Santiago Oaks Trails Meeting

[Cowgirl]

The next meeting regarding the trails at Santiago Oaks is on Monday night, Dec. 3rd at 7:00 pm at the Santiago Oaks Ranger station off Windes Drive.

If you are concerned about all the trail closures and the contaminated dirt being added to the 3 b's....come and have your voice heard...we need you to speak up! There are a handful of equestrians, bikers and hikers that keep getting in their ears but nothing is being done and nothing is being explained.

Come one, come all...let's pack it full like last time and demand answers to the questions we gave them over 3 months ago....

This being one of the only legal areas to ride right now it would be nice if we could get more of the old historic trails opened back up!

See you at the meeting....

[CPATCRASH]

Isn't that the same night as the SHARE meeting?

[Cowgirl]

yes...the county schedules these meetings so they won't reschedule it...I already tried.

[OMR]

Unfortunately, we are having a Rwanda Event meeting that night as well... so will miss this one. I do encourage others that have the time to go and make your voice heard. We had a pretty good turnout at the last meeting... I think they were a little surprised at the number of riders that came out. Let's try and do this again.

[CPATCRASH]

Maybe SHARE could reschedule.

[Cowgirl]

If you can not attend maybe you could send a letter to Bill Campbell the OC Supervisor in charge of this area in Orange County...here is a copy of the letter I sent if it would help anyone that would like to write a letter as well...the more we squeak the more they will have to listen...

I sent the letter in the mail but you can also send it by email to: bill.campbell@ocgov.com

[FONT=Times New Roman]November 1, 2007[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]Bill Campbell[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Office of Supervisor Bill Campbell[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]10 Civic Center Plaza[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Santa Ana, CA 92701[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]RE: Damage done at Santiago Oaks Regional Park[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]Dear Bill Campbell, [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]After pursuing many different measures in trying to get action done at Santiago Oaks Regional Park I am writing to enlighten you of a problematic situation at Santiago Oaks Regional Park.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Of course you are aware of the fire that devastated the park back in March 2007. Since the fire, there has been an administration change at the park and new rangers were placed there. Since their placement in the park there have been dramatic changes done to the park without the proper channels being followed. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]To list a few:[/FONT]

[FONT=Symbol]·[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Building of a new fire road at the base of the park.[/FONT]
[FONT=Symbol]·[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Closing of Historical trails on the Barham Ranch property.[/FONT]
[FONT=Symbol]·[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Dumping of contaminated dirt on the trails by the Rangers[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman](pictures have been given to Jeff Dickman)[/FONT]
[FONT=Symbol]·[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Rangers patrolling the trails on a automotive vehicle (MULE)[/FONT]
[FONT=Symbol]·[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Trails being widened throughout park so Mule can patrol.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Several concerned citizens and users of the park have approached the Rangers regarding the above issues and we have all been deceived and lied to as to the reasons for the damage. Mark Denney has been made aware of the issues and we have tried to get a meeting with him. He sent a letter to us saying that he would meet with us but has not made time since July.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]We concerned park users have been told we needed to go to the users meetings that are every other month at the ranger’s station inside Santiago Oaks. Nearly 75 concerned citizens attended the users meeting with Jeff Dickman at the meeting and we were told action would take place now that they are aware of the situation in the park and that we as well should contact our local congressmen to update them with the situation. So that is where you come in.[/FONT]




[FONT=Times New Roman]We park users have waited nearly three months and no action has happened in the park in regards to the points listed above. If anything, the issues noted above have gotten worse. The Mule the rangers use is continually out on the trails patrolling when we were told it was for emergencies only. And tons more of the contaminated dirt is being spread on the trails. And we were never notified of the findings of a study that was done by Trails 4 All which was promised to us in October.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]We users of the park will be attending the next Regional Park users meeting slated for Dec. 3rd and will once again be demanding answers to the many questions asked last time and would like to know why no actions have taken place since the meeting in September.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]We would like to make an appointment to meet with you and discuss all the above situations. We trail users feel we need your support to correct these serious issues in your park system.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Feel free to contact me at (714) 343-4965 or respond by email to [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]sherry.hart.bikes@sbcglobal.net[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Thank you for your time regarding this issue.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Sincerely,[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]Sherry Panttaja[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]User of Santiago Oaks Regional Park[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Homeowner in Orange Park Acres[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Owner, Switchback Cyclery[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Director, Warrior’s Society[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Cc: Supervisor Chris Norby[/FONT]

[Waldo]

Great letter Sherry!

I just got back from a loop around 3B's & Chutes. Saw the ranger in the Mule driving down the 1st B - the first time I've ever seen a ranger anywhere in the park. I hadn't heard about the contaminated soil issue and would like to know more about that.

Seeing everything still so barren a full 8 months after the fire was a sobering reminder of how fragile the area is. I'll skip the Share meeting to be at this one if I possibly can.

[Cowgirl]

The dirt that was brought in to drop on the b's to help with the destruction of the trail after the fire was brought in from what we think must have been a county lot that had cement sediment pulled from construction...the dirt they have been dropping has trash (taco bell wrappers and toys), cement,glass, asphalt, rubber, hoses, and broken up bots dots from road repair. This is what they are putting into a fragile park after a fire.

I took pictures back on Coastal Cleanup day when me and my kids went out to pick all the trash out of it. We came home with 3 full trash bags from just the first 100 feet of the trail. Those pictures were given to the county at the last meeting but since then even more of this type of soil (they call dirt) has been spread thru out the park...they obviously are not getting the picture here! I will be bringing the pictures again to the meeting.

Thanks for all the support with this issue!

[Waldo]

Geez - Taco Bell's food isn't even biodegradable, let alone the wrappers. That truly sucks. Thanks for your attention on this.

[chongoblanco]

depending on soil analysis & contaminents the E.P.A could get envolved especially if there is a threat of further contamination and other harm to animals and people but remediation coasts can be huge let alone possible further closures for god knows how long if the feds get involved. depending on finals ill try to make this meeting

[jcampbell]

I will plan on writing another letter to my relative Mr. Campbell. Should be done by the end of the week.

[maxwell]

Thanks Sherry for all your doing for this. I wish I could attend the meeting, but I'll be going to work. I REALLY hope anyone that is available will attend.

As for it being the same night as the SHARE meeting, maybe the group can attend the meeting, then get together after to disscuss it and other SHARE buissness?

Just a thought.

[Pain Freak]

This is a must for people who ride this, they should make it a priority to attend. There's strength in numbers and the politicians pay a lot of attention to numbers.

[bananaseat]

Thanks for the info. Sherry. I'm planning on attending and using Sherry's boilerplate letter to send my own to the Supervisor.

[mytrustysteed]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

The dirt that was brought in to drop on the b's to help with the destruction of the trail after the fire was brought in from what we think must have been a county lot that had cement sediment pulled from construction...the dirt they have been dropping has trash (taco bell wrappers and toys), cement,glass, asphalt, rubber, hoses, and broken up bots dots from road repair. This is what they are putting into a fragile park after a fire.

I took pictures back on Coastal Cleanup day when me and my kids went out to pick all the trash out of it. We came home with 3 full trash bags from just the first 100 feet of the trail. Those pictures were given to the county at the last meeting but since then even more of this type of soil (they call dirt) has been spread thru out the park...they obviously are not getting the picture here! I will be bringing the pictures again to the meeting.

Thanks for all the support with this issue!

How about sending the pics to the OC Register? The ONLY time polititians react is when their public reputation is on the line. Otherwise they don't really care.

[RacinJason]

Tomorrow I will talk to everyone at the shop and see who I can get to go. I have to make sure I can go also.

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

The dirt that was brought in to drop on the b's to help with the destruction of the trail after the fire was brought in from what we think must have been a county lot that had cement sediment pulled from construction...the dirt they have been dropping has trash (taco bell wrappers and toys), cement,glass, asphalt, rubber, hoses, and broken up bots dots from road repair. This is what they are putting into a fragile park after a fire.

I took pictures back on Coastal Cleanup day when me and my kids went out to pick all the trash out of it. We came home with 3 full trash bags from just the first 100 feet of the trail. Those pictures were given to the county at the last meeting but since then even more of this type of soil (they call dirt) has been spread thru out the park...they obviously are not getting the picture here! I will be bringing the pictures again to the meeting.

Thanks for all the support with this issue!

[J_Sims]

If I am in town there will be three extra seats headed up from South OC

[dutch]

I'm planning to ride this late tomorrow morning, I noticed all the weird dirt prior to the fires and i'd like to see it post fire. I work till 7 on mondays but would love to attend one of these meetings as I used to call oaks my local stomping ground.

If i can make it in time i'll be there.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by dutch

I'm planning to ride this late tomorrow morning, I noticed all the weird dirt prior to the fires and i'd like to see it post fire. I work till 7 on mondays but would love to attend one of these meetings as I used to call oaks my local stomping ground.

If i can make it in time i'll be there.

The meetings tend to go long and they don't move along very quick so if you could come after work head on over...take pics while you are over there tomorrow...I am planning on going over later this week to take even more up to date pics myself.

Originally Posted by mytrustysteed

How about sending the pics to the OC Register? The ONLY time polititians react is when their public reputation is on the line. Otherwise they don't really care.

Great Idea...I have a connection over there...I will be calling them on Monday...maybe they could attend the meeting...ummm...that might get them to listen if everything is plastered in the paper!!! OOOhhh now this is getting good!