Westside Reader April 2016

April 2016 THE Reader • 9
Wilk introduces bill to
allow voters to kill Bullet
Train, fund water projects
Assemblyman Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita,
has introduced Assembly Bill 1866 that
would allow voters to cancel the High Speed
Rail Project and redirect those funds to vital
water projects by such as storage and conveyance,
as well as desalination.
“The $68 billion Bullet Train is the largest
public works project in the history of man
and if allowed to be completed will be a
boondoggle of epic portions,” stated Wilk.
If passed, AB 1866 would give voters the
chance in November of 2016 to terminate the
Bullet Train and repurpose up to $8 billion to
water programs. These water projects include
the construction of desalination facilities,
wastewater treatments and recycling
facilities, reservoirs, water conveyance infrastructure,
and aquifer recharge.
“To enhance economic growth and improve
Californians’ quality of life we need to
have a robust water storage system and an
‘all of the above’ approach to water management,”
said Wilk. “It’s time to derail the Bullet
Train and commit resources to preserve our
most precious natural resource, water.”
canyon high School
Long-awaited
performing arts
center opens
By Pearl obispo
Staff Writer
Band members, the choir and performing
arts students from Canyon High
School finally have a place to call
home.
After years of “schlepping” from one venue
to the next, students can now enjoy their very
own Performing Arts Center.
The 452-seat, state-of-the-art facility took
years in the making and was built at a cost of
more than $13 million. Funding for the venue
came in large part from the voter-approved
Measure SA funds.
Principal Jason d’Autremont said the PAC
brings a tremendous amount of pride for the
students and staff members.
“This is a center that will house various
programs from our school,” said d’Autremont.
“We will make every performance and event
worthwhile for our families and communities.”
Mary Purdy, long-time choir director, said
she was still in disbelief at the completion of
the new venue.
“To say that I’m grateful to be standing
here is a gross understatement,” Purdy said
at the recent ribbon cutting. “I see it. I can
touch it. I can feel it. But it still doesn’t feel
real and I can’t wait for that moment when
it’s finally going to kick in.”
Purdy said there have been many obstacles
in the school’s 15-year journey toward its
own venue. But she said there is one thing
she is most looking forward to.
“My favorite snapshot is gonna be leaving
right after jazz pop without having to take
down the set,” she said.
In the past, students at the school have typically
performed at Golden Valley and other
See Canyon HS PAC, page 16
canyon country
Dodging the bullet: High-speed
train to skirt Santa Clarita
By Robb Fulcher
Staff Writer
Santa Clarita officials hailed news that
the state’s high-speed rail is now set to
run mostly wide of the city.
That news came when the California
High-Speed Rail Authority announced revised
versions of three potential routes to
get the high-speed trains from Palmdale to
Burbank.
The three routes, as revised, would tunnel
underground for long stretches. Two of the
routes would steer well east of Santa Clarita,
although a third one could run underneath a
portion of Sand Canyon.
That route, called “State Route 14,” would
surface aboveground near the Vulcan Materials
mine at Lang Station Road, south of
Highway 14 and the Santa Clara River.
Authority spokesperson Adeline Yee said
officials plan to dig their train tunnels deep
enough underground that no vibration can
be detected by people aboveground.
The Authority will continue to study the
potential rail routes, and perhaps revise them
further, through next year.
Santa Clarita City Council member Marsha
McLean expressed relief that the three routes
generally bypass Santa Clarita to the east. But
she expressed concern that State Route 14,
the westernmost of the three, could affect
Sand Canyon.
She said she is concerned about vibrations
from underground trains, and about how the
underground tunnels would be vented.
“We don’t know what the environmental
impacts would be,” she said.
The long view
Over the years, McLean’s attention to regional
transportation has included bringing
the Authority’s executive director and staff
members to the Santa Clarita area for a firsthand
look.
“We took him on a tour and he saw our
homes, saw our schools, saw our churches,
and we told them it’s unacceptable to have
[the train] coming through our community,”
she said.
McLean also spearheaded formation of
the North Counties Protection Coalition —
including San Fernando, Acton, Agua Dulce,
Sunland-Tujunga and Shadow Hills — which
rallied to fight local impacts from the planned
high-speed rail.
She said the rail planners have moved to
protect San Fernando and Pacoima, and must
also protect communities such as Shadow
Hills, Acton and Agua Dulce.
“We need to work very hard, continuously,
to make them understand that if this project
is going to happen, it must not impact our
communities,” McLean said.
Council member TimBen Boydston, who
sits with McLean on the council’s high-speed
transportation subcommittee, said he was
“very, very pleased” that the Authority does
not plan to run the train overground through
Santa Clarita.
“It is unfortunate that some of our neighbors
a little further up freeway, in the Acton
area, might still be impacted,” he added.
Boydston said the potential rail route that
passes nearest to Santa Clarita might skirt
the edge of Sand Canyon.
“When it’s underground, it’s pretty far underground,”
he said.
The Authority said the revised Palmdaleto-Burbank
routes aim to “reduce and largely
avoid environmental justice impacts in the
highly populated communities of Santa
Clarita, Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima.”
Varied concerns
At an April 12 Authority meeting in Anaheim,
McLean said State Route 14 remains
“troubling” in its proximity to Santa Clarita
and its impact on Acton.
The Santa Clarita City Council wants the
Palmdale-to-Burbank portion of the rail to
run entirely underground, McLean said.
“You could avoid problems with all the
communities if you do that,” she said.
Numerous public officials and members of
the public flocked to Anaheim from the San
Fernando Valley to oppose a potential route
called “E2,” a competing route with State
Route 14 that runs well east of Santa Clarita.
Michael Cano, an aide to Los Angeles
County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich,
said E2 calls for aboveground tracks that
would divide the community of Lake View
Terrace.
The $68 billion high-speed rail — the first
in the nation — is intended to send passengers
between San Francisco and the Los Angeles
basin in less than three hours, at speeds
of more than 200 mph. plans call for the rail
system to extend eventually to Sacramento
and San Diego.
California voters approved a bond measure
for the system in 2000. R