Dear Napa Open Space Supporters,
It’s only a month since the first Coronavirus Shelter Order was issued for Napa County, but it already feels like a lifetime.
By recognizing the value of outdoor exercise and our connection to nature, Napa’s Shelter Order has given our modest open space district a major challenge: keeping our outdoor spaces open the public while maintaining safe practices.
My sincerest thanks to all of the NOSD staff—who have been wonderful–remaining positive, flexible, patient and creative. Thanks also to all of our supporters and outdoor enthusiasts, who have helped us spread the message about our Safe Practices in parks and helped educate their friends and family about safe rules for trails use over the past few weeks.
We’re all being bombarded right now with information and advice from sources that range from reliable to questionable to speculative to downright wrong. I don’t want to add to the tsunami of chatter, so won’t talk about the twists and turns of what we know about the virus, or evolving public policies. However, since we’ve got a long way to go before this is really over, and with the cancellation of the April Board meeting, I want to give you some sense of where we’re at right now and where we’re headed.
Frankly, I wasn’t expecting the unprecedented surge in park usage the first weekend after the Order was issued, when the weather turned warm and too many people went looking for places to take a hike. Subsequent cool weather gave us time to up our game. Thanks to Rick Fessenden for taking the lead in organizing trailhead monitors the past two weekends (including Fridays), and to all the staff who were willing to turn their lives even more upside down to work these extra shifts. Even with last weekend being Easter weekend, with wonderful weather, I believe together we did a great job managing trailheads and keeping people safe:
– Moore Creek Park usage was consistently high all weekend, and we had to periodically close the gate at the Chiles/Pope Valley Road entrance to prevent overcrowding, but everyone coming to the park (well, almost everyone) was well behaved, and very appreciative of our keeping the trails open and maintaining order in the parking lots. We’ve been making a lot of lemonade out of lemons with our positive public contacts.
– Bothe Napa-Valley State Park has seen modest usage, but well under control. The campground, picnic areas, Visitor Center and Bale Mill are all closed, but we’ve been able to keep all the trails open, and one restroom open with extra cleaning. Special thanks to Tyler for taking the initiative on things like brushing back the beginning of the main trail out of the day use area to make it easier for walkers to maintain safe physical distancing where usage is most congested
– Oat Hill Mine Trail usage has been heavy, but parking is well spread out along several public streets, and so far we haven’t observed dangerous overcrowding
– Robert Louis Stevenson State Park usage has been heavy—heavier than I would like, but there’s no practical way to close Highway 29, and as long as it’s open RLS can’t really be effectively closed. I’m continuing to try to coordinate with Caltrans to use their electronic roadside signs just north of Calistoga to discourage people from driving up the mountain when usage is heaviest
– Usage of the Napa River Ecological Reserve has so far been moderate with no observed problems (other than the routine illegal dumping of trash)
– The Napa River and Bay Trail in American Canyon is being managed day to day by the city; so far usage has been high but under control.
– While not the District’s direct responsibility, we’ve been coordinating with the operators of Skyline Wilderness Park, which has been experiencing very heavy usage. They have had to periodically meter access to the parking lot. We’ve been sharing information and coordinating messaging as much as possible.
It looks like we will be continuing to monitor all our trailheads for at least the next several weeks, with active staffing of key trailheads (both Moore Creek entrances, Bothe, RLS) Friday through Sunday. Staff will be doing spot checks every day to make sure there’s no surprising surges, since with so many people out of work there’s less distinction between weekdays and weekends. Rick will also be coordinating filling the shifts for active trailhead monitoring every Friday through Sunday.
While all of our organized events and programs are on hold, staff has been creative in developing alternative ways to engage people. Thanks especially to Ryan Ayers, JessicaArdizonne, Jay Jessen and Joe Joe Clark for coming up with some great ideas. Making video alternatives for the 3rd Saturday Hikes is a brilliant idea; and these will be useful long after the virus is just history.
For now, my assumption is that all group events and programs will be cancelled through at least the end of May, and most likely through the first half of the summer. For now, we will continue to prepare for summer events and programs starting in June, but will need to reassess frequently as more information is known. Our City partners are currently doing the same.
While we’re waiting out the life cycle of the virus, we’re doing deferred maintenance to the extent we can under the Shelter Order guidelines. Rob Grassi and Tyler Beach have certainly been able to keep busy safely on deferred maintenance projects at Bothe, Bale and RLS.
It’s no secret that we along with most other public agencies and private businesses are taking a huge financial hit. Fortunately we have always been conservative with our finances, so we should be able to weather this storm, but the next two years (yes, years) will be very tight. We had built up an operating reserve at Bothe/Bale that can keep us afloat for about a year even with no new revenues, so that should give us time to wait out the virus. The key is to be ready to actively market the parks and rebuild visitation as soon as we get the green light. Our other primary source of income is the County grant based on Transient Occupancy Tax revenues. While TOT revenues are now virtually zero, our grant is based on revenues from more than a year ago. So unless the County decides to change the formula, our grant from next fiscal year won’t be affected by the virus, but according to initial county projections our grant for the subsequent two years will be significantly reduced. To prepare for the coming fiscal shock, we need to build up our operating reserve over the next fiscal year, so we can weather the subsequent two years. Staff is now working on the draft budget for FY 2020-21, which will be presented to the Board of Directors at the May 11th Board meeting.
Needless to say, we will be proposing only very limited capital projects in the coming year. These will include completing the mill wheel repair, and potentially some new trails, to the extent we have dedicated grants to cover the expenses. The environmental education program will most likely need to be reduced, depending on how much support the Napa Valley State Park Association is able to provide. The fate of the swimming pool at Bothe is also up in the air for this coming summer; if there’s a phasing out of the Order restrictions, which is probable, swimming pools are likely to be one of the last things to re-open. When the restriction is lifted, there’s likely to be limited demand for the pool until such time as campers return. With limited demand, this may be a time to test doing what most hotels do (providing gate code to adults, no lifeguard on duty, spot checking to ensure compliance).
None of this is yet set in stone. Over the next two months we’ll be looking for creative ways to retain our programs and continue to serve the public as best we can, but with Measure K falling just short of the required two-thirds majority to pass, combined with the loss of most of our program income for an unknown but potentially long period, as well as the collapse of tourist revenues, we have to be realistic.
My first priority will continue to be to retain all permanent staff so we don’t lose the knowledge and skills that we have developed through years of hard work. This will require some adjusting in what each of us does, but I’m optimistic about our ability to retain all permanent staff. And once the Order is lifted, we will again be needing seasonal and part-time staff, though for now these staff are taking a real hit. We’ll do what we can to soften the impact, but options are limited.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions at info@napaoutdoors.org.
Take care,
John Woodbury
General Manager
Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District