• Various and Sundry Things Vol 4

If you're signed up for city emails, and you read them, then you've already read about the road improvement projects going on.

Below is the direct wording from the email with pics I took today.

The City of Wildomar is under contract with Hardy & Harper, Inc. to construct CIP0048 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Improvement Project.

The work was scheduled to begin on June 18, 2018, and construction is anticipated to be completed by July 20, 2018. 

• Clinton Keith Rd – Completed

The ragged road in front of The Barn, near the corner of Clinton Keith and Palomar heading westbound got a fresh pave job. Photo by Wildomar Rap

• Grand Ave – Completed

It starts at the intersection of McVicar and Central and continues south in large swaths.
Photo by Wildomar Rap

No more broken asphalt in this area.
Photo by Wildomar Rap

This area remains as it was.
Photo by Wildomar Rap

• Inland Valley Rd – Clinton Keith Rd to Prielipp Rd (Night work June 26-June 28, 2018 7PM – 5AM)

All the bad areas of Inland Valley Road were fixed with this repaving project.
Photo by Wildomar Rap

• Bundy Canyon Rd – Oak Circle Rd to The Farm Rd (Day Time July 2- July 3, 2018 8:30AM to 3:30PM). There is no road closure proposed with the project. The project will close one lane at a time and use a flagging operation to direct traffic through the construction zone. 

The project construction is funded by SB1 – The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (new gas tax). 

Construction of this nature creates a hazardous environment for those construction personnel and for persons not related to the construction. Please use extreme caution when traveling on the various streets during construction. We place a high priority on public safety and ask your help and cooperation with these issues.

If you have any questions or concerns you may contact Hardy & Harper, Inc at (714) 444-1851 or the City of Wildomar at (951) 677-7751.

WR NOTE: There was no mention of when the lines would be repainted on either Clinton Keith or Grand Ave.

Wildomar Rap opinion time:
The above is good, solid communication from the city. Now let's up the game and have it archived in the form of a city newsletter/blog (with in house photos too). 

And instead of sending out the emails when the work is done on three of the four items (it was dated yesterday), how about before the first paving job starts?

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Does $67,648.34 of grant money (one time) really have an "approximate value" of $200K per month?

Something that flew under my radar came from the May city council agenda, on the consent calendar (which is the place that agenda items go that are not intended to get council or public comment) was the rebranding of Baxter Road.

I emailed all five council members about this. Just looking for some basic info as to when the public was going to start to see some movement on the transition.

Hi [insert council member name here],

I didn't see the consent calendar item in May about the funding for sign changes regarding Wildomar Trail and branding of the water tower. I've always liked the idea and am glad to see it happening. I want to write a blog about it, sharing what's coming, and if you can add any details (when it's supposed to happen) that would be helpful.

Thanks

Joseph

Kudos to Councilmember Tim Walker for being the first to respond, and then followed up the next day too.

"Yes we’ve been working on that for a while. Wrcog is helping cities with branding and they kick in some funding for these types of projects. I can’t remember which meeting it was but we have passed all this. That’s also who paid for the new City sings [sic] on the building."

I asked if he had an idea when it would begin and he replied, 

"We are still waiting on Caltrans they have to do their share first. It’s going to [be] some time for them."

Bridgette Moore also responded. She reminded me that the info was on page 512 of the agenda packet, and that the "project must be completed by November 15, 2018"

From west to east, then south the road names will be going from Central, Baxter, Porras, George and Shopping Center to Wildomar Trail.

The roadway name change first was brought up by Mayor Ben Benoit at the May 13, 2015 city council meeting, he was mayor that year too. (video at the bottom of the blog)

This graphic was first scene in the May 2015 blog covering the city council meeting.

I'm all for the idea of having one of our off ramps, and key thoroughfares, named after the city. The part that gets lost on me is the need to attach a questionable value to the name change; a value that can't be redeemed at any bank. 

Back in 2015 I had a public comment about this, I suggested that if the "approximate value" of such rebranding really was going to be $100K per month, then we should sell the naming rights to Coca-Cola and make $1.2M per year.

It was funny to watch the head shaking at my comment by staff (it's subtle but it's there), suggesting that I wasn't quoting their own agenda packet verbatim. 

Now, the May 2018 agenda claims that wrapping the water tower is also valued at $100K per month. Preposterous! 

If this is too small to read on your device, here is a link to the agenda item. Go to page 520.

Still, you can clearly read the claimed value of the tower wrapping... I think this project is a good idea, especially since the costs are being covered by another agency. It just doesn't need eyebrow raising claims attached to it in the process.

If those numbers are supposed to be real, how in the world is it that a struggling city like Wildomar hasn't looked into getting some of that back by way of selling the naming rights?

Because that suggestion is equally as preposterous... offsetting penalties, play goes over. 

Or just continue to repeat the same rhetoric, you choose.

Once we get past the silliness of the claimed value of rebranding, it's a good idea. 

Location of the water tower in question, decked out in a Wildomar Rap wrap. I don't get how in the same paragraph the claim of $5000 a month and $100,000 a month are made. Must be new math.

This should have been trumpeted in the lead up to the May 2018 city council meeting. This is a win for the city. Why was this put on the consent calendar where the likelihood was that it would get no recognition? Which is what happened.

This is another reason why I'm running for city council. Things like this need to be part of the full agenda and discussed in public. Worst case scenario, the city council meeting lasts another 9 to 14 minutes. 

Why should it be blogger guy that is getting this info to the residents of Wildomar, weeks after the fact, instead of the city itself?

The election is still four and a half months away, but it's never too early to discover what the candidate stands for. Click this link to visit the website.

Below is the video of the May 2015 agenda item. It's like a little time capsule that takes you back to the old council chambers. Understand that much of that item is NOT part of the rebranding. Item 3.3 from that meeting was also dealing with updating street signs too, which isn't happening now.

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Easy Pickin's?

It was disclosed to me that The Corporate Room was sent a letter by the city saying they aren't allowed to have the marketplace event anymore.

Credit does go to Councilmember Bridgette Moore for at least trying to intercede when at the last city council meeting she asked for an ordinance that would allow for such events during the Future Agenda items.

I guess you got your answer... 

This probably isn't a fair juxtaposition, but what everyday people in town see is that there is time to chase away a quality event in its nascency, while the homeless encampments remain for another day.

"Ouch, that's not fair," some of you are saying.

Ok, you got me, I have to agree that comparing the ordinances for events like Wildomar Marketplace to ordinances dealing with homeless encampments is like comparing hamburgers to rollie pollie bugs (yes, I just said "rollie pollie"). 

Homeless issues are bigger than cities and regions, and seem to have no real workable answers with the way the state (and the courts) are dictating things be done (or not be done, as the case may be).

But comparing the ordinances that would allow something like the Wildomar Marketplace with ordinances banning trucks on Palomar, that are circumventing the codes day after day, and year after year... is definitely a Granny Smith v. MacIntosh moment if ever there was one.

My guess is that these guys have been there longer than Wildomar has been a city. I don't blame code enforcement, they need an ordinance with teeth in it before they can actually do anything about it. 

Let's hope that the city kicks it into high gear when it comes to allowing such events as Wildomar Marketplace in the future.

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The windows of my soul I throw Wide open to the sun.
– John Greenleaf Whittier 

Wildomar Rap neither throws, nor tosses nor hurls any windows... not even if they come equipped with the Vista operating system.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• City Council Meeting August 2017 2.0

I wasn't really sure why there was a need for a second city council meeting in the month of August before the meeting, and after it was concluded, in under an hour, I still can't figure out why the agenda couldn't have been included in the prior or next meeting(s).

At that, I did find a few nuggets of info worth sharing that I gleaned from the meeting.

Public Comments on Non Agenda Items.

On behalf of Wildomar Little League, Mason Ballard presented a plaque of appreciation to the City Council. He and his family are relatively new to Wildomar, but he has shown outstanding levels of alacrity when it comes to The W. 

We need more people like him, and his wife Lisa, stepping up and helping out. In the short video you'll get a feel of his infectious good will as he recites the Little League pledge.

Let's segue to a prediction of the end of the world.

Miss Miller informed us that, according to a youtube video, the world is coming to an end during the month of September... at least that's what I got out of her sermon like comment. 

She also was plugging a demonstration she has planned in Temecula. If you are looking to tap into your inner SJW (Social Justice Warrior), then you'll want to be at Butterfield Square this Saturday night. By the by, she actually walked away from the microphone with 30 seconds left on the clock.

I guess that means she won't be attending the free concert in the park at Marna O'Brien that is slated for the same day and time. D'oh!

If you haven't been on Youtube lately, we have the phenomenal [sic] of the events of Revelations, perhaps culminating September 23rd, 2017. Supposedly the Sun turns black for three hours, the battle of Armageddon as the woman flees into the wilderness begins the tribulation.

I know some of you read the holy book and Revelations, and so the woman in the desert in the prophesy is symbolic of the nations fleeing from the wrath of armed and violent nations, America being the worst.  —Miss Miller, August 30, 2017

Her speech, which had NOTHING to do with the city of Wildomar, went on for another minute but I lost interest after her verbose anti-American barrage (It's an easy bet that Colin Kaepernick is her favorite football player).

I don't like to get religious, because we all have different beliefs, but you opened the door Miss Miller, so I'll walk through it. I was raised with the bible as the center of the family, and I guarantee you that you are NOT Christlike on any level. Give your lame attempts at preaching a rest... or save them for the snakes you've seen "slither from one hole to another hole across the street."  (an actual quote of hers from January 2017, link to blog covering it)

If you'd like to see her dire predictions, as the rest of us did, watch the video below. Always entertaining, and always for the wrong reasons.

Now for something of substance:

The Grand Avenue Multi-Purpose Trail Project is on target to begin in September and be completed by March. The funding for the entire project ($1,080,050.00 was procured through various grants).

Link to March 2016 Blog covering this topic

However, my favorite part of the project, the proposed roundabout at Sheila and Grand, is now on the shelf. Lack of funding is what nixed it. Thing is, now that it's off the table, don't look for it to ever come back to the drawing board.

Who doesn't hate the stop sign that is currently at this intersection?

The only other item of merit that I found interesting is that the State has changed the official term from "Second Unit" to "Accessory Dwelling Unit" (ADU) for something the rest of us call a "Granny Flat" or Casita.

Earlier in the year, the State of California passed a bill aiming to curb unnecessary burdens that local municipalities put in the way of people trying to build such a structure. 

Most of it is laudatory, but the part I couldn't help but get floored by is that the DIF fee (development impact fee) is $12K. 

That's even if the ADU is inside your home. I can picture a lot of people risking a code violation in order to save $12,001 if they're building this within the walls of their home.

I've included the three minute video of Planning Director Matt Bassi's presentation. 

A couple of screen captures stitched together in photoshop.

Business Insider article on the topic of ADU's in California

☺

Now for an "Oh Geesh" moment

During the consent calendar portion of the meeting, agenda items that generally don't need rehashing, five people pulled items. Most were talking about the Grand Avenue Multi-Purpose Trail that will be coming our way.

They all seemed to favor it, but still wanted to kvetch about apparent imperfections in the plans. In my former life I washed windows and there are few things less fresh than the comedian that comes up from the other side of the glass, points to the window and uncorks the very worn out, "Hey, you missed a spot!"

Yes, the dude was very clever and original with that remark (insert eye roll here)... as were the other five guys that had said it earlier that day. 

Hey, we all can find faults in nearly everything if that was our purpose in life, but what the hell benefit would there be in that course of action? 

Thinking outside of the box... if the goal is to repel people, then it's a terrific plan of attack.

The person that I always enjoy watching as she speaks during public comments is WIN Committee original, Gina Castanon. I can't figure her out. Is she nervous or actually as surly as she comes off?

She is also a prime influence in Wildomar's Historical Society, and when I went to one of their events (the yearly ringing of the bell at Wildomar Elementary in 2016) I was threatened with a lawsuit. LOL... but seriously, I just wanted to buy one of those root beer floats y'all were selling. 

After that, I better understood Stan Smith's nickname for that group: 
The Hysterical Society

I've had a few other encounters with her, and each have been almost as inexplicably negative as that one was. 

Which brings us to the point from the meeting. She got borrowed time, for a total of 6 minutes (points to her for only using four and a fraction of them), to complain about parts of the trail that must narrow to 8 feet in certain spots (also known as pinch points) where there just is no wiggle room.

Lo and behold I have video of the July 2016 Trails Meeting that she alluded to and was able to pull out Tim Walker's quote... so there wouldn't be any confusion as to what he actually said.

The long and the short of it was that a trails subcommittee meeting, that should have taken 30 minutes lasted more than 90 minutes... (what's new, right?).

Nearing the end of a tediously long meeting Tim Walker said, "If it comes down to people suing I'll tell you one thing right now, the city council —at least I will vote— to close some of the trails that are pinch points. If I'm afraid that people are going to sue me on a pinch point [...] I'll vote to close the thing."

Tell me again how that isn't reasonable, and the correct way to take care of the city's interests, if unavoidable litigation is hanging in the balance?

Here's a link to the blog discussing it.

I've made two videos on the topic. 

The first has just the salient parts of the issue. Starting with Castanon's claims that Walker's comments were "inappropriate" at last year's subcommittee meeting, and that he "would rather see the trails closed down and avoid litigation if that's going to be a liability issue" (again, as if that would be a bad move if it came down to it). 

Then Tim Walker's response, and a snippet from Mayor Walker dating back to last Summer's meeting. All a bunch of needlessly wasted time, but the types of nonsense that is the usual board of fare at Wildomar city meetings.

Just in case someone wants to accuse W'Rap of giving misleading reports, the second video includes Gina Castanon's entire comment from last night, Tim Walker's response and a response from City Engineer Dan York without edits. You watch, you decide.

The rumor mill has long had it that she is planning on running for city council next year. Could you even imagine it? 

Our city council has been so boring over the years that I've been attending city meetings that I'd find it to be hilariously awesome if she were to run, and exponentially more so if she were to win.

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What is the future? Isn't the future, after all, the fabric we weave out of the strands of the present? So, if you know all the strands, all the threads, and all the stitches, why isn't it possible to foresee the design? 

– EG Marshall (CBSRMT 1974)

Wildomar Rap reminds you that if you knew the future, such as who was going to run for city council next year, life would be pretty boring.

• Railroad Canyon Public Outreach Meeting

Tonight there was a public outreach meeting at the Lake Elsinore city hall regarding the traffic issues on Railroad Canyon. I went because it's just a couple of miles north of us and many Wildomar residents use that area.

Currently the area is a complete nightmare with traffic coming at you from all directions. There are four options they are weighing. Option one is to do nothing. That costs the least, but considering that the intersections are currently rating an "F" it's scary to imagine what it would be like when they hit build out in 2035 if they do nothing.

The other options, that do not include the roundabouts, are very cost prohibitive. No matter what, it's all going to be a ton of money, but redoing the off ramps with more lanes is crazy money. In option 3, you can see where they would be completely moving the on and off ramps off of Railroad Canyon.

There were large scale posters with realistic artist renderings of what the area will look like once completed. Very impressive and it gives a person a better sense of what is going to happen there. You can find the images online at the official website of the project. The link is below.

Gustavo (I didn't get his last name) of RCTC is discussing the potential roundabouts with George Cambero.

Below is an animated video of how the traffic will flow at the five roundabouts. Further along in the video the animation changes from areal view to street view. It starts at about the 6:20 mark.

Click here to jump to the in car view.

The main speaker was Scott Ritchie, his title was roundabout expert, and he gave a pretty convincing argument for the proposed project. From cost, to safety, to construction time it's seems like a no brainer over the other options.

One question from the audience was about safety. That's been my worry too. How do you expect this to work when common courtesy has dipped so low. Where young punks on a city facebook group will lambaste 80 year old women and then hide behind, "but it's free speech man,"?

The answer was poignant. Those people have to be endured no matter what design is chosen. 

If you're interested in this, be sure to visit the webpage and give it a good perusal. While there, you can sign up to be on an email list, and they'll gladly send you updates. If you are a resident of Lake Elsinore, they'd like you to weigh in with your opinions. This will be voted on in the next month or two and this is your chance to be heard. The soonest that construction will begin is Autumn of 2017.

Click here for the official webpage of the project.

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UPDATE ON GRAND AVE REPAVING

I had a chance to speak with County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries about this and was glad to know that the center turn lane will be coming back. The current striping is for the safety of the workers as they make improvements to the shoulder areas. Below is the official update.

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One of these days Alice... bang, zoom, straight to the moon. 

― Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners

Wildomar Rap is not in the "Bang-Zoom" business, and no one will be going to the moon... nonstop or otherwise. 

• Grand Ave Repavement Project

If you use Grand Avenue you know that there has been a road improvement project going on for the past month or so. I use the road about one day a week, and just three days ago the lines had not been painted yet. Today I had a bonus trip down that road and it was striped, though the project appears to still have more to do before it's finished.

How the road had been striped before.

What I noticed is that it went from one lane in each direction, and a center turn lane... to a lane in each direction and NO center turn lane. The missing lane got divided up as shoulder room on each side of the road.

At first I thought that the new addition was the bike lanes, but you can see bike lanes in the old photos. So I'm not sure how the new striping helps. I'm glad I don't use the road regularly, and never in rush hour, but I see more problems created by eliminating the turn lane than solved with the extra room on the right.

Here you see a car turning left across traffic from the south bound lane... without the protection of a turn lane.

Instead of traffic flowing at a normal pace through Lakeland Village, now you'll need to be on your toes for sudden stops as people will be looking to turn left against traffic from the main lane of travel.

Here you see Corydon and the tiny turn pocket that they created instead of the old turn lane.

One place that looks like it is really going to be a mess is the intersection of Grand and Corydon. At the end of the day, that is the main route from Ortega Highway to the freeway. It's not uncommon for the lineup of cars to reach more than a dozen waiting to turn left.

The new turn pocket looks like it might accommodate 5 cars... maybe 15 if they were Smart Cars. I hope the additional cars at peak usage time will just use the same space they did before and NOT block the southbound lane.

A look at the original lane configurations and Grand Plaza on the east side of the road.

Also, when I've used Grand, going south in the afternoons before, it was common to see cars turning left into the strip mall on that corner. There is no turn pocket for them. I bet this is going to get dicey if this is the final lane scheme they have in mind.

One good thing that I saw, for those that turn right from Grand to a side street, is that it is much safer for them since they have their own 'lane' now... sort of a lane anyway.

Have you driven on it yet? Do you have thoughts on the new lane set up? If so, post them below... just keep in mind that anonymous comments that stray too far afield will be obliterated. Thank you, drive through. ☺

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What is meat and drink to one, is bitter poison to another.
― Titus Lucretius

Wildomar Raptor is not a creature in Jurassic World.