Voice of the People: Comments from Final MAC Meeting

by Joseph Okon, B-BAR-H Resident

Towards the end of the final MAC meeting held on October 13, 2011 at Bubbling Wells Elementary School, the subject came up that the golf course across from the B Bar H Ranch had been purchased by a Canadian group. They are trying to finance a project of approx. 250 million US dollars. They would also need to raise 10 million to bring  water to the location. Their project may bring a new type of time sharing whereby Canadian's would become condominium owners that share properties for a 3 month period out of the year. 

The layout of the architectural structure  of the condos is unknown to us at this time. So there is concern as to the height of the structure possibly blocking the view of our buildings. But as this project has so far been finacially unachievable. The likeliness of the property being annexed into Desert Hot Springs when all is said and done is still a reality yet to be seen.

The question was presented to us as to whether the B Bar H Ranch owners were willing to hear a proposal presented by the DHS city administrators as to accepting us into the DHS city limits. Several flattering remarks were made about the new  DHS administration's accomplishments. However the fact remains that they were less than seven years ago bankrupt and are still financially incapable of providing us with sidewalks, natural gas, and a sewer system. They already admitted that they cannot even provide these things to the project across the street at the Golf Course site. They asked the Canadians to pay for everything so that they can be accepted into the DHS city limits.

I am making this point to say that the 10 B Bar H Ranch residents at the meeting who said that they would like to hear what DHS has to say post haste. Should be more concern with the B Bar H Ranch water project being completed and the reduction of taxes that will now entitle us to only street cleaning, the resurfacing of existing roads to county road status, the cleaning of the road surface and the maintainance of existing street lights. 

Things that we did not get are being put aside as money collected from previous property tax has up to this point not been utilized. So why focus attention on DHS instead of the money already spent on something that is pending.

This is peculiar behavior to me. Why would someone want to pay DHS taxes for missing services. We are in an economically down turned period in US history. Some of you have purchased homes at 25cents on the dollar value from cost at time of development. So I image that you saved a good amount of money during the purchase of your home. Why spend more for less. That is what you will be doing if we become part of DHS at this time. They do not have money for the utilities that make the difference between remaining unincorporated and being part of their city.

Hope that we all are thinking clearly on the subject. Hearing a proposal when other issues  are not resolved is tantamount to moving from a position of weakness.

We should handle the business that is at hand. Not the two in the bush...

23 B-BAR-H Residents at Neighborhood Meeting

Mr. Kevin Feagans graciously hosted the B-BAR-H Community Association - Neighborhood Watch Meeting at his residence located on the north end of the B-BAR-H Ranch on Wednesday, February 9, 2011. It was a full house. There were 23 residents in attendance. 

We have a strong community of concerned home owners who want to make a difference for our area.  Everyone was strongly urged to attend the upcoming DHS Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) Meeting on March 10, 2011 at 6:00 P.M., Bubbling Wells Elem. School to voice their opinions and get more involved in MAC activities.

It was wonderful to get together, meet our new neighbors and discuss ideas and share our thoughts for upcoming neighborhood events.  We discussed the Annual Clean Up Day scheduled for May 14, 2011.  Riverside County's Chaka Ferrell leads the Clean Up Day event and the B-BAR-H Ranch residents volunteer their time to scale the neighborhood of unwanted trash.  Riverside County supplies dumpsters at the B-BAR-H Ranch Arch from 7 a.m. until Noon.  Come early!   The annual Clean Up Day makes a huge difference within our community.  

The next B-BAR-H Ranch Community Association - Neighborhood Watch Meeting is scheduled for April at the home of Kay Urey.  Details, location and agenda will be emailed as we approach April.  

MAC 5th District - Municipal Advisory Council More Teamwork Safety Progress

The DHS MAC is making headway on many issues proposed by the residents of CSA115.  Here's a few items we are working diligently with Riverside County Staff to resolve:

1. CSA115 original law and documentation (visit links below)
2. Road maintenance
3. Shoulder grading
4. Barricades for illegal traffic via empty lots

The four hot topics above have been discussed and addressed by the 5th District Municipal Advisory Council of Supervisor Marion Ashley's Office under the direct guidance and support of Project Manager Brenda Salas-Freeman.  We are making accomplishments and taking safe strides in resolving issues brought to the MAC by concerned residents within the CSA115.

Riverside County Transportation Department is installing barricades on Bubbling Wells Road to prevent illegal trafficking through empty lots adjacent to Bubbling Wells.  Children and parents can now enjoy freedom knowing their neighborhood is safe to play outside!  Special thanks are extended to Mustafa Salama of the Riverside  County Transportation Dept to help us resolve this safety issue.

Barricades are also planned for empty lots on Paintbrush Trail to prevent illegal traffic by off-road vehicles, illegal dumping in fields and minimize area disturbances.  Special thanks to Riverside Code Enforcement and the Sheriff's Dept. for helping us resolve this issue.  Illegal traffic through vacant lots on the north end of the B-BAR-H Ranch will finally be stopped! 

With the help and assistance of the Local Agency Formation Commission's (LAFCO) Crystal M. Craig, Local Government Analyst II, CSA115 residents were able to obtain original documentation to address road maintenance issues.  CSA115 residents are concerned about the annual taxes paid for their roads and requested assistance from Riverside County Staff to address road maintenance in a proactive approach to reduce costs and future spending.

CSA115 Formation Documents:
LAFCO 1977-33-4_Formation Docs

CSA115 Sphere of Influence Study:  
LAFCO 1985-73-3 SOI Study

CSA115 Sphere of Influence & Review:
4j 2006-87-4_CSA115SOI

Additional information found online defines County Service Area (CSA) and defines the CSA Laws:

County Service Area

CSA Law

Residents of CSA115 are grateful for the assistance they receive from County Staff.  As a team, we work diligently to resolve issues.  To attend a DHS MAC meeting,  please refer to the meeting schedule posted on the Home Page of this Blog! 

MAC 5th District - Municipal Advisory Council kicks off new year with resolutions!

A DHS MAC Meeting was held on Thursday, January 13, 2011.  It was a very active and informative gathering.  Brenda Salas-Freeman did an excellent job coordinating presentations made by Riverside County Code Enforcement, Transportation and EDA.

CSA 115 residents thank Riverside County for their ongoing support.

Major CSA 115 issues were discussed and resolved.  Here's a brief summary:

1. Bill Brown, EDA, CSA Operations Manager, discussed the issue of using CSA 115 funds for road maintenance.  Under CSA 115, the use of funds is allowed only for roads & lighting, but NOT for maintenance like cleaning, grating, etc.  The funds are in reserve for fixing, repairing, resurfacing, etc.  But the money can't be used to clean, sweep, etc.  Therefore, Mr. Brown asked all  CSA 115 residents to send feedback about their concerns regarding the maintenance of the roads within CSA 115.  Please send ideas, suggestions, comments, concerns, regarding road maintenance within CSA 115 to Webmaster@PaintbrushTrail.com.  Mr. Brown will collect this information and meet with other Riverside County Officials to design a program to address the road maintenance issues within CSA 115.  One idea he suggested is creating an annual taxation of $75 per household which would cover the cost of maintenance, cleaning, grating and street sweeping twice monthly within the CSA 115.   

2. Mojahed Salama, Transportation Dept., discussed two important CSA 115 topics: (1) Road Maintenance (2) Vacant Lot-Illegal Trespassing.  First, he explained why CSA 115 roads can't be maintained by the County. In brief, what he said is the roads were not built to County maintenance standards and therefore, can't be maintained by the County.  The cost to bring CSA 115 roads up to County standards would cost over 1 Million Dollars!  He and Mr. Brown will be working together to develop a remedy for maintaining CSA 115 roads.  CSA 115 residents' ideas and suggestions will become part of their solution so please send them in an email to Webmaster@PaintbrushTrail.com.  Second, Mr. Salama discussed the vacant lot problem -- people using the lots to drive through from Sagebrush Trail to Bubbling Wells Road and from Paintbrush Trail by off-road vehicles.  As a solution to this problem, Riverside County Transportation is going to install k rail cement barricades along the vacant lots on Bubbling Wells Road and along the vacant lots on Paintbrush Trail.  This will finally put an end to a problem that has persisted within CSA 115 for many years.

3. Lorena Diaz, Code Enforcement Officer, discussed the ongoing issues within CSA 115 and shared case loads and ongoing issues.  Ms. Diaz has worked closely with some of the lot owners and has obtained permission to install barricades to prevent off road access.  Working with Transportation Dept, this solution will finally put an end to a long time ongoing problem within the north end of the B-BAR-H Ranch.  A letter granting permission by lot owners is being sent to Transportation for their files.

4. Chaka Ferrel, Community Improvement, Code Enforcement, discussed our next Clean Up Day.  Please mark your calendar for May 14, 2011.  Once again, Riverside County will supply dumpsters at the B-BAR-H Ranch Arch from 7 a.m. until Noon.  We need volunteers for this event.  Come early!   The annual Clean Up Day truly makes a difference within our community.  

5.  Sheriff  Sullivan, Riverside County Sheriff Dept. presented a brief summary of local events and issues handled in a timely manner by Officers.  He discussed the off-road vehicle problem within CSA 115/B-BAR-H Ranch and assured residents action is being taken to address this ongoing issue. 

CSA 115 residents' input is being requested by Riverside County.  Please post comments with ideas and suggestions you may have regarding the maintenance of CSA 115 roads, and your comments will be forwarded them to Mr. Brown.  Should you have any questions, please ask. Active participation in developing a solution for road maintenance is appreciated.

DHS MAC more progress - stop signs installed

Riverside County Transportation Department responded quickly to a recent request made by the DHS Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) to install a stop sign at the Sagebrush Trail and El Serape Trail intersection located within the B-BAR-H Ranch.  The corner was identified by local residents as a danger zone for incoming/outgoing vehicles.  

There have been several close misses at the intersection.  People coming into the area and people leaving had no traffic controls.  Now, when using the Sagebrush Trail exit, people will be required to stop.

Special thanks are extended to EDA Project Manager Brenda Salas for being the liaison with the Transportation Department to accomplish the DHS MAC task.  Brenda coordinates and leads seven MAC groups within Riverside County.  The MAC groups make community improvement recommendations to County Supervisors' offices throughout Riverside County.  

An additional stop sign was placed at the corner of Paintbrush Trail and El Serape Trail.  Residents anticipate the additional stop signs will slow speeders in the neighborhood.  The stop sign installations fall within Supervisor Marion Ashley's  5th District.  Supervisor Ashley is dedicated to helping the County's 5th District residents resolve safety issues.  

For more information about a MAC in your area, please contact Brenda Salas at 951.955.6046.  Meetings are held quarterly, and all residents living in unincorporated areas of Riverside County are invited to attend.  

Participating in a MAC meeting creates a forum for residents to speak directly with their County Supervisor.  It's one of the best results-oriented communication vehicles Riverside County has implemented to streamline processes and create a team effort! 

 

A letter to Riverside County: CSA 115 - Low-Cost Solutions for High-Risk Safety Issues

Your meeting went well last Thursday, however, there were items not addressed which our neighborhood was depending upon receiving feedback.  As a result, people have been contacting me directly wanting answers to their questions regarding issues they've been wanting resolved for over a year. 

On behalf of CSA 115, it's time we take action.  Our neighborhood decided they do NOT want to wait another 3 -6 months to get our minor safety needs addressed.

CSA 115 for B-BAR-H Ranch can work directly with Transportation to achieve our "small" requests for addressing minor safety issues. 

The main problems are:

1.  Stop Signs on the North side have been on the list for over a year.  We can get these stop signs installed without waiting another 3-6 months.  We need them immediately at the corner of El Serape Trail and Sagebrush Trail (and Paintbrush Trail and El Serape).   El Serape Trail and Sagebrush Trail is a very high risk corner and today another close call occurred which almost resulted in a head on crash!  I happened to be at the corner when this incident happened.  They got out of their car, and I told the people I would contact you directly to get the problem resolved immediately.  School is out and kids are playing outside.  Not having a stop sign poses high risk for the children.

2. Street Cleaning. The streets within the North side of the ranch are filled with sand and the corners are dangerous when turning.  Vehicles slide when making turns and it is very dangerous.  Yesterday a small child slid off his bike and severely scraped his legs and arms. We want the streets here cleaned to prevent further accidents.  We can't wait 3-6 months for this item to become an agenda item without resolution!

3.  Cement Barricades needed for the empty lots on Bubbling Wells will detract illegal trespassing.  I've already worked with Transportation to get some installed, and after this week's incident regarding a break-in, we want this addressed quickly without waiting 6 months for MAC meeting discussions.

We need to address these issues immediately.  We do NOT want to wait another 3 months for feedback from the MAC without any progress or decisions.  We can easily work directly with Transportation for these items.  There's plenty of funds in the CSA 115 account to cover these low-cost solutions to high-risk safety issues. 

Please advise the quickest way for us to get these issues resolved --- either work through you to get the issues addressed or you support us in working directly with Transportation to implement low-cost solutions to these high-risk problems.

Please reply so I can get feedback to the people who have been waiting patiently for these items to be addressed. 

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Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) District 5 Meeting #2

Here's the time/date/place for our second MAC Meeting. Please mark your calendar to attend:

Thursday, October 8, 2009
6:00 P.M.
Bubbling Wells Elementary School

Guest Speaker:

Mojahed Salama, Riverside County Transportation Dept

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NEWS & UPDATES:

New Road Project -- For those of you who do NOT want the new road, please see the email copied below from Mr. Steve Hernandez, Legislative Assistant to Supervisor Marion Ashley. I forwarded the "stop the road project petition" to Mr. Hernandez and asked him what we needed to do to stop the project from proceeding.

Here's the response:

from Hernandez, Steven
to Anna Miller
date Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 9:38 AM
subject RE: B-BAR-H Ranch Road Project Update

Hi Anna,

We will not proceed with a project that the community does not want or deem necessary.

Steven Hernandez
Legislative Assistant to Supervisor Marion Ashley
951-955-1050

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Community Improvements -- Based on feedback from our community, the following community improvements will be proposed and submitted to the MAC for approval: mellow/solar lamps, road resurfacing and stop signs within our neighborhood. Other improvements will be proposed to include: center divider lines (20th ave & Bubbling Wells), no dumping signs (20th ave), improved visibility at corner (Palm & 20th ave). The attached map was created from ideas submitted by Andy Biswas, Jim Fosbinder, and Jodi Duffie.

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Speed Bumbs Update -- I spoke extensively with Mr. Salama from the Transportation Department about speed bumps, and as a result think we need to revisit the need for speed bumps in our neighborhood. Here's a list of very good reasons why we should not install speed bumps:

1. it slows down an emergency vehicle; and sometimes a few seconds of time matters when it's a life/death situation. Emergency Response Personnel do NOT like speed bumps.

2. because we have no curbs, drivers will make paths around the speed bump to avoid them creating a mess on the landscape

3. they are noisey

We can discuss alternatives at our next MAC meeting.

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MAC District 5 Map -- See attached map of our MAC area from Brenda Salas. For any further details, please contact Brenda Salas.

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B-BAR-H Ranch Arch Update -- I spoke with Riverside Historical Expert Keith Herron. Keith suggested we proceed with a meeting with the land owner to express our interest in preserving the Arch. He also said a letter of endorsement from the DHS Historical Society would be helpful. Rose Alsup is helping with this project.

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Changing our Address Name from DHS to something else -- Many people here do NOT want to use the Desert Hot Springs name in our mailing address. We can have it changed. We need to meet to create a new name, and then we can set up a meeting with the USPS Post Master to implement the change. Let's talk about it at our next MAC meeting when the agenda opens for public comments.

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