Please reach out to us at board@rbda.us if we can be of any assistance. Below are some resources compiled by the Santa Cruz Sentinel

RESOURCES TO GET HELP                               

from 8/25/20 Santa Cruz Sentinel

FEMA:

General evacuee disaster assistance, such as housing, food and other associated needs. Visit disasterassistance. gov to apply. Spanish- speaking survivors: disasterassistance.gov. Survivors can also call 800-621-3362 for any questions and assistance.

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF: If your property is damaged or destroyed by wildfire, you may be eligible for property tax relief under Revenue and Taxation Code section 170. To qualify you must file a claim within the time specified in your county ordinance, or 12 months from the date of damage or destruction, whichever is later. The loss must be at least $10,000 of current market value to qualify. Contact your local County Assessor or visit BOE Property Tax Disaster Relief at https://www.boe.ca.gov/ proptaxes/disaster-relief.htm for more information or to file a claim.

INSURANCE RESOURCES: Helpful information is available through United Policyholders (UP), a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization for insurance consumers that was formed in 1991 to help victims of Northern California wildfires. UP’s Roadmap to Recovery at https://www.uphelp.org/ programs/roadmap-to-recovery offers free insurance guidance, tools, and resources for disaster victims. Answers to frequently asked questions about first steps to take, policy coverage, and what to expect can be found on the website, https://www.uphelp. org/.

BUSINESS AND RESIDENTIAL FUNDING:

U.S. Small Business Administration Virtual Business Recovery Center and Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center for Lighting Complex fire-related difficulties, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday. Email FOCWAssistance@sba.gov or call 916-735-1500. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future. Economic injury assistance for small businesses is available to businesses regardless of any property damage.

MAIL SERVICES:

Customers served out of Davenport and Scotts Valley are directed to go to the Santa Cruz Main Post Office, 850 Front St. Santa Cruz. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.

GROCERIES ASSISTANCE:

Evacuees may see if they qualify for CalFresh food assistance by applying at getcalfresh.org or mybenefitscalwin. org, at 888-421-8080 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Paper applications at 18 W. Beach St., Watsonville or 1020 Emeline Ave., Santa Cruz.

LAUNDRY:

Free loads of laundry from evacuees at the Laundry Room, 419 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 831-471-8141 , laundryroomseabright. com.

MEDICAL:

Through a partnership between Santa Cruz County and the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, a temporary medical clinic with a range of medical services, including pharmaceutical services and physicians on-site to assist patients throughout the day has opened at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville.

SHELTER:

The Red Cross maintains an online redcross.org/shelter and santacruzcounty.us/ fireresources.aspx for updated open/closed shelter and hotel locations. Safe parking locations also available.

• Harbor High School, 300 La Fonda Ave., Santa Cruz. 

• Cabrillo College (gymnasium), 6500Soquel Ave., Aptos. 

• Santa Cruz Bible Church, 440Frederick St., Santa Cruz. 

• Congregational Church of Soquel, 4951Soquel Drive, Soquel. 

• Simpkins Swim Center, 97917th Ave., Santa Cruz. 

• Lakeview Middle School, 2350E. Lake Ave., Watsonville. Open for outdoor camping with limited indoor capacity.

No-cost disaster relief accommodations may be available through Airbnb. Visit airbnb.com/openhomes/ disaster-relief to register and learn more.

Animal boarding is available at 831-454-7200. Horses and other large animals are being welcomed at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, with overflow capacity available at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.

PROPERTY RETRIEVAL, SCOTTS VALLEY:

Scotts Valley Police Department is responding to a high level of requests to regain access to evacuated homes and businesses. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, officers only will respond to essential requests to retrieve medicine and medical equipment that cannot be accessed elsewhere, will lock homes or businesses and turn off sprinklers. Officers will accompany people to get their left-behind pets; to get work vehicles, tools or items directly related to their livelihood for one visit only; to retrieve a friend or family member in need of evacuation. Access requests to retrieve personal items or to turn off propane tanks will not be granted. Call police dispatch at 831-440-5670. Wait times may be hours long.

Communications & Power Infrastructure in Bonny Doon 

Wednesday, August 5, 7:30 p.m. 

Zoom Video Conference Meeting 

The RBDA will be organizing a series of meetings over the next year to discuss the many critical issues surrounding the safety of our community. For the first meeting, we have assembled a panel of experts to discuss communications and electric power infrastructure issues. 

Panel members will include:

Ryan Coonerty – County Supervisor, 3rd District

Rachel Dann – County Supervisor’s Analyst, 3rd District

Bettye Saxon – Central Coast External Affairs Regional Director, AT&T

Maureen McCarty – District Director for Assemblymember Mark Stone

Kate Beck – Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst, Public Advocates Office, California Public Utilities Commission

Jeana Arnold – Local Public Affairs, Central Coast Division, PG&E

Lennies M. Gutiérrez – Director of Government Affairs, South Bay and Southern Peninsula – Comcast California 

The 2018 Camp Fire was a wakeup call for all Californians. A great deal has changed since Bonny Doon was last threatened by the Martin (2008) and Lockheed (2009) fires. At that time, Bonny Doon residents had copper wire phone service and received reverse 911 phone calls in time to evacuate. The copper wire infrastructure was reliable and robust. During winter storms it was not uncommon for the power to go out for days, but the phones still worked. Today many people have only mobile phones and/or internet based voice over internet protocol (VOIP) phone service. As a result, during winter storms, it is now common to be without internet services for days, even after power has been restored. In the past, a temporary loss of phone service was considered mostly an inconvenience. However, as traffic and the cost of housing has gotten worse, more people are choosing to live and work remotely (and the pandemic has required and accelerated this), so a service loss can have severe economic consequences. Furthermore, with PG&E’s Public Service Power Shutoff events, we are now contemplating a future where, during wildfire season, the only line of communication people have is vulnerable. 

At our August public meeting we will discuss three main topics with an expert panel comprised of the different communications and power stakeholders, including internet service providers, traditional telecommunication providers, power utilities, and local government. First, how does the current communication infrastructure work—from our personal communication devices, to the network infrastructure outside our homes, to data centers operated by internet service providers and power utilities? Second, what can be done today to be better prepared as an individual, community, local government, and/or non-governmental stake holder? Third, what might the future of communication infrastructure in small rural communities look like, and what kind of infrastructure and technologies should we advocate?

Please join us for this important discussion on power and communication infrastructure. We need your input!

PG&E is hosting an online Open House regarding wildfire safety for the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties that is open to the public. It will be held on June 24, 2020 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Register for the webinar here.

https://www.pge.com/en_US/safety/emergency-preparedness/natural-disaster/wildfires/community-wildfire-safety-open-house-meetings.page

Details here!

Bonny Doon Scientists Engaged in SARS-CoV-2 Testing and Developing Novel Therapies

May 27, 7:30 p.m. 

This will be a virtual Public Meeting held on Zoom

Details will be announced shortly. Please check back! 

IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNTY ORDINANCE, IN-PERSON RBDA PUBLIC MEETINGS WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER IS LIFTED.

We will do our best to reschedule the panel discussion we had planned about Communication Infrastructure in the ‘Doon as soon as possible. In the meantime, please stay safe and healthy, check on your neighbors (from a distance), support local small businesses as you can, and remember to physically isolate, not socially isolate.

Here are some COVID-19 resources:

Santa Cruz Country: http://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/PublicHealth/CommunicableDiseaseControl/Coronavirus.aspx

Genomic sequencing of the COVID-19 virus: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Citizen Science U.S. Data Dashboard: https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com

Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html