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D395

At Tuesday’s Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting, Praxis CEO Michael Ort gave an update in the Digital 395 project that his company is overseeing.

Digital 395 is the infrastructure project expected to bring more broadband to the Eastern Sierra.

Ort reported that of the more than 600 miles of conduit that needs to be laid, 223 miles has been installed. Of the 84 project segments, 20 have been completed. Plus 135 miles of cable has been installed.

“You’ve got a lot of rock here,” Ort commented of the time-consuming drilling that the project workers have experienced.

When asked if thought he would make the July deadline this year, Ort said, “It’s going to be a close one, but I’m confident we’ll get the work done by the deadline.”

The deadline is tied to the project’s grant funding that was awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the California Advanced Services Fund.

Treasury Oversight Committee

The Mono County Board of Supervisors is considering appointing a Treasury Oversight Committee, which would oversee investment policy at the County.

“They wouldn’t make the policy, they would just oversee it,” explained Rose Glazier, County Assistant Director of Finance, Treasurer/Tax Collector.

The Board, while receptive to the idea felt the conversation was premature.

“We need to get a CFO in place first and then review this,” said Board Chair Byng Hunt.

Supervisor Larry Johnston, who had asked for the discussion to be brought to the table, reminded the Board that he had questioned former Finance Director Brian Muir about the efficacy of Muir being the only person overseeing the County’s budget of $60 million-$70 million. “This needs to be done sooner rather than later for public transparency,” Johnston added on Tuesday. He conceded, however, to wait to make a decision until a new Finance Director or CFO was brought on board.

Heading to Vermont

After a lengthy discussion about the merits of the peer resort tour being planned by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the Mono County Board of Supervisors approved (4-1, with Supervisor Tim Fesko voting no) to allow Supervisor Larry Johnston as well as one staff member from the Economic Development Department to go on the trip on the County’s dime. Supervisor Tim Alpers will also be attending the trip, but he will pay for the trip out of his own pocket.

The Board decided to pay the entire amount of the trip for both Johnston and the staff member in order to avoid any conflict of interest with MMSA.

“We could run into gift limitation issues if MMSA picks up the entire bill,” said County Counsel Marshall Rudolph. The gift limitation applies to staff as well.

The purpose of the trip is to study other resorts to come up with redevelopment ideas for June Mountain.

With the approval, Hunt warned that the supervisors and staff attending should not “get carried away with the perspective of the Mountain. Look at how things can help the County. The Mountain wants buy in for what it wants to do but that may not be the best for the County.

“Until MMSA divest and we have competition between the two mountains, nothing is going to change,” he added.

Questions still surround Manson Family hangout

The haunting face of Charles Manson is a tough thing to shake from your memory, even if you’ve only seen it over a television screen. The thought that there may be murders he orchestrated back in his heyday that are unaccounted for is something even harder to digest.

In 2008, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department and the National Park Service authorized a dig at the Barker Ranch, the hangout where the Manson Family reportedly went following the Tate-LaBianca murder spree of 1969.

The dig was authorized following the request of scientists and now-retired Mammoth Lake Police Sergeant Paul Dostie, whose dog, a black Labrador named Buster, is trained to search for human remains. Buster had alerted on several spots at Barker Ranch, leaving Dostie and others to believe there were human remains buried there. At the time of the dig in May 2008, the government agencies only authorized digging to depths of 3-4 feet. Nothing was found, but the questions on many people’s lips since that time has been, “Did they dig deep enough?” and “Wouldn’t someone like Charlie Manson know how deep a body has to be buried?”

Fast forward to 2013.

Debra Tate, sister of the murdered Sharon Tate, has alerted the media about the existence of tapes recorded by attorney Bill Boyd back when members of the Manson Family were being rounded up and charged for the Tate-LaBianca murders. Boyd represented Manson Family member and convicted murdered Charles “Tex” Watson who confessed to the murder of Sharon Tate.

According to an interview with author Tom O’Neill, of which The Sheet has obtained a transcript, Boyd said, “But he [Watson] was — I was impressed — he was extremely candid and he told me about a bunch of other people Manson had killed …”

Boyd clearly stated, however, that Watson did not implicate himself whatsoever in these murders. They were murders that Manson had committed or orchestrated, but Watson was not involved.

Boyd died in 2009, but the tapes remain. There are reportedly 20 hours of tapes. Currently, however, the tapes are tied up in bankruptcy court in Texas. When Boyd passed away, his son was unable to keep the law firm afloat and the firm ended up in bankruptcy. The tapes, being property of the firm, are being held up in this process.

Debra Tate told The Sheet in an interview this week that she had told the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office of the tapes in the spring of 2012.

“The DA did elicit interest from detectives in the LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] and they were trying to get the tapes from bankruptcy court,” Debra said.

The LAPD subpoenaed the tapes and a bankruptcy judge in Texas declared that there was no reason not to give the tapes to the LAPD.

“They were going to get the tapes,” Debra said. “And then a federal judge put an injunction on LAPD until he looked at the tapes and reviewed the legalities.”

One of those legalities is attorney/client privilege. Plus, Watson is reportedly claiming a fifth amendment violation if the tapes are released.

“He’s saying he would be incriminated if the tapes were released,” Dostie explained.

As for the attorney/client privilege claim, both Debra Tate and Dostie said Watson gave this privilege up years ago to sell a book about his escapades with the Manson Family.

“About 14 hours of the tapes were used in the book,” Dostie said.

“You can’t release attorney/client privilege and then take it back, which is what Watson wants to do by invoking the fifth,” Debra added.

Debra recently decided to release the knowledge of the tapes to the media because she was tired of waiting on the legal system.

“The LA City Attorney should have filed a suit against the federal court [after the federal judge stepped in], but they didn’t do anything for three months,” she said. “Apparently they were looking for a bankruptcy attorney but they didn’t need one when the highest bankruptcy court in Texas had already deemed the release of the tapes OK.”

Debra closely watches what is happening with the members of the Manson Family still sitting in prison and attends each member’s parole hearings. She feels the release of the tapes would be useful in the implication of those Family members who may not have been involved in her sister’s murder, but could have participated in other murders. The tapes would also be useful in keeping those behind bars right where they are.

One Manson Family member has been released from prison and a second may be on his way out as well.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released in 2009. Today, the release of Bruce Davis, a Manson Family member, lies within Governor Jerry Brown’s hands after the State’s Board of Parole Hearings approved Davis’s release.

According to abclocal.go.com, “A judge sentenced Davis, now 70, to life in prison in 1972 for his role in the murders of two men. He was not involved in the infamous Sharon Tate murders.

“After serving more than 40 years in prison, the parole board is recommending that Brown approve Davis’ parole. The governor has 30 days to make a decision [which will be up at the end of February]. His options are to affirm, decline, modify or decline to review, which would allow the parole to take effect, an official said.”

“These people [Manson Family members] are still communicating and bonded together,” Debra said. “They are all still connected to Charlie. It will be business as usual with each individual that is released.”

Debra said that she sits approximately six feet from the Manson Family inmates each time they come up for parole.

“Their personas have not changed,” she said. “They still show complete sociopathic tendencies. “

“Those tapes could change the climate [regarding parole],” she concluded.

Not first time tapes have surfaced

This isn’t the first time the knowledge of the Watson tapes have been brought to the attention of authorities.

Besides the use of the tapes for Watson’s aforementioned book and Debra’s alert to the authorities last year, Dostie talked about and quoted from the transcript from O’Neill’s interview with Boyd where the tapes are thoroughly discussed, during a presentation to the Inyo Sheriff’s Department and the Death Valley National Park Service in 2011. Dostie made the presentation in an effort to be allowed to dig deeper at the Barker Ranch.

Dostie also contacted Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office about his concerns of bodies buried at the Barker Ranch. Feinstein responded by sending him a letter her office had received from Death Valley National Park following his presentation. In the letter, the Park, under the direction of then-Superintendent Sarah Craighead, stated that after listening to Dostie’s presentation and reviewing additional materials he provided they “found no compelling reasons to re-open the investigation.”

The Park Service was assigned to investigate Craighead, who has since been relocated to serve as Superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Other than that, nothing else has been done.

“Assigning the Park Service to investigate would be like assigning Frank Nitti to investigate Al Capone,” Dostie said.

Buster’s been busy

After five years Dostie still believes there are bodies at the Barker Ranch. Why? He and Buster have been traveling the world for the last five years collecting data to prove it.

“We’ve gone around the world and have soil samples from human decomposition sites [that Buster has alerted on],” Dostie said. One of these sites is the mass grave containing more than 40 Marines on Tarawa, which The Sheet wrote about in May 2011 (Casualties of War).

Other sites include soil taken from directly below the remains of murder victims Lynsie Ekelund and Kathryn Barrett.

Dostie also has soil samples from Barker Ranch. All soil analysis was done with a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer, according to Dostie. When put into a chart and compared side by side, the chemistry in the soil of the known gravesites is the same as the chemistry of the soil taken from Barker Ranch.

“Scientifically there is no other explanation than multiple human burials at Barker Ranch,” Dostie said. “They didn’t dig deep enough.”

(Photo: Susan Morning)

On Tuesday, what looked like an innocuous agenda item of annual reports for Inland Aquaculture Group (IAG), as well as the Conway Ranch Foundation (CRF), the 501 c3 attached to Conway Ranch as part of their contracts with the County, ended up spilling over into discussion of potential pending litigation between IAG and Mono County.

The item under debate is an invoice for $11,132.19 submitted to the County by the CRF on Nov. 20, 2012. According to Raven Angeles of IAG and CRF, the invoice is for expenses and revenue losses caused by a pipeline installation at Conway Ranch last November.

The CRF claims that Mono County’s Director of Economic Development Dan Lyster promised that the County would cover the costs of this project. The County, however, disputes that it should pay the entire invoice.

In a letter written to the Board of Supervisors in Jan. 9, CRF Board member John Frederickson wrote:

“This invoice covers expenses and lost revenue incurred by the Conway Ranch Foundation due to County staff’s instructions regarding the Conway Ranch Bell Pipeline Project.

“During the May 7, 2012 Mono County Fisheries Commission meeting Staff stated; the water would be turned off for two nonconsecutive days, that he would work with us to coordinate with the contractor to insure the water would continue to flow, and he would be out there.”

Frederickson added that “Staff” stated that construction would begin Oct. 1.

“During the September 10, 2012 Mono County Fisheries Commission meeting Staff stated; we (County) will be using our 3” pump and the pipe that we (CRF) has piece [sic] together. At this meeting, I asked Dan [Lyster] outright, ‘Who is going to pay for all of this?’ Dan replied, ‘I guess the County.’” Frederickson continued in his letter.

According to Frederickson, the CRF ceased activities at the Ranch on Sept. 20, 2012 to prepare for the Oct. 1 construction date. On Oct. 2, CRF spoke with the contractor who said according to County direction, construction was not set to begin until Oct. 15. The project finally got underway the first week of November.

However, since Conway Ranch had already closed down at the end of September, it had to remain closed throughout October, creating a loss in revenue.

“We had no alternative but to remain closed for the season,” Frederickson continued in his letter to the Board. “It would have taken another week and a half to reopen at which point we would have been able to remain open for one week before we would have had to shut down again. Not fiscally responsible and not healthy for the fish to be shuffled to and fro.”

This lost revenue was included in the invoice CRF sent to the County. The County claims it is only responsible to pay $854.19 of the invoice for the cost of fuel to run the 3-inch pump loaned to CRF from Mono County, and the cost of pick-up and return of said pump.

In a letter dated Jan. 29, former County CAO Jim Arkens wrote to the CRF. In the letter he stated that since CRF continued to demand full payment of the invoice, the County was now regarding the demand as a claim for damages.

On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors pushed hard to move away from talk of lawsuits.

Supervisor Tim Fesko said that he was present at the Mono County Fisheries Commission meetings in question. “According to my interpretation, there were promises made by staff during those meetings. We need levelheaded discussion, not lawsuits. The Conway Ranch Foundation is a partner and we need to treat them as such.”

“We need to be succinct and spell out exactly what we’re doing,” Supervisor Byng Hunt added.

The Supervisors stressed communication between the parties rather than a lawsuit. However, when Angeles then asked what else could be done to get the invoice paid, County Counsel Rudolph said that CFR could go to court.

“Seriously, is that good communication?” Angeles asked.

In a follow-up email, Angeles told The Sheet, “We were very surprised that after all five Supervisors spoke of the benefits of good communication just moments earlier, that Marshall Rudolph stood up and suggested we get an attorney and sue the County.

“If [a lawsuit were to occur], it would be [filed by] IAG. That’s why Marshall’s suggestion that CRF sue was such a surprise.”

Angeles added, “Supervisor [Fred] Stump’s suggestion to get future County commitments in writing was well received. It is a real shame that a nonprofit public benefit corporation that has brought in over $206,000 for the benefit of Conway Ranch cannot rely on verbal commitments made by a County Director.”

The Sheet spoke with Lyster on Thursday. His only comment at this time was, “Their [IAG/CRF] expectations might have been different than what the County was able and willing to provide.”

“We need to sit down in a non-adversarial position and talk,” Supervisor Tim Alpers concluded at Tuesday’s meeting.

Some Alpers’ history

At one point Alpers was a partner in IAG and a Board member on the CFR. In 2011 he signed over his ownership to his two partners (one being Frederickson) and gifted his interest, and he has also resigned from the CFR board. According to County Counsel Marshall Rudolph, Alpers does not have a conflict of interest to discuss matters relating to Conway Ranch. When it comes to conflict of interest law, there is a 12-month wait period after divesting yourself from a financial interest before you can then make decisions on that topic.

Alpers, however, has been extra cautious and told The Sheet he would be recusing himself from discussions regarding Conway Ranch during his first year of office.

“I’m not, however, conflicting out of economic development, which includes fishing,” he said.

During his term as a Supervisor in the 1990s, Alpers did run into a conflict of interest situation. He was sworn into office in 1993 and still held a contract with the County for providing trout. He was told by County Counsel at the time it was not a conflict for him to be a supervisor as well. Two years into his term, a fellow supervisor, Paul Roland went to CSAC, or the California State Association of Counties, where it was explicitly stated that someone couldn’t be a supervisor and also hold a contract with the County.

Alpers was told he had to choose between the contract and fulfilling his term as supervisor. He chose to fulfill his term and canceled the contract. However, once his term was up he said he was approached again by the County to start his contract back up again because the County could not find any big fish to substitute for his Alpers Trout.

Alpers said that today he does retain the rights to his name and is allowing IAG the use of the name for marketing purposes.

Some members of the June Lake community aren’t impressed with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area’s gesture of inviting them along on a peer resort tour scheduled for the end of this month. These June Lake villagers feel that the money being spent on the trip should be saved and directed elsewhere.

“It’s tough to make June Mountain family-friendly with Chair 1 [J1] the way it is,” said Michael Bogash of June Lake.

“MMSA should spend time with the community rather then go visit other resorts,” said resident, Alice Suszynski.

A J1 replacement, as well as more marketing of June Mountain is what these residents believe would really benefit the ski area.

With one of the major redevelopment ideas on the table being to turn June Mountain into a destination for young families, Suszynski feels that replacing J1 would help to make that transition.

“J1 is intimidating to kids and small families,” she said of the steep chairlift ride one must take to get to the base lodge and other lifts at June. “It needs to be replaced by a gondola or another easier way up. We’ve identified that from the very beginning.”

However, Suszynski said that in a recent meeting with June Mountain General Manager Carl Williams, community members were told that J1 would not be replaced next year and no more capital would be thrown at the ski area.

In Bogash’s opinion, an even bigger issue is getting MMSA to market June Mountain.

“If June was marketed at all, we would be a successful mountain,” Bogash said. Bogash said he has skied at Mammoth a few days this season and each time he time he rode a chairlift he told the other people on it to make sure to come ski June next year.

“Ninety percent of the people I spoke with said, ‘What’s June?’”

Bogash believed that people would prefer June Mountain if they knew about it. Bogash also said that MMSA has a $500,000 budget to market June each year.

“There is a deep-seated mistrust of MMSA,” Bogash continued. “Rusty Gregory has no concern for morals or ethics. They just want proper entitlement to the Rodeo Grounds.”

The best thing Rusty Gregory could do for June Mountain is to sell it,” said June Lake resident Don Morton. “MMSA will never create a competitive resort at June. I don’t see much good in going [on the peer resort tour] and being tricked into being a cheerleader.”

According to a document disseminated by Williams, the purpose of the peer resort tour is to determine how to re-position June Mountain to “cater to a specific niche in the market, a market that is currently underserved,” namely young families.

“The ultimate goal we believe is to act as a feeder area to introduce new people to the mountains.

“The resorts [on the tour], like Mammoth and June, are primarily drive-to markets relying on weekend/holiday period visitors for the majority of their business.”

The tour will visit Bromley Mountain, Smuggler’s Notch, Waterville Valley and Okemo Mountain ski areas. MMSA will pay for food, lodging and travel once back east for anyone wanting to attend. The only item that attendees are responsible for is their airfare, which some believe at approximately $1,000 if booked through the Mountain’s travel agency of choice, is still too much.

Some community members do plan to attend including Double Eagle owner Ralph Lockhart, Boulder Lodge owners Rick and Jessalyn McCoy, and Keith Potter, a sales rep for Nordica who lives in June Lake.

“My opinion is that we should go and see what MMSA’s ideas are before passing judgment,” Lockhart said.

“It’s worth a shot,” added Rick McCoy. “It will be good to see what other areas are doing to remain profitable. I think we can learn something. We appreciate the mountain [MMSA] at least trying this.”

Bogash, Suszynski and others are turning their attention toward opposing Mammoth Mountain Ski Area’s land trade with the US Forest Service with a letter-writing campaign.

“Our only leverage to get MMSA’s attention is to fight the land trade on the basis that they are poor stewards of public land,” Bogash said. “We don’t want to go to Vermont, but we’ll go to Washington [D.C.],”

There were many wonderful snow sculptures in June Lake last weekend as part of the community’s inaugural June Lake Winter Festival, but only one person or shop could walk away the winner. This year it was Ernie’s Tackle and Ski Shop with its sculpture of a large, colorful trout. Congratulations to Ernie’s, which will be rewarded with a full-page, color ad in The Sheet!

Second place went to the Double Eagle Resort for its life-sized dragon.

The sculptures added a ton of animation throughout the community of June Lake and got 19 businesses involved in the fun. The weekend also included a Triple Threat Triathlon, Family Fun Zone, specials and deals at local shops, and much more!

(Photos: Kirkner)

The Double Eagle came in second place.

Praxis Associates, the project management company overseeing thye Digital 395 project, will be pointing its loaders back toward Mono County in the coming weeks in an effort to skirt a Feb. 15 Sage Grouse deadline.

As of Feb. 15, Praxis would not be able to gain access to Green Creek and Dunderberg Meadow roads in Mono County due to nesting and leking Sage Grouse. According to Dave Arndal, Praxis Senior Engineer, the leking season runs into July and, if delayed, would leave Praxis with only one day to complete its work in that area before the end of the project funding on July 31.

The Mono County Board of Supervisors reviewed the request from Praxis during a special meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The route, as explained by Arndal at the meeting, is about 12.25 miles long between U.S. 395 and Virginia Lakes Road.

The purpose of the plowing is to access the conduit route that was completed before Christmas so that Praxis can install cable, splice and test the fiber optic cable.

“We don’t need access to the dirt, just the vaults,” Arndal said.

The Feb. 15 leking deadline is a requirement of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW).

Praxis proposed to perform the work with its own workforce and snowblowing equipment so as not to interfere with Mono County operations.

“Last month, we were caught in a windstorm and drifting snow that stranded our equipment for two weeks,” the Praxis report included in the Board’s packet stated. “We need the option to repeatedly remove the snow if caught in the middle of a storm. We need the flexibility to minimize this from happening again by keeping equipment on hand during the work.”

Mono County’s Director of Road and Fleet Services, Jeff Walters while not against Praxis using its own workforce and equipment, did voice some concerns.

“Who’s going to be out there and what skill set do they have,” Walters asked. “The road has no snow stakes, so how will it be navigated? We should consider any potential risks to recreationalists, since that area is not normally trenched in the winter. How will Praxis clean up once they are ready to leave?”

Lastly, Walters said that the County would want to inspect the work.

Arndal explained that Praxis planned to use a loader with a blower driven by a Bishop contractor who knows the area.

“We would use our GPS staking crew out in front of the loader,” Arndal explained regarding the navigation of the road. “There’s no way that a loader would stay on that road without a crew.

“Do we want to go up there in the snow,” Arndal added. “Absolutely not, but we are being held to dates by the DFW.”

He pointed out that there are also some concerning dates regarding goshawk nesting between Mammoth and June Lake but that the Inyo National Forest will not allow Praxis to use the snowmobile trails between the two towns to do its work this winter.

“Hopefully there won’t be any goshawk nests in our way come spring,” Arndal said.

In regard to cleanup, Mono County Supervisor Tim Fesko asked what bonds, if any the County has in place with Praxis in order to hold them accountable.

County Counsel Marshall Rudolph explained that while Praxis is not a County contractor, the County does have a license agreement with the company to allow it to use the County’s rights of way.

“I’m not worried about risk management,” Rudolph said. “There are provisions that would cover [accountability] in the license agreement.”

He did add, however, that plowing the road was not in the license agreement.

“It wasn’t contemplated,” Rudolph said. “This is an extra thing so it could require cost recovery.” There is not charge for County inspection work per the license agreement.

Inspection work would be done by Mono County’s Road Operations Supervisor Brett McCurry.

As for public access and recreation, Supervisor Larry Johnston said that Praxis would need to close off the area once it was finished with its work, as the County wouldn’t want the public going out on the road and getting stuck.

The Board voted 4-0 (Supervisor Byng Hunt was absent) to approve the request to remove snow, and to include in the agreement cost reimbursement for the County for any associated costs that arise from the snow removal.

Praxis expected to begin the work on Jan. 30, weather permitting.

Spending more than $600,000 to update Mono County’s General Plan just because the state gave the County some money didn’t sit well with Supervisor Larry Johnston at the Jan. 22 Board of Supervisors meeting.

“The need to update our General Plan right now is optional,” Johnston told staff, pointing to other higher priority items throughout the County where staff should be focusing their efforts.

“There’s nothing happening in Benton and Chalfant,” he said. “The biggie right now is June Lake, including updating the June Lake Area Plan which is way overdue.”

Johnston also pointed to projects in the current General Plan that haven’t been completed, such as downtown parking, the biomass feasibility study, Benton Crossing Landfill issues, and solarization of buildings throughout the County.

“Spending $650,000 to tweak a few policies is a big gulp,” Johnston said. Even if $326,514 of those dollars come  from a grant awarded by the State Department of Conservation.

According to County Associate Analyst Wendy Sugimura who was responsible for the grant application the work would entail modernizing and adding user friendliness to the General Plan as well as updating several areas of the plan that have been deemed out of date.

“The Attorney General said that four elements are out of date but all that means is that we don’t have a new date stamped on them,” Johnston argued. “I don’t want to commit staff time to a General Plan update that may or may not be necessary.”

County Counsel Stacey Simon pointed out that a problem only arises if the General Plan becomes legally inadequate. “We have to keep up with changes in state law,” she said.

Environmental sections in the current General Plan do need some review, according to staff. Segments dealing with greenhouse gases could be under fire in the future with the term greenmail now in our vocabulary (see previous stories about greenmail at www.thesheetnews.com).

“The Ormat project [MP-1, which has been under scrutiny by labor unions] was reducing greenhouse gases but that may not always be the case,” Community Development Director Scott Burns said.

Johnston said that having the grant money was a good thing but it shouldn’t be used for “superfluous planning efforts.”

“You raise a lot of good points, Larry, but what are you suggesting in terms of action, today?” asked Supervisor Fred Stump.  The Board was being asked to approve a resolution initiating the comprehensive update and to approve the CAO signing the grant agreement.

“We should take the grant but it adds another $300,000 to the budget,” Johnston said. “The grant is for sustainability, whatever we deem that to be.”

Sugimura clarified that while the County did have flexibility in where it focuses the grant work, the overall deliverable was a General Plan update. She also added that some projects that Supervisor Johnston had mentioned, such as the biomass feasibility study, would receive funding from the grant.

“We’re not throwing out the old General Plan, we’re just updating pieces,” Sugimura said.

In regard to Johnston’s concern about staff time, Burns pointed out that staff could direct more of the work to a consultant.

“How can we make you happy Supervisor Johnston?” Sugimura asked.

“I would be satisfied if you could get done in six months,” Johnston said.

Sugimura said that some portions such as parking could be finished in six months but others could not.

Johnston agreed to vote in favor if staff kept the work minimal enough to still divert resources to the other projects he had mentioned. The Board approved the resolution 5-0.

Updated Feb. 5: The California Public Utilities Commission has denied Verizon’s request (discussed in the linked article) for a 12-week extension to supply Crowley Lake and Swall Meadows with broadband. According to a letter from the CPUC to Verizon, Verizon is in violation of its order to provide the service and may be subject to penalties until service is offered. Click on the link below to read the entire CPUC letter.

Resolution T-17350 Crowley Lake – Extension Request Denial

——————————————————

In the past week and a half, Verizon didn’t drop a call, but it did drop the broadband ball.

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, the company sent a letter to the Executive Director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requesting a 12-week extension to its Jan. 28 deadline for offering broadband service to the Mono County communities of Crowley Lake and Swall Meadows.

The deadline was established on July 28, 2011 and gave Verizon 18 months to comply. Verizon was hit with the requirement to provide broadband service to Crowley and Swall after it violated the Scenic Byway laws requiring all communications or electric utility facilities within 1,000 feet be placed underground. Verizon had deployed 32,000 feet of aboveground fiber optic cable along scenic U.S. 395 in Mono County without receiving a variance from the CPUC.

The Jan. 22 letter issued by Verizon came as a surprise to Mono County staff and residents who have been involved with the process.

County GIS Coordinator/Digital 395 Project Manager Nate Greenberg explained to the Mono County Board of Supervisors at a special meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29, that Verizon kept telling staff that they were on target.

“Verizon has had adequate time and they should have given notice of this months ago,” Greenberg said. Greenberg sent a letter to the CPUC on behalf of the County last week stating this and more because the CPUC thought it was going to resolve the issue on Friday, Jan. 25 and time was of the essence. A decision was not made last week so on Tuesday, Greenberg requested that the Board also send a letter to the CPUC to further back up the County’s position.

Swall Meadows resident Stephen Kalish, who has been the community advocate for this project, also attended Tuesday’s Board meeting. Kalish has been in constant contact with Verizon in the last year, speaking with one of its VP’s 12 times.

“I was worried six or seven weeks ago [that things were not on track],” Kalish told the Board. “I said something to staff and to the PUC, but Verizon sent a letter saying they were on track. I thought I was mistaken and then this came out of the blue.”

Greenberg explained that the CPUC told County staff that the County should ponder what type of penalties Verizon should incur for these delays. Greenberg pointed out to the Board that “financial penalties don’t really benefit the people being harmed by this,” i.e. residents of Crowley and Swall who have been waiting anxiously for service that was promised to them.

Crowley resident, Meghan Stevens, who spent the entire month of January calling Verizon to get on the service list, agreed with Greenberg.

“Make them put in full FiOS [Verizon’s bundled home communications service], or perhaps give us a screaming deal,” Stevens told The Sheet via telephone.

Stevens said she had been calling Verizon every 10 days or so since Jan. 1. “Only so many houses will be able to plug in, but they are making no effort to presell,” she said.

She said the process has been frustrating because when you call “you really have to push hard to get them to look deeper. Only one person out of the four or so I talked to would admit that there was a court order. It’s hard to get someone who knows what’s going on.”

She said that when she calls or attempts to sign up for service online she continues to be told that service is not available.

So what is Verizon waiting on? In its Jan. 22 letter to the CPUC, it is unclear why an additional 12 weeks are necessary to complete a project that had 18 months. One of the main items holding up the project was a needed backhaul upgrade to Verizon’s network, however, the upgrade has been completed and in place since late December 2012. The backhaul upgrade was also expected to make new service available in Mammoth as well.

In Greenberg’s letter to the CPUC he also pointed out “Over the course of the past six months or so, Verizon was able to successfully install equipment and bring online a new cell tower location in Crowley Lake. This required running fiber from their Central Office in Crowley Lake to the antennae location. The tower was turned on in late December. Verizon’s ability to complete this project in a short time frame indicates their priorities and interests, including their general lack of motivation to complete the Crowley Lake/Swall Meadows project.”

In other words, Verizon seems to be prioritizing its wireless service over its obligation to Crowley and Swall.

The Sheet spoke with Verizon’s Director of Government and External Affairs, Mike Murray. Murray is based in Long Beach and said he only deals with media on a local level. He passed us on to Jarryd Gonzales in Verizon’s media relations. The Sheet spoke with Gonzales Wednesday morning and asked why Verizon needed 12 weeks to finish the project. Gonzales said he would have to look into it. He responded with the following statement from Verizon, “Although we experienced some unintended issues with the backhaul upgrade project which caused a delay, Verizon is fully committed to building the infrastructure necessary to provide quality high speed broadband service to Crowley Lake and Swall Meadows.”

The Sheet had heard that Verizon may be waiting on a piece of necessary equipment to arrive from China, plus the company may be low on manpower.

Pictured: Matthew and Wally Hofmann/

When Wally Hofmann (former owner/operator of the Mammoth Times) lived in Mammoth Lakes, he at one time resided in a 5,500 square-foot home in the Starwood neighborhood. Today, Hofmann is in Santa Barbara enjoying life in a 120 square-foot Airstream trailer.

While the trailer definitely isn’t trashy, it is small, but it’s the smallness that reflects the simplified lifestyle that Wally learned from his son, Matthew, a trained architect.

“Two years ago I had a day job at an architecture firm,” Matthew reminisced during a phone interview this week. “I bought a (Airstream) trailer on a whim and remodeled the inside.”

Realizing it was a good concept and lifestyle change, Matthew quit his day job and opened an office from inside the Airstream and lived in it full time, simplifying his life and becoming a poster child for a less is more mentality.

“It started as a way for Matt to reduce his costs when he went out on his own,” Wally added.

“My story resonated with a lot of people,” Matthew explained. And that’s putting it mildly. The whimsical and adventurous idea has taken off and today, Hofmann Architecture or HofArc, Matthew and Wally’s firm, has 20 Airstreams outside its office building waiting for renovations, and television shows such as HGTV’s Retro Roadhomes knocking at its door.

“When you say less is more, the more can be a ball and chain,” Matthew continued. “People are slaves to their things and oftentimes need to tweak their mentality and determined what is really appropriate for them, not what society thinks is appropriate.”

“It says something about freedom,” Wally said. “It’s simplifying and purifying life to its essential qualities. Today I don’t have a house to be maintained and I get to take nice vacations instead.”

In addition to the message, the Airstream projects are, simply put, cool. The Hofmanns keep the vintage shell of these iconic trailers, but remodel the often-outdated interiors, often for less than many people spend on a kitchen remodel in their homes.

“It doesn’t have to be a huge investment,” Wally said, with renovations ranging from $20,000-$100,000. “We are guided by people’s budgets so it can be as simple or as complex as you want.”

To date, HofArc has renovated about 40 trailers and continues to grow the Airstream idea, using some of the renovated models as rental properties and potentially developing the idea into a hotel brand.

This week, the father/son duo was working on a Yamaha Music Airstream.

“It’s a 1964 Airstream Safari 22’ we delivered to the Anaheim Convention Center this week for a Japanese company, Yamaha Music, demo-ing a new music electronic systems at this year’s NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants). We added a gull wing door that opens up to display products,” Wally explained.

Currently HofArc is solely focusing on the Airstream products as both Hofmanns enjoy that each one takes less time, money and permits to complete.

So what’s it like working as father and son when son is the founder, principal and president of the company?

“We’re just working together, I don’t think about who’s the boss,” Matthew, who has since sold his Airstream to retired NFL linebacker Ian Gold and now lives in a modest one-bedroom apartment, said. “We’re just doing what we’ve always done, which is build projects together. We’re 50-50 partners who are very complementary to each other in a dynamic way that encourages the other to make a better company.”

(Photo courtesy Wally Hofmann)

The Mono County Board of Supervisors has wrestled with what to do with the old Sheriff’s Sub-Station, located on Substation Road, southeast of the junction of U.S. 395 and Hwy 203, for years.

On Tuesday, with a new board behind the dais, an agreement was finally reached. The Board agreed unanimously to allow the current tenant, Jim Ouimet and Mammoth Dog Teams, use of the Sub-Station for storage and its existing restroom, with appropriate indemnification. The Board also agreed that it would pursue a new lease at the appropriate time. Ouimet has been granted use of the property until July of this year, after which the County will have to go through the public process of developing a new lease.

A staff report from Jan. 19, 2010, however, highlights a segment of conversation that may have been glossed over this week. In that report, then-Assistant Director of Public Works, Kelly Garcia, gave the following background of Mammoth Dog Teams’ history at the site:

“On November 18, 2003, Mono County entered into a five-year lease with Jim Ouimet, owner of Mammoth Dog Teams (MDT). The lease provided for MDT to use outdoor spaces at the substation for $500 per month, and required MDT to repair and paint the exterior of the building and to clean up debris and waste. The lease authorized use of the interior of the structure only upon improvements to the structure being made by MDT and subsequent approval by various County departments. No public use of the site was authorized by the lease. The lease expired November 30, 2008. In conjunction with the property lease, Mono County issued a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), which allowed the MDT use at the site. During the term of the lease there were issues with compliance both with the lease and with the CUP. This CUP remains in effect but will require modification and consideration by the Planning Commission for future use by MDT or another lessee.”

Compliance issues included MDT allowing public use of the interior of the building as well as use of the space as living quarters by staff.

Safety issues within the building such as questionable electrical wiring left the door wide open to liability issues for the County with so much movement within the building.

“He [Ouimet] did overstep his bounds in the past,” Supervisor Byng Hunt told The Sheet on Wednesday when asked if Ouimet and his staff had broken into the Sub-Station and been living in it at times during the original lease. “He took advantage [of the situation], but he was doing what he needed to do to keep his business running. It wasn’t a criminal act.”

At least one of the three new supervisors to the Board had been unaware of the past compliance issues when he cast his vote on Tuesday.

“This is the first I’ve heard of past transgressions,” said Supervisor Tim Alpers. Alpers, however, said that the Board’s decision on Tuesday was a “great opportunity” for Ouimet. “If he abuses it, then he’s out. The parameters will be laid out clearly in the new lease.”

Both Alpers and Hunt agreed that they wanted to help MDT.

“We want to extend an opportunity to a unique business and situation,” Alpers said.

“We’re trying to help and accommodate him now,” Hunt said. “He’s an icon who marches to a different drummer. We don’t want to spend a lot of money, but we want to help.”

Indeed, the Board agreed on Tuesday to toss out the idea of remodeling the Sub-Station at this time.

When asked how the County would keep Ouimet from once again overstepping the bounds Hunt had referred to, Hunt said, “He’s not going to have too much to overstep. He’s learned that there’s bounds he has to stay within and I feel confident he’s not going to be a menace.”

Hunt did add that before any official concessions could be made to Ouimet, the building would have to be inspected to make sure it is habitable. The electrical issues may still exist.

“We haven’t been in there to look for a long time, so I’m not sure of the status of the electrical issues,” said the County’s Director of Facilities, Rita Sherman (Sherman announced her retirement this week, see page 2). She agreed that compliance conditions would be spelled out in the new lease and use permit and that the property would be subject to check ups from the County.

“We didn’t give enough oversight before, but we will give more this time,” Hunt said. “We have to be careful but we want to keep his business.”

Ouimet was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting due to recent surgery, but he did speak with The Sheet on Thursday morning regarding the “past transgressions.”

“I really don’t know what happened [during the old lease], I was just given 48 hours to get out,” Ouimet said. “I apologized … I thought this was old news. All I know is that my lease ran out and all hell broke loose.”

Ouimet added that he was never given an answer as to why he was booted out of the building.

“I was just told, ‘Sorry, Jim, it was a misunderstanding’,” Ouimet said.

Currently, Mammoth Dog Teams is only allowed access to the small morgue section of the Sub-Station to use as storage. This area is not large enough for Ouimet’s handcrafted sleds and also does not allow him access to an indoor restroom, forcing him to use a porta-potty.

In regard to a new lease, County Counsel Marshall Rudolph explained to the Board that even if Ouimet were the only bidder for a new lease, the County still has to go through the public process.

“His [Ouimet] lease has expired so now it’s working on a month to month basis,” explained County Counsel Marshall Rudolph. “He’s allowed to stay there as a holdover tenant [until July].”