By Peter Day and
Caroline Lieber
Assembly Bill 2443, which allows certain agencies to provide recycled water service in the same territory as mutual water companies, has got some people boiling.
“It smacks of special interest to me,” Richard Selby, chairman of the Lucerne Valley-Johnson Valley Municipal Advisory Council, said during last Thursday’s regular meeting.
Selby called AB 2443 improper and unconstitutional. He said it would take away rights of the mutuals owned by the people in a given area. “There needs to be a way in which the recyclers and the mutuals can work together,” he said. “This really disturbs me.”
AB 2443 could put any of the state’s 1,200 mutual water agencies out of business, Selby said.
Beverly Lowry, the field representative for Third District Supervisor James Ramos, reported it appears the $100,000 funding to restore Visalia Park will come through. Because of a tight county budget, many other projects weren’t as lucky, she added.
CSA 29 General Manager Reese Troublefield said he was “floored to hear” that $100,000 was set aside for the park restoration and he plans to “take 2-1/2 acres and make it something you are really proud of.”
Troublefield, who also serves as manager of the Big Bear Zoo, said the grand opening for a new Snow Leopard enclosure Friday, June 27.
The MAC also discussed the two solar projects on Camp Rock Road. Selby said that the contractors have to remeasure for the poles/pilings as they are not going into the ground easily. Board member Roger Peterson said he had spoken with the contractors, and that they are apparently having trouble with driving the pilings into the ground. They now have to dig holes and backfill them with sand, which was not an anticipated cost, and could result in high cost overruns.
“Just looking at the terrain, it is boulder city out there,” Selby said.
MAC members also discussed the fire fee, a bill passed in 2011 to raise money for fire prevention through fees that would then be available by a grant funding process. To date, about $200 million has been collected. It can’t be used for fire fighting, only prevention. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and others filed a class action suit, representing 800,000 rural Californians, to get the fee rescinded, stating that it is unconstitutional.
San Bernardino County Fire Capt. Lars Hanson reported that in Station 8, there were a total of 172 calls in the last month, 132 of which were medical, 19 were traffic accidents and four were vegetation fires. A barn fire resulted in a total loss of the structure, but the primary residence, 40 feet away, was saved.
He also said that an additional firefighter will be added to Station 8 probably around Thanksgiving. This member will be a paramedic, and will be available for both the fire engine and the ambulance.
The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan subcommittee to the Desert Advisory Council is scheduled to meet from 4 to 6 p.m. July 1 at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management California Desert District Office at 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos in Moreno Valley.
Johnson Valley MAC representative Betty Munson inquired about why the meeting was being held at that location, apparently far from LV, which she called “ground zero” for the renewable resources development.
Munson also talked about how the Coolwater-Lugo Transmission Project could adversely affect the Scenic 247 Project.
“This would destroy the scenic 247 project” Munson said. “If the substation is built, Scenic247 is a goner.”
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Peter Day is editor of the Lucerne Valley Leader. Caroline Lieber is a freelance writer from Ojai.