Granada Trustees Receive Update on Amache Status
Barbara Crimond | Nov 15, 2019 | Comments 0
Ian de Bono provided an update for Granada Trustees regarding a future visit to Camp Amache by representatives from the National Park Service during the board’s monthly meeting on November 13th. He said the visit, which should take place by mid-December, would be similar in nature to past community-oriented visits to gather information about the status of the former Japanese-American Detention Center from WW2.
“Mr. Hopper and I spoke over the phone to the representative who said they had reviewed the letters of support from various municipal organizations for the potential park designation from NPS,” he said, adding that the visit will focus on the site and not the Amache Museum. A former bank in Granada will be re-purposed to house the museum which has more artifacts and displays than room. De Bono said he’d like to be able to begin to move some materials into the former bank before the December meeting. He explained the representative felt that it would be at least three years before a decision to move forward for park status comes due. In the meantime, the high school would be the entity to maintain and operate the museum, which apparently, does not fit into the plans of the National Park Service.
Granada resident, Dee Melgosa, discussed the purchase of a replacement flag pole and flags for the current one in the town park. That flag is extremely weather-worn and strong winds recently damaged the upper length of the flag pole. The Trustees will explore an offer for a telescoping flag pole which is 20 feet tall and comes with two flags for $299. The offer also comes with a five-year warranty.
She requested and received the go-ahead to move the town’s holiday tree-lighting ceremony to Monday, December 2nd at the Complex from the original date of December 9th, due to some conflicting schedules in the community. Trustee Kyle Jara, said he would provide some FFA students to volunteer with decorations and bagging holiday candy for the annual visit from Santa.
Melgosa mentioned that renovation work at her properties opposite the town complex is moving forward, but slowly. The interior is being gutted and renovated and she mentioned that the rock and stone debris on the sidewalk will be available to anyone who wishes to take it for their own use.
John McMillan, Town Maintenance Supervisor, noted that the town’s sewer lines were recently flushed as well as a water tank which had accumulated sediment and had the rust pumped out. He’s noted that it’s time for some tree limbs and branches to be cut away from the town’s power poles, a process that occurs every three to four years. The cost in the past has been in the neighborhood of $33,000. He plans to replace several street lights that have been burned out.
Police Chief, David Dougherty, noted that since February, 295 persons have visited the Department for various needs and assistance. The make-up, National Night Out, entertained about forty persons for the annual event held on October 19th. There were 14 warnings and 15 citations given in October for $2,090, bringing the year-to-date total to $13,675.
The Trustees will discuss best options with CIRSA, the community’s insurance provider, on how to get the best financial deal on an aging police cruiser that suffered hail damage. Either take the repair payment option at $5,200 or accept the write-off with the higher payout of $7,300 and perhaps continue to use the vehicle. If that was the case, the Trustees wanted to be sure they had adequate insurance coverage before putting it back on the street, perhaps as a car used by auxiliary officers. More discussion will follow.
The Trustees noted the town received a $600,000 DoLa grant help finance a water infrastructure engineering study. They also noted they received a landfill grant extension approval which will move the project into the spring of 2021 for ground water, well-testing.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: City of Granada • Consumer Issues • Featured • History • Holiday • Police Report • School
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