por Jay Wilson
At the Jan. 24 Del Cerro Action Council (DCAC) meeting, we should have an update on the All People’s Church.
We received some input from Del Cerro residents regarding the land use designation of the property because it was designated as institutional. The Community Plan amendment now shows the designation specifically as a church. This can be verified by viewing Figure 24 in the Navajo Community Plan. To view the plan, go to sandiego.gov and type in “Navajo Community Plan” in the search window in the top right hand corner of the page. There is now a symbol of a cross on the property in question.
On Dec. 4, I attended the San Carlos Area Council meeting to hear a presentation by Johnnie Perkins, the deputy chief of operations for the city of San Diego on the Pure Water program. Mr. Perkins gave a very thorough presentation on this new program. When completed, it will produce 30 million gallons of potable water per day. In addition to providing potable (drinking) water for the city of San Diego, it will reduce the outflow into the ocean from the Point Loma Sewage Treatment Plant by 50 percent.
Perkins was in Washington D.C. recently and received a grant check from the Environmental Protection Agency for $614 million towards the construction of the $1.4 billion Pure Water treatment plant. Construction is to begin next year and will be completed in 2023.
In 2000, the city was purchasing water from the Metropolitan Water District for $400 per acre-foot. Today it is $1,300. Perkins emphasized that this new source of potable water is beneficial to the city for three primary reasons: it will help the environment; it is prudent financially; and it is reliable. Currently, 85 percent of our water is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River. We are going to ask Perkins to present the same program at a DCAC meeting.
About three months ago, CalTrans installed a gate on the SDSU side of the Alvarado Creek/storm drain where it goes under the Interstate 8 freeway and comes out by Adobe Falls. The purpose was to keep people from using it as a gateway to Adobe Falls. Unfortunately, during one of the recent rainstorms, pressure from the water ripped the gate away from the tunnel entrance. At this time, there is not an update on replacing the gate.
The rainstorm during the week of Dec. 3 produced extensive flooding in Grantville. One casualty was a semi-truck parked on property adjacent to the Alvarado Creek Storm Drain in Grantville. The truck and trailer was pushed into the storm drain by the force and amount of floodwaters. Portions of roads in Grantville were also closed and many businesses were flooded. It is likely that the lack of vegetation due to the 40-acre fire in the Adobe Falls area exacerbated the runoff into the creek.
Please mark your calendar for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 for the next DCAC meeting. We meet at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El.
—Jay Wilson is secretary of the Del Cerro Action Council. For more information, visit delcerroactioncouncil.org.
