Crane flies invade North County B-2
Jr. Art of the Avocado due April 10 C-4
Warriors take to the track D-2
Village News Fallbrook & Bonsall
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April 6, 2017
Deputy McCormick from Fallbrook substation honored
D e L u z , R a i n b ow , C a m p P e ndl e t o n , Pa l a ,
Volume 21, Issue 14
Firefighters get in final round at Fallbrook Golf Club
Tom Ferrall Staff Writer
Deputy Evan McCormick of the Fallbrook Sheriff’s substation was one of a dozen deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to be honored for his work in recovering stolen vehicles in San Diego County last year. The 12 deputies collectively arrested 71 people and recovered 188 stolen cars worth more than $1.5 million in 2016. McCormick had nine stolen vehicle recoveries – three of which resulted in arrests. “Nine might not sound like a lot, but it is a lot for a smaller community like Fallbrook,” said Sgt. Patrick Yates. “That he’s out there doing the hunting is a good thing for us and for the community of Fallbrook because auto thieves often commit other crimes too. It’s just one of the many crimes they commit, so arresting them and recovering stolen vehicles is a good way of fighting crime in many areas rather than just auto theft.” The Auto Theft Advisory Committee (a partnership between law enforcement, insurance and car-related companies) presents the Auto Theft Recovery Awards and McCormick earned the honor for the second consecutive year. In 2015, McCormick led his colleagues at the North Coastal Station in Encinitas in stolen
see DEPUTY, page A-9
thisweek
Art....................................................D-9 Announcements �������������������������A-2 Business ���������������������������������������C-6 Business Directory ���������������������B-8 Calendar........................................A-5 Classifieds ������������������������������������C-5 Dining & Food ���������������������������C-11 Education.......................................C-4 Entertainment ������������������������������D-6 Health & Fitness ��������������������������C-2 Home & Garden �������������������������B-2 Legals.............................................C-8 Obituaries �������������������������������������D-5 Opinion �����������������������������������������A-5 Real Estate �����������������������������������C-2 Sheriff’s Log ���������������������������������D-5 Sports.............................................D-1 Wine................................................C-9
Shane Gibson photo Firefighters monitor the blaze as the old Fallbrook Golf Club facility burns to the ground March 31 after serving for six days as a live fire training venue for the North County Fire Protection District. See story and more photos on page B-1.
FPUD board and audience given briefing on Conjunctive Use Project Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent The non-voting items at the Feb. 27 Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) board meeting included a presentation on the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project. FPUD assistant general manager Jack Bebee provided the presentation on the Conjunctive Use Project which will be the subject of FPUD votes for specific actions over the next several months. “It was just to give some background on the project because we have a new board member,” said Bebee. The presentation also informed veteran board members of the project’s current status. “There’s really a couple of key updates,” said Bebee. “Camp Pendleton’s awarded the start of construction on their facilities.” The Camp Pendleton infrastructure will include piping to deliver the water to the boundary of the Naval Weapons Station (NWS) and Fallbrook behind the FPUD solar facility site on Alturas Road. Construction of the facilities from the NWS boundary is FPUD’s responsibility. The water will be treated at the Alturas Road plant and delivered into FPUD’s distribution system. The Santa Margarita Conjunctive
Use Project being pursued by FPUD, Camp Pendleton, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation would enhance groundwater recharge and recovery capacity within the lower Santa Margarita River basin and develop a program which would increase available water supplies for Camp Pendleton and FPUD. Facilities within the lower basin would be constructed to capture additional surface runoff, which currently flows to the Pacific Ocean, during high stream flow periods. The surface water would be recharged through existing groundwater ponds and stored in groundwater basins during wet years while being “banked” for water rights statistics. The water would be used to augment supplies during dry years, which would reduce the reliance on imported water provided from San Diego County Water Authority sources. The Conjunctive Use Project would include improvements to the diversion works, increased capacity to the headgate and the O’Neill Ditch, improvements to seven existing recharge ponds, installation of new groundwater production wells and gallery wells, water treatment at either an existing or an expanded or new water treatment plant, and a bidirectional pipeline which could deliver water to FPUD while also providing the Marine Corps base with an off-base water supply
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should conditions warrant. Although the Department of the Navy has awarded the construction contract for the Camp Pendleton portion, a decades-old court case regarding Santa Margarita River water rights will require a settlement agreement before construction can begin. “They’ve got to get the government approval by the Department of Justice and Department of Defense,” Bebee said. The amount of water obtained will depend on weather conditions. FPUD will not receive any water in the event of an extreme drought. The minimum water delivery to FPUD will be 580 acre-feet for a very dry hydrological year, 1,300 acre-feet for a below-normal year, 3,100 acre-feet for a normal year (based on the average over the past 50 years), 5,120 acre-feet for an above-normal year, and 6,320 acre-feet for a very wet year. A potential additional allocation of 400 acre-feet is possible, and FPUD also has the first right of refusal for excess water sold rather than used by Camp Pendleton, which could provide up to 1,500 additional acre-feet annually for FPUD while also providing Camp Pendleton with revenue for operations and maintenance. The final design for the FPUD
see FPUD, page A-11
Village News
Raising funds and having fun
Brooke Flynn, left, and Suzanne Lundin look for matching tiles during the Fallbrook Senior Center Mah Jong tournament March 29. See story and more photos on A-3.
Lucette Moramarco photo
RCPG board reduced to 11 members Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
The number of members on the Rainbow Community Planning Group (RCPG) board has been reduced from 15 to 11. A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote March 22 approved the membership reduction. Seats 12, 13, 14, and 15 have been eliminated and the current planning group members holding those seats will have their seat numbers modified. “A feasible quorum is necessary in order to make decisions and get work done,” said Supervisor Bill Horn. Board of Supervisors Policy I-1 authorizes the county supervisors to establish the number of members of planning and sponsor groups. The minimum number of planning or sponsor group members is five and the maximum is 15. Attendance of a majority of the number of authorized members is required for a quorum. The RCPG has struggled to fill all of its seats and to have a quorum at many of its meetings. Eight members of the RCPG attended the Oct. 19 meeting, and a proposal to request that the Board of Supervisors reduce membership to 11 seats was unanimously approved. Planning group chair Gary Drake formally notified Horn the following month after the October minutes were approved and could be sent as a supporting document. “I appreciate hearing from the community, and I am happy to accommodate this request,” Horn said. The Rainbow Community Planning Area encompasses 14.1 square miles.
Supervisors declare San Diego County nation’s first Hidden Heroes County Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent
San Diego County has become the nation’s first Hidden Heroes County. A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote March 14 approved a resolution endorsing the county’s participation in the Hidden Heroes campaign to recognize caregivers of injured military veterans. “These caregivers are hidden caregivers,” said Supervisor Bill Horn. On a nationwide basis approximately 5.5 million caregivers provide services for veterans, including 1.1 million who help those who served following the September 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. More than 30,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans live in San Diego County, which makes the county the second-largest concentration of such veterans in the nation. “More of the injured veterans are coming home, but they’re injured,” Horn said. The caregivers’ duties include bathing, feeding, and dressing the veterans, administering medications, providing emotional support, caring for the veteran’s home and family, and working outside the home to provide necessary income. The long-term and continual responsibility of those caregivers creates physical, emotional, and mental effects on the caregivers.
see HEROES, page A-12