Sonoma County pioneered the concept of a sales-tax supported Ag and Open Space District. Yet there is another tax-related measure, shared with all of California, that achieves some of the same benefits. The question now is, can the cost of doing that be sustained?

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Since it was enacted in 1965, The Williamson Act has periodically been the target of budget cutters, and for the past three years, it has been all but zeroed out. But as long as the implementing language remains on the books, says Lex McCorvey of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, it is still possible that some of the measure's benefits will continue.

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• Funding Available for Farmers Combating EGVM – Application period extended through July 1, 2011!

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The Department of Fish and Game has awarded the Sonoma County Water Agency a $250,000 Fisheries Restoration Grant to help fund the design of the Mirabel Fish Ladder Replacement Project. The Project will replace an existing fish ladder located at the Water Agency’s Mirabel inflatable dam near the town of Forestville, CA in order to provide unimpeded passage of salmonids, eliminating the need to alter dam inflation to accommodate fish passage, and enhance opportunities for fish migration monitoring. The Project will also allow the public to view fish migrating through the fish ladder with the installation of an observation chamber and window (see drawing below). The Project’s design work is expected to cost $500,000 and construction is slated to begin in 2013.

“This grant will help reduce the cost of designing a state-of-the-art fish ladder that will not only benefit the fish but increase public education with the addition of a viewing chamber,” said Water Agency Chairman Efren Carrillo.  “The new fish ladder will also benefit our fisheries monitoring program, allowing our biologists to collect migration and spawning data year-round.”

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The Santa Rosa Symphony (SRS) and the American Federation of Musicians Union Local 292 have reached an agreement on a new 3-year contract. The musicians will receive a wage increase of 2% per year, and the agreement allows greater flexibility in the number of their required services for the Santa Rosa Symphony. The latter provision enables musicians who are contracted with the SRS to generate more income by having time to accept other performance opportunities. Another important provision is the formation of a Musicians’ Leadership Committee. This committee of five will meet annually with the music director and association representatives on non-contractural matters related to artistic welfare. The new contract will begin July 1, 2011 and extend through June 30, 2014.

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