Testing for carcinogens in VC’s water system should begin by the end of this week or the beginning of the next.
Results should be available by early December. The testing will cost from $24,000-$26,000.
In a report at Monday’s VC Municipal Water District board meeting, Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant reported that the district and the cancer cluster liaison group (Community Committee for the Valley Center Community Project) on Oct. 28 agreed on the 23 pesticide chemicals to be tested for.
Some residents believe that a cancer cluster affecting young people exists in Valley Center. They have worked with The San Diego/Imperial Organization for Cancer Control (SANDIOCC) since early this year.
Although the SANDIOCC has issued the opinion that no evidence exists of a cancer cluster, it did second the committee’s request that VCMWD test for possible carcinogens as part of the committee’s effort to identify the cause of the alleged cluster.
The district and the four members of the committee have been negotiating for awhile as to what chemicals to test for.
At the district’s insistence, sampling will be limited to chemicals for which there are existing Environmental Protection Agency tests.
A list of chemicals that have been used as pesticides in the area was provided by the county Dept. of Agriculture.
The district will also test the water it buys from the Metropolitan Water District as it enters the VCMWD’s system at the First and Second Aqueducts.
If the water tests the same entering the system that it does within the system, that would rule out that it is affected by something within the VC system.
The district regularly tests water at 18 locations. Eight of these will be used for the carcinogen test. They are mainly on the east side of town, the area the cancer cluster group has identified as having the highest number of cancers.
“We won’t be testing at any place other than our approved test site,” said Arant, who said the cancer cluster group had requested that the district test at some homes and at the schools.
Arant refused, he said, because the district doesn’t have any control over the water once it enters a home or business.
Sampling will be done by independent technicians. District personnel will have no role. Members of the liaison committee have been invited to send observers to accompany the technicians.
The technicians will send samples to the various labs to be tested. These are located in San Diego and Riverside counties.
“Some of these chemicals are so exotic that local labs don’t have facilities to test for them,” said Arant.
Corporate Facility
The board Monday voted to authorize staff to hire an architect to study the existing district facility on Valley Center Road to determine if there is enough land to meet future needs.
This study will help the district to determine whether it should look for another property to relocate.
“Before we launch out and purchase a new site, we should determine whether we can further develop the existing site,” said Arant.
The study would include factors such as the district’s growth plans and how many employees will be needed in future.
Arant recommended asking the consultant to provide a preliminary facility layout, construction sequencing analysis and various scenarios.
“We want the architect to come look at the site and say, ‘Yeah, you can do it here and this is how you would do it,” said Arant.
The study of what the district could do on the existing site would compare what it could do on an “unconstrained” site.
For instance, would the district have to build a two story build or a parking structure in order to stay at the same location.
Also to be considered is whether the existing site could be further utilized by buying some adjacent land.
At same time staff look at the costs of buying nearby properties that might suit the district’s needs.
When Arant first started talking about this issue, traffic at Valley Center Road and Vesper was cited as a potential problem to staying at the current location.
“Since we talked about this we have noticed that traffic is backing up all over town,” said Arant.
The newly formed organization Open Cougar Pass has hired the San Diego law firm of Seltzer and Kaplan to represent it.
The organization, made up mainly of Hidden Meadows residents who take their children to school in Valley Center, is fighting efforts by the owner of an easement through Cougar Pass to close it to all traffic except for the VC Municipal Water District.
The organization hopes to challenge new owner John Braman’s intention to ultimately gate the dirt road that has connected Valley Center and Hidden Meadows for half a century.
In response to Braman’s request last week in The Roadrunner that those wanting to use the road should write him for permission, Open Cougar Pass spokesman Dorothy Steinbeck stated: “People should not send letters. Our position is that road has existed for fifty years.
“Kathy Rodriguez, a longtime Hidden Meadows resident, says that she first went from Hidden Meadows to Cougar Pass in 1948,” said Mrs. Steinbeck.
A similar effort to close the road, called by many “the bunny trail,” in 1999 failed to be carried to fruition, partially because the water district took such a strong position against it.
However, according to VCMWD Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant, district counsel later advised that the district didn’t have a strong case to keep the easement open.
“Last time we got into the issue our legal counsel told us that while we can certainly maintain our easement rights, we have no way to force the property owner not to put up gates. If that gentleman wants to put gates up he has to comply with our encroachment requirements and provide us with a key to the gate,” said Arant.
The district doesn’t have the power to either build a road or by eminent domain force a road, said Arant. “By law we have limited powers and operating roads is not one of them. In our view the County needs to solve this by making it a public road. The district never granted people permission to use that road. People who are using it do so without our permission.”
This situation is different from three years ago when the impetus to close the easement came from the Meadows Home Assn. in Hidden Meadows.
This time the push comes from John Braman, (who recently bought the 15.4 acres) and from many of those who live along the dirt road extension of Betsworth.
They want the road closed because it attracts too much traffic, trash and noise.
Wanting the road closed and making it stick are two different things, however.
On Oct. 28, Lawrence Watt deputy director of the county Dept. of Public Works sent a letter to Braman after Braman called Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn’s office and said he planned to gate the pass.
Watt replied that while Cougar Pass is not part of the County road system, “It, however, may be considered a ‘public’ (though, again, not part of the County’s road maintenance responsibility) road in that the public might consider it available for their use because of continuing public use of the road.”
Watt added, “in similar cases, there have been claims by members of the public that they may have ‘prescriptive rights’ over a road, which permit their use of the road for purposes of through traffic. These ‘prescriptive rights’ must be perfected within a court of law for the rights to be truly established, but can be done so through evidence that there has been continuous use over an extended period of time by one or more individuals.”
DPW has received several calls from residents concerned about the proposed closing, wrote Watt, who advised Braman to get a land use attorney if he persisted in his plans.
Mrs. Steinbeck, who is a policy adviser with Horn, says her association with Open Cougar Pass is totally unconnected with her work for the County.
“I was involved in trying to keep this from happening three years ago, when I was not working for Horn, and nothing has changed. I still want to see the road kept open,” she said.
VC-Pauma School Supt. Jeff Mulford begins his final week as superintendent this Friday.
His last day of work will be Oct. 15. All along it has been Dr. Mulford’s wish to leave the district as quietly as possible.
A retirement gala was held for him last month, and at the last school board meeting that he will attend, Mulford was given a plaque and an emotional goodbye by board president Pat Simpson.
“We can’t let you get away from your last meeting without something,” said Simpson, who added, “I for one am very proud to say that I belong to this district and have been able to work with such an exceptional person.
“You only need to go to CSBA (California School Boards Assn.) conferences to know how good we’ve got it. I’m sorry it’s over. I’ve learned a great deal from you, and the way you stacked the staff around you with quality people.”
Knowing that Mulford “hates plaques” Simpson and fellow board members presented Mulford with a commemorative cube paper weight and a little director’s chair to note the fact that the board was donating a chair at the high school performing arts center (not yet built) in his name.
“That chair will have a plaque that you can’t take off!” quipped Simpson.
Mulford told the board “The success of this school district has been in no small measure the result of the quality of our school board. I appreciate the honor of being allowed to serve the students of Valley Center for many years.”
Mulford’s quarter century at the district has included several years as assistant principal at the middle school, principal at the middle school and 11 years as superintendent.
Mulford’s successor, Karen Jobe’s, first board meeting will be Nov. 14.
Many people celebrate Veteran’s Day without realizing its significance.
On Friday, students at the VC Lower Elementary School will learn about Veteran’s Day and what it means from several distinguished local veterans.
Many of the veterans are relatives of the teachers who have invited them to speak.
Speakers will include:
Linda Neal, Air Force nurse, Lt. Colonel (ret). She served in Vietnam and numerous friendship missions, including missions to Ukraine and Honduras.
Jennifer Porter, Air Force Senior Airman, 4th Class. A Gulf War veteran and Airman of the Year for 1998.
Doug Wright, Navy Petty Officer, 3rd Class. Vietnam War veteran.
Dave Jennings, former Navy pilot.
Darrell Hatcher, Marine Corps Sgt. Major (ret). Served from 1976-1998, including Somalia.
Scott Langhoff, Navy Chief (ret). Served from 1975-2001. He will speak about life at sea and the cultures of many foreign countries. He is employed by the Veteran’s Administration.
Bill Horn, former Marine Corps pilot in Vietnam.
Virgil Griffin, Marine Corps (ret). Served in Vietnam and is current district commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Harvey Bennit, a member of the VFW, will recite “Old Tattered Flag.”
Pat Murphy, Navy aviator, a member of the Blue Angels. Served in Korea and Vietnam and aboard the USS Princeton.
Bill Johnston, WWII veteran, Army Air Corps.
R.C. Allen, Navy underwater ordinances, currently in the reserves.
Pat Jewel, former Marine, 1963-66.
Cal-Diego Paralyzed Vets will also send two of its members. Their names were not available at press time.
The Valley Roadrunner
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