By Deb Murphy

Tech Group, Take Four

For everyone waiting with baited breath to see if Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Inyo County could agree on issues related to wells and mitigation at Five Bridges, you’ll have to wait another week.

In a document dated April 9, the County outlined its position on monitoring plans and test runs of Well 385 as well as the success, or not, of LADWP’s mitigation efforts northeast of Bishop. LADWP needed time to come up with a response and still needs more time. That was the rationale behind postponing Wednesday’s meeting to May 4, 11 a.m.

Yesterday’s meeting was to have started at 9 a.m. The usual suspects in the audience and some staff members waited 41 minutes before both sides’ attorneys came back into the room and postponed the discussion. LADWP committed to having its response to the County’s position on the issues by May 3, giving Inyo a day to absorb the material. Inyo’s County Counsel Marshall Rudolph was adamant the issues would go before the Standing Committee at its May 30 meeting.

Robust, Reliable Regional Air Service

Real information on what regional air service on the East Side could look like may be forthcoming. Both the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Inyo County staff have been wrestling with that question with tactful, vague answers coming out of those discussions.

During a meeting of the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments in mid-February, Mono County Supervisor Stacy Corless stressed the importance of transparency in regards to air service. She was still stressing transparency at last week’s ESOG session.

The representatives from the Town and Mono and Inyo counties agreed the organization’s Mammoth/Inyo Airport Working Group was the “forum out of which the information should come.” That meeting should be scheduled in the next few weeks with the hope Alterra Mountain Company, will be at the table.

“There’s a lot going on at staff level meetings,” said Inyo CAO Kevin Carunchio. “The momentum is picking up. We’re been working together and being cautious not to step on anybody’s toes.”

“It’s key to move air service to Bishop,” said Mono Supervisor Bob Gardner, noting the cancelation rate at the Mammoth airport. “This will be a test of our ability to act as a region.”

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading