August 31, 2005 - Top Stories
By DAVID ROSS
Valley View Casino has an expansion plan in the works that will more than double its size and add a multi-level parking structure.
This would be the first expansion of the casino since it opened in 2001.
Some earth moving on this project has already begun.
The San Pasqual Indians, who own and operate the casino, recently published an environmental evaluation that lays out the details of the project, which is very similar to an environmental assessment that was published last summer. No time table is given for the project.
Note: copies of this document are available to look at but not check out at the VC Library.
The expansion will increase the casino’s size from 47,000 sq. ft. to 105,000 and will include the addition of a six level parking structure with 1200 parking spaces. The parking lot will be located southeast of the casino.
The number of employees is expected to increase from 500 to about 700, according to the document.
The casino will also be able to expand the number of slot machines it has up to the 2,000 allowed by the Tribal State Gaming Compact. Currently the casino has about 1200 machines.
The existing wastewater treatment plant, which is located northwest of the casino, will expand as part of the project.
The current plant uses membrane filtration technology and treats about 41,000 gallons of wastewater per day. The expanded plant will be able to treat 80,000 gpd.
The water is treated to the tertiary level, which is the purest level of treated water. It is used for irrigation of the landscaping on the casino.
Also as part of the expansion, Nyemii Pass Road, which intersects North Lake Wohlford Road, will be relocated to the south 400 feet. It will be built to County road standards. This will increase sightlines and safety. The relocation will be paid for by the San Pasqual Casino Development Group Inc.
An environmental assessment is another name for an environmental impact report. This environmental assessment points out that much of the surrounding habitat next to the casino was burned in the 2003 Paradise Fire and states, “What once was sensitive habitat has been destroyed by the Paradise Fire. . . Due to the recent fire, the development of the casino expansion should not impact sensitive habitat.”
By DAVID ROSS
The VC fire district board proposes to scrap the weed abatement ordinance it adopted several months ago and replace it with the County’s ordinance.
The board voted to go ahead with the process at its meeting Thursday night.
The law requires that the public be given the opportunity to comment at two public meetings before the ordinance can be adopted.
There is little difference between the County’s ordinance and the one that fire district adopted. The main difference is in the clearance around property that each requires.
However, without adopting the County’s ordinance, the fire district can’t use the County’s code enforcement division to put teeth into it.
The County originally advised the department that it could do weed abatement ENFORCEMENT regardless of which ordinance it was enforcing. It discovered its error a few months later.
“The County discovered that its advice about ordinances was incorrect, so now we have to adopt the County’s ordnance,” Chief Kevin O’Leary told the board.
Even after the fire board approves the ordinance, the Board of Supervisors must approve the involvement of code enforcement division. That vote is expected in September.
VC’s fire department doesn’t have the resources to do code enforcement. It does have the personnel, assisted by CDF, to do fire inspections.
It has been calculated that it would cost an extra $70,000 annual to do enforcement. Yet, if the fire department’s ordinance calls for it to do ENFORCEMENT and it doesn’t, it opens itself to liability, the chief explained.
With the County involved, when properties are found to be non-compliant, and their owners don’t do the required clean-up, the County will be authorized to do the work and bill the owner. A lien can be placed on property to collect the money..
The County has begun temporary repairs on portions of Valley Center Road The work, which begins at 9 p.m., will take place from about 0.7 miles south of Banbury Drive to Old Road.
The County’s contractor will remove damaged and broken areas of asphalt concrete pavement and replace it with new asphalt concrete.
In order to reduce traffic congestion in the daytime, the work will take place at night, Sunday night through Friday mornings, 9 p.m.-5:30 a.m., Aug. 28-Sept. One lane of traffic will be open during this night work.
These temporary repairs are necessary to maintain the existing roadway, a spokesman for the County said. The work will help avoid the development of large potholes, which can damage vehicles and require continuous maintenance.
The next phase of the Valley Center Road Improvement Project from south of Banbury Drive to Cole Grade Road is scheduled to begin later this year.
The temporary repair work that began Sunday night will help ensure that the existing pavement will survive until the new roadway is constructed.
Balboa Park’s celebrated organist George Butterfield will give St. Francis Episcopal Church’s new Allen church organ a workout Saturday, 7 p.m.
The public is invited to this first of a series of First Saturday concerts that the church and resident organist Ahyh (who will perform in subsequent concerts) will present.
The one-hour performance will include pieces by J.S. Bach and Cesar Franck.
According to Ahyh, “We are trying to bring a little culture to the community and opportunities to keep the cultural environment growing in North County.”
The new 44 Stop/176 Voice Two-Manual digital church organ is able to produce the sounds of four famous organs, including ones in the United States, England and France.
Guest artist George Butterfield, has been active as an organ recitalist throughout Southern California for over 27 years.
A graduate of the University of Redlands, Butterfield has been organist of Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist of San Diego at La Jolla since 1979 and is a Founding Trustee of the Spreckels Organ Society which supports the historic Spreckels Outdoor Pipe Organ in San Diego’s Balboa Park. He has performed over 80 concerts on the 4 manual Austin organ.
Ahyh, St. Francis’s resident organist, has been playing the organ in churches since 1976. In 1993-94 he performed Tuesday night concerts at the local Lutheran church.
He host’s “God’s Homepage” on the internet, at www.Yhwh.com.
Music has been part of his life from the beginning. He started playing the organ before he started school. In college he studied with Dr. Rudolph Inselmann at Concordia University, Irvine1976 & 1977, Dr. Ron Huntington at Chapman University, Orange 1977 – 1980, and Dr. Richard Unfreid at the Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove 1980 & 1981. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in religion and a minor in music from Chapman University in 1980.
He plays both the great classic masters and modern composers. Everything from dozens of J.S. Bach pieces through the Mozart Piano Sonatas, Cesar Franck, Marcel Dupre, Dom Paul Benoit, Igor Stravinsky, and a multitude of others too numerous to mention.
The Valley Roadrunner
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