HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-20-2016 Item 8, EvansFrom:Pete Evans
To:Hill, Robert
Subject:Laguna Lake update meeting
Date:Sunday, August 14, 2016 10:15:46 PM
Hi Bob,
Bob, some recollections of the meeting a week or so back with the
public at Laguna School.
The public meeting you called was after a key government meeting
about this issue-why is that?
At the outset of the public meeting you asked we pose no questions for
your 'around 45 minute presentation'. How are we supposed to
remember any key points for that long? I suppose you knew some of
the residents are at least middle aged with the majority senior
citizens- how come you never dimmed the bright lights during the slide
show? I have pretty good vision and was up front, I could hardly make
out some of the scenes you were showing. I was surprised at the lack
of sensitivity to your audience.
The 'pre supposed facts' of the situation were rushed through and
presented as a given, most of the challenging comments (including mine)
seemed to be minimized. I speak mostly of the Chromium content of
the silt which you said is indigenous to the area yet it must be
dewatered and hauled off at great cost. A geologist in the audience,
Dave Romero and many others questioned this logic and especially the
crushing cost of that. Some suggestions would have prevented 'dusting'
of the dredged waste, some would have perhaps made 'de watering'
unnecessary and of course mine was the best of all, make islands of the
dredged material. That received no response from you.
Islands would be fantastic. Protected habitat areas, 'targets' for
boaters and other recreational users, visual enhancement and other
benefits that ought to be seriously considered despite any initial
objections.
Dredged material will need NO further treatment, saving a fortune and
perhaps expediting the whole process. As I pointed out in my remarks
Tokyo Disneyland was built on a man made island and similar artificial
land mases have been created all over the world-has the city explored
this concept for our little lake?
Council Meeting: 09-20-2016
Item: 8
And there is great value even in considering keeping the material on
land, even if covered by a layer of 'safe' material so that no chromium
is wafted into the air by any future disturbance. Aside from the
obvious huge savings in cost, traffic, damage to roads and impact on our
county dump if we have to truck the dredgings away I offer this
perspective. The park area is a vast plane, pretty boring. It would be
benefited by some contour, hillocks and the like. Maybe a small
mountain bike course or just walking areas with some actual interesting
contrasts in terrain. How about an archery range? Raised garden beds
with showcase horticultural exhibitions or biological exhibits. The
options are almost unlimited. Are you folks allowed any creativity or
imagination down there at City Hall?
Long ago (early '70s) there used to be impromptu outdoor concerts
there with hundreds of attendees. Unorganized, unsanctioned,
untroubled. Never any problems, just casual fun for the masses. Of
course the city has come to dislike any such thing (having killed our
famous Mardi Gras parade for no good reason) but it does come to
mind as there is a great hunger for outdoor, casual events with little
modern conveniences-a natural thing.
There were no public comments about the so called boardwalk along the
peninsula of the lagoon. That lagoon is a treasure and ought to be left
to the wildlife and watercraft, in the wildest state possible. I hope the
boardwalk will not go into or be visible from the lagoon. I sail in there
and imagine I am in another world far from the frantic lifestyle we all
live. It is 'African Queen' territory in there and no sign of civilization
is evident! If a walking path or boardwalk is created I hope the city can
depart from the usual boring, modern, ultra organized cement and
quantified monstrosity-like-sidewalk I imagine is being planned. It
ought to retain some wildness and fit in with the irregular terrain and
ambience of the lake (no long straight aways etc). At most it should be
a rustic path of crushed road base or other permeable material that
reminds the traveler he/she is in nature and on a natural route perhaps
beaten down by a millennia of barefoot native walkers.
The launch ramp is poorly designed. Egads, whoever did that was
thinking of making the walking experience easy and safe with no regard
to the user friendliness for boat launching. A quick look at the launch
ramp at Morro Bay (despite the deplorable lack of maintenance) will
yield the essential ingredients of a decent ramp (low walking portion
with NO railing so that ropes can be walked down with the launching
and one can easily go from the ramp to the walkway, necessary if done
single handed). And the dock should be extended a bit so that sailing
away does not leave one in the weeds at the bank. I would love to meet
with your ramp planner to give input so whatever gets built will make
sense.
A final note about costs and community involvement. There is a striking
lack of community (individual) involvement in many affairs around here,
that probably accounts for the stultifying nature of many of our public
places (too much concrete, massive timbers, no soul). One diversion
from that would be the public garden near Parks and Rec. It is a
wonderful and exciting artistic affair because a number of individuals
put their own time and creativity into it in creating unique spaces. I
remember helping to build the homeless facilities on Prado Rd whereby
we were involved in many aspects. Can't that sort of energy be involved
with the Laguna Lake rejuvenation? Activate the power of our citizens
to plan, and sometimes build, the facilities we want/need. I know there
are a pile of regulations hampering any such notion but where there is a
will there is a way. For example, if making islands require some sort of
supporting structure maybe the community (ordinary folks, businesses
etc) would join up to help create that. Maybe Cal Poly, with all its
power, could do some projects there (engaging their business,
architectural, engineering and other depts for special projects).
Activate the Boy Scouts, churches, the Elks and any other community
minded people. A plaque (inside an artistic kiosk) onshore could
advertise the participants (no large banners etc). Docks, a real beach,
the peninsula walkway and other people friendly facilities could be done
by regular folks with minimal city fiddling in our affairs. From the
testimony we heard at the meeting the city has been negligent in
managing this park for decades. The ridiculous amount of money the
city spent on the rest room a few years ago is but one example of
misplaced priorities and misappropriated funds.
Pete Evans