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Local and countywide
controversies continue in 2008
By Christy Scott and Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
Many local and countywide controversies
will continue into the New Year, some of which have direct local
influences on Alpine as well as Back Country areas.
Sunrise Powerlink
The much-debated San Diego Gas & Electric transmission
line, the Sunrise Powerlink, takes another step forward in the
New Year with the release of the project’s Environmental Impact
Report, scheduled to be released within the next week by the
California Public Utilities Commission and federal Bureau of
Land Management.
The estimated 7,000-page draft EIR document will
evaluate how the existing environments would be changed if the
project were approved as proposed (through the Anza Borrego
Desert State Park), as well as looking at project alternatives.
One such alternative is the Modified Route D, which would
directly affect many southern Back Country communities.
Modified route D would plant 125-foot tall conduit
towers along a path from the Imperial County desert, where clean
energy is expected to be produced, and would skirt Cleveland
National Forest. The towers would travel right through the
communities of Boulevard, Campo, Potrero, north through Descanso
and west through the heart of Alpine, where it would be
undergrounded along Alpine Boulevard from West Willows to Peutz
Valley Road.
SDG&E has contended that this is a major reason that
another transmission line is needed to bring energy into the
county. Many opponents, however, have argued that the utility
needs to concentrate on local sources of power, rather than
importing.
Upcoming hearings held in the Back Country will give
residents a chance to learn more and comment on the project.
Sunrise Powerlink Environmental Impact Report Workshops will be
held on Thursday, Jan. 31, (one workshop in the afternoon and
one workshop in the evening), times to be announced. The EIR
workshops will be an opportunity to become informed about what
is being proposed and how it will affect your quality of life.
An Administrative Law Judge Public Participation
Hearing will be held on Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 (one session in
the evening), time to be announced. This will be an opportunity
for residents to go on legal record with their comments.
Back Country planning group is looking for volunteers
to help review the EIR prior to the workshops so that we will be
better prepared for the workshops. Please contact Denise Morse
at 889-9033 if you would like to volunteer.
For more information about the Sunrise Powerlink and
Modified Route D check online
HERE.
Alpine High School
In 2007, the Grossmont Union High School District has
made some impressive moves towards the possibility of Alpine
actually having a new high school in the future. With a lot of
help from concerned citizens in Alpine, and the change in
administration within the board of trustees this year, GUHSD is
moving towards expanding its facilities with another school.
Proposition H bond is now under proper management, and progress
is underway.
Beginning with the election of a new president of the
board, Pricilla Schreiber, and a new vice president of the
board, Larry Urdahl, as well as new faces joining the team such
as Dick Hoy and Robert Shield, the board opened up to new ideas.
Schreiber was open to discussions on new management processes,
as well as welcoming to people who were willing to help. This is
when the BAC was formed.
The Bond Advisory Commission had their first meeting
after the Feb. 3 GUHSD Prop H Bond workshop. This eight-hour
workshop, located at Foothills Adult School was open to the
public. Many Alpine community members attended this workshop and
had their eyes open to the complex difficulties that the GUHSD
board of trustees, faced in the management of the bond.
Alpine learned that the 11 existing schools of the
Grossmont District were in poor repair, and many of them needed
extensive renovations before the 12th high school could even be
discussed. Alpine also found out that these renovations and
repairs could easily use all the funds in the bond.
Mark Price took the reigns of the BAC, beginning the
tone of the commission to solve problems and forget the blame.
The BAC went to work solving an extensive puzzle, and bringing a
new direction in managing the Prop H. bond funding to the GUHSD
board.
During the June board meeting, the BAC gave the board a
well organized plan to get as much as possible done with the
funds that were available, and still build a 12th high school
for Alpine. The board accepted many of the recommendation and
has hired a Project Manager, in the form of Gafcon-Harris, who
took the job of directing and managing this project for the
Grossmont District seriously.
The transparency of the bond projects are clear, as
anyone can go to the GUHSD web site and peruse pages and pages
of information as to how money is being spent and managed. The
board meetings are informational now, and structured to allow
updates every month on the progress that has taken place.
As of the last board meeting held in December, Gafcon-Harris
reported that students have begun to move back into the first
set of classrooms that have been completely renovated using the
Prop H bond funds.
The Alpine high school debate will continue in 2008 as the board
works to become more transparent and to organize monies left
from Prop H for projects.
Albertson’s coming soon
The long-awaited Albertson’s and the new Alpine Village
Center project located at the corner of Alpine Boulevard and
South Grade Road is getting closer to completion as the main
building is almost complete, and the peripheral building, is
taking shape.
The Albertsons/Sav-on store, the anchor market in the
71,700-square-foot Alpine Village Center, will be a
52,500-square-foot store that will echo the East Main Street
Albertsons in El Cajon. The Grand Opening for this facility in
Alpine is slated for the week of March 10, 2008. The new center
will feature a spacious parking lot with 345 spaces, along with
a Wells Fargo bank, Starbucks, Subway, Happiness Nails and Dry
Clean USA.
A requirement of the Alpine Village Center approvals
required the installation of the traffic signal in the middle of
town at the intersection of Alpine Boulevard and West
Victoria/Arnold Way. Road improvements are also taking place on
the roads near the project to better accommodate the expected
traffic around the new stores.
Long’s Drugs at Alpine Creek
The long-time plans for a new Long’s Drugs in the
Alpine Creek Shopping Center have finally started, as the
portion of the building slated for demolition gets underway. The
peripheral building, once Alpine Physical Therapy & Wellness
Center, has been completely removed, and efforts to take down
the wing of the old shopping center building have started.
Part of the project will also be to revamp the
25-year-old building and upgrade the property. Thirty-eight new
parking spaces will be added and the company is trying to
maintain much of the green space and water features that are
present now.
The new Long’s will measure about 15,700 square feet.
A concrete date for completion has not yet been given
by the project developers, Westcore Properties, but the face of
the center will change dramatically over the next year.
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