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Hillview splashed by angry residents
Fifty customers of Hillview Water Company had Roger Forrester for lunch last Thursday and high hopes of having his company for dessert.
To say the least, this lunch bunch was not happy as it gathered at the Ol' Kettle Restaurant.
As it dispersed 90 minutes later, the crowd had a general plan that it hoped would jar state and county officials into prompt action.
Some speakers, recalling that previous efforts to bring officialdom down on Mr. Forrester's head were not very productive, were pessimistic.
Regardless, the attack has begun.
Mr. Forrester, the Hillview president (and owner) says he knew nothing of the meeting at which he was the criticized. Virginia Wyatt, one of the organizers, admitted earlier that Mr. Forrester had not been invited.
His critics at the meeting continually insisted that Mr. Forrester is not very forthright anyway. And that's putting it nicely.
As the critics sat down at tables in the Ol' Kettle's banquet room, they found a goldenrod sheet entitled, "Facts Relating to the Hillview Water Crisis that included 10 specific allegations.
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Success of John West project draws interest from other areas
Representatives from six neighborhoods attended last Wednesday's monthly Eastern Madera Fire Safe Council open meeting to learn more about applying for involvement in the organization's program to help make neighborhoods safer from wild fire.
The dramatic progress of FSC's months-old pilot project in the John West Road area has proved that the council produces much more than talk, indeed that it really makes things happen. And now other neighborhoods are wondering: "How about us?
Resident representatives from six mountain neighborhoods attended the OAC meeting, and most asked questions and aired their specific problems. Some communities attended in force, with Mudge Ranch bringing a number of residents; others were represented by one to three people.
In every case, those attending are contemplating drumming up interest and action in their own neighborhoods, all knowing that they have high risk of destructive and even lethal damage from wild fire, and all convinced they and their neighbors have to do something about it. "Can OAC help us? was the question of the evening.
Yet, while these half-dozen neighborhoods were anxious for more information, two communities have apparently decided against pursuing inclusion in the FSC program. Earlier, representatives of Stillmeadow Ranch and Sugar Pine had indicated their communities were interested in participation, but no residents of either attended Wednesday's key meeting - a showing of lack of interest in both communities, duly noted by FSC.
FSC's John West Road Project coordinator, Jack Riley, updated the audience on progress in his neighborhood. Most visibly, three miles of roadways have been brushed and chipped to 30 feet on each side, those segments serving about half of the area's 135 homes and a third of the total roadways scheduled for clearance.
Mapping of every structure and water source, for use by emergency crews, is mostly finished. Six potential emergency access road options have been surveyed, land owners have been contacted for easement approvals, and are now being prioritized by Fire Safe Council partner, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
"The John West Road area is already far safer from wild fire than it was just this spring, en-thused Mr. Riley. "The neighbors have really been behind the project, and that's why it's progressing so well.
Coordinator Riley reported on one distressing negative happening on the project. Larger trees and branches cut to 20-inch lengths during the brushing are being stacked alongside the road. Each property owner is also the owner of the wood cut on his property (by law).
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