Monthly Archives: September 2014

ANOTHER REASON FOR WILDOMAR NOT TO BE A CITY

First off congratulations to Ashley Fox for doing a wonderful job in completing her requirements for a Silver Award.
A Stinky Brown Pile of Crap Award goes to the adults that screwed the pooch in getting this apparatus installed.
This installation brought to you by the City of Wildomar is:
1. An overly complicated backyard contraption which was being entered backwards at first because no one knew what they had or how it worked, installation was not finished until the day before the second scheduled ribbon cutting. It also has to be removed daily because it lacks the necessary security hardware that other apparatuses in the Tot-Lot have to make theft difficult.
2. It will add time to the part-time employees work day by its needing to be installed, checked on and taken down daily. Who’s going to put it away when park closes, the security guard, as the part-time employee will have been gone home for several hours.
3. This apparatus has numerous attachments that are easily stolen, much like the web belts on the molded swings at Regency Heritage Park that were never replaced. Is this the future of this device?.
4. Some claim there was a plan, some claim the apparatus arrived behind schedule which screwed up this plan. Well the truth is the drawings for this item have been available from the manufacturers website since day one, back before Easter. Despite this fact on August 25, 2014 the Parks Subcommittee made the final decision on where it would go 2 DAYS AFTER its initial installation was supposed to take place on August 23, 2014 along with spending as much as $28,500 in Developer Impact Fees to accomplish this goal. The city council gave the final nod of approving to the Wildomar Standing Subcommittee for Parks plan on September 10, 2014, all without any approved drawings being presented. Thankfully PV Maintenance, the cities contractor for city facilities donated the time so it will only cost the taxpayers whatever it cost to remove this contraption an return the Tot-Lot back to its former glory, accessible to all.
Numerous other problems exist with this apparatus as installed currently:

1. The slab it sits on today is 184 inches or (15 feet 4 inches) X 195 inches or (16 feet 3 inches).

The concrete slab poured  with frame embedded.

The concrete slab poured with frame embedded.


The drawing sent by the manufacturer and available on their website
Drawing supplied by the manufacturer

Drawing supplied by the manufacturer


This size use zone is also called out in the “Public Playground Safety Handbook” issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission “Publication 325″ last revised November 2010. This publication is available for download at http://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/122149/325.pdf
2. Also included in this government publication is another very important dimension which is found on Page 38
Section 5.3.8.2 Fall Height – The fall height for swings is the vertical distance between the pivot point and the protective surfacing beneath it. In the case of the Freedom Swing this distance is 96 inches (8 feet).
Section 2.4 Surfacing The surfacing under and around playground equipment is one of the most important factors in reducing the likelihood of life-threatening head injuries. A fall onto a shock absorbing surface is less likely to cause a serious head injury than a fall onto a hard surface. However , some injuries from falls, including broken limbs, may occur no matter what playground surfacing material is used.
The most widely used test method for evaluating the shock absorbing properties of a playground surfacing material is to drop an instrumented metal headform onto a sample of the material and record the acceleration/time pulse during the impact. Field and laboratory test methods are described in ASTM F1292 Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surface Systems Under and Around Playground Equipment.
Testing using the methods described in ASTM F1292 will provide a “critical height” rating of the surface. This height can be considered as an approximation of the fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur . Manufacturers and installers of playground protective surfacing should provide the critical height rating of their materials. This rating should be greater than or equal to the fall height of the highest piece of equipment on the playground. The fall height of a piece of equipment is the distance between the highest designated play surface on a piece of equipment and the protective surface beneath it. Details for determining the highest designated play surface and fall height on some types of equipment are
included in §5 Parts of the Playground. (See Section 5.3.8.2 above)
2.4.1 Equipment not covered by protective surfacing recommendations
The recommendations for protective surfacing do not apply to equipment that requires a child to be standing or sitting at ground level. Examples of such equipment are:
• Sand boxes
• Activity walls at ground level
• Play houses
• Any other equipment that children use when their feet remain in contact with the ground surface

Why all the information about fall attenuation?
Because the 3/4 inch Rubber-Cal tiles used below the swing are not rated for any fall.

Fall protection material selected by ?

Fall protection material selected by ?


This company make another type of tile that is 2 1/2 inches thick which is rated for a 6 foot fall which still falls short of the requirement.
The best material which meets all the requirements already existed in the Tot-Lot. Engineered Wood Fiber.
3. American Disability Act (ADA) requires there be an accessible route of travel. This Tot-Lot had that prior to the concrete ramp being removed in order to accommodate this apparatus. What we are left with is a straight drop-off an undersize slab, with even an attempt at a ramp on the far end being inadequate (its is only 48 inches wide with no slope,
Inadequate width and no slope

Inadequate width and no slope


not 60 inches with a less than 30 degree slope as recommended by ADA)
A proper ADA ramp

A proper ADA ramp

Boil it down we have a Use Zone that is to Small, we have NO fall protection and No access to rest of the Tot-Lot since the removal of the only ramp into it.

So as to not go to waste
Donate it to the senior center where persons with lifetime of experience dealing with difficult situations now confined to a wheelchair might enjoy it reliving their childhood.

DEATH IS IMMINENT

Imagine my surprise when visiting Windsong Park today after being told it survived the recent downpour quite well.
The surprise was an enormous amount of dirt in the roadway and signs that the water had backed up at the drains overflowing the curbs.

This street is normally quite clean. Today it is filthy

This street is normally quite clean. Today it is filthy


Water needed the handicap ramp I guess

Water needed the handicap ramp I guess


All the way to the corner dirt is covering the sidewalk

All the way to the corner dirt is covering the sidewalk

At this point I took a trip thru another rabbit hole provide by one of Wildomar’s industrious little beavers that like to play in the creek (I trespassed onto city property) only to find the source of all this mayhem.

Once again the old farts grapper is 32" long. This pipe is a 60 inch pipe that is 50% occluded

Once again the old farts grapper is 32″ long. This pipe is a 60 inch pipe that is 50% occluded

Drainage for the Tot-Lot appears to be 100% pugged up and water is still oozing out of the line days later.

This pipe leads back to the Tot-Lot and is still weeping water days later

This pipe leads back to the Tot-Lot and is still weeping water days later

With the recent flooding that occurred at Elsinore High School being blamed by some on a failed city drainage system one can’t help wonder if that drainage line wasn’t in the same condition. You say no way. Guess what there are numerous examples of this same condition throughout the City of Wildomar.
More examples that are easy to find are at the new parkland on the eastside.

Another 60 inch line with 50% blockage.

Another 60 inch line with 50% blockage.

And at a reoccurring spot called Regency Heritage Park

This drains Palomar Street into Regency Heritage Park. 50% blockage

This drains Palomar Street into Regency Heritage Park. 50% blockage


Normal condition prior to the storm

Normal condition prior to the storm


Look maw, no trash

Look maw, no trash


Park side of the pedestrian bridge in park

Park side of the pedestrian bridge in park


Street side of the bridge which receives all that trash and dirt.

Street side of the bridge which receives all that trash and dirt.

These are only a very few places that are easily seen. Lurking throughout a city with no plan are many areas just like this waiting to reek havoc on the daily lives of Wildomar Citizens.
Time will tell if the local school district is next line to file what some will call a frivolous lawsuit to recover damages to high school campus.

AN UPDATE TO THE SPEED TRAP STORY

Some times complaining does work. The previous signs that change the speed limit on Grand Avenue passing David A. Brown Middle School have been changed to the proper signage lowering the speed limit to only when children are present.
BEFORE

This was taken on August 31st

This was taken on August 31st

AFTER

This was first observed on September 17th after leaving Coffee with a Cop.

This was first observed on September 17th after leaving Coffee with a Cop.

ENOUGH SAID

With all the videos available on http://wildomarrap.blogspot.com/2014/09/flooding-on-video.html showing the happenings in the moment a few picture of the aftermath is all I will post.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.

This describes it all.

This describes it all.


The grabber against the fence is 32 inches tall. The level that the water got up to.

The grabber against the fence is 32 inches tall. The level that the water got up to.


Even a water dog would have had to hold its breath to make it thru here.

Even a water dog would have had to hold its breath to make it thru here.


Nature reclaiming her own.

Nature reclaiming her own.

Before you think this all over think again. There are questions that still need to be asked an answered about the City of Wildomar’s complicity in the result seen here and on the video. Stay tuned for those questions.

ACCESSABILITY TO OUR PARKS

A point was brought up at the most recent meeting of the “Standing Committee for Parks” which consist of 2 council members.

During a discussion on where to place the “Freedom Swing” one councilwoman was vehement in their wanting this swing to be placed at the Tot-Lot located at Marna O’Brien Park.
This demand no matter the cost was so stated because none of the other two parks in Wildomar have parking that is Handicap accessible.

Cost at Marna O’Brien was estimated at from $16,000.00 to $28,750.00 for which the party donating the swing had an additional $1,000.00 to contribute. The shortage was to be covered by a generous pledge of DIF (Developer Impact Fees) by one of the council persons and so seconded by the other with a nod of approval from the city manager. (Fortunately the father of the person donating the swing has volunteered to contribute a portion of the cost thru time, design and construction in placing the swing which will reduce the cost to the taxpayer, the total cost is yet to be determined.)

After looking into this claim it became apparent that this is indeed true. Although the parks themselves once inside the gates are accessible to all including all three of the Tot-Lots there is no parking set aside for easy access to two of these public facilities, Windsong Park and Regency-Heritage Park

At Windsong Park one has to exit a vehicle parked on the street in front of the park and traverse the roadway to one of two corners set approximately 140 feet from either of two entry ways. This makes for a distance travel of anywhere from 170 feet to 280 feet, the shorter distance is assuming there is a space close to the corners available. Most citizens who park their vehicles at the park do so in order to be able to see their vehicle will they are engaged making the longer distance more likely. A disabled person would have to park out of sight of the park in order to shorten the travel time and lessen the hazard of being in the roadway

In looking into the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act there seems to be some ambiguity as to what is exempt from compliance, the sad fact is all of our parks where built to be A.D.A. accessible without providing an acceptable means of getting to them for all citizens. Some will claim the city is protected by the Safe Harbor provision in the A.D.A but if we can be ready to spent over $25,000.00 to install an additional handicap apparatus to an already accessible Tot-Lot then there should be no reason that we can’t spent a little money making all of our parks more accessible to all citizens of Wildomar by installing an ACCESSIBLE ON STREET PARKING AREA.

Several designs are available that could be used at one of our parks with the other park S.O.L. due to drainage channels being used as entrances.
Parking 1
Parking 2
Parking 3
Parking 4

WILDOMAR SPEED TRAP ARROGANCE OR IGNORANCE ?

trap sign

The recent installation of radar signs along Grand Avenue during the middle of August located northwest and southeast of David A. Brown Middle School leaves one wondering just how much research went into preparing for this action by the City of Wildomar.

Approaching from the northwest.

Approaching from the northwest.


Approaching from the southeast.

Approaching from the southeast.

The previous speed limit on this stretch of Grand Avenue was 45 M.P.H. which was established after an engineering and traffic study was conducted. This study resulted in an 85 percentile speed of 50 M.P.H. which was lower by 5 M.P.H. as allowed by state law when doing so will result in a safer condition for that stretch of roadway.

The MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices), a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), has specified standards regarding signs
Section 2B.13 (excerpt) “A changeable message sign that changes the speed limit for traffic and ambient conditions may be installed provided that the appropriate speed limit is shown at the proper times.
“California MUTCD Page 2B-13 (FHWA’s MUTCD 2003 Revision 1, as amended for use in California)
Vehicle Speed Feedback Signs Option: A Vehicle Speed Feedback sign that displays to approaching drivers the speed at which they are traveling may be installed in conjunction with a Speed Limit (R2-1) sign.

Standard: If a Vehicle Speed Feedback sign displaying approach speeds is installed, the legend shall be YOUR SPEED XX. The numerals displaying the speed shall be white, yellow, yellow-green or amber color on black background. When activated, lights shall be steady-burn conforming to the provisions of CVC Sections 21466 and 21466.5. Vehicle Speed Feedback signs shall not alternatively be operated as variable speed limit signs.

Without the benefit of any engineering and traffic study as required by California MUTCD Section 2B.13 Speed Limit Sign (R2-1)
Standard:
01 Speed zones (other than statutory speed limits) shall only be established on the basis of an engineering study that has been performed in accordance with traffic engineering practices. The engineering study shall include an analysis of the current speed distribution of free-flowing vehicles.
Along with the required public hearing the City of Wildomar has without shame lowered the speed limit 24/7 on this approximately 1732 feet of roadway to 25 M.P.H.

To further enhance the confusion on this stretch of roadway maybe we should do as Ada, Oklahoma has done and install the Plastic PoPo

Located in Ada, Oklahoma. Another town with the funds to hire real police.

Located in Ada, Oklahoma. Another town without the funds to hire real police.