners: Sonoma Community Action Network (on behalf of NAACP Sonoma County), Pacific Coast Air Museum, Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow Foundation, On The Margins, Magical Bridge, the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of Sonoma County, Graton Day Labor Center, and Bienestar Collective.

Context: The money comes from the $4 million per district set aside for Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5 at the FY 2023-24 budget hearings; agreements run through December 31, 2030.

Vote: Approved as recommended, 5–0.

Maximum ambulance rates rise 9% in the Santa Rosa-area operating area

What happened: The Board approved a 9% adjustment to the maximum rates the Sonoma County Fire District may charge for emergency ground ambulance service in Exclusive Operating Area 1, the area around Santa Rosa. The 9% is inclusive of the otherwise applicable cost-of-living adjustment.

What it costs: No direct county expenditure — it is a regulatory cap on what patients (and their insurers) can be charged. What any individual transport costs will vary by service level, payer, and coverage.

Vote: Approved as recommended, 5–0.

Eight new paratransit vehicles: $1,487,235 authorized

What happened: Sonoma County Transit will buy eight Class B, ADA-accessible paratransit cutaway vehicles from Model 1 Commercial Vehicles (Creative Bus Sales). The contract is $1,352,031.96 plus a 10% contingency of $135,203.

Who pays: $1,055,421 in federal FTA Section 5311 grant funds and $431,814 in Transportation Development Act funds as the local match.

Also on transit: the Board authorized Sonoma County Transit to apply for FFY 2026 federal Section 5311, 5311(f), and 5339 funds through Caltrans — no direct fiscal impact unless grants are awarded, at which point staff must return for budget approval (Item 2026-0989).

Vote: Approved as recommended, 5–0 (Resolution 26-0388).

The mosquito-district seat fight was continued — and the Board pushed back

What was proposed: The Marin/Sonoma Mosquito & Vector Control District voted in August to ask Sonoma County to cut its at-large trustees representing unincorporated territory from two to one, citing vacancies and difficulty achieving quorum. State law contemplates the Board ordering the decrease within 60 days.

What the Board did instead: It continued the item to a date to be determined and directed staff to write the District asking for (1) more time, and (2) reconsideration of the decision.

Vote: The continuation and direction were adopted 5–0. No member of the public spoke on the item.

Retirement system: 94.56% funded; county unfunded liability down to $352.2M

What the Board heard (informational only — no vote): SCERA's pension fund was 94.56% funded as of December 31, 2025, after a 17.7% investment return in 2025; the 30-year annualized return is 7.7%, above the 6.75% assumed rate.

The county's position: Unfunded pension liability fell to $352.2 million as of June 30, 2026 — down $176.6 million (28.5%) over five years. County pension contribution costs rose $15.5 million in FY 2024-25, largely because some employee groups' supplemental contributions toward the unfunded liability expired. The final Pension Obligation Bond payment for the 2010 issuance lands December 1, 2029. The December 2025 valuation trims the average employer contribution rate by 0.28 points, to 19.78% of payroll, starting with the FY 2027-28 budget.

Waste, workforce, and equity updates

Solid waste (Item 2026-0988, accepted 5–0): Republic Services reported diversion of 97,022 tons for June 2025–May 2026 — more than double the agreement's 44,735-ton annual goal. Reported greenhouse-gas emissions rose to 86,126 metric tons CO₂e in 2025, up 31.6% from 2024; Republic attributes part of the increase to improved monitoring and reporting.

Employee engagement (Item 2026-0704, informational): The county's first engagement survey in November 2024 drew a 56% participation rate; follow-up focus groups in May 2025 (101 employees, 25 departments) pointed to recognition, supervisor skills, communication, and change management. A second countywide survey is being administered now, with $50,000 budgeted.

Racial Equity Action Plan (Item 2026-0639, informational): Two years after adoption in May 2024, the Office of Equity has run its LEAD leadership program (26 participants from 21 departments, launched December 2024), seated a second Core Team cohort (June 2025), and signed partnership agreements with departments (Spring 2026). Next phase: a cross-departmental mentorship program, equity-centric hiring practices, and equity competencies in management evaluation.