Section: Metro
SALIDA -- Residents of a west Salida subdivision fumed Tuesday as
they cleaned out flooded homes, garages and patios, asking why it took
public agencies nearly 11 hours to respond to their pleas for help.
County Public Works Director George Stillman
said the problem was the county doesn't own enough pumps...
Published: January 26, 2000 modesto b e e

County on defensive in Salida flood's wake Published: January 28, 2000


Salida FLOODING
[West Kiernan road]
This report was givin to the stanislaus county board of Supervisors back on 9-29-1998
I knew that flooding would happen again if the county didnt get there act together
on flood control and storm drains... If youd like to see the Salida flooding of
January 2000 Click here
3-15-00
Bee Story ///
Public Works Department failed to prevent a storage pond's
water from inundating their neighborhood.

on 2-3-2000 there was a meeting called by flooded out home owners
at the Salida Fire Station.
Many news crews came out ... (Except for kcra TV-3 / tv 58 )
Tv-10 and tv-13 both put the county spin on there reports.
tv-10 did a half ass real-video report BEFOR the tapes got back to there studio!. Click here for TV-10 story and click here for the REALVIDEO.

1-27-00
Salida Residents Say Cries For Help Went Unheeded
County Fools didnt listen...


RealVideo

sand bags 342-2244 205 jefferson ave. modesto

New news Reports , old problems...

Salida homes flood 2-3-2000

Here is the report that the county didnt listen to ......back in 1998
9-29-98
Points regarding the Vella Estates #6 parcel map application or ANY new homes :

Toomes and Maximillian

---

Large amounts of FILL DIRT,
At this time as many as twenty dump truck loads of fill dirt have ALL READY been dumped on this Vella estates lot. Every truck load of fill dirt builds this lot up above the grade of the surrounding neighborhoods.This will likely cause run off water to flow from the new homes into the backyards of the older homes along the perimeter of this development.
Steps should be taken tocontrol this. The lot sizes of the older homes in the area can absorb there own run off water, but the very small size of the lots of these newer trac homes will be unable to absorb the run off from their own roofs! Much less the run off water from hundreds of feet of new blacktop. The water must go somewhere, and that’s downhill into the older homes backyards and streets.

Limits should be placed on the amount of fill dirt brought into lots next to older homes. It's much easier to limit fill dirt dumping than to raise the foundation of older homes!

1-2000
The Modesto BEE reported of

flooding in Salida, California
on 1-26-2000 , what was left out of the story is that there were
many fixed point pump failers and some pumps were never installed
2 more rolls of film will be added to this site with in a week
Modesto Bee story Salidans angry at response :
By DENNIS ROBERTS and SUZANNE HURT


Lot size,
50 homes packed into 10 acres? When you figure in access roads P.U.E.'s sidewalks and hopefully a large drainage pond, the lot sizes for this new development will be much smaller then many of the surrounding homes. Adding cheap trac housing to the neighborhood may have a adverse effect on property prices in the area. Wouldn't 40 homes on larger lots be more reasonable and in line with the current neighborhood standards?
Overhead Power Lines:
MID is still adding unsightly overhead power drops for new homes on Toomes road. Most of the neighborhoods use modern underground power systems. I ask that MID wire this new development totally underground and that there NOT be a overhead power lines added between the south Toomes Road line and the north Toomes/Kiernan Rd. lines. There is heavy television and radio static on the south Toomes Rd. line and if there is a overhead connection to this south line it will conduct this static to radio a TV sets all along Toomes Rd.

Crime Concerns:
Graffiti: The current style of track housing in the area brings with it a hugh problem of the graffiti WALL.( see photo of Murphy's ferry wall at Toomes and Kiernan Roads behind the yellow guy wire anchor for the power pole you can see 5 foot high graffiti lettering that has been painted over with a similar but not quite matching color of paint.) This wall was up only a very short time before it was tagged with graffiti repeatedly. Toomes road has had a ongoing graffiti problem dating back to the erection of the WALL along the development directly south of this Vella estates project now in question.
Neighbors along Maximillian have expressed concern about there homes directly facing a wall like this and suggest that the new homes all face the Street. Another problem with graffiti walls like this are that they reflect and echo sounds up and down the street. I suggest that walls should not be made in a straight line, but curving or staggered to break up sound waves and allow sound waves to cancel out or be reflected up. A much better technique is being used now in high-risk parts of Modesto, wrought iron style fencing! Wrought iron fencing is nearly graffiti proof and also breaks up sound waves with out sound echo reflections. Once shrubs and trees grow to maturity, residents will have the privacy of a brick wall with out the worry of graffiti or graffiti abatement programs, thus saving the county taxpayers money.


Drainage Concerns

Any water run off from this project will likely cause severe local area flooding to occur in the surrounding neighborhood . In the past, street flooding has occurred in this area. Current drainage ponds are not being maintained properly and are of inadequate size. ( see photo of drainage pond on Zinfandel and Maximillian roads. Overflowing grey water and trash into the street)


Noise Concerns

In proximity to heavy industry, this 10 acre lot is directly across the street from a full time 7 day a week 24 hour a day farm implement factory. Flory industry makes almond sweepers, these sweepers are tested on almost a daily basis producing very large amounts of noise pollution and dust. The volume of noise can only be compared to a jet engine , but it may be even more troublesome due to the low frequency content of the noise. This sound easily penetrates the inside of homes in fact there is no place in my home that you can escape this noise even with doors and windows sealed and $900 worth of professional sound absorbing foam inside my home. We feel that the high noise levels and Mello-Roos taxes may leave many of the new homes built here with a lower then fair market value or worse abandoned.

Traffic:
The current developments along Toomes Road have brought about a very large increase in traffic, residential, heavy trucks and equipment involved in the construction projects. Frequently heavy construction equipment is being driven directly on the roadway between construction sites. This must stop, it is a safety hazard and very hard on the roadway. Heavy equipment should be transported on flat bed trucks, that are both licensed and insured for ON ROAD TRAVEL. Toomes Road is wearying quite thin and has large and deep potholes, the current speed limit was lowered to 45 mph this year. When tractor trailer rigs run over this narrow road at the posted speed limit hitting the potholes or weaving around them, it creates very loud noises as the trailers bounce around. It also creates dangerous conditions for oncoming motor vehicle traffic forcing bike and pedestrian traffic off the road and onto the dirt shoulder.

There is still no sidewalks, curbs or gutters or even drainage ditches in this area now. In this exact area a small child was struck by a car last year, ( see photo ) and had to be air lifted by Medi-flight to Doctors Hospital at taxpayers expense.
I think the speed limit on Toomes Road should be dropped to 25 MPH to match the surrounding neighborhoods. A stop sign should also be placed at the main entrance to the Flory factory or at Toomes and Maximillian.


More Salida California Business phone lists
1996

The Bee has a website about the floods of 1998 , around the stanislaus county area.
not many good pictures but it's free....
Modesto Paper reports floods of 1998
Need Sandbags ...try...

Stanislaus County corporation yard, 1716 Morgan Road, 525-4130
575-5245 after 7 p.m.

Stanislaus County: Salida Fire Protection District headquarters,
4820 Salida Blvd., 545-0365.


More info on the flood in Salida 2000

Toomes,Maximillian Dr.,Jeppson,Danielle,Nanette,Shelly,parks,Covert,Danforth,Doreen,Countryridge Lane,city of Modesto