Many years ago, Cole Grade Road was divided by a large oak tree.
That tree eventually came down in the early 1980s, but today the VC planning group is divided over trees along Cole Grade Road and whether the road should be widened to four lanes.
Two years after the planning group first proposed leaving Cole Grade at two lanes, but was “shouted down” by a room of angry residents insisting on four, the group is again toying with opposing the widening, or limiting it to two lanes and turn lane, or recommending that the heavily traveled road include an “S” curve bypass, some oaks and “sensitive habitat” to slow traffic.
At the Aug. 11 meeting of the planning group members heard a report from circulation subcommittee chairman John Coulombe on the recent meeting that the subcommittee had with Michael Long, project manager for the county Dept. of Public Works. He’s the man in charge of the current VC road widening, and the proposed widening of Cole Grade Road from VC Road to just past the high school.
Currently the County is looking at a four-lane road plus a turn lane at Cool Valley Road.
However, Coulombe reported that the subcommittee was divided on what it wants and that Long “left the meeting confused as to what the community actually wanted.”
Coulombe provided some history on this issue. Two years ago when the subcommittee and the planning group proposed doing without the Cole Grade widening, they had proposed building east west extensions of Oak Glen that would have connected Cole Grade to West Lilac and provided an alternative route to Valley Center Road.
However, the planning group backed down from that proposal under intense criticism from residents along the proposed road routes.
Coulombe recalls, “When we brought it up to the community at a public meeting and talked about alternatives, the consensus was that they didn’t want roads. I had one guy ask me if I had been bought off. We voted to widen it to four lanes all the way to the high school.”
After that vote, the County’s Dept. of Planning & Land Use made the decision to limit the widening of Cole Grade to Pauma Heights Road, pulling back from Oak Glen, the previous termination of the widening.
Planners are divided over how to approach the road widening issue.
Planner Keith Simpson showed some slides demonstrating how packed Cole Grade is twice a day, at the beginning of school and when it lets out.
The group discussed a motion by Simpson to divide some of the straight Cole Grade with an “S” curve to preserve natural beauty and save oaks.
Coulombe said that “S” curves attract car accidents and gridlock. “Things like this are wonderful and they do slow traffic but at rush hour they do cause gridlock,” he said.
There was some discussion among planners about whether the County has the money to do such an “S” curve.
“It’s really not our job to figure out how financially viable it is, but to tell the County what we want,” said Simpson.
Debra Hofler, who was previously chairman of the circulation subcommittee, said that the County isn’t at the point of knowing about costs yet.
“They worry about safety and other things first. One of the reasons that the four lanes ended where it did was because it ran into vernal pools and habitat,” she said. She said she was interested in the “S” turn because it would move the road beyond those points.
Another planner, David Montross, said he was for anything that would slow down the traffic on Cole Grade.
Audience member Patsy Fritz said that the change they are contemplating would actually not be an “S” curve so much as a “C” curve.
The group passed a motion 9-3 calling for making Cole Grade more of a curved road to preserve the aesthetics of country road, and to preserve riparian habitat by adding curves at locates such as Cool Valley Road.
The group couldn’t agree on another motion where it would have expressed opposition to ending the road widening before it reaches the road where the County intends to create an east west connector to I-15.
Currently the County is proposing to extend the widening to Cool Valley, whereas the I-15 connector as currently proposed would be Hilldale.
The issue of the road widening will be taken up again at the next circulation subcommittee meeting, whose date has not yet been announced.
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When asked why the planning group had revisited the Cole Grade Road widening issue after taking a position on it two years ago, Smith explained that the County had decided to move the east west connector to I-15 from Oak Glen to Hilldale.
“Our original decision was based on the east west connector going to Oak Glen. Now that the County has moved that to Hilldale, that means the decision can be revisited. If that hadn’t changed I would say we have no business bringing it up again,” he told The Roadrunner.
The VC Chamber of Commerce Shred and E-Waste Recycling Day on Saturday was a success, according to John Yeager of the Chamber.
“Manny Jimenez and his crew from ShredEx used their on-site shredder to shred 142 boxes of sensitive documents including tax returns, bank statements, medical records and on and on,” Yeager told The Roadrunner. “Shad Hunziker and his Our Planet Recycling team hauled away more than four truckloads of old refrigerators, TVs, computers, computer monitors and other electronics and appliances.”
La Jolla residents Ben and Tom Rodriguez were recognized with the 2008 Yoneo Ono Award Aug. 7 by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) for their outstanding volunteerism.
The ceremony was at the La Jolla Campground near the San Luis Rey River.
Members of RCAC’s board of directors and senior management team presented the award and a check for $4,000.
The brothers have chosen to donate the funds to the American Cancer Society, Red Cross and St. Jude Medical Center.
Tribal birdsingers sang a selection of celebration songs and a traditional pit barbecue followed.
The Yoneo Ono Award is named in honor of one of RCAC’s founding directors. During his lifetime, Yoneo Ono continually worked to better the lives of people living in America’s rural regions.
In recognition of his tireless dedication to this vital cause, RCAC officials presented Ono with an award upon his 1984 retirement from the organization’s board of directors.
Since then, RCAC has presented the Yoneo Ono Award annually to an outstanding rural volunteer in 13 western states. The Rodriguez brothers were recognized for their many decades of dedication and volunteer work for their tribe.
“RCAC is extremely pleased to present this year’s Yoneo Ono Award to Ben and Tom For many decades these two men have been committed to ensuring that their community had safe drinking water. Most of us take clean water for granted, at La Jolla, Ben and Tom are the two reasons that the tribe shares this confidence,” said Stanley Keasling, RCAC chief executive officer.
The Rodriguez brothers have worked many late and extra hours without pay on the water system and other projects to benefit their reservation.
During the 2007 Poomacha Fire they worked to save numerous homes and lives. Ben Rodriguez’s home burned to the ground while he and his brother were busy helping save his neighbors’ homes.
Their work to restore water service to their reservation and make it livable for those that still had homes was a real example of their commitment to the community. They risked their lives and worked to the point of collapse solely for the greater good of others.
Headquartered in West Sacramento, RCAC is a nonprofit agency that provides technical assistance and training to low income rural communities in 13 western states. More information is available at www.rcac.org.
Longtime VC rancher Steve Reeves once was the world’s number one movie star.
But it was his career as a bodybuilder that is drawing the most attention in a new show at the VC History Museum.
The exhibition focuses on the three stages of Reeves’s life, but most visitors—including large numbers of bodybuilders—are focused on the years when he was Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe.
Museum Pres. Bill Hutchings said that the adoration could grow this weekend when dozens of bodybuilders, in VC for an unrelated fitness event, are expected to show up to see trophies, awards, hundreds of photos, and memorabilia of Reeves’s life.
A local rancher from 1957 until his death in 2000, Reeves was the world’s top-grossing film star in 1959-61 when Hercules hit the big screen.
He went on to star in another 18 movies, appeared on Broadway and as a guest of many TV shows, and later created an exercise pattern known as power-walking. He also wrote several books.
The exhibit, which continues through December, includes Reeves’s personal saddle which was the centerpiece at his memorial service.
The museum at 29200 Cole Grade Rd. is open Tuesday –Saturday from 1–4 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Questions? Visit www.valleycenterhistory.org or call 749-2993.
Last October, during the Poomacha wildfire, most of the La Jolla Indian Reservation burned, and 13 homes managed by the All Mission Indian Housing Authority (AMIHA) were lost.
A 14th home was lost during the mudslides that came several weeks later.
Last Friday afternoon AMIHA hosted an “Open House” at the La Jolla Tribal Hall. All of the nearby tribal councils and their own housing authorities were invited to the event.
They were there to celebrate the rebuilding of the homes on the reservation, which will be completed by the end of August—which is a record.
They are the first group of homes in all of Southern California to be rebuilt since the October fires, according to Glenda Gates, administrative assistant to the All Mission Indian Housing Authority.
Also attending were State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, Tom Rogers of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, representatives of U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, AMERIND (American Indian Insurance) and many others.
This year students on local school buses will be entertained by music aimed at their age group.
The VC-Pauma school board Thursday night voted to approve BusRadio for the district’s school buses.
BusRadio is a media company specializing in audio programming for children as they travel to and from school on the bus.
Unlike regular AM/FM broadcasting, BusRadio shows are downloaded through a Wi-Fi network every night to each bus equipped with free, custom-designed BusRadio units.
So the school district actually doesn’t pay a cent for the programming, but it does subject the students to advertising aimed at their age group.
Programming is split into three separate shows that are tailored to elementary, middle and high school audiences. This provides programming that is age-appropriate.
The program is somewhat controversial because it also includes eight minutes of commercial programming for every hour of musical programming.
But at the same time the students are always targeted with age-appropriate music, without offensive lyrics or adult DJ banter.
San Marcos Unified School District was the first district in the county to adopt BusRadio.
“It has just taken off,” reported Pam Moe, the district’s business manager. “It’s such a positive program nationwide that you have to be on a waiting list.”
The district’s transportation director was in close contact with the San Marco district’s transportation director when they were testing the system.
“They did not receive one complaint, but many calls supporting it,” said Mrs. Moe.
The free radios include GPS units so the buses’ locations can be tracked at all times.
“It’s really not a string attached, although it is sponsored by companies such as Nike and so forth,” said Mrs. Moe.\
The program is now in schools in 24 states.
BusRadio is able to monitor how much the programs are being listened to, and school districts are given money from time to time.
For instance the San Marcos district recently got a check for $5,000.
Before unanimously voting for the BusRadio program trustees listened to a report by NPR news. They learned that on one bus that the bus driver found that it was much easier to keep the children in order when they were being entertained by the music.
“Sometimes the kids will start singing along with the music. It’s still just as loud as without the music, but the kids are in better order,” said one bus driver.
The Valley Roadrunner
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Website: www.valleycenter.com
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