Supervisors approve Community Projects funds for four Greater Fallbrook projects

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ June 14 approval of the allocation of District Five Community Projects funds included four projects in Greater Fallbrook which will be receiving a total of $45,000.

The Santa Margarita y Las Flores Docents will receive $20,000, contingent upon the docents first raising $20,000 of matching funds, for the restoration of Las Flores Adobe National Historic Landmark on Camp Pendleton. The Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA will receive $10,000 for its annual golf tournament. The Vista Fire Protection District, which serves part of Bonsall as well as unincorporated Vista, will receive $10,000 to develop a community fire plan. The Fallbrook Music Society will receive $5,000 for the Symphony Pops on the Green concert.

Each county supervisor has a discretionary Community Projects fund which assists schools and nonprofit organizations which provide services to county citizens. The funding can also be used to supplement other county funding for specific county projects. Supervisor Bill Horn’s recommendation of the allocation of some of his Community Projects funds required the approval of the Board of Supervisors, but all five supervisors supported the allocations.

The Santa Margarita y Las Flores Docents are the caretakers of Las Flores Rancho Adobe and are in the process of securing a $20,000 Federal “Save America’s Treasures” grant which would allow the docents to turn the national historic landmark into a public museum. The Federal grant would require a matching amount, and the Community Projects funds will provide that match should the Federal grant be awarded. The grants will fund the restoration of the adobe bricks and the refurbishment of the adobe ranch house with period furniture.

The Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA was founded in 1942 and serves Camp Pendleton personnel and their families. In 2004 the YMCA served 20,209 military and family members, which was a 43 percent increase over the 2003 total. The annual golf tournament raises funds for school mentoring and tutoring programs which focus on at-risk youth of elementary school age, for preschool programs for children and their parents, for free hospital appointment shuttle services and for the School of Infantry Recreation Center, which is available for young Marines attending school.

The Vista Fire Protection District is in the process of developing community wildland urban interface protection plans for eight to ten high-risk communities in the district. The plans will build upon pre-existing community vegetation management plans and will involve input from the local communities. The Community Projects grant will allow for detailed risk analyses, educational community meetings, specific risk reduction projects and pre-attack plans which would further the efforts of the recently-formed Greater Vista Fire Safe Council.

The Fallbrook Music Society, which was founded in 1985, is an all-volunteer organization which seeks to bring the enjoyment of classical music to North County citizens through organizing affordable concerts and orchestral performances. This year the Fallbrook Music Society will host the “Symphony Pops on the Green Concert at Grand Tradition” event; the Community Projects grant will allow the Fallbrook Music Society to sponsor that concert so that those who wish to attend can do so at an affordable price.