Foothills Sentry July 2023

Page 9 Foothills Sentry July 2023 Enderle Center’s SUMMER CONCERT SERIES @ ENDERLE CENTER Select Fridays every month, All Summer! 5pm-8pm JUNE 23 U.S. 99 - Oldie’s JULY 21 SLIGO RAGS - Celtic Music AUG. 25 THE FUN GHOULS - Soft Rock Bring your family & friends! FREE SHOWS OC Parks plunders Modjeska preserve The last remaining echium candicans, commonly known as Pride of Madeira, in Modjeska Canyon was bulldozed by OC Parks when it installed rip rap around the creekbed to reduce flood damage. Modjeska Canyon residents were dismayed when the parks department removed 900 cubic yards of native soil and left a rocky terrain where nothing will grow. The erosion control project came with the raising of a boxcar bridge that had been installed previously. The site is part of the 85-acre Modjeska Nature Preserve that the county purchased almost 40 years ago. Intended as a means to keep the area rural and natural, the property is supposed to be kept “primitive and simple” in perpetuity. “The county did a good job for a while,” admits Jim Sill, who lives near the preserve. “Public Works did a similar erosion control project and did it right.” Instead of removing the soil, public works set it aside for later use. The department hired a biologist, saved the native plants and put everything back when the rip rap project was finished. The original soil was dispensed over the rocks, jute was laid over that, and the area was hydroseeded. “It was,” Sill says, “considered a successful environmentally- sensitive project.” Not so with the parks project. The echium blooms just once every two years. It is difficult to establish, but once settled in, will thrive. The historic echium was moved once to what was then private property, but later became part of the preserve. When OC Parks removed it and other native plants, it also removed mature 30-ft.-tall trees and replaced them with saplings. Modjeska neighbors met with officials from Supervisor Don Wagner’s office and OC Parks, June 12, to discuss what had gone wrong. During the meeting, Sill reports, county officials appeared to be more concerned with how and why the OC Parks’ project was not handled better, rather than what could be done to mitigate it. Residents were told that the OC Parks person responsible for this project was no longer with the department. Neighbors want a commitment to cover the rip rap with native soil that would support the native plants they destroyed, and to face the cinderblock bridge walls with native rock similar to the entrance of the preserve. The Conservative Patriots of Orange County gave its first Hold the Line award to Carol Bowen (right), the organization’s chief financial officer. The award recognizes “above and beyond” volunteerism. She was presented the award by CPOC President Deborah Pauly. The Conservative Patriots will be dark in July and August. Check conservativepatriotsofoc.org for details of the September meeting. Public schools topic at OC Dems meeting The work of the Public School Defenders Hub, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives to reduce the impact of anti-public school rhetoric and its consequences, will be explained at the Central Orange County Democratic Club’s, July 26 meeting. Andy Thorburn will describe the group’s support to organizers, parents, activists, board members, and partners defending public schools. The meeting will also focus on the impact of personal-agenda- driven schoolboard members on public education in Orange County, and how local residents can help protect the quality of public education in our communities. Snacks and chat start at 6:30 p.m.; the general meeting begins at 7 p.m. Meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 1221 Wass St. in Tustin. Central OC Dems is not affiliated with St. Paul’s. A rip rap project gone wrong by OC Park; barren of plant life. A rip rap project done right by OC Public Works. Plants grow here. Fairhaven Memorial Park is featuring a free outdoor movie night, July 15, and a summer concert, Aug. 12. The movie “Elvis” will be screened,at 8 p.m. The Summer Concert, Oldies but Goodies Fairhaven offers movie nights with James King, begins at 4:30 p.m. Guests are invited to bring low chairs and blankets to both events. Alcohol is not permitted. Fairhaven will be collecting donations of new and unused school supplies for local children. The last echium in Modjeska Canyon was bladed by OC Parks.