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Revitalization group discusses SRPL impacts
By Susan Hogoboom
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — The Sunrise Powerlink (SRPL)
was a hot topic Jan. 29, at Dianne Jacob’s Alpine Revitalization
Steering Committee meeting. At these meetings, held twice each
year, community leaders keep the county supervisor up-do-date on
important local issues and work with county staff to implement
local visions and plans.
Co-chairs of the community development subcommittee,
Mary Kay Borchard and Joseph Forlenza, gave Jacob a run-down of
their group’s efforts to stop the hugely debated construction of
SRPL. Several months ago the subcommittee sent a letter to San
Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) Chief Operating Officer Michael
Niggli. The letter, which was published in the Oct. 1 issue of
The Alpine Sun, conveyed to Niggli the subcommittee’s desire to
have a contingency plan in place, should SRPL be constructed.
Borchard and Forlenza voluntarily presented the letter
to the Alpine Planning Group (APG) for approval. The letter was
approved for mailing on behalf of the community, however the APG
also voted to write a follow-up letter itself. A copy of the
subcommittee’s letter has since been mailed to the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
“We’ve been able to generate a lot of awareness around
this issue,” Forlenza told Jacob. Forlenza says the powerline is
unneeded and would simply deliver “cheap, polluted” energy to
the North County and Los Angeles.
He said he hopes to make a trek to the state capitol in
Sacramento on behalf of Alpine residents who stand in opposition
of SRPL, which judging by attendance at the town hall meeting
held last month, is a large part of the community. Jacob
expressed her support for the plan, suggesting that he also
visit the CPUC in San Francisco, set up informational booths,
and relay the message to stop the proposed link’s construction.
Forlenza told Jacob that receiving funds for the
lobbying would be a hurdle.
While many Alpine residents are against the link
completely, Forlenza and Borchard assert that they have a
contingency plan in place that allows for mitigation should the
line ultimately go through. Jacob, however, is intent on
focusing on Plan A: To stop the proposed construction
completely.
Forlenza said that the SRPL would “wipe out 90 percent”
of what his committee had envisioned for Alpine Boulevard. The
subcommittee’s visions were developed at a group workshops held
several years ago. The workshops, which included input from
hundreds of local residents, compiled a “Vision of Alpine,” to
show possible improvements along Alpine Boulevard between Dunbar
Lane and Willows Road.
The workshop output included conceptual drawings of
Alpine Boulevard vision concepts. Such visions included a bridge
over the boulevard, increased parking, the conversion of small
older homes to shops and art studios, and overall a more
pedestrian friendly streetscape lined with shops and
restaurants.
The subcommittee would like to see many, if not, all of
these visions incorporated into mitigation, but Forlenza seems
pessimistic, calling SDG&E’s mitigation department “a joke.”
Much of the community opposition to SRPL stems from
concerns for business owners along Alpine Boulevard. He cited a
My Turn column in The Alpine Sun by Lori Tibbett, in which she
summarizes the economic impacts and traffic woes of SRPL and to
her business in particular. Furthermore, Tibbet described the
impact to the community of Alpine as a whole.
Other community and business leaders have also been
actively involved in the fight against the proposed powerlink.
APG member George Barnett said that the group has
organized a SRPL Ad-Hoc committee, to deal specifically with the
powerlink.
Barnett informed Jacob that he has organized a
communication coalition consisting of APG members,
revitalization members, and the local media, whose purpose is to
meet to contrive ways to offer a non-biased and effective method
to keep the public up-to-date on the powerlink.
Michael Long, department manager at the San Diego
County Department of Public Works, said that a draft of the SRPL
Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) is complete as of the prior
week but he needs to submit it for review by others in his
department. This report is intended to look more specifically at
the powerlink construction, including the underground portion
through Alpine. He said he expects to present the PER to the APG
at an upcoming meeting.
Dianne Jacob is also trying to get a hold of documents
related to the project. She says SDG&E officials have been
uncooperative in providing such documents. She has been trying
to get a copy of the Project Modification Report, which was
submitted by SDG&E to the CPUC, but has been unsuccessful. She
said she wants to make sure the plan is what the community
wants.
“We will get a copy one way or another,” Jacob said.
“The county is prepared to issue a request.”
Terrie Prosper, director of the CPUC news and public
information office, told The Alpine Sun that, “We have staff
reviewing the report as an internal administrative draft to
determine whether or not the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) is triggered.”
“SDG&E will finalize based on comments of co-leads,
responsible, and cooperating agencies. At that point the final
modification report along with our determination will be put up
on our public web site.”
LeAnn Carmichael from DPLU said that the report will
not include all the vital information the county is demanding.
She said that other studies have yet to be completed, such as
ground water reports and species studies.
Jacob is concerned about the challenges of
construction, specifically, sewer, water, and fiber optics cable
lines.
“I don’t know what’s under Alpine Boulevard,” she said.
She said she does not buy SDG&E’s explanation that SRPL cannot
run along the freeway because CalTrans did not desire that
route.
Construction of the Sunrise Powerlink is set to begin
in June 2010, and the outcome of the community’s fight against
what would be California’s largest underground project is yet to
be seen.
The next SDG&E community council meeting will be held Monday,
Feb. 15. The meeting will be open to the public, and will be
held at the Alpine Woman’s Club.
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