Riverside County has formally noticed residents of its intent to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) regarding the Outdoor Warning System (OWS) to be constructed by the county in collaboration with the Idyllwild Fire Protection District and Mile High Radio Club.
The purpose of the OWS is to “improve public alert and warning systems to ensure the dissemination of reliable, relevant and actionable information to residents, visitors and others in the event of emergencies.”
The purpose of an MND is to state that, after an initial study was done in accordance with guidelines under the California Environmental Quality Act, county staff has concluded the project will not have a significant effect on the environment, so a public scoping meeting need not be held and a full-blown Environmental Impact Report (EIR) need not be undertaken.
The study does not deal with other matters such as the cost and funding of the project.
The OWS, which integrates the existing Travelers Information Station system, calls for installing and maintaining 37 outdoor warning speaker sites with seven more alternative sites at locations from Twin Pines and Poppet Flats through Pine Cove, Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Garner Valley, as well as Anza, the Santa Rosa Reservation and Pinyon Pines.
The Initial Study and the MND are available for public review at the county’s Facilities Management office at 3450 14th Street, Riverside and also at the Idyllwild Library, in addition to being online at https://rivcofm.org/Environmental.
Written public comments, from individuals or responsible agencies, will be received by Facilities Management from Aug. 4 to Sept. 2. After that, if the board of supervisors finds that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment, it may adopt the MND and consider the project without preparing an EIR.
