ICRC forced to postpone playground work

This unfortunate news arrived late yesterday afternoon. Construction of the ICRC playground will be delayed while ICRC pursues a county Conditional Use Permit. Here's the full message.

Dear Playground Supporter,

The Idyllwild Community Center Playground build date of June 22 - 26 has been postponed due to additional permitting required by the County of Riverside for the project.

After our initial consultation with the Riverside County Planning Department last fall regarding the playground build, we prepared our application for permit review on March 4. At that time ICRC was advised that the project would require even more extensive review by the Planning Department.

Then on Wednesday, May 4, the Planning Department notified ICRC that because of zoning regulations at the Community Center property a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) would be required in order to move forward with installation of the playground and associated equipment in its current design.

The Idyllwild Community Center land where the playground is to be built is currently zoned as CPS (Commercial Zoning) which requires that recreational uses such as sports and recreational facilities, playgrounds, gymnasiums and the like obtain the CUP for further development beyond the standard uses designated in the CPS.

ICRC has already begun the process of seeking the CUP and anticipates that it will take four to six months once the application has been submitted which is scheduled for June 1st. An announcement of when the new playground build date will be set is forthcoming once ICRC is able to determine when the new permitting process will be completed.

We would like to thank Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone for his assistance in helping ICRC navigate this process and Supervisor Stone's Legislative Assistant Olivia Barnes for her invaluable guidance.

We also thank all of our contributors and donors for your generous support of the project as we look forward to bringing this world-class facility to Idyllwild.

John Simpson, ICRC President
Dawn Sonnier, ICRC Vice President

Riverside County Fire collecting storm damage info

Riverside County Fire/OES Seeks Storm Data Information

In an effort to assist Riverside County residents affected by the recent storms, the Office of Emergency Services is gathering storm damage information.

Residents living in the unincorporated areas in Riverside County who sustained storm-related damage to their homes, businesses, and vehicles are urged to report that damage to the Riverside County Office of Emergency Services.

The Riverside County Fire Department, Office of Emergency Services (OES) is the lead Emergency Management agency for the County of Riverside and serves as the liaison between our cities, special districts and other agencies to the State and Federal Governments.

Residents may call 951-955-8440 during normal business hours (Monday – Thursday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) to report damages. Damage reports may also be submitted via email to rvceoc@fire.ca.gov.

Please include your name, phone number, address and any damage-related photos.
For more information on flood preparation and flood safety, visit www.rvcfire.org or www.floodcontrol.co.riverside.ca.us.

winter hours for grinding station

Idyllwild grinding facility winter hours


The Idyllwild grinding facility will be closed on Saturdays from Dec. 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011. Saturday operations will resume May 7, 2011.

Monday through Friday operations will continue uninterrupted and greenwaste will be accepted between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, contact Riverside County Waste Management Department at (951) 486-3200 or visit www.rivcowm.org .

County officials warn businesses about scam involving fraudulent health inspectors

Restaurants and other businesses in Riverside County should beware of people posing as health inspectors who try to charge fees or conduct other fraudulent activities, the county Department of Environmental Health announced today.

Throughout Riverside County and California, restaurants are receiving phone calls from individuals claiming to be health inspectors. The caller asks the business to schedule inspections through a computerized phone system using a special code.

The Department of Environmental Health (DEH) does not regularly schedule inspections, and does not use a computerized system to make phone calls. The department has NOT developed a new inspection process. Any caller identifying himself or herself as a Riverside County health inspector asking you to schedule inspections using a code is part of a fraud scheme

For protection against this scheme and others, please be aware that county DEH staff and representatives of any legitimate governmental agency will have photo identification. Ask for photo ID and business cards if you have any doubt about the authenticity of an inspector visiting your business. If you have any question about someone claiming to be a DEH employee, please contact the department at (951) 358-5172.

You also should never give out personal or business identification information over the phone. If you are contacted by someone you believe might be fraudulent health inspector or suspect a fraud scheme, contact local law enforcement.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact our Environmental Health office at (951) 358-5172.

summer employment in Idyllwild

Bill Brown, CSA operations manager, was in Idyllwild this morning. Don’t panic, you didn’t miss a County Service Area 36 or 38 meeting nor an Idyllwild community Recreation Council meeting.

No, Brown was invited to speak about the Business Improvement District and the Summer Work experience Program (SWEP) to the Idyllwild Business Roundtable this morning.

Marshall will be reporting more on the BID issue in next week (April 15) edition. This posting is about the SWEP. Marshall also wrote a story about it for today’s edition. But Brown mentioned some information this morning that I didn’t want to wait a week to disseminate and to share.

Riverside County will work with several non-profit groups to prepare and to place the participants. The program closest to Idyllwild is the California Family Life Center in Hemet. The county has allocated enough money to them to support about 100 participants.

The County encourages interested young people from age 14-24 to apply for the program. It may take several dozen applicants to achieve a 20 hires.

Right now, the county is developing a list of prospective employers. Some of the criteria include committed to mentoring, comply with OSHA and labor regulations and offer meaningful work opportunities to the kids.

If it doesn’t work out you can withdraw. You can use anywhere from ½ to 2 or more participants per business. A half person might work only 4 hours per day or work another 4 hours at a different establishment.

According to Brown, three or four Idyllwild residents participated last year, but had to work in Hemet.

“My goal is they don’t drive off the Hill this year,” he said. The participants will earn $8 per hour but not pay taxes.

Cost: No cost to employer except the time to mentor, train and teach work skills to the employee.

How to begin: Indicate your interest in participating to Bill Brown at (951) 955-3212 or email him at bbrown@rivcoeda.org . If you change your mind after learning more, you can withdraw.

If Idyllwild can employee a significant contingent, the program may continue next year. Also with enough participants, the county could justify hiring a program manager to be located here.

That person would spend time with the participants and the businesses and try to ensure that both parties find the program useful and beneficially.