Inyo County Supervisors Hear Reports on Roads, Filming Activity, and More
At its regular meeting May 2, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors heard several updates from department and division heads, on topics ranging from road work to mental health to veterans services.
Below is a summary of the reports give to the Board. The full meeting can be watched at https://inyococa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3198/media.
Round Valley Bridge
A bridge destroyed during extreme snowmelt conditions several years ago will finally be repaired during this year’s record runoff season.
On the heels of a status report on mountain road conditions, Public Works Director Mike Errante reported Tuesday that the prolonged North Round Valley Bridge Project is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The bridge was destroyed in 2017 by excessive runoff resulting from the prior winter, one of the wettest on record. That winter was eclipsed by the 2022- 23 season, which has wreaked havoc on the county’s mountain roads. Errante said road crews have several weeks of rock removal ahead of them on Horseshoe Meadows Road thanks to avalanche activity, but they are working diligently to clear it and other backcountry gateways of debris and snow before the runoff starts.
Crews were expected to begin clearing Onion Valley Road Friday, and have made significant progress clearing Whitney Portal Road, Glacier Road, and South Lake Road. Whitney Portal should be cleared to the second gate and South Lake Road to the first gate by the end of the week. Glacier Road is clear to the top.
The cement bridge deck poured on Round Valley Bridge on Tuesday needs to be cured for about a week and a half, after which it will be ready for paving and then vehicular traffic.
Mental Health Awareness Month
Health & Human Services Director Marilyn Mann reminded Board members that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. She noted that 1 in 5 adults experience a mental health illness every year, and one in 20 of those adults experience it at severe levels. Fifty-five percent of the counties nationwide do not have a full-time psychiatrist on staff, Mann said, adding that, while mental health illness is treatable, there is not the access to care that there is for physical illnesses like diabetes or heart disease.
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Month theme is “More Than Enough.”
“Whatever we do every day to take care of our own mental health is more than enough,” Mann said. “One step is more than enough. What we do as family and friends of people who are experiencing mental illness – being for them – is more than enough. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves everyday and any little step we take towards a healthier experience for ourselves and those we care about is more than enough.”
Filming Interest
In his quarterly report, Inyo County Film Commissioner Jesse Steele told the Board Tuesday that it could potentially be a busy spring and summer for filming in Inyo County, with daily requests for assistance coming in from filmmakers.
According to Steele, he has been working with location scouts on a wide variety of productions, including: a camping documentary, fashion photo shoot, Apple TV commercial, Austrian documentary, and two action sports commercials. Steele also reported on the progress being made to build a bona fide Film Commission website, replete with a single permit application that is automatically distributed to the appropriate landowners and/or land management agencies.
For more information, visit https://inyocountyvisitor.com/film/. Steele can be reached at (760) 938-0144 or [email protected].
R.E.D. Friday
Inyo County’s Veterans Service Office continues increased outreach efforts throughout Inyo and Mono counties, and is experiencing a welcome growth in caseloads as a result. VSO Gordon Greene reported on Tuesday that in 2022, he filed 271 claims on behalf of veterans and their families, bringing in $46,201 a month in addition to $119,914.65 in retroactive claim payments. That’s more than double the claims Greene processed in 2021.
Greene took the opportunity during his Board update to encourage community members to wear red on Fridays. According to Greene, R.E.D. (Remember Everyone Deployed) Friday is a way to remind people that there are troops serving overseas and to let troops know that the American public is keeping them in its thoughts.
VSO Greene can be reached at (760) 873-7850 or [email protected].
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(From Inyo County Board of Supervisors)
