Monday Morning

This morning the staff was greeted with a nice love note tied to the front door of the Village Hall. Monday mornings can be rather interesting in terms of the messages we receive at the office. The messages found on voicemail or in our e-mail box from the weekend typically are the more interesting ones we get. Previous favorites include a resident upset at his neighbor's barking dog, who left a message on voicemail of the dog barking at night, numerous calls regarding weekend conduct in the parks, or a recent request to "get somebody out of jail." This however was the first time that we have been graced by a correspondence inside a plastic Meijer bag tied to our door (see picture).

Right away I knew it was going to be something interesting, and more than likely the result of frustration on the part of a resident. Inside the bag was a one page note, which simply said “Gate on Dam Sucks!!” (see second picture). At first we thought it might be in reference to the gate we have at the end of Baseline Road restricting access into our lagoon property, but that wasn't the case.

Not to disappoint anyone (yes the note was anonymous), but the Village of Lake Isabella does not to any degree administer or involve itself in the maintenance of the dam. That falls to the privy of the Lake Isabella Property Owners Association. We contacted the LIPOA, to inquire if there was a new gate to the dam area. Sure enough there is. While the Village in no manner wishes to speak on behalf of the LIPOA, I can personally say that the bridge over the dam and spillway is an area that restricting the access to is long overdue in my opinion. The location has been posted with no less than 5 “No Trespassing” signs on each side of the spillway for several years, but until very recently the bridge over the spillway was not physically gated to prevent unauthorized access.

The dam complex is an area that is inviting to play in for people of all ages. When the water is high the current above and below the dam are extremely dangerous, and is not to be toyed with. The bridge itself was never intended to be a public thoroughfare, and the 20+ foot drop off from it onto solid concrete would do some lasting damage to a person of any age.

The note does bring up a very good discussion point regarding community recreation. Specifically that is the need for biking and pedestrian paths in the community. The Village has been aware of this need for at least four of years and has been attempting to secure a funding mechanism to fund this project without success. Our Village Charter limits our property tax collection to 1 Mill, as such the Village is prevented from addressing and funding needed projects like that and public safety requests. Village-wide we collect a total of $55,000 annually in property taxes. The estimate for a 2 mile path along Queens Way and El Camino Grande is over $200,000. We have applied again this year for 2% money from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and hope that the Tribal Council members will see the merit in our request and fund the beginning stages of this project which not only would increase the recreation in the community, but also address a glaring public safety need in separating pedestrians from vehicular traffic.

- Tim