December "Save Serene Lakes" update:

Note: Tell friends to go to www.saveserenelakes.org and sign up for these monthly email updates.

Special: Check out the new YouTube video: "A Donner Summit Night Before Christmas".

News: (for a complete news timeline see "news timeline")

• A call to Placer County planning department reveals that Royal Gorge LLC submitted new documents to the County the day before Thanksgiving. Crystal Jacobson, lead planner for the County, called the submission "Administrative Documents" which contained draft studies, including a water study. She said the studies would not be available to the public due to their status as "Administrative Drafts".
• Ms. Jacobson says the documents will be subject to internal County review, which could take 6 or more months, before they are deemed adequate for use in a formal project application. She said the County must review the documents so that the County can endorse the "authenticity" of the studies.  Questioned why the water district (SLCWD) wasn't involved in the review in order to determine the study's authenticity, she replied that the County was only reviewing to determine if the studies were complete, and that the water district would get a chance to review the study in the EIR process. One wonders how the County can determine "completeness" or "authenticity" without input from the water district.
• A call to the water district confirmed that they had not received a copy of the water study and would be requesting a copy from the County.
• A call to Grant Miller of the County's Environmental Health Department (he is charged with handling water and sewer issues for the project), confirmed that he received the study "Water Supply Alternatives, Administrative Draft- Private" and has been asked to review it by January 2nd. He says it is a couple hundred pages long. He said he would check to see if the study had a disclaimer stating that SLCWD had not reviewed nor endorsed the study. SLCWD had request such a disclaimer on any water related County submittal not reviewed by the district.
• A request for the "Water Supply Alternatives" study was filed with the County by a private party under the California Public Records Act.  Mr. Michael Johnson, Director of Planning, denied the request, stating that the study is an administrative draft "not retained by a public agency in the ordinary course of business (Govt. code section 6254(a))" and is, therefore, exempt from disclosure. As the County has distributed copies to various departments for review over the next few months, it is clear that the study, draft or not, is being retained and used in the ordinary course of County business and should be made available to the public. Further, draft documents can only be withheld "if the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure (Govt code section 6254(a))". As there is no public interest in withholding the study, only Royal Gorge LLC's interest is being protected, and as the document is being used in the County's ordinary course of business, an appeal is being filed to obtain the study. 
• Mike Livak of Royal Gorge LLC claims the pre-thanksgiving submittal is an administrative exchange with the County, calling the water study a series of questions as to what the County would require and approve for water supplies. At a couple hundred pages, that is a lot of questions. Mr. Livak also says RG would be submitting their plans in a month or two, with the submittal being a subdivision plan for Lake Camp and an specific plan for the whole development which would request an amendment to the County's General Plan.
• Sierra Watch and Sierra Club issue a "Conservation Assessment and Planning Principles" report for Donner Summit. The report can be found on the "Sierra Watch" website.

• Royal Gorge had announced in their "What's New" section of RoyalGorgeFuture.com that their "development application" will not be filed with the county until next year (2008). A county filing had been expected in December.
• SOS: SaveOurSummit.org is launched as a public awareness campaign and website for use by all groups and organizations monitoring the Foster/Syme development plans. Look for SOS flyers, buttons and bumper stickers to be available soon.

Upcoming Events:

• The next SLCWD water board meeting is December 14, 5PM at the water district offices. A special presentation by Mr. Farrar of the USGS is tentatively scheduled. Mr Farrar will talk about geological issues related to water on the Summit.

• The second Summit Summit will be held on December 15th at Donner Trail School, Kingvale, from 10-noon. The purpose of this meeting is the development of guiding planning principles as a step towards developing a Community/Area Plan for the Summit. For an example of the development of planning principles, and to see why a community plan can be so important in the planning process, please see "Donner Summit Conservation Report". The planning principals are expected to reflect the results of Donner Summit Area Association's recent survey of the Summit. For more on the results of the survey, please see "Solidarity on the Summit".

Recent Publications: (for links to these and other publications see "articles")

• The following articles were published on the web, in the Sierra Sun, YubaNet or The Union: 

A Donner Summit Night Before Christmas

Cut, Gut, and Git Before the Heat is On

Van Norden Meadow:  Why develop what doesn't need developing?

A Conflicted Meadow On Donner Summit?

• The December issue of the Donner Summit Clarion will be available soon featuring a special gift for developers that have "everything".

Note: Volunteers are needed to drop off Clarions at sporting goods stores, libraries, or other venues in each volunteer's area. If you are interested in helping out, please email publicity@saveserenelakes.org to volunteer.

Current Placer County Status:

• See the news above.
• Crystal Jacobson of Placer County planning predicts it will be 6 or more months before RG LLC will file a formal project with the County. Mike Livak, of RG LLC, says they will file in one or two months.

Web Sites of Interest:

www.SaveOurSummit.org

www.sierrawatch.org

www.syrcl.org

www.saveserenelakes.org

www.saveVanNordenMeadow.org

www.savethesummit.com

www.savedonnersummit.org

www.saveroyalgorge.org

www.pissdsociety.com

*****************************************************************

This is the monthly update service of www.saveserenelakes.org. To sign up for this update service, visit www.saveserenelakes.org and look for the "Updates" section in the left hand column.

To cancel your update emails, reply with CANCEL in the subject line.