Everyone is invited to this very important Annual Meeting. It is always a fun event with a delicious Pancake Breakfast. Of course, the top of the agenda will be all the work that is being done to STOP the 500,000 volt transmission lines from even touching Palomar Mountain. Special speakers are in the works. You’ll also hear how YOU can help. More info at SavePalomarMountain.org
Property owners and locals, you should have the PMPO Newsletter in your mail box by now. Just in case, please visit their website PMPO Info where you’ll find the newsletter in living color!
Please join us: Saturday, May 25, 2024, Breakfast 8 am to 10 am, $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for children
Annual Meeting immediately follows breakfast at 10
Located at the Palomar Mountain Fire Station
21610 Crestline Road, Palomar Mountain, CA 92060
Hope to see YOU there!
P.S. What do YOU love about Palomar Mountain? We need to hear from all of you to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you!
Perfectly healthy fir tree until SDG&E cut the top off and left the slash on the ground. Photo by Wayne Morehead
Did you know this is ‘Wildfire Preparedness Week in California’? Per Governor Newsome, May 5-11, 2024 We’re to all work together and clean up our properties to be more fire safe. SG&E, we need YOUR help!
The past few years the work Rancho Trees, aka Davey Tree or DRG have been working along the power easements and are creating more of a fire danger plus work and and expense for the property owner.
Please see video below I took yesterday.
We appreciate the trees being trimmed near the power lines but cutting off the tops as proven time and time again, does not work! All over Palomar you can see when a top is cut off, it kills the trees. Firs especially seem to prefer keeping their head about them so it is only a matter of time and they are a great fire danger and expensive for property owner to deal with. This damage caused by SDG&E also negatively impacts property values.
SDG&E, please review the guidelines for cutting in Cleveland National Forest including CalFire requirements. Our now very expensive fire insurance requirements can be even more demanding than what you see here:
Since we are within Cleveland National Forest, their guidelines require that no stump be left taller that 8 inches on the tall side. These stumps being butchered are 20 to 30 feet tall.
CAL FIRE now has annual inspections and one of the requirements states: “If you have dead or dying trees on your property, the entire tree needs to be removed to reduce wildfire risk.” Yes, we know that a tree is often alive but when your crews cut the top off, your work causes a fire danger and considerable expense to the property owner.
In addition, CAR, California Association of Real Estate has guidelines now through a state law, requiring a seller provide a CAL FIRE clearance or the Buyer needs to take the responsibility and have the work done within 30 days.
Driving around, we see that a lot of slash with large branches has been left around these standing dead tall stumps. From what we understand, your tree crews are to chip the slash for fire safety. Please finish the job.
Your notice on doors state that “This work is done at no cost to you”. Be aware that much expense is ahead for the owner. Please review how some of these crews are leaving the wood. Some crews do a great job bucking the wood to manageable lengths, but many property owners use the wood for heat. Most of the wood is now being bucked into 5 or 6 inch rounds, then cut into a pie shapes. We can not even get these on a splitter or stack to store for burning. Please instruct the crews to buck into about 15 or 16 inch rounds, then cutting in half if need be so we can ‘manage’ these rounds, split and store to use for heat. It would take no more work, perhaps even fewer cuts for the crews. Some wood has been left so difficult that your crews have and to come back and chip it to make it fire safe. Please help us help you and avoid the second visits.
Attention Palomar neighbors, It is ALWAYS BEST to be on your property when the SDG&E crews do the work. Do you have standing dead stumps? Do you have slash left by SDG&E work? Would you like to get them back to your property to finish the job? Do you have an absentee neighbor you could contact to have SDG&E finish their job? That property owner does have to be the one to connect with SDG&E so please forward this info.
Who do you contact to get your property fire safe from SDG&E’s crews? Over the years I’ve collected these cards but haven’t double checked the contacts:
SDG&E Vegetation management 858-654-8608
Jason Arnold Senior Consulting Utility Forester Certified Arborist 619-496-7528
Jason Digenan Construction Supervisor – Electric Northeast C&O Regional Operations 619-992-6476 jdigenan@sdge.com
Nick Smith Construction Supervisor 760-305-3039 nsmith5@sdge.com
Jack Sullivan Field System Analyst 310-770-9727 jsullivan3@semprautilities.com
Let’s work together to help keep Palomar Fire Safe!
Driving along State Park Road, I saw children playing with a ball. They were having so much fun, I just had to turn around. Say ‘hello’ to the Miguel Francisco Family! It is a family tradition to come to Palomar for the kids to get out of the city and play in sunny weather. They traveled from Escondido to a favorite spot for a Sunday afternoon picnic at the side of the the Palomar Mountain General Store. When we have snow, they are so excited and bundle up to be one of the first families to enjoy our Winter Wonderland.
How nice to be able to have a family day enjoying our fresh air and beautiful forest with bright spring green and the clouds rolling in. We had a little visit and I asked to take a quick video to share. Don’t you just love those children’s voices and happy smiles?
Bonnie Phelps, out making new friends!
P.S. Why do YOU love to Play on Palomar Mountain? We need to hear from all of you to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you!
This is Day 11 of learning about this 500,000 volt transmission line to cut across Palomar Mountain. How did we find out? SDG&E sent letters out to property owners on what we now call the Orange Line. The letters stated that environmental survey teams would be entering their properties. Most property owners contacted the number provided and did not give permission to enter. Many folks up here now have trail cams. One saw trespassers on his land, called a neighbor who ran over and talked to a survey crew who said they “had permission”. However, it was quite the opposite. So, this grassroots action team of neighbors was immediately born to research, expose and stop this project.
We just got word that Horizon West won the bid for their share of the $9.2 billion dollar line. We don’t know if Horizon West was bidding on this same route. Apparently it will be awhile before the route is to be published. We confirmed that SDG&E and KP Environmental will not be involved in the project. Meanwhile, we are going forward to do all we can to SAVE Palomar Mountain from where ever this line will be proposed.
What about the GOLD? Neighbor, Sandra Cagusi follows Amy Reichert @amyforsandiego on Instagram, Sandra sent her the Loaded for Bear post. A late-night phone call last night with Amy Reichert was priceless. Amy was incredibility generous with sharing proven information she has gathered over the years running her non-profit and gave some wonderful guidance to really take this to the next level. The GOLD???? Amy sent us her data base of over 200 contacts with key people and groups politically, TV stations, editors and every valuable gem for marketing to San Diego County and beyond. We are on a roll!!!
P.S. What do YOU feel like you found a real treasure and a golden gem when you visit Palomar Mountain? We need to hear from all of you to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you!
That’s a quote from one of our neighbors who was on the phone yesterday with Brian Freye, the contact person for the environmental surveys for SDG&E. Their property is one in orange on this map. These letters have become a pretty obvious line across Palomar which could turn into the path of destruction for these transmission lines to Orange County and beyond. After a bit of Q&A, Brian heard loud and clear (but very professional and nice) that we are a community already poised with amazing resources to fight this with the State of California and everyone in-between. We have a core team of volunteers working around the clock toward a goal of preserving this mountain. But, we need your help! Keep reading for some of the needs that have surfaced so far to attack this project from many angles:
Do you have property close to our ‘Orange Line‘? Do you think you might have received a letter from SDG&E? They were sent out the end of February.
Hello Observatory and Caltech! Could 500,000 kV lines across Palomar Mountain cause any interference with the work you do as one of the largest observatories in the world? Would the fact that these towers need to light up at night for safety for airplanes be a detriment to your need for ‘Dark Sky’? Please let us know.
Drone Photographers and AI photoshop help – We have some key locations along the ‘Orange Line’ where some some photos could be taken in the direction the lines might run. Drone photography might be the best. Then if we had someone that could photoshop or use AI to show a visual of how this line could possibly change the landscape, that would be fabulous. This photo above was taken on the the lower side of State Park Road where a straight line for the towers could take us right across the south side of the mountain, west, to and through Nate Harrison Grade to stay above the residential areas in Pauma Valley.
Nate Harrison Grade – The archeologist for the cabin study site has been notified. Do you own property on Nate Harrison? How about Pauma Valley or Pala? Did you receive a letter? It is possible that the line is heading your way. Please let us know.
Press Releases, interviews on mtn with camera crews – David Ross with the VC Roadrunner and Escondido TA published a intro to our project in Thursday’s paper. Wednesday he interviewed George Ravenscroft for a large article this coming week and on-going updates are promised in his papers. I did have an interview with Coast News a couple days ago. Do YOU have a contact with TV stations and other newspapers? Let’s get those crews up here now that we are to have clear weather next week.
Palomar is on an earthquake fault line – A Geologist Engineer is working on addressing that issue. Please stay tuned.
Endangered species – A mountain neighbor has volunteered to compile the research for all known endangered species on Palomar. He actually works with the Skipper Butterfly Foundation. Will share with all.
“People are Talking” we plan an-ever growing collection of why you think the line should be stopped. Just send it my way and we’ll plan to weave the comments in with our marketing. Thanks to all.
500,000 kV lines have proven to pose such a huge fire risk. So many fires have been started from electrical lines. For the possibility of these towers along the rim of Palomar, coupled with our 100 mile per hour winds we’ve experienced on our own property, and lightening here on the mountain, this makes no sense at all. It certainly didn’t work out well for the town of Paradise, CA with CalFire stating the cause was a “faulty electric transmission line”. Do you have input to share on this subject?
Today I just realized we have only had knowledge of this project for nine days so think we’ll pause here at nine bullet points… for a quick minute. Mike Pique was here for about 6 hours today working together researching and verifying information. We have so many more directions and connections that many volunteers are working on and will have more for you soon.
Meanwhile, what do you think of this video below? I found it interesting how land and trees are clear-cut for these 500,000 kV towers. This installation looks like a pretty simple project being on level land and not across our steep topography with huge canyons, granite boulders and our old-growth forest where erosion could be a bit of a challenge too.
No, we don’t need this on Palomar Mountain. You with us on that? We need to hear from all of you to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you!
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor and volunteer along with some pretty sharp folks to Save Palomar Mountain!
Palomar Christian Conference Center is hiring a seasonal wrangler starting immediately through May 31, with the option to continue through the summer. This position is a great opportunity to join a positive team to refine and advance skills in trail ride leading, instructing, and horse care.
Candidates should be able to:
Live On-Site (sorry no pets allowed)
Groom and tack a horse without assistance
Show intermediate to advanced riding skills and knowledge of horse behavior
Do basic daily care of horses (feed, water, muck stalls, etc.)
Confidently and Comfortably teach beginner riders on trail and in the arena
Show a growing faith in God and able to share it with guests
Compensation includes: $16-$18/hr, housing and most meals and a fantastic, encouraging, knowledgeable community!
Where could the 500,000 volt transmission lines go over Palomar? Map updated May 1, 2024
We are only guessing, based on the people who were notified with very vague environmental survey letters by SDG&E with this route. The notified property owners are in orange. There are now several dozen parcels of about 2200 acres with much along the south rim of Palomar Mountain. Based on this map, updated often, it could travel through Warner’s Valley at Lake Henshaw off the right side of the map, up to Panorama Trail off East Grade (blue line). Then continue all along that very lush and beautiful East Grade Road, through both the Will and Dyche Valleys.
A recent orange addition is the Walls property and one more below Crestline and straight up to the heart of Palomar where we have the General Store and Post Office. At our only businesses we would then drive under those lines then all along, below the left edge of State Park Road (yellow line). There is a row of new orange letter folks accessed by the first gate traveling down South Grade Road (in red). If that would be the route, a straight line drops down off the top of the ridge and points all the way to and through Nate Harrison Grade. Or, with the most recent additions at the far left side of State Park Road the line could cut through the State Park. From there it is on it’s way to San Onofre to supply power to Orange County and LA. But keep in mind, these poles do not carry residential power. No power would be available for any off-grid area. Power is only headed to the coast.
Every single person going home to their cabin or ranch, or our many visitors in our old growth forest with the World Famous Observatory and 2000 acre State Park would travel this route. You would be driving along HUGE towers humming with 500,000 volts of electricity and a butchered swath of our beautiful forest, meadows and ponds, clear-cut under all the lines. Keep in mind, according to CalFire, “a faulty transmission line” caused the Paradise Fire burning over 150,000 acres. The same thing could happen here with our 100 mph winds out on the rim where this line might run through.
Palomar has so many historic Indian sites with hundreds of grinding holes and areas where many pottery shards and arrowheads have been found. One of our residents is working on a post showing the endangered species found on the mountain, and grasses and plants that are only known to this area for basket weaving by the Indians, and endangered species habitats that have been studied for preserving .
We are so thankful we had our last minute meeting Sunday afternoon. With this news for the nearly $3 billion dollars for this leg of the project to be awarded in seven days, we needed all the help we can get. Many of us are working every minute with the goal to stop the project over Palomar!
Keep reading for more, meanwhile, what do YOU love about Palomar Mountain? We need to hear from all of you to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you!
+++
Thanks to Keith Thygerson, one of the owners of an orange parcel who has researched this project online and provided the info below.
Keith discovered that the bid for the job across Palomar (nearly $3 million) is to be AWARDED next Monday, April 29th!!! Here are the details from Keith:
<<<< From: Keith Thygerson Date: Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 6:15 PM Subject: The Policy-Driven Imperial Valley – North of SONGS 500 kV Line and 500/230 kV Substation Project To: Bonnie Phelps As part of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) 2022-2023 Transmission Plan
One Policy-Driven project is named: Imperial Valley–North of SONGS 500 kV Line and Substation (Service Area SDGE), Expected in-service 2034, Projected Cost $2,288M (SONGS is San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station)
The community meeting today is still on for 2:00 pm today per Robert Carlyle who has called this special meeting represented by the Fire Board. Robert has invited people who have been working on this, to share with the Fire Board and attendees what they have learned about this proposed 500,000 volt transmission line. Thank you Robert.
A new speaker will be Mark Andrews. He grew up on the mountain and graduated from the little school. Living in Borrego Springs for many years, he volunteered with the Borrego Springs committee addressing the transmission lines through their area and will share some of his knowledge. Mark also works for the County Road Department.
Mike Pique has spent many hours on this project, too, and will share a map of people who have received letters. Thank you to all who are taking time out of your beautiful day to come and get informed on this critical issue for our wonderful mountain.
<<<Update 5/21/2024: Your help is needed to keep those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain. Thank you! >>>
Have you heard? The State of California is planning a 500,000 volt transmission line to run right through the heart of Palomar Mountain. Concerned citizens are inviting you to meet up for some initial information to stop this project.
Already some residents have received letters from SDG&E which is one of the four companies that is bidding the transmission job across the mountain. The letters inform the property owner that SDG&E crews of 3 people will be on your property doing an environmental survey over a couple of months period of time. They aren’t asking permission, just stating that they will be there. When calling the number on the letter, the information given has usually been very vague. I was told they were just checking areas for potential power poles. I mentioned the area on East Grade was all off-grid and they would have very few new customers. They replied their survey teams were doing an environment survey for endangered species. With more research, we learn the ‘new poles’ would NOT carry residential power at all, it is to be a 500,000 volt transmission tower line, over the mountain with an unknown path to San Onofre.
This project is to carry 500,000 volts of power, apparently twice the size of any other transmission tower in San Diego County, from other states and the Imperial Valley to provide power to South Orange County. Other potential routes have been blocked. Clear-cutting through our old growth forest is their proposed path-of-the-hour.
You might have seen trucks with teams of surveyors around the mountain recently. Even though each property owner I have spoken to has contacted the number on the letter saying they are NOT to be on their land, they come anyway. One property owner saw a crew on his trail cam. A neighbor was called and rushed over as the crew told him they “had permission”. That was not correct, they were told NOT to trespass.
Ray Carpenter, George Ravenscroft and Yvonne Vaucher will be presenting info known to date. The meeting is to be 45 minutes in length.
Here is some info for your initial review from Yvonne:
“This SONGS transmission project (CASIO in coordination with the CPUC) has been in the works for over a year with State transmission plan approval in May 2023. SONGS project description: “A new 500 kV transmission line running west from the Arizona border into southern Imperial County, new 500 kV transmission lines angling up from southern Imperial County to northern San Diego County and extending into the southern LA Basin, and upgrades to the existing 500 kV and 230 kV lines along the Interstate 10 (I-10) corridor. Together, these upgrades provide access to east Riverside County, Imperial County and Arizona solar generation, Imperial Valley geothermal, and New Mexico wind generation;” CASIO News Release.
See highlighted text in both CASIO attachments: Plan approval News release << https://www.caiso.com/Documents/caiso-2022-2023-transmission-plan-approved.pdf & detailed ASIO Transmission Plan Draft (pg 95) -it appears we are in the final Phase 3 out for bid phase (highlighted pgs 28-30); and the Jan 2024 SDG&E news release.
From the transmission plan n.b. SONGS (San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) << https://www.wecc.org/Reliability/SDGE%202024%20APR.pdf >> is the search word for the Imperial Valley/North San Diego transmission project.
This is an issue of critical importance for the entire Palomar Mountain. The sooner we address this the better the chance of influencing the outcome.”
Please join us 2:00pm to approximately 2:45pm Sunday afternoon, April 21, 2024
Community Center House at Fire Station 21610 Crestline Road, Palomar Mountain, CA 92060
Hope to see you there,
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor on very beautiful Palomar Mountain and hope to keep it that way
It’s a bit of a challenge on Palomar as we don’t have curb-side trash pick up at each property up here. Some part-timers take their trash back with them. Or those who work in the city have use of their work dumpster. Most people share dumpsters. You can have your own, of course, but Ramona Disposal is pretty proud of those dumpsters. Would you like to save some money by sharing a dumpster? Ask around or I can give you the contact info of a neighbor open to sharing.
What about that pile of stuff in the photo (not from Palomar)? When you have a lot of stuff to go away, Pala Transfer Station Disposal is our closest dump site. You don’t have a truck or trailer? Some folks have rented a UHaul trailer, loaded it up and haul it to Pala. Be sure to read their webpage of what they do and don’t accept, and info about their rates. Must pay in cash last time I checked.
We do have grants for occasional 40 yard dumpsters for use by the community with a donation, but they can fill up pretty fast.
Glad to get your questions answered.
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor, helping clean up the Mountain
Palomar Mountain News 