November Meeting Notes

Please note the next RDW meeting date: Monday, January 21
There will be no meeting in December.

Thanks to Carol Holzgrafe for facilitating this month's meeting! Everyone in attendance agreed that it was very informative. We addressed a variety of topics:

PARADISE TOWN COUNCIL: Robin Huffman talked about the recent vote by the Paradise Town Council in agreement with the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement. She explained that there is not a detailed plan of action yet, but the vote showed support for the town to make more environmentally-friendly decisions in the future. There was a short discussion about the Chico Enterprise-Record's criticism of the Paradise Town Council's decision.

OUTDOOR BURNING: Karen announced that a small committee, headed by Mary Drew, will be working on public education on the negative aspects of outdoor burning. Several of us expressed interest in being involved with this group, and agreed that it would be best to start working on it after the holidays. Watch for updates on this. If you're interested in being on this committee, look under the comments from October's Meeting Notes for Mary Drew's phone number. Also, note that this topic will be on the agenda at the next Ad Hoc Committee meeting (see date and time below), so RDW members are encouraged to attend. Kim Yamaguchi has expressed some interest in looking at this issue. We talked about the possibility of checking with Mr. Yamaguchi about what WE can do. Also, members are encouraged to write letters to Mr. Yamaguchi supporting a ban on outdoor burning.

BUTTE COUNTY WATER: Sue Wild talked about the meeting that was held at the high school last month. She said it was more of an "announcement" type meeting rather than an "input" meeting, that it seemed like a "done deal" already. The issue is Del Oro's project to bring water up to Magalia from Oroville Lake, and the cost of that project to water customers.

BUTTE COUNTY TOURISM: Charlotte Ann Hilgeman talked about the Butte County Cultural Tourism Project. She reported on a recent conference addressing Butte County tourism which was attended by Sam Farr of Monterey and Susan Wilcox from the California Travel and Tourism Commission. We learned that birds are one of the main attractions that bring tourists to Butte County.

ROBIN HUFFMAN FOR BUTTE COUNTY SUPERVISOR CAMPAIGN: Robin is fine-tuning her platform and plans to have it finalized before Christmas. She will be starting an active campaign in January. Robin would like to have some house parties, and has applied to do three town hall meetings at the POA, in early January, late February, and April.

WALMART / GATEWAY: There was some discussion about whether WalMart is a done deal or not. Robin said that WalMart's application has been received by the town of Paradise. The application is for a Super WalMart. Robin reminded the group that the land in question is zoned for open space / agriculture, and is prezoned by Paradise to be residential, if the land is annexed by the town. Charlotte talked about her idea for the land, a convention center and cultural teaching center, an idea that she has presented repeatedly. There was a lot of interest in this idea, and encouragement for Charlotte to present it again.

MAGALIA TRAIL: Robin Huffman has been pursuing the official recognition and maintenance of the trail that runs from Magalia Depot to Paradise Lake.

ACTION ITEMS: Carol will continue to attempt to have our meetings advertised in the Paradise Post Calendar section, Renee will email everyone about our next meeting date, Karen and Sue will contact those with no email, some members will be attending the Ad Hoc and General Plan Study Session meetings, and everyone is encouraged to write to Kim Yamaguchi regarding the burning issue.

Please note the following important meeting dates, and plan to attend if you can:

November 27, Tuesday - 1:30-4:30
Butte County General Plan Study Session
On the agenda: ALTERNATIVES FOR GROWTH
Where: Board of Supervisors Chambers, County Center Drive, Oroville

December 4, Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
Ad Hoc Committee meeting
On the agenda: OUTDOOR BURNING
Where: Paradise Town Hall

Also, check the calendar link at the left for other important dates.

See you on January 21!