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lOB Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter
EDITORIAL
A N I)
OPINION
EDITORIAL
Service districts
need to hear
from constituents
The recent decision by the East Quincy Ser-
vice District to stop the consolidation process
with the Quincy Community Service District is
troubling to us on many levels.
Perhaps the most troubling thing is that
ratepayers in the American Valley don't seem
to care what is going on.
Rarely are there more than two or three peo-
ple at the respective board meetings. There
have been.no letters to the editor.
Instead of joining forces as one district and
enjoyingall the potential cost savings, stream-
lining andclout that come with it, we are stiff
watching a grueling 16-year personality clash
between the two boards.
The ongoing squabble is an embarrassment to
our community.
LAFCo Executive Officer John Bhnoit said
the decision to unravel the consolidation
process "has never happened before in the state
of California."
It's potentially expensive, too.
The districts have spent about $100,000 direct-
ly related to the consolidation. It likely will cost
thousands more for lawyers to help sort out the
mess.
There is no argument that the valley's waste-
water treatment plant, managed by the QCSD
with the EQSD as its biggest customer, is near-
ing the end of its life cycle. We could soon need
a new plant, or at least costly upgrades.
But instead of working together as a commu-
nity to tackle the problem, the EQSD -- citing
"a lack of leadership" by the QCSD -- wants to
explore building its own treatment facility.
The board is considering a small pre-fabricat-
ed facility -- a package plant -- that could be ex-
panded to service the entire valley if needed.
That forward thinking is commendable. How-
ever, we feel that not including the whole valley
in the decision process is short-sighted.
The EQSD board claims it can build its own
plant for much less than it will cost to upgrade
the aging QCSD treatment facility. The board
says it can save its customers money by not
paying rent to QCSD.
Making those assumptions before conducting
a thorough project study seems irresponsible.
Ratepayers on both sides could be left with a
bag of bills.
Even if the EQSD could save half the valley a
little money, the bill for customers on the west
• side 0f Cefiietery Hill would rise. Without fees
from EQSD customers, QCSD ratepayers would
have to make up the difference.
The cold war between the two districts'
boards makes the hill dividing this town feel
like the Berlin Wall.
It is a shame that a smallcommunity like
ours can't seem to set aside its differences, for-
get the past and plan for the future together.
Maybe the solution is to put this consolida-
tion problem in the hands of a mediator.
One thing is certain: We have a lot better
chance of cleaning up the valley with the whole
valley working together.
We encourage you to contact one of the 10
: board members and tell them how you feel.
They are: James Bequette, Richard Castaldi-
: ni, Denny Churchill, Ernie Eaton, Steve Grant,
Howard Hughes, Ruth Jackson, Kim Kraul,
Greg Margason and William Peay.
Feat00Iishmg
00_0000spaper
I " Breaking News ....
[ go to plumasnews.com
Michael C. Taborski ............. Publisher
Keri B. Taborski ...Legal Advertising Dept.
Delaine Fragnoli ........ Managing Editor
Alicia Knadler ........ Indian Valley Editor
M. Kate West ............. Chester Editor
Shannon Morrow .......... Sports Editor
Ingrid Burke ................ Copy Editor
Staff writers:
Mona Hill
Will Farris
Dan McDonald
Trish Welsh Taylor
Michael Condon
Sam Williams
Barbara France
Susan CQrt Johnson
Kayleen Taylor
Ruth Ellis
Brian Taylor
Pat Shillito
Diana Jorgenson
Feather River
Bulletin
(530) 283-0800
Lassen County
Times
(530) 257-53211
Portola Reporter
(530) 832-4646
Westwood
PinePress
(530) 256-2277
Chester Progressive
(530) 258-3115
Indian Valley
Record
(530) 284,7800
Sprin 2 awakens sleeping, passion
MY TURN shoveling out from snowstorms, darting
............................................................................................................................................................... through pelting rain, and trying to stay
on course through high winds. No, the dif-
ference is we go outside to reconnect with
a benevolent sun.
It's absolutely amazing what the feel of
a warm sun on your face does for your en-
ergy, your hormones and your goodwill
toward men. For those reasons, spring in-
herently brings promise and optimism
and fresh beginnings. The resurrection of
the human spirit in springtime is more
than mere metaphor; it is fact; it is hu-
man experience.
Despite earthquakes in diverse places
and despite super-tornadoes raging
through America's South scattering
towns into debris; despite an economy
that has lost its elasticity; springtime is
the time to see your glass as half-full, with
room for more.
DIANA JORGENSON
Staff Writer
djorgenson@plumasnews.com
Spring has sprung and not a moment
too soon. I smell it in the warm air, even
if the warm period is an all-too-brief
respite in the middle of the afternoon. I
can taste it on the wind and I hear it in
the birdsong.
Even the glaciers on the mountain
peaks are slumped., Those snowdrifts are
15 feet high and will dominate the higher
elevations for weeks to come, but they
slump. They are already melting. In my
mind, they are already gone.
Cabin fever has been exchanged for
spring fever and the antidote for both is
to go outside. Not just to go outside: in-
deed, we have been doing this for months,
v
Wh,'re in the world?
Dave and Suzie Henise visit the Keukenhof Gardens in Holland during a cruise
through the canals of Holland and Belgium, starting in Amsterdam and ending in
Bruges. Next time you travel, share where you went by taking your local newspa-
per along and including it in a photo. Then email the photo to smorrow@
plumasnews.com.
More than promise, which lies under
the winter snows as well, spring offers
glimpses of the future and a plethora of
potential acts and deeds that will get you
there.
If you are indoors when spring fever
strikes, you will be restless and anxious.
A long meeting will make you fidget and
steal longing glances at the window or the
door. So although I signed up for the
Farm Diversification Tour weeks ago
when the weather was still iffy, it turned
into my deliverance from indoor prisons
and a welcome respite when the day ar-
rived.
That day, I toured three ranches in Sier-
ra Valley and steeped myself in the beau-
ty of the countryside. I enjoyed the sun-
shine and shed several layers of clothing
as the day progressed, feeling lighter and
lighter as the sun rose higher.
I reveled in newly hatched color, espe-
cially the fresh shades of green that only
come in springtime. I watched lambs ca-
vort and scamper after their mothers at
Harvey Ranch; enjoyed the first glimpse
of fresh produce in Sierra Valley Farms'
greenhouses; and wandered through the
well-tended lawns, around ponds and past
the greening meadows of Green Gulch
Ranch.
I enjoyed the day and was renewed in
the process. These are tough times, and
for small farmers and family ranches,
tough times have been here for a very
long time and began long before the most
recent economic distresses. So, it was par-
ticularly uplifting to hear their stories of
how they have survived and how they
will adapt to survive into the next genera-
tion.
As long as they have land, they view
their futures with optimism. As long as
they have land, they will find a way for
the land to sustain them.
Many of the tour participants who came
to visit them also had hopes of making a
living from agriculture. They, too, were
inspiring, as they shared their ideas and
thoughts.
The advice the new farmers and ranch-
ers were given was the same advice given
to all new business owners. Whichever
path you take, whatever product or ser-
vice you choose to produce, offer and mar-
ket, know this: it will take more time than
you ever thought it would and it will cost
more to start up than you ever believed it
would, so choose something you love to
do. Find your passion.
That's what spring is for: awakening
passion and opening the heart. So, don't
feel guilty when you grab a few moments
to cut some daffodils or dig in the dirt.
You need to do that. It's spring.
R_EMEMBEB. WHEN
KERI TABORSKI
Historian
75 YEARS AGO .......... 1936
Purchase of the K. Sudaha & Son dry
goods store at Portola by George Ayoob was
announced today by both parties of the deal.
Ayoob took charge of the store today.
The walls of th.e flew building being
erected by the Quincy Town Hall
Association were set in place this week.
The structure is to house a motion picture
theater and two small stores.
50 YEARS AGO .......... 1961
The dam to create Little Grass Valley
Reservoir hydroelectric power system has
been completed and the area surrounding
the new body of water, located four miles
from La Porte, will be zoned for residence
and water recreation.
25 YEARS AGO ............ 1986
The Plumas Unified School District
governing board voted unanimously this
week to break away from the Peralta
Community College District and later
officials at Peralta CC District called to
inform PUSD that they too had voted for
deannexation.
1O YEARS AGO ..... ..2000
Members of the Plumas Sierra County
Fair board said that they could not support
a Plumas County financed master plan for
a skate park on Fairgrounds Road. They
cited that this area would be the last possi-
ble area left fo future fair expansion.
She scores big, with g, a rden plan
!
• ":
Ik : • , ........
because we actually came to an agreement.
Steve and I carefully calculated the
number of 1-by-12-by-16 planks we'd need
for five raised beds. We also debated
whether we could drive stakes or needed
to screw the boxes together.
That done, we moved on to how much
topsoil and gravel to order.
MY TURN While Steve's a math whiz, I am numeri-
.......................................................................................................................................................... cally challenged. If I'm adding 1 + 1,
MONA HILL you'd better check my math. That's what
Staff Writer
mhill@plumasnews.com
Normally, I would patiently wait a
whole month before sharing this with my
faithful readers but this is so much better
than Christmas that I can't wait. Think of
it as a bonus Accidental Gardener.
Faithful AG readers will know the saga
of this year's garden planning. I always
have big plans and ideas. In fact, I'm the
official dreamer in our family. I can think
up plans faster than Steve can shoot holes
in them.
But he's learning; now he carefully
reads my gardening column each month
to see what's on his "honey-do" list.
Now that spring has officially arrived
and the date of the last frost is approach-
ing, we had to come to an agreement.
Over a tasty dinner at Merlin's Ameri-
can Grine, we set out our weekend work
schedule. It proved to be nearly as chal-
lenging as getting the California Legisla-
ture to agree on a budget. I say nearly
Steve's for;
You don't even want to listen to me cal-
culate Cubic yards -- you can see the
smoke from my poor brain as I think: "OK
1 cubic yard covers 1 square yard to a
depth of 1 yard ... the same cubic yard
covers 2 square yards to a depth of 18
inches, which covers ..."
You get the idea: I soon run out of fin-
gers and toes. Enter Steve wtio can con-
vert Fahrenheit to Celsius to Kelvin in
less time than it takes Watson to win Fi-
nal Jeopardy.
So Saturday morning dawns and we
head off to Mountain Building Supply
armed with our lumber list with circles
and arrows scribbled all over it.
We pull up to see five 3-by-5-foot
planters, all assembled and all for sale,
something like $35. I may not be good at
math but I know a deal when I see one.
Faster than you can say charge it, I
whipped out my credit card, bought those
five and ordered five more for good mea-
sure.
It's a good thing I'm so quick on the
draw because at least three other people
phoned in about the planters while I was
closing the deal.
I nearly broke my arm congratulating
myself on my presence of mind.
i don't know how much the original
lumber order would have come to, remem-
ber I don't add well, but I do know how
much time I bought: weeks. Not to men-
tion all the labor I saved Steve, building
the planters. I am such a giver.
Because it was a farmer's kind of week-
end, we celebrated by going home to shov-
el poop. The hen house got a thorough
spring-cleaning and the boys' alpaca pooh
pile moved from the pasture to the garden
area -- sadly none of it got up and walked
away.
With the manure, wood chips, compost
and cardboard to hand, we were ready to
order the topsoil and gravel. Of course,
with the changed dimensions, there were
adjustments to make to the plans and cal-
culations.
I nimbly revised my planning for the
lasagna beds and explained my ideas to
Steve. He, even nimblier, recalculated the
amount to order.
I got home last night to find 5 cubic
yards of topsoil and two of gravel, nearly
blocking the gate to the alpacas' pasture.
Now, all I have to do is wait for it to move
over to the garden area and into the boxes.