SUMMER 2013 Scotia Independent Newspaper
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The Scotia independent SUMMER 2013 WWW.TOWNOFSCOTIA.COM VOLUME I, ISSUE XIV Illegal Camp & Tunneling Nor th of ICTURES OF THE AST Town Present P P Hazard A PHOTOGRAPHIC ISTORY OF THE A pair of trash-strewn encamp- H ments north of Scotia have town TOWN OF SCOTIA management crying foul. “We are not unsympathetic to The history of our little town is homeless people, but uncontained a source of interest to visitors and waste and haphazard tunneling near pride among those who have lived our beaches and forests are not safe here, whether for a few years or for anyone,” said Town of Scotia several generations. Scotia has un- President and Legal Counsel Frank dergone many transformations Bacik. through the years, the most recent Bacik reported the problem to being a change from “company the county, saying he was particularly town” to self-governed community services district. Included here in the Scotia In- dependent for the first time are many museum-quality photos ac- companying a timeline of Scotia’s rich history. Enjoy! 1849 – 1900: This is one of many museum-quality photographs included in this edition of the In the Beginning Scotia Independent that captures Scotia’s rich history. See pages 3 and 4 for more. 1849: James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter’s Mill American local operations lished and first hotel in Scotia Continued to “Hazard,” page 2 River. Ensuing gold rush stimu- 1885: Palco constructs private constructed; telephone lines, Western Union lines and Wells lates demand for North Coast railroad line Fargo Express offices installed lumber Town of Scotia established as a 1890: Scotia installs first 90-light 1850: Sawmills proliferate logging camp A BLESSED around Humboldt Bay incandescent plant, predecessor Largely comprised as an immi- to cogeneration plant that turns 1869: The Pacific Lumber grant work force from New NINE YEARS wood waste into power (1892) Company (Palco) incorporated Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 1895: Palco’s original sawmill A letter from Jaenelle Lampp 1875: Steam Locomotive intro- Canada lost to fire; reconstructions be- On Thursday, June 20, I duced in North Coast logging 1888: Town name officially gins opened a letter from Office of operations changed from Forestville to Sco- 1896: Existing Mill A completed 1882: Steam Donkey intro- tia Public School’s Construction. duced; Palco officially begins Also 1888: Post Office estab- Continued to “History” page 3 The letter informed me that they are depositing $583,000 in Scotia’s School Facility Program Celebrating Perfect Attendance by the end of this month instead of in the Fall as previously pro- On June 4th, several Scotia Mrs. Lampp thought that was a to illness. Maybe it was the sugar? jected. Tears of joy welled in my students spent the day with Prin- great answer since we know that Other comments such as eyes as I realized that I had fin- cipal Lampp at the Redwood Mini high sucrose intake lowers the "good sleep" "health food" "eat ished my race here as Scotia Golf, celebrating perfect attend- immune system. oranges!" were the words of wis- ance. And yes, October and Febru- dom from this year's perfect at- Union Elementary School Dis- That’s 180 days of school! ary were two months in which tendance students. trict’s Superintendent/Principal. Our 1st through 3rd graders students' absences increased due Congratulations, students! In the spring of 2004, Board attended school for 50,400 President Larry Salmon called minutes and 4th-8th attended for me at South Fork High School 54,950 minutes this year. where I was principal and of- Mrs. Lampp asked the stu- fered me the position. Rich dents, "What's the secret? How did you survive this year's flu sea- Barsanti (Superintendent and son?" Principal) and Penny Shoop Tai Bolden replied, “I do not (Vice Principal) were retiring eat a lot of sugar.” and I would fill their duties. The first challenge was to complete the Standard-Based Report Cards, cafeteria bathrooms and apply for funding to purchase the school from the newly formed Town of Scotia, LLC. At that time, we qualified for about $3.5 million. After three years of painstaking application sub- Perfect attendance students include back row from left: Matty Soho, Perfect attendance students joined Willy Rogers, Riley Timmerman, Kailey Coogan), Page Ruff, Tai Bolden, missions and meetings, we re- Principal Jaenelle Lampp for a day of and Jessie Jannsen. Front Row: Raylon Ruff, Malia Bolden, ceived over $7.5 million! I rec- fun at Redwood Mini Golf. Jordan Klinetobe, Principal Jaenelle Lampp, and Kenny Laloli. ommended and the Board ap- Continued to “Blessed,” page 6 -1- makes this town so special, a consequence of the review, a and recognize again the im- process was put in place so that portance of preserving our his- any major modifications to struc- toric integrity. tures in Scotia—such as new con- struction, additions or demoli- Historic Resource Assessment tions—will be studied for potential Speaking of historical preservation. impact to historic resources. As many of you know, as part of an environmental impact review We recently received notice of process in 2009-2010, all buildings a local project now in this process. The Town of Scotia, the Scotia and facilities in Scotia were evalu- ated for historical significance. We Community Services District, and Frank Talk with Frank! have lodged the Historical Re- the Scotia Volunteer Fire Depart- source Assessment on our website ment all received notice of an ap- Welcome to Scotia. This Electric Company’s (PG&E’s) at http://townofscotia.com/Pier/ plication by the Humboldt Red- time every year we are fortu- new power distribution sys- AppendixC-ScotiaHistoryAssessment.pdf. As Continued to “Frank,” page 5 nate to have a number of visi- tem. Since 1890, all the elec- tors come through town. tricity used in Scotia has come The site is near the riverbank be- Whether you’ve made the from a local power plant, Continued from “Hazard,” page 1 redwoods your destination, or most often derived from tween the Rio Dell and Highway 101 concerned about the danger children bridges, east of PG&E's high-voltage you are just passing through, “cogeneration,” with electrical face if allowed to play in the area. lines crossing the Eel river, and just we appreciate your interest in turbines turned by steam, The encampments include at least north of the railroad tracks in the area Scotia. We welcome inquiries, produced by burning wood two underground bunkers dug into the (see map, below). Bla bla bla and we want your visit to be waste and boiling water. Sco- sand, one that’s supported with timbers pleasant. We hope some of tia had electricity before the like a mineshaft. In an email to county the photos, news and infor- White House in Washington, officials, Bacik said the buried under- mation in this edition will be D.C. But the old odd-voltage ground structures were obviously un- safe, and posed a substantial public of interest. Take the time to electrical distribution system health hazard and public nuisance. One visit our museum or have in Scotia now needs to be re- was over six feet deep and as large lunch at the Scotia Inn. On placed, and plans have been across, Basic said. the south end of Main Street, approved for town-wide up- He said the encampments appeared you’ll find a salmon fisheries grade of that electrical sys- to be abandoned. They include “an open exhibit – a unique aquarium. If tem. While PG&E mobilizes -pit privy toilet, and quite a mess has you have any questions about that effort, local residences been generated in the vicinity,” accord- ing to Bacik’s letter to county officials. Scotia, almost anyone will be and businesses will be upgrad- He was concerned children playing near glad to help you. For detailed ed so they will be ready to the river would discover the area and information about town or- connect to the new PG&E sys- be attracted to it. ganization, stop by the Legal tem beginning later this year. “The big danger is that one of those Affairs office next to the US things collapses with a child inside,” he Similarly, plans are under said. Bank. review for new water supply In addition to contacting the county, For those of us who live distribution, waste water col- town officials have posted warnings on- and work in Scotia, we’ll be lection/treatment and storm site, on bulletin boards and elsewhere in noticing upgrades and facelifts drainage infrastructure Scotia, strongly urging residents to steer throughout the Summer. Many throughout all of Scotia. This clear of the area, and to keep children away from both the encampments and changes are underway that are work will largely be placed bunkers. not merely cosmetic, howev- underground. As planned, this CalTrans was also contacted but said er, and some progress is just “wet” utility improvement will the site was outside of their right-of- below the surface, literally occur in smaller phases so as way. “If we cannot get help from some and figuratively. not to cause significant disrup- public agency, we will address these tion to residences or traffic conditions ourselves.” Town of Scotia Company “Whoever owns the area, we’re just has commissioned a great deal patterns in town. trying to protect the public and to avoid of work this year in connec- Scotia service employees, what could be a tragic consequence, tion with our plan to facilitate utilities representatives and should someone fall through the under- Scotia’s evolution from the private contractors may be ground pits or have an excavation col- last true “company town” in seen almost everywhere over lapse on them,” Bacik said.