Conditions Update: There is snow coming down in Arnold and Lilac Park. It’s not heavy, but it is sticking and starting to accumulate. If you are headed up, please plan accordingly, bring chains if you need them, and your winter gear. The roads in Lilac Park were plowed this morning. There is 6 to 10 inches on the ground.
The snow level will certainly change, but we saw it starting to stick on Highway 4 at Forest Meadows at around noon.
We hope you all had a great Christmas.
MEDIA RELEASE
Contact: Sgt Chris Hewitt
Release Date: 12/12/12
Release Number: 1
Public Awareness Statement: Possible Phone Scam
(San Andreas, CA) On 12/12/12 the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of a possible phone/internet scam. According to the information provided to the sheriff’s office, a person with heavily accented English places phone calls to potential victims and identifies him/herself as being from a company by the name of Microsoft: VTech Solutions. This person then tells you that they have received information from your computer that there is a problem with your computer’s Microsoft programs. They then ask for personal information to access your computer.
This and any similar phone calls are a scam. The caller’s likely intent is to either obtain personal identifying information from you or gain remote access to your computer’s hard drive in order to steal your information. Legitimate companies, such as Microsoft, will not call and solicit information from you. If you should receive any similar phone calls you should tell the caller to remove your number from their database, and then hang up.
How to Protect Yourself:
1. Never provide personal identifying or financial information, including your Social Security Number, birth date, and account numbers or passwords over the internet or phone in communication that you did not initiate.
2. Never click on any link provided in an email you believe to be suspect.
3. If you believe the communication might be legitimate, contact the institution or business yourself using only the phone numbers or internet address found on your account statements.
4. Do not be intimidated by an email or caller who suggests dire consequences if you do not provide or verify financial or personal information.
What to Do if You Fall Victim:
1. If you have disclosed sensitive information in a phishing scheme you should contact your financial institutions immediately and notify them of the situation.
2. You should also contact the fraud division of the three major credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your file. Equifax 800-525-6285; Esperian 888-307-3742; and TransUnion 800-680-7289.
3. Report the incident to your local law enforcement agency and/or the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT.
Address/Location
Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office
891 Mountain Ranch Rd
San Andreas, CA 95249
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 209-754-6500
We have received a few calls from homeowners who have expressed concern about the drainage (or lack thereof) in Lilac Park. The “gutters” that parallel most streets in our community have become filled with pine needles and debris causing rain runoff to overflow and run across homeowner properties. Ordinarily, this isn’t a big deal, but with the significant amount of wet weather we’ve had recently, some homeowners have had substantial amounts of water running across their property.
The roads in Lilac Park and these gutters next to them are maintained by the Calaveras County Public Works Department.
With government budgets as tight as they are, it’s likely the county won’t have us on any kind of a cleaning schedule but once every so often, if at all. It is our responsibility to let the county know that these drainages need some attention.
Please take a moment and call the Calaveras County Public Works Department between the hours of 8a – 5p Monday – Friday to let them know that the drainage gutters along our streets need to be cleaned up. If they receive enough calls for service, hopefully they’ll get some crews out there before the next big storm comes in.
Their phone number is 209.754.6402
SAN ANDREAS — The California Board of Forestry on Wednesday made permanent the widely disliked “fire prevention fee” that forces the owners of more than 800,000 rural homes in California to pay a $115 to $150 annual tax.
Representatives from several rural counties, including Calaveras County Supervisor Darren Spellman, were on hand to remind the board that they oppose the tax.
“I would ask that you do not force rural citizens to pay for mistakes that have been made in the past,” Spellman said. “This is reprehensible.”
The state board members largely ignored such objections, except to say their hands were tied by state law.
Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Legislature came up with the fee in 2011 as a way to help balance the budget. Assembly Bill X129 ordered the Board of Forestry to enact an emergency measure to allow it to collect the tax in 2012.
Such an emergency measure is only good for a year. The law also requires the Board of Forestry to enact a permanent fire prevention fee in time to collect the tax in 2013. That’s what the board did Wednesday.
In Calaveras County, property owners began receiving the first year’s bills in September. The bills went to the owners of 23,244 Calaveras properties.
The fee is assessed only on properties in “state responsibility areas,” where the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is responsible for firefighting. Most of Calaveras County is in a state responsibility area, while San Joaquin County has only a sliver of its eastern edge and a small area in the hills near Tracy in a state responsibility area.
In reality, many rural residents are also served by local fire districts for which they already pay taxes. Property owners with a local fire district get $35 knocked off their fire tax bill, reducing it to $115.
Les Baugh, an elected supervisor for Shasta County, spoke Wednesday on behalf of the Regional Council of Rural Counties, a statewide organization whose members include Calaveras, Shasta and dozens of others.
Baugh said the RCRC opposes the fire tax. He said the tax has had a variety of negative impacts already, including making it more difficult for local fire agencies to ask voters to increase local taxes, undermining the willingness of local fire agencies to respond on a mutual aid basis, and a large number of incorrect bills, with many homeowners double or triple billed.
“The billing and implementation process is already causing substantial confusion,” Baugh said. “This fee is no longer worth the expense of administering it.”
Several Board of Forestry members said they would like to modify the fire tax rules to give homeowners more than 30 days to protest an incorrect bill.
Dean Cromwell, executive director of the Board of Forestry, said staff would look for ways to extend the protest period but might have few options.
“The law says 30 days,” he said of the bill.
Several efforts to overturn that law are under way. In October, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association filed a class-action lawsuit that alleges the law is an illegal tax rather than a fee. Also, state Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, on Monday put forth his first act of the new legislative session: the introduction of a bill to overturn the fee.
Gaines introduced a similar measure last summer that went nowhere.
Our take on this:
It is estimated that almost one-half of Cal-Fire’s annual suppression and prevention budget is used for such activities in the more populated areas of Southern California. In short, Calaveras county and other homeowners in our area are being charged a “fire prevention fee” (it’s a tax) to pay for services that are largely being funneled down south.
As part of our property taxes, most Calaveras County residents already pay to fund and maintain the new fire station on Blagen Road that houses Ebbett’s Pass Fire District. In the event of a fire in our neighborhood, EPFD would be the first responders.
While the ALPHA Board of Directors has no official position on this fee, most board members are against it.
If you will be in the area, we encourage all who knew Frank to stop by his home here in Lilac Park to let his family know how much he meant to Lilac Park over the last 25+ years.
Most who knew Frank know where his home is, however, if you need directions to his place, please contact the board of directors by email to info@arnoldlilacparkhoa.org.
On Sunday, November 25, 2012, Frank Samuelson passed away in his sleep after a long battle with complications resulting from a fall at his home in Lilac Park in September 2011. He was 86.
With his service to the Lilac Park Homeowners Association dating back in terms of decades, Frank Samuelson has been one of ALPHA’s longest serving volunteers. For more than 25 years, Frank contributed his time, experience, leadership, and friendship to help make Lilac Park a great place to live.
Frank’s family is planning a memorial in Arnold sometime before Christmas, but no details are available yet. More information to follow.
We’ll miss you Frank. Rest in peace.
A heavy storm is forecast to hit our area starting tomorrow. The chances of snow aren’t that great in Arnold since this is a “warm” series of storms, but a significant amount of rain is expected between now and Saturday. Snow accumulations are possible above 7,000 feet and at at night.
Four to six inches of rain is forecast for parts of Central California and traveling could be hazardous. Flooding is expected in low-lying areas so plan your trips accordingly and take additional precautions when driving in bad weather at night.
Click “Conditions / Storm Activity” to the right for an active weather map and road conditions.
The ALPHA Board of Directors will be meeting on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 10:00am, at the Arnold Public Library.
All ALPHA homeowners are invited and welcome to attend.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announces restriction on burn hours will be lifted on permissive burn days on private lands within the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit. This includes the counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne, and those eastern portions of San Joaquin and Stanislaus that are within the State Responsibility Area. Lifting the burn hour restrictions also applies to lands within the Direct Protection Area (DPA) of the Stanislaus National Forest. …
Burn permits are required, which means pile size is still restricted to four foot by four foot. Even with the cooler weather and forecasted rain a fire can still escape. It is critical that the person conducting the burn keep close watch on the fire at all times. If the fire gets away, that person can be held liable for the damage and suppression costs.
Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Chief Brian Kirk adds “Open hours burning on permissive burn days allows home owners to burn debris created while working on 100 feet of defensible space. As we head into the fall season and permissive burn days increase watch your local weather and do not burn or plan to burn on high, gusty windy days.”
It is the landowner’s responsibility to check with the local Air Pollution Control District for permissive days by calling the local APCD office. Pre-recorded information for each county is available at the following phone numbers:
APCD – Calaveras County (209) 754-6600
APCD – Tuolumne County (209) 533-5598
San Joaquin – 1-877-429-2876
Stanislaus NF–DPA Burn Day Information (209) 532-5601