Cahuilla Band Of Indians To Monitor RivCo Fire Station Expansion

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday signed off on a $30,000 contract with the Cahuilla Band of Indians, designating the tribe as the monitor of a program to ensure that cultural artifacts are not destroyed or mismanaged during expansion of a Riverside County fire station near Lake Riverside.

In a 4-0 vote without comment — and Supervisor Manuel Perez absent — the board authorized Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department to enter into the agreement with the tribe.

The compact was deemed one of the qualifying mitigating measures under a 2018 environmental impact report tied to the Fire Station No. 77 Expansion Project.

Fire Chief Bill Weiser told the board during budget hearings that the build-out is among several initiatives to improve emergency response services in unincorporated areas of the county.

Construction activity will be occurring in the area of Rambling Lane and Roundup Drive, just south of Highway 371, on the outer perimeter of the San Bernardino National Forest and the Cahuilla Indian Reservation, between Anza and Aguanga.

"Compliance with mitigation measures ... will ensure that potential impacts from inadvertent discoveries of archeological resources do not occur and remain less than significant," according to documents posted to the board's agenda.

They stated that "all grading, groundbreaking, excavation and ground- disturbing activities performed in conjunction with the project development" will be closely monitored by the tribe, and the $30,000 will serve as compensation.

Development impact fee revenue will cover the cost of the agreement, officials said.

The expansion is slated to be completed in the next couple of years.