The Yuima, Pauma & Mootamai Municipal Water District’s board of directors Monday, Feb. 23 dedicated the new Fire Apparatus Building to the Pauma Valley Community.
The event was attended by over 150 community members, local contractors, fire chiefs and local fire departments and representatives from State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth and Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries’s offices.
Lori Johnson, director of finance for the Yuima MWD and project manager of the job said, “We could not have stayed within our limited budget for this job without the help of our local contractors and donations from our nearby Indian reservations.”
The cost of the project totaled $268,000. The donations of labor, materials and support from local contractors and reservations totaled over $40,000.
W.D. “Bill” Knutson, president of the Yuima MWD board gave a brief background of the Fire Mitigation Fee Program which funded this project.
Fire Mitigation Fee funds have been collected over the past 20 years from building permits for new development in the area. Yuima administers the fire protection in the area through a cooperative agreement with the California Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Monday’s program included local Boy Scout Troop 673 who presented the colors and flag salute.
Father Joe Patronik of St. Francis Episcopal Church stepped in for Rincon Tribal Elder Leo Calac who was in the hospital.
Father Joe blessed the building and gave a special prayer for the safety for all those who provide emergency services.
Cal Fire Division Chief Kevin O’Leary talked about the history of the project and how the building concept, from many years back, became a reality.
That journey included many steps and hurdles that had to be overcome.
Yuima’s Gen. Mgr. Linden A. Burzell recognized those who were involved for their donations of materials, service and support.
He also surprised Lori Johnson by putting her name, along with those involved in the project, on the building plaque to memorialize her efforts.
This building will be a big part of providing essential services for years to come for the community of Pauma Valley and the surrounding areas.
It is located on state land behind the Cal Fire Building on Hwy. 76.
Last Wednesday’s 4-H Pie Auction raised $5,851 for the Jason Armstrong Scholarship.
Note: Last week we erroneously reported that the proceeds were also shared with the Matt Cully Scholarship, however that was only for one year. We regret the error.
According to the event’s organizer, Susan Armstrong, “The total was $5,851! That is wonderful! It was such a busy night in VC, two CIF games and it was also Ash Wednesday, but we had an amazing turn-out! It’s humbling after all these years to still have such awesome community support! What a great community VC is!”
Scholarship applications are available from Becky Rumble at the Valley Center High School counseling office.
In a little more than two weeks the community will crown a new Miss Valley Center and Junior Miss Valley Center.
The pageant is March 21 at 6 p.m. at the Maxine Theater.
The girls have been busy learning their speeches, practicing their questions, learning the dance, and having a great time.
This week the contestants went to the Valley Center Optimist Club to serve them dinner.
The Optimist Club is one of the pageant's major sponsors.
They had a great time answering all of the questions they had for them.
Instead of the club’s usual buffet style of serving, they were served in a “sit-down” fashion three course dinner, by the contestants.
You can find the girls at the Farmers Market on Thursday March 12. They will have tickets to sell and for a $1 you can ask one of them a pageant question.
This is your opportunity to meet the contestants before the pageant.
You can buy tickets from any one of the girls or at The Roadrunner office or Country Junction Deli (after 3 p.m. at the deli).
If you have questions, wish to donate items or contribute to the pageant call Debra Jockinsen @ 751-1051 or email at jockinsen@vcweb.org.
The Valley Center Fire Protection District’s newest fire engine will enter service soon, according to a report given at the February fire board meeting.
Engineer Dan Beeson has been the district’s point man on getting the new Smeal Type 1 pumper into service. The engine’s acquisition cost was nearly $374,000 with an additional $120,000 spent for related apparatus and equipment.
At that meeting it was reported that Beeson has been waiting on equipment from the manufacturer before the truck could be put into service.
Unlike most vehicles, fire engines are virtually custom-made for customers, who can order them with their own preferred “bells and whistles.”
Fire directors showed impatience at the delays in putting the engine into service. One complained that Beeson had previously said the engine would be in service in January.
They reminded Chief Jeff Johnson that they had requested that Beeson be assigned exclusively to putting the engine into service. However the chief said that the factor that has caused delays is the manufacturer.
Because the engine will be different from engines the firefighters are familiar with, the district will soon start a “driver’s training program” for firefighters.
“It will drive dramatically different than our other engines,” said Johnson.
No Money for Amgen
Although 75 miles of the more than 90 miles of road of the final leg of the Amgen race went through VC and other rural fire districts, and local fire agencies were required by the County to provide emergency services for the race, local districts were given none of the money from the organizers.
This contrasts with the more than $50,000 that Escondido will get for being where the finish line was.
According to George Lucia, the district’s fire marshal and Palomar Mountain’s volunteer fire chief, “We were told [by the County], ‘This WILL be successful.’”
Director Mel Schuler said that if the district incurs significant costs it should go to someone and say, “ ‘We did the job but this is what it cost us. How are we supposed to make up this money?’ ”
The race organizers provided their own ALS (advanced life service) crews and ambulances, but at the time the variable was the crowd. It turned out that there were no medical emergencies along the route, except for a suicide on Palomar Mountain the morning of the race.
Lucia said he convinced the County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) involved to treat the race as a training exercise. This meant local CERT teams were paid for the training—which gave the department eyes and ears during the event.
Another factor of the fire department’s involvement with planning the race’s route was that it was able to persuade the race organizers to send the riders along North Lake Wohlford Road rather than on Valley Center Road between Cole Grade and Escondido, which includes a lot of road work.
“So we did have an effect,” observed Lucia.
Mercy Ambulance had extra ambulances available during the event. It also parked an airship on top of Palomar Mountain for part of the day.
During his monthly report, Lucia noted that the department has finished its annual cycle of business inspections.
Weed Abatement
District Administrator John Byrne reported on the weed abatement program which the district is working with the County to implement.
According to Byrne, 15 property owners were notified that they had brush and weeds that they had to cut down.
“Seven properties are still awaiting forced abatement since last August,” said Byrne.
This delay is caused, Byrne said, because county Code Compliance of the county Dept. of Planning & Land Use (DPLU) extended the period for contractors to present bids.
Ken Miller of DPLU is making arrangements for a meeting soon with all parties concerned in preparation and coordination for the upcoming weed abatement season. The season should begin as soon as the rains stop and it starts to dry out.
Reserve program bulks up
The district’s reserve program, once a 90-pound weakling, has bulked up in recent months, thanks to a successful training academy. Currently there are 31 reservists.
“We have more reserves right now than we have slots for them on the schedule,” said Byrne.
This prompted a discussion of whether or not it was advisable to have another academy soon.
Schuler said that the appearance of too many reservists was deceptive, “until the first time we lose a few and then we can’t get enough people in here … I don’t question your judgment, but I’ve seen how long it takes to put a reserve program together.”
Director Weaver Simonsen added that when the fire season starts, “We know we are going to lose some people. We need to take that into consideration. The fire season will start in April or May and they will start that seasonal hiring.”
Chief Johnson said that with 31 reservists some will barely get their minimum requirements in of three shifts a month.
“You have to look at the economic condition” he said. “The market is flooded right now. So the possibility of losing some of these reserves isn’t as high as some years.”
Three or four reservists are Cal Fire reservists who could be lost in spring. The total could drop to 27 at the worst, he said.
For that reason Byrne and Johnson are against having another academy for awhile.
“What troubles me is that we recruited reserves and told them we have a program. Now we have them here and we are saying, ‘Gee we changed our mind,’ ” said Byrne.
The cost to the district of an average reserve is $4,000 in uniform, workers comp, etc.
Director Oliver Smith suggested another way to give reservists more time: add a fifth firefighter to engine companies during busy times.
“Why go through all the effort of training if you are increasing the probability they are going to walk away? Not enough hours is one of the primary reasons they walk away.” said Smith.
The most recent academy produced more successful graduates because it systematically used a different approach, according to Johnson.
Previous academies had lost 50% of applicants.
Johnson said he feared that some senior reserves would leave if they lost the time that they were used to getting.
“I hear what you are saying but I also know from experience that we do attrit at a higher rate,” said Schuler.
The Valley Center Incorporation committee, which has been meeting over the past few months, achieved a milestone last week when several of its members met with representatives of LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission).
The full membership of the committee will hear a report Thursday night, 7–9 p.m. at Country Junction deli from Keith Davis, Brian Weaver and Jeff Here, who met with LAFCO staffers.
LAFCO is the agency responsible for overseeing such things as district creations, incorporations of cities and boundaries.
The three discussed the various aspects and requirements to initiate an incorporation for Valley Center.
According to Davis, “The meeting was engaging, constructive and informational. It left us in a position of knowing what we have to do going forward to meet LAFCO’s stringent requirements and what the ball-park cost would be.
After the presentation the committee will discuss how or if it should move forward.
The committee members learned several important facts from the LAFCO staff. They include:
• Property Taxes usually only account for 7% of the funds needed to incorporate. The group believes it can reduce expenses by contracting out services wherever possible and keeping the incorporated area smaller.
• When asked how much an incorporation effort costs, the LAFCO representative said a minimum of $100,000.
• The last incorporation effort that went through LAFCO was from citizens of Rancho Santa Fe to improve traffic control. It failed due to well funded opposition.
“Given that,” said Weaver in a report to other members, “we will probably still have a financial gap, but we don’t know how big. Unfortunately, we cannot count on funds from the Tribes to help our incorporation effort, even though we have overlapping needs for services and infrastructure.”
The group’s next step would probably be to find a specialist / consultant to estimate the financial gap and come up with strategies to fill the gap. This may cost $5,000, which, since the group is private and not publicly funded, it would have to raise itself.
Traffic was tied up for over two hours Sunday night after two cars at Lilac Road & Via Piedra collided for unknown reasons, causing the death of a 24-year-old Oceanside man, and sending two others to the hospital.
Valley Center Fire Dept. responded to the accident at 8:23 p.m.
The first vehicle was a 1992 Jeep Cherokee driving eastbound.
Emiliano Gutierrez, also of Oceanside, age 54, was driving a 2002 Toyota Tundra, westbound on Lilac Rd at 50 mph. For unknown reasons, the Cherokee crossed into the westbound lane colliding with the Tundra.
All parties were transported to Palomar Medical Center. Gutierrez sustained a broken elbow and his wife Maria suffered minor abrasions.
The driver of the Cherokee sustained major trauma, and succumbed to his injuries, and was pronounced dead on Monday at about 3 p.m. Alcohol and or drugs are believed to be a contributing factor in this collision, according to Officer Eric Newbury of the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
The identity of the fatality is being withheld pending notification to the next of kin from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
A total of three fire engines, two ambulances and one battalion chief responded to the mishap.
The Jaws of Life hydraulic rescue tool was used to extricate the driver of the truck. Because it was an offset head-on crash, the majority of the damage was to the driver’s side front. This caused the dash and front to intrude and pin the driver’s legs.
Traffic was halted for three hours and the roadway was blocked while CHP conducted an investigation.
Valley Center Middle School 7th grader Alina Gonzalez-Hernandez was acknowledged for winning the state’s CABE (California Assn. of Bilingual Educators Conference) 7th grade writing contest. See story A9.
The Valley Roadrunner
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Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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