September, 08

Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation in Norco took a significant step forward with the appointment of our first Historical Preservation Consultant Bill Wilkman, MA. Bill has been a City Planner with the City of Riverside for 32 years, the last 6 of which included 2 years as Acting Historic Preservation Manager and 4 years as supervisor of the City's Historic Preservation Section. He has the education and experience to provide historic services that are both professional and practical.

Bill will assist the City in the establishment of a Historic Preservation Commission as well as the development of a Historic District Overlay Zone. He will assist in the development of a strategic plan for the preservation of the Lake Norconian Resort. With the assistance of City staff, Bill will prepare and submit an application to the State of California for Certified Local Government (CLG) status. The funding for these services is included in the current RDA budget.

Animal Shelter

The construction of the new Animal Shelter has been moved up to FY 2008-09. Three million dollars from the Redevelopment Capital Improvement Fund has been allocated and is available for this project. The proposed Animal Shelter will include a 13,000 square foot building along with a barn, garage, outdoor kennels, wet and dry bird aviaries and a 8,500 square foot corral with 7 covered horse stalls.

The appointment of a construction manager to oversee this project is being considered.
 
Trails

Trail maintenance will be enhanced by an agreement with the California Department of Forestry (CDF) division of the California Rehabilitation Center. This agreement will provide services for abating weeds and debris in the trail system at a cost of $160 per day for 52 days per year. The total annual costs will be $8,320, which will be split evenly between the City and the Norco Horsemen's Association. We thank NHA for their generosity.

Waste-to-Energy

Norco's Waste-to-Energy project remains viable. The preliminary presentation from Chevron Energy Solutions, after analysis of many horse manure samples from our City, evaluation of at least 5 different technologies for converting horse manure to electricity, and examination of the financing options, is very promising. Chevron will conduct a public workshop at City Hall in Conference Rooms A and B between 5 and 7pm on Wednesday October 8 to present their recommendations.

Conclusion

I plan to provide these updates on a regular basis. Your feedback will be appreciated. Contact information for Malcolm is available on his website at www.millernorco.com.

Thank you.