Hearing set for Casitas water park
by Kelly Feser Eells

The last time Casitas Municipal Water District invited the public's comments on its proposed alternative swimming facility, more commonly known as a "lazy river," the Audubon Society turned out in force to oppose it.
At that time, nearly 10 months ago, District Manager John Johnson made reference to the fact that the society had been equally opposed to the first project installed under Lake Casitas' General Recreational Devlopment Plan, the Blue Heron Water Playground, which was completed in 1998. In response to concerns about this project, however, CMWD had contracted a third party envionmental consulting firm, Entrix, to work with the firm representing the Audubon Society - the Envionmental Defense Center.
A Mitigated Negative Declaration has since been developed, which, in addition to having been sent to various interested parties, is available for pubic review in local libraries. A public hearing has been scheduled for May 29, to be held in the district office boardroom at 1055 Ventura Ave. at 7 p.m.
Entrix consultant Matt Carpenter said, "I think it's been a really constructive process. We brought three Audubon board members in on a meeting in February to review the draft document. By and large, we've had open channels with them" throughout the process.
Carpenter points out that, while he doesn't expect every Audubon Society member or its representatives, EDC, will be 100 percent satisfied with the report, "The process itself, listening to the concerns relevant to the Society's local constituency and addressing environmental issues" directly related to this project was rewarding.
He adds that, though it is within the District's regulatory authority to implement the General Recreation Development Plan, its decision to make the process as interactive as possible will benefit the entire community.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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