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News/ Events/ Press Releases....
Welcome to our news pages. Here you will find current SHARE news, events, discussions, and press releases, including links to other SHARE related web publications. We strongly encourage you to share these news items and discussions with friends and family. We will update this page as events or important announcements dictate so you may want to check back frequently. Thanks!
Latest News: (Click on a topic to jump to that news item.)
10/08/2008 - LETTER TO Southern Humboldt from Chip Tittmann
01/30/2008 - Redwood Times Article: "Support for saving the old school building was unanimous"
01/27/2008 - SHARE Meetings - A Brief Summary
01/27/2008 - New FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page Added to www.sharecenter.org
01/21/2008 - SHARE Survey Opinions Needed!
01/20/2008 - Local Residents Meet and Voice Their Opinions at Three SHARE Meetings
01/16/2008 - Redwood Times Article: "SHARE's Charley Custer and His Vision for Garberville"
01/12/2008 - New "Heritage" Section Started at www.sharecenter.org
01/10/2008 - Redwood Times Article: "Public Input Sought on use of old Garberville School Site"
01/10/2008 - Visions for Garberville
01/10/2008 - Upcoming Meetings...Be There!
01/06/2008 - Help Plan the New Housing Initiative for Garberville
**(Posted 10/08/08)**
LETTER TO Southern Humboldt: October 3, 2008
As an interested member of the Southern Humboldt community I have been working with SHWT (Southern Humboldt Working Together) and SHARE (Southern Humboldt Arts Recreation and Entertainment) to create a solar, green and sustainable development at the Sprowel Creek School Administration building and property for several years. Many committed community members have put huge efforts to save the historic building and further this creative vision. We are coming to a place in time that this possibility may really be achieved or we may lose this golden opportunity.
A local non-profit, The Artful Children, is the escrow holder to buy the property for $705,000. The current procedural requirement for selling surplus school property allows only non-profits to bid for this centrally located Sprowel Creek property. The Artful Children wants to purchase the property and develop it for community benefit. Should the current escrow fall apart, commercial interests could purchase the property and develop it in any manner it chooses, including demolishing the building.
Within the next few weeks the escrow to purchase the 3 acre property and the old school building will either be completed or will fall out. The missing ingredients are: more money, interest and vision.
Dotti and Graham Russell of Phillipsville, cofounders of The Artful Children, have been working hard to coalesce investors and partners to complete the purchase of the Sprowel Creek property with the dream of a locally designed and built solar, green and sustainable community center and commercial/housing development.
More support needs to be mustered soon to make this dream possible. Planning for a sustainable, solar and green future in the current economic times of crisis is difficult, rife with pitfalls and tough questions. While being aware of global issues, and by investing locally, our community can actualize changes on these larger, planetary issues. But it will take fortitude, vision and money.
One early supporter of this project advocated: “I’ve read Al Gore’s book and I’ve seen Al Gore’s movie on climate change: this Sprowel Creek Village should be more green than green and put Garberville on the green, renewable energy map not just the green cultivation map.”
While watching your IRAs, stocks, money market funds tumble in value, consider investing in local real estate (there is a reason it is called REAL). Contact Dotti Russell at 943-1750 to find out what you can do to further this project.
My personal interest in this project is only to let Garberville’s light shine brightly as an example of how a local, green, solar and sustainable initiative of housing, commerce and community service can be actualized, helping to create a better future. For more information please contact me.
Chip Tittmann, Owner
Arco Iris Woodworking, Consulting and Design
A Green and Sustainable Company
P.O. Box 49
Miranda, California 95553
707-943-3879
www.arco-iris-woodworking.com
**(Posted 02/02/08)**
01/30/2008 - Redwood Times Article: "Support for saving the old school building was unanimous"
The Redwood Times recently published a brief summary of the January public SHARE meetings. Though similar in content to our news post of 01/27/08 you may read the recent Redwood Times article by clicking HERE.
**(Posted 01/27/08)**
A Brief Summary of the Recent SHARE Meetings (01/17/08 and 01/20/08)
More than 100 Southern Humboldt citizens attended three public meetings last week to discuss the future of our historic Garberville school and its open playing fields. Support for saving the historic school on Sprowel Creek Road for public benefit as a regional community, performing arts, and hospitality center was unanimous.
There was lively discussion of SHARE/SHWT’s proposed housing developments to pay for acquiring the school. Attendees expressed a very strong desire for mixed-income, mixed-use development to serve the many people who are currently squeezed out of our housing market, especially lower-income professionals such as teachers and nurses whose services are crucial to a growing and vital community. Workforce housing was also strongly supported and seen as necessary, but the income limits on such workforce housing were frequently criticized as being inappropriately low given the local cost of living and the scarcity of available housing at most income levels.
The community expressed a desire for more senior housing, though many attending preferred to see senior housing for all income levels, not restricted to those living on Social Security. Low-income senior housing plans were nixed at the meeting because several developers have said the only way for senior development to be profitable is to destroy the school and redevelop the full acreage. Senior housing is usually single-story, requiring a larger building footprint.
Danco Builders has offered to pay the Southern Humboldt Unified School District $600,000 for the property. They would build about 40 apartments on the old playing fields, divide the property and deed the school building and immediate grounds to SHARE for public use. The project would be federally funded and housing would be limited to those earning 50 to 80 percent of the county median income, which is $18,000 for a single person and up to $41,000 for a family of four.
Chip Tittman of Arco-Iris Design, a Miranda-based builder, presented a proposal for mixed-use development. His plan would build 8 freestanding “starter homes” of 1280 square feet with unfinished upstairs, 15 single-bedroom rental apartments, and four condominiums. This plan also would donate the school building to SHARE. Tittman estimates the cost of a starter home at under $275,000 and the monthly rent of a 640-square-foot one-bedroom apartment at $1000. The housing would be designed and built with green and sustainable features, such as solar electricity and hot water, and reduced sewage requirements. Tittman describes the project as mixed income, but given market rates and the cost of development, it cannot be described as low-income or easily affordable housing.
Our decisions on how to proceed will come down to time and money. The School Board has set a June deadline for a firm bid. This puts a significant time crunch on efforts to raise capital for a private development. Another factor to consider is the 2008 cycle for federal funding. Danco Builders would need to begin funding applications by April in order to meet the 2008 cycle for workforce housing, an even tighter deadline.
Tittman is seeking to raise a minimum of $1.5 million in building capital, with $25-to $50,000 needed immediately for initial studies. We must face the likelihood that with the current unhealthy home mortgage markets and the economy heading into recession, publicly funded rental housing targeted to specific needs may be the best outcome we can develop in a timely manner.
It’s worth noting that Dan Johnson of Danco is a LEED-certified green developer, and the strong community desire for green and sustainable development will enter into negotiations with Danco on building plans.
Conversations with funders, investors, developers, and the county are proceeding. We encourage you, if you haven’t already, to send us a letter and fill out a survey. Your ideas are still critical to the project, and public input will assure its success.
SHARE and SHWT warmly thank each person who participated in our community conversations. The time our friends and neighbors took to care about our community has resolved any lingering doubt about the importance of saving our irreplaceable school for community use, and expressed very clear, well-reasoned preferences for the sort of housing and development that we should create behind the school.
On behalf of SHARE and SHWT I would like to thank Patti Rose, Sharon Latour and Dotti Russell for their enthusiastic help with the preparations and meetings, Dena Baker for her help with preparations, and Christina Huff for her help preparing meeting materials. Together we are achieving something we can all be proud of for decades to come.
Best,
Charley Custer
SHARE chair
**(Posted 01/27/08)**
Our New FAQ Page...
We've just added a new FAQ page to our main navigation bar. It's a great orientation for those who are new to the issues concerning the SHARE vision. If you have any questions that are not answered there feel free to contact Charley Custer, charley@asis.com, PO Box 1003, Redway 95560
**(Posted 01/21/08)**
Share Survey Opinions Needed!
Public opinion will be crucial in influencing the final decisions that may soon be made concerning the usage and development of the school property. The downloadable MS Word document below contains a few brief questions and room for your comments. Please take a moment and fill out the form by either printing a copy and mailing it, or filling in the blanks and e-mailing it as an attachment. SHWT is hoping for all surveys by Monday January 28th, 2008 so please hurry! Thanks.
Download Survey: Share_Survey.doc
To Print and Mail:
Print out, fill in, and mail toSHWT
c/o Redwoods Rural Health Center
PO Box 769,
Redway, CA 95560.To E-Mail:
Edit the word doc with your answers and comments and e-mail as an attachment to
charley@asis.com and
dmbaker@saber.net
**(Posted 01/20/08)**
Local Residents Meet and Voice Their Opinions at Three SHARE Meetings
Thanks to all who attended the SHARE meetings on Thursday and Sunday this last week. Your attendance, input, and opinions on the SHARE project and housing initiative proposals was invaluable. For those who missed the meetings or could not attend, we will post a summary of some of the issues and opinions discussed, so please check back here at our News/Events pages soon for more details. Thank You again for your enthusiastic support!
**(Posted 01/16/08)**
Redwood Times Article: "SHARE's Charley Custer and His Vision for Garberville"
Share Chair Charley Custer introduces himself and discusses SHARE visions with Mary Anderson.
Click HERE to read this article on the Redwood Times web site.
**(Posted 01/12/08)**New "Heritage" section started today. Have something to share?
Today we started a "Heritage" section here at www.sharecenter.org with some historical information about the venarable old school building. If you have any reminiscences about the school from childhood, old pictures, or other pertinent historical snippets you'd like to share with the community, send them to Charley Custer at charley@asis.com and we'll be happy to post them on the web site. Click on the "History" link above to go to there now. Thanks!
**(Posted 01/10/08)**
Redwood Times Article: "Public input sought on use of old Garberville school site"
Public input sought on use of old Garberville school site
Mary Anderson / Redwood Times
Article Launched: 01/10/2008 10:32:19 AM PSTClick HERE to read this article on the Redwood Times web site.
**(Posted 01/10/08)**
Visions For Garberville
“Without vision, the people shall perish.”
--ProverbsWhat kind of town do we want at the heart of our many communities, here in the hills of the Redwood Curtain? This question is before us because the biggest real estate deal in Garberville in more than a decade is about to take place, with or without public participation.
For five years, local citizens participating in SHARE—Southern Humboldt Arts, Recreation, and Education—have envisioned a multi-purpose community center in the old Osprey School on Sprowel Creek Road. We’ve hoped to bring Garberville the social and economic vitality offered by visitor hospitality space, a restored and improved theater, arts and youth activities, museum and exhibit space, and opportunities to host infinite other activities, maybe even an outdoor swimming pool.
In 2006 SHARE devised a plan to obtain the building for public benefit by developing much-needed workforce housing in the playing fields behind the school. Pursuing this initiative yielded several proposals for housing developments. Now we need you, the community we serve, to help us bring SHARE’s five year quest for a community center and badly needed housing to completion. Together, we have the chance to build more than just housing—we can create a dynamic neighborhood and a vital community anchor in heart of Garberville. We invite you to think about the vision, look over the housing options, and share your ideas. Please come to one of three public meetings to vote on these proposals and help shape Garberville’s future.
We must answer critical questions. What kind of housing will best serve the people and economy of Garberville? Affordable housing for workers and their families who can’t afford local rents? Subsidized housing for elders living on social security? Or private housing that helps young families to build long-term equity? Can and should we develop energy efficient and sustainable housing in this site—to reduce burdens on our strained utilities, and to create something wonderful?
The most important question, we believe, is what would you like to see in the heart of Garberville?
SHARE’s vision for a housing development was so imaginative and doable that it began to overshadow our original goal of acquiring the building without burdensome debt. Some interests now aim to kill SHARE’s vision and tear down the old school building in order to create denser housing. We think this is terribly short-sighted, and we ask that you speak out for restoring and embracing this beloved building, the best and most historic building in Garberville. It was built in 1939 as the first earthquake-safe school in northern California! It is an irreplaceable resource waiting to be revitalized. We can’t afford to build something like this from the ground up, and Garberville can’t afford to squander this opportunity. The old school can be recycled into a regional hospitality center that orients visitors and locals to the millions of acres of magnificent public lands surrounding our area, and to our shops, services and activities in Garberville and Redway, and beyond. Museum space and a dedicated performing arts theater, with a backstage, a permanent stage and fixed seats will complement this service by offering more activities for explorers from motels in town, and may encourage them to stay another night or two. With a permanent home, the Teen Center and the Eel River Wailaki Nation already on-site will be able to grow and develop services. Dedicated rooms for arts and other functions will evolve as our communities’ needs grow and change.
This vision may vanish if people don’t stand up to support it. It would be easier and more profitable to just flatten the site and pack in people as densely as possible, like they do in the city. Should we sacrifice the vision of a beautiful, publicly owned community center that will bring such vitality to Garberville for a few more units of undetermined housing?Would you like to know more? All the housing options we’ve considered are described at our website, www.sharecenter.org . What’s best for us is up to all of us to decide together. And remember, any kind of added housing may be less important for the future of our region than saving the school building itself. It is ours to preserve for the future, but irreplaceable once lost. Please come to the public meetings this week, and let your voice help shape the vision of a vigorous and vital future for all our communities.
**(Posted 01/06/08)**
Reminder: Upcoming Public Meetings
SHARE's success depends a great deal on public support. We invite you to attend these upcoming meetings. We have scheduled three meetings in Garberville in mid-January to introduce and discuss plans for the evolving heart of Garberville.
On Thursday, January 17th, we will meet at noon at the Teen Center just inside the main doors of the old district office/Osprey school building, on Sprowel Creek Road just past the freeway, and again at 6 pm that evening.We’ll have snacks and refreshments available so as many people as possible can participate and enjoy.
We’ll meet again on Sunday, January 20th at 3pm at the Presbyterian Church on Maple Lane with the same materials.
If you can't come to the meetings, it's important to express your desires to the school board, which will make its final decision soon. Send letters to:
Southern Humboldt Unified School District Board
President Barbara Lindsay, President, SHUSD
PO Box 129
Garberville, CA 95542email: buzzarb@hughes.net....and to newspapers!
**(Posted 01/06/08)**Help Plan the New Housing Initiative for Garberville
What kind of housing do you think Garberville and our surrounding communities need most? Is it affordable housing for workers and their families who can’t afford local rents? Inexpensive senior housing for our many baby boomers approaching retirement? Or private housing that helps families to build long-term equity? Should this housing be as green as possible? As inexpensive as possible? Or do you think these are the wrong questions?
Please join SHWT (Southern Humboldt Working Together) and SHARE (Southern Humboldt Arts, Recreation and Education Center) to discuss evolving plans to save the old district office/Osprey school building for public use by developing community housing in the playing fields behind the building. SHARE and SHWT have developed three model options for housing development as beginning points for community conversation, which we want to share with everyone who may be interested in seeing and contributing to them.
We have scheduled three meetings in Garberville in mid-January to introduce and discuss plans for the evolving heart of Garberville. On Thursday, January 17th, we will meet at noon at the Teen Center just inside the main doors of the old district office/Osprey school building, on Sprowel Creek Road just past the freeway, and again at 6 pm that evening. We’ll have snacks and refreshments available so as many people as possible can participate and enjoy. We’ll meet again on Sunday, January 20th at 3pm at the Presbyterian Church on Maple Lane with the same materials.
In brief, the three options we’ve developed for discussion are these:
First, a subsidized senior housing development like the existing 20 units behind the hospital on Cedar Street. This could be locally developed and managed in close cooperation with new community activities in the building up front. Occupancy would be restricted to tenants with incomes below $17,500 for individuals and $20,500 for couples.
Next, affordable workforce housing for singles and families with verified incomes between $17,000 and $34,500 could be developed and managed by a Humboldt County builder.
Last, private development of small-footprint ‘starter homes,’ perhaps with unfinished second stories for maximum flexibility and economy, along with a mix of apartments and/or condominiums, would permit mixed-income development—but the current market may not permit it.
All these proposals and other information are available for viewing and downloading at SHARE’s website, www.sharecenter.org
Our guiding principle has been that the housing will cohere in design and function with the community center to be developed up front. There we will have a restored and improved theater, arts and youth activities, hospitality and museum space, and limitless possibilities for our future. We even dream of an outdoor, solar-heated swimming pool between the community center and the new housing, but that’s a few possibilities down the road! Please join us in envisioning our best future for the heart of Garberville and Southern Humboldt and Northern Mendocino on Wednesday, January 17th at noon or 6 pm, or the following Sunday at the Presbyterian Church at 2pm. Please help improve our community vision with your participation.