Sonoma County, volunteers team up for first-of-its kind radio tower in Cloverdale

When the devastating Tubbs Fire tore through Sonoma County in 2017, Cazadero resident Tony Goodwin found himself unable to communicate with his wife.

The terrifying experience inspired Goodwin to equip his home with General Mobile Radio Service and help his neighbors and surrounding communities join the network.

As emergency preparedness came to dominate Sonoma County’s discourse, the radio network designed for short-range, two-way communication grew. Goodwin has helped set up radio boxes using the GMRS system for locations around the county including at a new communications tower in Cloverdale.

The radio tower was one of several projects highlighted during a recent field day touring projects in Cloverdale hosted by Supervisor James Gore.

Other infrastructure projects featured on the tour included the long-anticipated effort to build a permanent version of the seasonal Asti Bridge.

“I have a professional commitment to the area of Cloverdale, which has been under-resourced by Sonoma County because it’s in far flung reaches of the north,” Gore said of the projects’ significance. “This has taken willpower.”

County’s first public-private comms tower

Located on Schellenger Road east of Cloverdale, the communications tower comes equipped with fire cameras, radio service and a fail-safe digital communications network.

Upon completion, the solar-powered tower will also include a weather station that can measure meteorological conditions including wind speed and report it out in real time.

“It’s turning out to be a really, really cool project,” said Johannes Hoevertsz, Sonoma County’s public infrastructure director.

The fire cameras cover Sonoma County from Windsor to the Mendocino County border up north, Hoevertsz said.

The cameras, set up last week, will run through a one-year pilot program Hoevertsz said. He added that the county and its project partners have yet to decide who will manage the cameras during the one-year trial and how the images will be made available to the public.

The county teamed up with Northern Sonoma County Community Emergency Response Team and radio volunteers on the project, making it the county’s first public-private communications tower.

Hoevertsz estimated the project cost about $250,000 to build, covered by county funds and community partners. Volunteers will monitor the radios and cameras and all partners will have to cover maintenance on the tower’s road.

The communications systems were put to use earlier this year when Cazadero lost power during the winter storms.

“We at one point were trapped, all our exits were blocked by trees,” said Goodwin. “We had no communication via cellular phone or landline but our radios, our infrastructure we put in for radios worked.”

Building a permanent Asti Bridge

The rising cost of building and removing the seasonal Asti Bridge every year have fueled county leaders’ pursuit of building a permanent bridge over the Russian River.

The project, estimated to cost $30 million, is going through environmental review and construction could start in two or three years if all goes to plan, Hoevertsz said.

The project is a long time coming.

The seasonal bridge crosses the river at Washington School Road just south of Cloverdale.

Spanning roughly 100 feet, the gravel and steel bridge has provided temporary crossing for residents, farmworkers and emergency responders for over 100 years.

When open, it saves about travelers about 20 minutes, Hoevertsz said.

Hoevertsz estimated the cost of building the bridge has risen from $125,000 a decade ago to over $500,000 as permitting, design and construction have become more complex.

Hoevertsz said the bridge is estimated to cost between $450,000 and $550,000 this year.

High water from the region’s rainy months has delayed the bridge’s opening this year from early June to July, Hoevertsz said.

Concerns about evacuation routes and fire safety have buoyed calls for a permanent bridge.

“It’s really for the last 10 years been about fire and fire risk for that community,” Gore said. “We’ve had individuals on that other side of the bridge who have lost members of their family while waiting for an ambulance.”

The county has committed to cover a majority of the project costs using PG&E settlement funds and other money earmarked for local infrastructure, but residents and community partners may have to provide $4 million if the county is unable to secure additional grant funding, Hoevertsz said.

Residents are hoping to establish a special district to help fund those costs, Gore said.

“The neighbors over there are galvanized,” Gore said. “They are our partners.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.