The Healdsburg City Council opened its Nov. 2 meeting by saying goodbye to a cherished staff leader: Community Development Director Scott Duiven is retiring. Duiven began with the city as a senior planner in 2018, and was appointed as community development director in 2021.
City Manager Jeff Kay praised Duiven for his intelligence and integrity. “Scott has worked on things that really matter to people; it’s an important and difficult job,” Kay said. “We’re a little town with a lot going on.”
Duiven thanked the City Council and city staff. “This work has always been about more than creating plans, drafting policies and titling projects—it’s been about the people who make Healdsburg such a special community, and the choices we all make together to help it thrive,” he said. “It’s been a great ride.”
The city is recruiting for a new community development director, who will oversee planning and building activities for the city, including significant development projects and planning for the neighborhood around the future SMART rail station.
Community Services Project Manager Tom Campbell reported on a City Council goal to look into possible locations for sand volleyball courts in Healdsburg. Many local parks are already laid out in ways that make the courts impractical, but the grass area at Barbieri Brothers Park had the most potential.
The sand volleyball court concept is relatively new to the community, and both volleyball and pickleball advocates spoke to the council about their interests in new facilities, which are not budgeted in this fiscal year.
The council discussed the dilemma of an active community with passionate advocates and the reality of limited funding, then decided to put the sand volleyball court idea on hold.
Assistant City Manager April Mitts provided the council a report on potential on-demand ride services around town. She reviewed similar programs in other communities and found that many programs were unsustainable; they were launched with one-time grant funding and could not be paid for in later years.
The key question on the topic, repeated by city staff and council members, was, “Who do we want to serve?” The concept of offering rides to those in need is appealing, but the extent of the need is unclear.
Mitts pointed out that Sonoma County Transit, which operates the free Healdsburg Shuttle (Route 67) around the city, is embarking on a strategic plan while it seeks to expand Route 67 service. All agreed that waiting to learn more about local need and usage was the logical next step.
The final discussion item before the council was to approve a resolution affirming that, in 2024, the City Council selected Hudson Street (near the historic train depot) as its desired location for the future SMART rail platform. After discussion about the scope of the resolution, it was approved unanimously.
The full agenda, slideshow and video of Monday’s meeting can be viewed at healdsburg.gov/agendas.
The next Healdsburg City Council meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 16, at 6pm at Healdsburg City Hall, 401 Grove St.
