Access

[Guest]

Rick,

I agree access to the river would be awesome. Keep me posted how I might help.

[Rick Thein]

Thank you for your offer to help. You can help by letting the City know that you think gaining access to the river is important to you. We hope to have access by spring of 2006. But we need to be realistic as to what that access might entail. The riverfront along City is on the downwind side of the river as the river bends. What this means is flotsam on the river is blown to our shore and at the same time silt in the river is deposited on our side as well. This creates a shallow muddy flat from our shore out to about mid river, with an abundance of sand and mud bars. Not good for most boats. But perfect for mud worms, clams, shrimp, bait fish and so Stripers and Sturgeon. A good fishery in other words. The shoreline is a mixture of riprap ( big chuncks concrete and rebar) and dirt levees that need a lot of work. The area will need an extensive cleanup before it can be opened. The first boat launch may be only for hand launched Kayaks and canoes. Then we can work to expand the uses as cleanup continues. The big thing I want to say is get involved, educate yourself to the issues and let your thoughts be known to City officials. You can have anything you want if your willing to ask for and work for it.

Rick

[mindingcitybiz]

We just received 72K for parks & recs. Is all of this going to the Veterans Memorial??? If we had access to the river we could generate money this way for recreational use. This could support Parks & Recs. Especially if they put in a KOA campsite.

[Rick Thein]

When it comes to access to the river, the hold up isn't really money,per se, its' the landfill and cleanup and who is responsible for what. You see, we were able to locate documents dating back to 1982 that spoke of river access for the Citizens of American Canyon. It provided for an easment to river and a 25' easment along the river but there was a stipulation about the operation of the landfill and safety of the citizens. In short, the landfill operators are responsible for fencing the landfill and some of the cleanup along the river. But there is a possible toxic site, an old burn pit, that needs to be addressed. To put a marina in would most likely call for dredging of the river. You don't even want to know how many government agencies that would involve. There is way too much going on for me to explain in this forum, but the bottom line is, that we hope to have some type of access by spring of 2006 and the Waste Management Board is working with us to that end. And that is a possitive! If you come to our meetings you will learn much more on this subject.

About KOA, that idea has been floated, but it too has many problems. Where exactly would you put a campground. If the Couch land is sold to a developer you would be looking at the probability of housing being placed where the Paintball Jungle is. A campground next to $800,00.00 homes? Doubtful. The agreement that provided funds for the purchase of the wetlands and Clarke Ranch would more than likely be breeched if a campground was put there. We got that land at a huge discount provided that it be preserved and not commercialy developed. That limits the use of this area to what is already being done. There is a tentative plan to put in some sort of equestrian center at Clarke Ranch. This property has historicaly been a horse ranch and as such would not violate the contract. The landfill itself is at least a decade from being able to support any type of community access and when it does, wind will be a big issue at that site. These are just a few of the things to consider. This is why we put together our group, The friends of American Canyon Open Spaces. To help push for public input and help cut through the red tape. I don't mean to sound negetive, I just want folks to understand that in order to make this area as nice as it can be will take a lot of work and community support. Unless you get involved and let your desires known to the City progress will be slow.