Close to twenty showed for the Mountain Communities Municipal Advisory Council meeting at the community center last night. Those of you reading that were not there were all missed. You should come next time. More than "the usuals" need to come.
The MAC voted on its scope. It is to be a conduit, a liaison between us and the Kern County Board of Supervisors. To accomplish this, they will be relying on survey results. The only problem is very few are responding. Click here to print and participate in their first survey. Let the county know what is important to you.
Mary Ann Lockhart of the Tri-County Watchdogs opened the public presentations segment by telling the story of enterprising individuals in South America that sell tours of the Andean landscape to offer views of the condors down south. "Why can't we do the same? This is condor country. Sure they're ugly but they have the longest wingspan of any bird; beside the ones in South America." Lockhart said the Sierra Club had 3 groups tour the area over the last year. She also continued on about the opportunity for artists to design and sell "condor paraphernalia".
Lockhart closed her presentation with an admonition to "stop the micro-trash". Condors have a knack for picking up these small bits and feeding it to their young; causing them to choke unfortunately.
Fred Rose, pastor of the Frazier Park Evangelical Free Church, concisely listed some needs that he is aware of:
- The pond in Frazier Mountain Park needs to be dredged (it hasn't been for over 11 years)
- The park could use a multi-purpose building that could be used in all seasons
- The county isn't using local resources for its construction projects: local contractors and building materials. Our local hardware stores haven't sold any lumber and other materials to the contractor building the library.
Rose also asked about the status of the visitor kiosk at Flying J but only got a "promise to answer". On the mention of a multi-purpose building council member Stacey Havener brought up a mitigation measure for Tejon Mountain Village. "TMV is to contribute a an 'improvement' to the existing community." If TMV ever moves forward, that may be a possibility but it is currently tied up in court with The Center for Biological Diversity and Tri-County Watchdogs.
The MCMAC sped through the more mundane agenda items: approval of the minutes from the last meeting, approval of the MCMAC bylaws, mailing address, website. The bylaws are of note because there was some contention by Linda MacKay over whether the MCMAC could amend them. They could not so that discussion was stopped. This reporter offered to help them with a website.
Discussion of the Frazier Park Estates project and light pollution gave Lorelei Oviatt of the Kern County Planning Commission opportunity to share some news. Eric Anderson pointed out new lighting installed on a couple businesses in Lake of the Woods raising the light pollution issue. Oviatt said the county was working on a Dark Sky Ordinance to regulate lighting that obscures the starlight that so many residents and visitors enjoy.
Oviatt said the Planning Commission recomended the Frazier Park Estates project be scaled back to 188 homes. Derrill Whitten of Cornerstone Engineering for FPE said there was a new proposal of 500 homes that didn't have the problems of the initial plan. He said that the water needed for the project was sufficient. Oviatt agreed but said there was a question about whether FPE would be able to access the supply.
