Dan,

The letter was addressed to Gene, it wasn’t addressed to the entire club so its not a club issue.  I would think you’d be one of the first people to stand up for someone else’s right to privacy.  The circumstances for the disciplinary action were a club issue, they were discussed ad nauseam, and there was Club Meeting that addressed the ban which you did not attend.

Also, I’m pretty sure you don’t understand what ‘Pleading the 5th’ actually means or you’d understand that it does not apply here.

Mario,

The Bridge Fire is also basically out, 99% contained as of 21 OCT.  The closure maps are a little more tricky because most of the Bridge Fire occurred in Los Angeles County and only partially in San Bernardino County.  The original SB National Forest closure map went across the 15 and past Mt Baldy (the SB/LA County border).  Right now I can’t find any current closure map related to the Bridge Fire.

In any case, the reason we are respecting the NFS closure order is due to the risk of pilots landing out within the current closure area by flying to the east, worst case having an incident that requires rescue.  Its not an airspace issue, its preventing the possibility that first responder resources being directed at a rescue within the closure area, and that would put a very negative light on our activity.  This would be the same for Mountain Bikers, Hikers, Climbers, UTV Drivers, anyone… and there is a pretty hefty personal fine involved too.  We aren’t going to put the Club’s positive relationship with the NFS at risk (or CALFIRE, SBPD, Sheriff)

And Yes, we are still getting water from the Pond. That is the only source of water for the irrigation system. There have been supply problems that have prevented the Pond to be able to fill up fast enough or recover from each irrigation cycle. We are doing our best to solve those issues.

Mark, we’ve been over this multiple times. Artificial turf is very expensive, slippery when damp, and if not installed correctly becomes a the same trip hazard or missile hazard in the winds as carpet.
The grass was doing fine until we hit temps over 100 degrees and that was a month before we started experiencing water shortages. It happens every year, our LZ is in the high desert! The weed treatments did not cause this, during the entire spring we had a mostly weed free LZ.
I will offer this alternative for the PGs, I think it will work… We could permanently Astro Turf the PG corner of the LZ. Yes, it will be expensive… BUT… it would allow us to reduce the foot print of sprinklers that would save water for the rest of the LZ. It would give the PG kiting area a ‘clean’ lay down area year round. The cons are, it’s expensive and the PGs would have to accept the risk that it becomes a thermal trigger in the warmer months. Just a possibility. I also think we should permanently Astro turf the first 20 ft around the entire Pavilion. It’s a high traffic area and we would again be able to reduce the footprint of sprinklers plus I wouldn’t have to get too close with the lawnmower while people might be seated inside.