Disking resumed at Wavecrest on Thanksgiving Day shortly after 9am.  Work continued at least through sunset on Friday and included seeding this time. They had two tractors—one disking and one seeding, a tractor trailer for seed, several pickup trucks, and one security vehicle and guard from Bay Cities Patrol.

The development of the land has been held up for years with the California Coastal Commission, most recently when the land was found to contain endangered species habitat by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004.  Wavecrest’s owners attempted to get the Army Corps of Engineers declare jurisdiction over the wetlands on the property, but have canceled formal delineation of wetlands three times in the last two years.

After disking was resumed in September, the city of Half Moon Bay said that it had told Wavecrest’s owners in May that agricultural uses of the land is legal. But the development has been before the Coastal Commission for years, and the commission has asked Wavecrest’s owners some pointed questions about the agricultural activities on the land.

The resumption of agricultural activity at Wavecrest has raised questions about the owners’ plans for the site, as it appears to put them on a collision course with the Coastal Commission.

There will be a special meeting of the Cabrillo Unified School District board on Monday at 7pm. The only agenda item in the public meeting will be "Review of Modernization and Expansion of Cunha Intermediate School".

There will also be a meeting of the "ad-hoc" committee on the middle school project at 5:30 in the District office. The public is welcome to attend.

The meetings will be at the district office at 498 Kelly Ave, Half Moon Bay.

Click below for agenda.

Author Amy Meyer will give a talk illustrated with slides from her book, New Guardians for the Golden Gate:  How America Got a Great National Park at an evening gathering sponsored by the Committee for Green Foothills.  A social gathering starts off the evening in the San Benito House pub for refreshments followed by the slide lecture. 

Amy’s is a unique, insider’s account that tells how Bay Area activists forged bipartisan local and national support for an unprecedented campaign to create a great new national park. Beginning in 1970, the grassroots People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area succeeded in preserving the spectacular land that frames the Golden Gate including over 30,000 acres in San Mateo County.  

Spanning more than 35 eventful years, Amy tells the story of how dedicated citizens, including visionary conservationist Edgar Wayburn, master politician Phillip Burton, and a battalion of lesser-known but key allies made our democratic system work for the common good and won their fight to save these dramatic and historic lands for all of the American people.  Amy will have books available for sale.
 
Where:  San Benito House, 356 Main Street, in downtown Half Moon Bay.

When:  Wednesday, November 29th, 2006, 6:30 to 9:00 pm.  From 6:30 to 7:30 there will be a social hour complete with refreshments, no-host bar, a silent auction of CGF artworks—perfect for your holiday giving.  At 7:30 the slide lecture will begin.
 
For more information:  (650) 968-7243 or [email protected] or on the web at www.greenfoothills.org.  Admission is free.  RSVPs are requested, but not required.

Using ancient wisdom passed down through generations, Celtic Druid and master teacher David Patten will lead a one-day workshop, The Druid’s Path, Saturday December 2, in Half Moon Bay. Hosted by The Visionary Edge, the workshop will teach people to see the world through new eyes, inspired by the age-old "wheel of life" common to cultures throughout the globe.

In this modern-day introduction to The Druid’s Path: The Journey of Coming to Our Senses, David Patten will reveal the code of the oghama, an old Celtic language of symbols that depict universal rhythms and patterns of life. He will show participants how to use these symbols to reconnect with the ever changing, yet constant, harmony and intelligence of nature.

Based on a press release from the Grand Jury.

Coastside communities get a mixed grade for tsunami preparedness in a report released today by the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury [pdf].  On June 14, 2005, the Half Moon Bay city manager only found out about a tsunami warning second-hand.

The Half Moon Bay City Manager was not directly informed of the warning, nor was the local Red Cross volunteer leader; both learned of it indirectly as did other local residents.  The cause of the apparent discrepancy between what should happen according to the County OES plan and what actually happened remains unclear, although part of the problem in Half Moon Bay was that the local police commander did not follow procedures and failed to inform appropriate personnel, including the City Manager.

Also, there are no innundation maps for the Southcoast, including Pescadero. Isolated beaches such as Martins Beach, where there was loss of life in 1946, are particularly vulnerable.

On the other hand, Pacifica has a comprehensive education program, a sophisticated communication system, provisions for alerting "residents in need", and is actively researching warning systems and signage options.

The Grand Jury recommends that the Emergency Services Council (ESC) work closely with San Mateo County communities on tsunami preparations. The ESC consists of one member of the Board of Supervisors and one Councilmember from each of the participating cities. The Grand Jury specifically recommends that the county as well as the cities of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay:

• Develop an emergency tsunami response plan for each community that specifies how the public and emergency service providers are to be informed of an alert and what their responses should be.

• Educate the public on the dangers of a tsunami, how the alert system works, and what to do in the event of an alert.

• Install tsunami signage and a siren/broadcast system, including gaining approval for them from appropriate government agencies such as the Coastal Commission, CalTrans and State Parks.

• Acquire inundation maps for the entire San Mateo County coast.

• Ensure that the resources of the Regional Office of the Red Cross are sufficient and appropriately distributed.

• Acquire the resources and technology to make San Mateo County TsunamiReady by December 31, 2007.

Local fisherman Dan Furtado and his crewmate Jim Sharen escaped when Furtado’s boat sank about a mile and quarter from Pillar Point Harbor today at 8:30am. The boat started listing, and sank within 30 seconds, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

Within 30 seconds, the entire boat was underwater. Furtado’s leg became tangled in the ropes around the crab pots at the back of the boat, and nearly dragged him down with them. Fortunately, he was able to free himself and clung to the side of the boat, which flipped over.

...

A few minutes later, local fisherman Jerry Brum picked the men up on his boat, the Majek. Neither of them suffered any injuries.

The cause of the accident has not been determined.

San Mateo County has agreed to pay Half Moon Bay $380,858 to compensate it for property tax revenue that it neglected to pay to the city between 1991 and 2005. This settlement is about 60% of the missing taxes, according to the County Times.

According to a San Mateo County Grand Jury report released in June, "the Controller failed to allocate approximately $8.1 million of TEA funds to four cities for the 15-year period between 1991 and 2005."

The report also assigned blame to the California State Controller’s Office — which missed the omission despite regular audits — and to the county bureaucracy for poor communication about the changes. The cities failed to notice it in a timely manner as well, the report said.
tax."

However, trying to get more could have meant costly litigation, something everyone wanted to try to avoid, Howard said.

HMB Fire District press release

A fire nearly took the life of a Half Moon Bay man Monday afternoon.

The Half Moon Bay man awoke to the sound of the fire popping light fixtures and found his exit partially obscured by flames and heavy smoke in the residence. He was able to exit the building with burns and minor smoke inhalation. A dog, cat and several fish perished in the fire. No smoke detectors were found in the residence, which was red tagged by the City of Half Moon Bay for fire damage and code violations.

Firefighters, getting the call at 2:34pm arrived to find fire involving the upstairs apartment area of a multi-use warehouse on the 500 block of San Mateo Rd (Highway 92) [Google map]. Fire personnel from the Half Moon Bay Station, Captain Kevin McClish, Firefighters Brent Smith and Derek Clary, made an aggressive attack on the fire and with the assistance of Half Moon Bay volunteers and the El Granada and Point Montara engine companies extinguished the fire and initiated an investigation into the cause.
Preliminary investigation revealed the fire started in the area of a couch in the upstairs apartment. The fire grew to involve the entire couch and spread through the living room creating high levels of heat and heavy smoke. The investigation is currently focusing on discarded smoking materials and an electrical appliance in the area.

Firefighters responding to the call included two engines from the Half Moon Bay Fire District, one engine from the Point Montara Fire District, one engine from the California Dept. of Forestry/San Mateo County Fire Dept, one engine from Central County Fire and two volunteers from the Half Moon Bay Fire District.

Preliminary damage is estimated at approximately $30,000.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse received a $54,000 grant to restore its windows from the American Express/National Trust for History Preservation $1 million grant program. The grant awards were selected after a six week public voting period during which thousands of people voted for their favorite Bay Area site out of a slate of 25 candidates.

But Pfluke and his wife, Stephanie Jennings, have operated Green Oaks Creek Farm in Pescadero since 1999, and they plow their fields with horses, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

"I like the idea of not using fossil fuels," said Pfluke of the horse team he purchased a few years ago. "Plus, you’ve got manure out the back. They don’t have any parts to replace, and they make their own little tractors."

The couple has used Mack and Margarita, their draft horses, to push vegetable seeds into the ground and to help dig a ditch for potatoes. This weekend, they will help distribute cover crop seeds in preparation for winter on their 3-acre farm. They have an orange tractor parked in the barn, but they’re trying not to use it; this coming spring will mark the start of their first growing season driven solely by horsepower.

Most of their equipment comes from Amish farmers. The couple buy it at auctions in California that are attended more by antique collectors than farmers. This is a fascinating story.