Local fishermen will pay tribute to Randy Fry, who was killed by a shark August 15, near Fort Bragg. The Coastside Fishing Club has raised over $10,000 to help cover Fry’s funeral and personal expenses. Saturday’s events will begin at Pillar Point Harbor with fishing and a boat parade at 2pm, followed by a hamburger cookout and memorial service. The plan is to scatter Randy Fry’s ashes near Mavericks. For more information, contact Tom Mattusch at (650) 726-2926.

Midcoast Park Lands is holding a Quarry Park improvement day this Saturday, Sept. 11, from 10am to 2 pm. The main focus will be cleaning up the park entrance area and the quarry floor in preparation for Children’s Day, Sept. 26. The organizers admonish you to bring water, gloves and a bag lunch. Soda, chips, and tools will be provided. For more information, call Sandy Emerson at 650.712.9476, or just show up.

At the last (closed) meeting of the School Board, the board voted to sign a letter of agreement with Wavecrest developers to create a special district [pdf] that would tax market-value homes in the development $1,000 per house per year for 30 years. The revenue for this Mello-Roos community facilities district would be earmarked for middle school construction and facilities. There are 178 market-rate homes planned for Wavecrest.

Mello-Roos was a response to the restrictions that Proposition 13 placed on raising money via taxes. It allows the creation of special tax districts for capital facilities and services. According to the state, the principal risk of setting up a Mello-Roos district is that it could create a sense of spiralling taxation among its residents and make it more difficult to raise taxes at a later date.  For example the 178 homeowners in Wavecrest would theoretically be less inclined to vote for new parcel taxes to support the schools.

California Land and Title has a good explanation of how this would be represented to home buyers. The state’s page on Mello-Roos is less helpful.

This is good news, producing genuine revenue for the district. It’s less clear what incentive Wavecrest had to go along with this plan. According to Superintendent John Bayless, who negotiated for the district, the main advantage to the developers was the assurance to home buyers that the middle school would be kept up and that this would have some tangible impact on property values. But it seems to me that the special fee would have a depressive effect on the selling price for new homes.

I talked to Larry Whitney, Chief of the LHVFD, and he told me that in addition to the fire on Higgins-Purissima, they answered 10 emergency calls.  They included calls in La Honda, San Gregorio, Loma Mar, Skylonda and the rural area of Southern Half Moon Bay. The department was dispatched to 3 structure fire alarms, 2 medical aids, 2 smoke checks, 1 vehicle fire, 1 vehicle accident, and 1 motorcycle accident.

I was surprised to find out that 80% of their 300 emergency calls each year are for nonresidents.

These pictures, which Larry posted the Southcoast and La Honda mailing lists, give a good idea of how busy they were. The pictures show a vehicle accident on Hwy 1 near Pomponio Beach. A 56 year old male in a light duty pick up truck went 100 plus feet over the side of the road. The driver survived the crash and was transported to Stanford Hospital by Lifeflight. The CHP is investigating the accident. Click on the pictures to get larger versions.

I’ve been meaning to start composting for years. Lynn Adams of the San Mateo County Master composters will conduct a composting workshop on Saturday at the Pacifica Library on Hilton Way. Lynn says fall is the perfect time to start composting so that you can enjoy the benefits of the compost in the spring when planting your new garden and flowers.

Compost Workshop

Vermicompost (worm composting too)

Saturday, Sept. 11th

11.00 am - 1.00 pm at the Pacifica library - (Hilton way) [map]

Taught by Lynn Adams of the San Mateo County Master composters

Participants can order discounted worm bins ($29.00) and composters ($35.00) from the County of San Mateo on the same night.  For further information go to the Recycleworks Web site.

The San Mateo Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) yesterday issued its "Certificate of Completion", formally adding the San Mateo County Coastal Area to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s jurisdictional boundary.

Yesterday’s action clears the way for MROSD to buy land from willing sellers for the purpose of protecting the region’s coastside from inappropriate urban sprawl.

UPDATE: On the same day, September 8, Oscar Braun’s Save Our Bay, issued a press release declaring their intentions to "file a validation action against" LAFCO’s action.

Cabrillo Unified School District (CUSD) board took no action on the deadline for Wavecrest at their secret meeting last Thursday. Despite rumors that the board has extended the deadline for Wavecrest to get its approvals, board member Dwight Wilson told me that they discussed the contract, instructed their attorney to look into the matter and took no action.  He says they’re waiting to see what the US Fish and Wildlife Service is going to do. 

The current contract with Wavecrest says the developer must obtain final approval of the development from the Coastal Commission and all challenges and appeals before the CCC must have have expired before October 31. If not, the district has the option of cancelling its agreement to swap its land in El Granada plus some cash for a school site at Wavecrest. Wavecrest has been removed from the agenda for the September 8 meeting of the Coastal Commission at the request of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the next CCC meeting is October 13 to 15 in San Diego. The next School Board meeting, the last before the election, is not scheduled until October 14.

There is a seat open on the board of the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD). You do not have to be a farmer or rancher to apply. The RCD is a Special District, first organized in 1939,  that partners with land owners, land users, individuals, agencies and organizations to conserve natural resources in the unincorporated rural lands of the San Mateo coast. The SMC RCD is one of the oldest environmental organizations in the county, first formed in 1939 in San Pedro Valley. The district presently covers over 157,000 acres of mostly rural, agricultural and open space lands in the western half of the county. The district runs nearly the entire coastline of San Mateo County and includes all watersheds draining into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The RCD works in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in providing technical assistance and in delivering locally led conservation programs. To be eligible to serve on the RCD board, a candidate for appointment must reside within the district and either own real property in the district or alternatively have served for two years or more as an associate director, or be a designated agent of a resident landowner within the district.

Here are web links for legislative language on district directors and the general powers of the district.

The RCD Board members generally have a strong interest in conservation, community involvement, agriculture, ranching, working lands, erosion, runoff, wildlife, watersheds, water quality, and the environmen. RCD Board members serve voluntarily. District board meetings are held once per month and board members participate on committees and in projects.

To apply or find out more, contact the RCD at 650-712-7765 or [email protected]

Although no injuries were reported, a fire destroyed a ranch-style house on Higgins-Purissima road Sunday, according to the San Mateo County Times.

Fall is fire season on the Coastside and we’re going to be at high risk until we get a couple of inches of rain, according to Larry Whitney of the La Honda Fire Department:

It’s unusual to receive a Fire Weather Watch that is so encompassing [as the one being called this weekend] and
with this being Labor Day Weekend extreme care is called for. Last Labor Day
Coastside Firefighters were truly taxed keeping up with all of the calls for
assistance from holiday visitors. We had three Cliff Rescues in a 7 hour
period requiring eight Engines, three of which had to come from over the
hill. Area residents are being asked to report any sign of Fire or Smoke
immediately.

Southeast Monterey County is a world away from Monterey, Carmel, and the vineyards on the coastal hillsides. The Monterey County Weekly took a trip to some of the towns that have been left behind by Highway 101 and coastal development. Towns that are vestiges of the days when El Camino was a principal artery from one end of the state to the other. It’s a little far afield from the San Mateo County coastside, but worth reading.