By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Crest Forest Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) meets bi-monthly at the San Moritz Lodge to inform the community of what the county has planned, to hear reports from various public agencies about what they are doing and to allow the residents to express their needs to the county supervisor’s representative, Robin Bull.
The members of the Crest Forest MAC are Steve Garcia, chairman; Gilbert Flores, vice chairman; and members Sara Green, Amber Crubaugh and Tel Preszler.
The first speaker at the Aug. 5 meeting was Captain Craig Harris of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office in Twin Peaks. Since the last MAC meeting, they had had over 2,000 calls for service, wrote 142 reports and arrested 43 persons. The largest number of calls were for domestic violence and narcotics; they were busy doing proactive calls including search warrants and traffic stops.
The station has some personnel changes coming but they are fully staffed; two new deputies joined the station after their tour of duty at the county jail.
Lt. Isaiah Kee of the California Highway Patrol gave stats over the period of April through June, with 1,437 citations issued, 906 warnings and 2,600 traffic stops with 51 arrests, mostly for DUI. Overall traffic collisions were down. They have four sergeants at the station and are fully staffed. They have spent time serving warrants, helping to get drugs off the mountain.
They also have been concerned with the lack of sufficient parking around Lake Gregory, creating parking problems in the residential areas with cars parking illegally on streets and walkways, causing traffic problems; tickets will be issued for illegally parked vehicles. Cars over the white lines into the street and those parked on sidewalks are all subject to ticketing.
County Fire reported they have been on several rescues, including a fatigued and injured hiker had to be rescued from Deep Creek and a July 2 structure fire. Their dive team retrieved the drowning victim on July 8 with their new fireboat. They also retrieved the over-the-side vehicle accident victim on Highway 18. The victim was fortunate a witness saw the vehicle go over the side and called it in. That call from the witness enabled the fire department to bring the victim up the steep mountainside. Their constant training made that rescue possible.
They were also pleased to be a part of the exciting June 29 Duck Derby. They supplied the water that propelled the ducks to shore. They are also excited that the name of their new fireboat has been chosen and will be announced soon.
Everyone should now be focused on the current fire danger situation as fall begins; they ask all residents to clear their properties to the suggested clearances, for the safety of their own homes, and to get their neighbors to also clear their properties.
Running Springs was recently designed a FireSafe Community. The actions the community had previously taken helped them survive the Line Fire last fall.
Residents should sign up for emergency alerts at sbcfire.org and all residents should learn to turn off their gas service and be prepared for any disaster, including earthquakes, with three days of supplies ready. In case of a major area disaster, help from down the hill is unlikely to be able to reach the mountaintop area quickly.
Bill Mellinger from the Rim of the World Unified School District school board gave an update as school started on Aug. 12. Adult ed was to return to the mountain on Aug. 19 with high hchool diploma programs and ESL classes for parents to help their children be more successful in school. The enrollment is exploding and the classes are still accepting enrollees.
Mellinger reminded everyone that blinking lights on a school bus with its stop sign extended means to stop immediately and not to pass on any side of the bus as it is dangerous for the students, and is an expensive, ticketable offense. All district students are eligible for a free bus pass. The schools will also be offering free lunches this year, but students must be registered.
Superintendent Dr. Paul Sevillano reported that all schools now have generators, so scheduled electrical outages will not close the schools this year. The federal funds for the bond issues will be released soon so they will soon be able to sell the bonds. Measure E will pay for some infrastructure and repair the sites. The sooner the repairs are made, the less expensive they will be, as construction costs continue to go up as years progress. They have a list of needed repairs but the community committee for Measure E will decide how those funds are spent. The staff is being trained on how to use artificial intelligence within the school setting, and the schools are now fully staffed.
The Lake Gregory Community Advisory Committee reported the rangers are writing parking tickets. The committee realizes they need better signage for the visitors to find the spots for fishing, parking and bait shops. The board of supervisors will be voting on Sept. 17 on the children’s new playground at Lake Gregory. It will be located next to the dog park near the San Moritz Meadow. The permits on lake dredging are under way and they have all the approvals except from the Department of Fish and Wildlife; that application has been sent. They hope to begin the dredging during the open window between nesting and spawning, and to get the proper areas completely dredged this season for the health of the lake.
The Lake Gregory Company sought the old well that used to water the two-acre meadow; they finally found the valve to the well, but the well is dry. It had been damaged/destroyed during the storm of 2007.
The lake will continue be stocked with catfish. When the water gets cooler, trout will again be stocked. Fishing continues to be very popular at Lake Gregory and attracts many from off the mountain. The algae bloom has not been a problem this summer; the water has been testing very well. The turtle eggs should hatch soon, between the next 20 to 45 days.
The inflatable islands are very popular despite the cooler weather this summer. They have a new green island with more slides; it is four feet taller and 10 feet larger than last summer. With the warmer weather seemingly to have arrived, it looks good to stay open daily through Labor Day if the crowds continue.
The Lake Gregory Friday night market and concerts may continue past Labor Day, but it depends upon the attendance and the weather.
Mountain Transit noted their Dial-a-Ride program is now called their “premium service.” A $5 fee will apply to those who are not ADA certified seniors or veterans. There will be fliers produced soon to explain the program in more detail or see their website: Mtntransit.org.
The Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce was represented by Lori Butler who invited everyone to attend Brewfest on Aug. 2 at Lake Arrowhead Village. She also encouraged all to attend the Sept. 20 Lake Arrowhead Home Tour. She suggested getting tickets early as the tour is already half sold-out.
Lake Arrowhead Village is undergoing a facelift with upgrades including painting, plumbing and a new central pedestrian area with firepits. It should be completed by this fall.
Robin Bull, reporting for Supervisor Dawn Rowe, said the State of the County presentation on economic development will take place on Sept. 17 at the Ontario Convention Center. Bull encouraged those attending, whether in person or on Zoom, to sign up and learn about the county’s future. Also, sign up to receive the Supervisor’s newsletter to stay informed on what is occurring, including events in the county.
The next Crest Forest MAC meeting will be held at the San Moritz Lodge at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 7. The Lake Arrowhead MAC will hold their next meeting at the Twin Peaks County building at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4. These meetings can be watched on Zoom.
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