Editor: Years ago, when we took a load to the transfer station, placing items in the large dumpsters was pretty easy. The sides on the dumpsters were 6 feet high and they rested 2 feet below the surface on which we stood, so the top was only 4 feet up from our level. Today, the…
Editor: My response from a community chat: I’m not talking about wages. In fact, try to get someone off the Hill to come up here and work for those wages. It won’t happen. Look at Idyllwild Water. It has to outsource its employees. It can’t find a manager with the amount it wants to pay…
Editor: Good morning, Idyllwild. We have a problem in our town that I would like to bring to your attention (although I’m sure most of you have experienced a similar event). The problem is wrong-way drivers and excessive speed in the Strawberry Creek parking lot. Within two weeks, I have been involved in two near-hits…
Editor: The Idyllwild Water District began having public meetings about the current rate changes last year on Dec. 6. There have been no fewer than eight meetings and workshops that IWD implored the public to attend. The Town Crier has published several articles encouraging the public to attend during that time. Each and every meeting…
Editor: Miles of neglected, substandard, bad, old pipe; a district pipe-replacement crew the manager doesn’t trust to replace pipe in a reasonable time frame, hence outsourcing expensive district projects; difficulty retaining highly qualified employees; a substandard employee payroll/retirement plan inconsistent with surrounding district plans; and an overdependence on unreliable surface water availability for diversion creates…
Editor: Our granddaughter Kalena Perry is 10. I wanted to share this with our readers on the Hill. I think it sums up how we all feel about our mountain. Here is her homework: “The place I like to go to on vacation is a small town called Idyllwild. This place is located up in…
Editor: I was very disappointed to receive and study the Idyllwild Water District’s letter stating its plan to increase our water rates for the next five years, and after having just had a rate increase last year. While the water district notice states, “Just as many households incur increased expenses,” it doesn’t make clear the…
Editor: It’s difficult for laymen to understand how this proposed rate increase would affect their pocketbooks, and little explanation of why it is needed or what the district is doing to minimize expenditures. Here we go again. If you received a rate structure and newsletter by mail you may have glanced at it. Maybe tossed…
Editor: Yes, we all need clean, safe water. Of course. I’m willing to pay more for this vital commodity. But to tax at these proposed exorbitant rates cannot be the only solution. The Idyllwild Water District board needs to extend the June 20 deadline for protests by several months so their customers have time to…
Editor: There was a hearing about the water rate increase in Pine Cove last Wednesday. I did not go because I went to the website for the water district and I attended meetings of the Pine Cove Property Owners Association where information on the subject was presented for several consecutive months. PCWD has earned awards…
