At last Wednesday’s monthly Oakhurst Action Council public meeting, area residents were updated on progress being made to develop a fresh Area Plan for the community. And the report was positive.
    Once those in the audience were straightened out on the significant differences between the proposed Area Plan and the proposed incorporation of Oakhurst, the overviews made sense. But it took a while, because some couldn’t grasp the difference between the two issues.
    The Oakhurst Area Plan has nothing whatever to do with possible incorporation. It is a totally separate, totally different issue. They are not one and the same!
    The efforts to develop a new Area Plan are specifically to update the obsolete 1980 Area Plan, still on Madera County General Plan books.
    This new Area Plan is designed to be specific to Oakhurst, using the same boundaries as used in 1980, but updating the ingredients.
    The Oakhurst incorporation study uses much different, more confined geographic parameters (still under debate and development) and involves very different elements. They’re different, not to be confused.
    Oakhurst Area Plan Committee Chairman Ron George outlined the ingredients his volunteer resident associates are wrestling with — a menu that includes economic development, water, sewage, transportation, circulation (roads), recreational and cultural services, public facilities, land use and more.
    All the elements that are now needed, and anticipated to be needed in years ahead, are to be addressed in the new Area Plan.

    COARSEGOLD — Construction of the controversial Chukchansi casino and resort — originally scheduled to start this month — has apparently been delayed due to environmental concerns.
    Sources say the environmental impact report on the project specifies two issues that must be addressed by the tribe before construction begins.
    The 140-acre project site contains wetlands — habitat for a number of species — and elderberry bushes, which provide habitat for a threatened species of beetle.
    The tribe will be working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to resolve these issues.
    Construction on the project has been delayed until September or October, say sources.
    Efforts to reach tribal officials or representatives of the casino developer proved unsuccessful earlier this week.

    A community health fair is being organized at the Oakhurst Community Center on Sunday, October 1.
    The county Department of Public Health, Eastern Madera County Chamber of Commerce and several health-care providers are joining in sponsorship of the event.
    There will be booths featuring information as well as a variety of checkups, such as sugar levels.

     Applications for Mountain Area Youth Soccer League teams are available at Miller Mountain Sports in Oakhurst and at Coarsegold Texaco.
    The cut-off date for applications is August 15.
    A copy of the application, plus a copy of the player’s birth certificate and the $55 registration fee should be mailed to: MAYSL, Post Office Box 908, Coarsegold 93614.
    Soccer hotline: 658-8094.