In this edition of the Insider:

• Holiday Closure
• Potential Household Hazardous Waste Site
• Holiday Celebration
• Winter & Spring Registration
• Windsor COPE
• Get the FOG Outa Here!
• Household Hazardous Waste Event
• Food Scraps - FREE Kitchen Pails

Town offices will be closed,

Thursday, November 23, and Friday, November 24

in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Town offices will reopen on Monday, November 27. 

Should you need assistance, please call:

Water or Sewer Emergencies

(707) 838-1000

Windsor Police Department

During office hours (707) 838-1234

After-hours non-emergency (707) 565-2121

Emergency 911 

At the November 16 Zero Waste Sonoma Board meeting, the Board of Directors approved the purchase and sale agreement to acquire approximately 3.5 acres located at 5871-5895 Pruitt Ave, Windsor, CA. 

The approval from the Board earmarks the property as a potential and future Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) site and other proposed uses providing access to the communities in northern Sonoma County where programming is limited. Currently, the only HHW site for Sonoma County is in Petaluma at the Central Landfill, which is operating at full capacity, therefore an expansion to HHW programming is necessary to serve those communities that are considered underserved. 

While this approval allows for Zero Waste Sonoma staff to move forward with the acquisition, additional steps will need to occur and legal processes to be completed before the new site can be developed and opened to the public as an HHW site.  For more information regarding this item visit Zero Waste Sonoma Agenda Packet November 16, 2023, or Zero Waste Sonoma Home | Zero Waste Sonoma

The 22nd Annual Holiday Celebration will be held on Thursday, December 7, from 5-8 PM on the Town Green. Join the Town for musical performances by local youth, food and gift vendors, children’s holiday activities, cookie decorating, and much more!

The celebratory evening includes the lighting of the tree by Santa Claus and a special Hanukkah Menorah lighting! This event also kicks off the month of lights and cheer at the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove hosted by People4Parks Windsor.

For more information, please visit www.townofwindsor.com/specialevents.

The Parks & Recreation Department is excited to announce that the 2024 Winter-Spring Recreation Guide is here, and registration will open on Monday, December 4, at 10 AM!

Check out the online guide to see all the fun and exciting things happening in the New Year!

https://issuu.com/towrecreation/docs/winterspring_2024_guide

What is Windsor COPE?

Windsor COPE (Communities Organized to Prepare for Emergencies) is a program based on the “neighbor helping neighbor” model. The COPE program is facilitated by Neighborhood Leaders and Co-Leaders who assist with guidance, building local community, emergency preparedness, incident information, and more to their immediate neighborhood.  

For more information on Windsor COPE or to get on the email list, contact COPE Community Leader, Diana Borges by email at windsor_cope@yahoo.com or visit Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WindsorCOPE.

Wet Winter Forecasted

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting an El Nino winter, which means warmer temperatures and higher rainfall amounts are likely. To prepare for the upcoming winter weather events follow these helpful tips. 

Do you Know Your Zone? Visit the following link to look up your address to get to your Zone. https://socoemergency.org/get-ready/evacuation-map/ 

As you do your Holiday cooking remember not to dump fats, oils, and grease (FOG) down your drains or garbage disposal. FOG can solidify and plug both your home plumbing and the municipal sewer systems.

FOG includes fats from meats (ex. burgers and bacon), butter and other substances that are solid at room temperature, oils such as olive and canola, and other greasy substances such as salad dressings, sauces, and greasy food scraps.

The proper disposal method depends on the amount of FOG.

• Small amounts, such as the oil or grease in a pan or on a plate can be wiped up with a paper towel and placed in the compost bin.
• Place up to 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) of cooking oil in a rigid, screw-top container for disposal in the garbage.
• Large amounts of waste cooking oil, such as from a deep fryer, should be placed in a sturdy container and taken to a cooking oil recycling drop-off point. Find a location here.

For more information, please follow the link and read more about FOG:

Get the FOG outa here! – Russian River Watershed Association (rrwatershed.org)

On Tuesday, November 28, by appointment only, Zero Waste Sonoma will be hosting a household hazardous waste event in Windsor from 3PM – 8PM. This event is FREE by appointment. To participate you will need to register at Zero Waste Sonoma/Windsor. 

For questions email toxicdisposal@cleanharbors.com or call (707) 795-2025 option 3.  For more information visit https://zerowastesonoma.gov/calendar/event/6408/2023/11/28.

Windsor, we need your help!

The County transfer stations are seeing a high level of contamination in organic waste disposal. This is an accumulation countywide. We hope you can help our community be better by keeping harmful contaminants out of the compost, such as plastics, clothing, and garbage while ensuring the proper material is going into your kitchen pail and organic waste cart or bin.

Please follow this illustration or visit Curbside Services: Compost Cart | Zero Waste Sonoma. If you have a questionable item and need assistance, please call Sonoma County Resource Recovery at (707)795-7470 or visit https://www.sonomacorr.com/.

During the holidays, it is estimated that “70 billion pounds of food waste are sent to the landfill every year, with the heaviest losses during the holidays” per Brightly. 

We can help you to compost by giving you a FREE kitchen pail to dispose of the scraps, leftovers, and soiled paper products properly. 

You can get a FREE kitchen pail by stopping by any Town office or by calling Sonoma County Resource Recovery at (707) 795-7470 or visit https://www.sonomacorr.com/.

The Town of Windsor is looking for talented people. For information on open positions, click here for the full list. If you have questions about working for the Town, please reach out to our Human Resources team at hr@townofwindsor.com. 

Join our team! Go here to apply.

Here are some public meetings and workshops we would love for you to participate in. For more information on the agenda, click on the hyperlink to the corresponding meeting of interest. You can always find more meeting information on the calendar on the Town website homepage. 

Council Meetings

The Town Council meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 6PM.

• December 6, 6PM
• December 20, 6PM

Planning Commission Meetings

The Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 5:30PM.

• November 28, 5:30PM
• December 12, 5:30PM
• December 26 - Cancelled

Parks and Recreation Commission

The Parks and Recreation Commission meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 6PM.

• December 13, 6PM

Public Art Advisory Commission

The Public Art Advisory Commission meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 4:30PM.

• November 29, 4:30PM - Special Meeting
• December 27 - Cancelled

Senior Citizen Advisory Commission

The Senior Citizen Advisory Commission meets quarterly, on the third Tuesday at 2PM. (January, April, July, October)

• TBD