Happy Fall!  The RBOS (Ray Berg Open Space) has seen a significant increase in the numbers of users since the last update.  We are happy to report that walkers, mountain bikers, joggers and many 4 legged friends are enjoying the beauty of our treasure, the open space.   We attribute the increased usage to the maintenance of the RBOS as well as to the on-going building of defined trails.  The GCA has received many donations to be used on the open space and we are very grateful.  To date, the open space contributions are $5,234.85. 

The final mowing of the year will begin within the next 2 weeks.   Many more trees have been trimmed along with the removal of dead trees. Tree maintenance often produces firewood sized debris, which we stockpile and offer on a first come basis, The free fire wood pile is located 100 yards south of the old pump house.  Keep checking that area for free firewood.  This cleanup of dead trees and branches will continue throughout the year.

The county mandated swale on the south side of Silver Rock Place has been completed. The swale was built from large rip rap rocks.  Several rip rap dams have been constructed to slow the flow of water from the drainage swale.   Reseeding with native seed was used along with straw mats to promote the growth of natural grass.  To help in germination, we watered the area using our 300-gallon stock tank purchased specifically for this purpose.

Trail construction continues throughout the open space. The Pauma Valley access point has been relocated off of private property onto the open space. Road base has been placed on part of the trail in that area.   On the Huntington Beach, construction of both the east and west access points  has been completed.  It is no longer necessary to negotiate crossing the rip-rap in the swales or the steep slopes on either side of the swales. The county mandated swale at the base of the west end is currently under construction with rip rap dams and will be seeded with native seed and straw mats.  

Trail construction continues throughout the RBOS.   Many dump loads of dirt have been placed throughout the open space to fill in the old cart paths and to build new trails.  Dirt and/or clay being used to fill in the old and eroded cart paths is being sourced from the RBOS or from home excavations and is free except for the cost of running the tractor.  Once a path is leveled, we use road base to cap the new trails. The road base provides a weather resistant cap that should make the trails more durable, especially in wet weather.  You remember wet weather?  If not, you can research it and find videos on your favorite social site.

Road base and a complementary product “fines” are available intermittently from the Del La Crosse gravel pit, which you can see on the west side of I-25.  The pit is accessed from Baptist Rd.    This pit sells the road base and fines at one third or less than the cost of other gravel pits.  When it reopens, you will see a dump truck on the RBOS placing road base in piles for future use.  The Kubota tractor and dump trailer will be used to complete this work throughout the coming months.  The trail construction will be a work in progress over the next year.

 

Christy and Tim Boersma have kindly donated a new gas powered generator. One of the first uses of the generator is to power a water pump to water the newly revegetated area that were seeded and covered with straw mats.  We thank all who have generously donated to the open space by contribution, time, vehicles and trailers to help complete these projects.   All these projects are funded by annual dues and donations.  With the help of all our volunteers, the RBOS will continue to be improved and enjoyed by all residents. 

 

Speaking of volunteers, if anyone has deep knowledge of high prairie restoration, please contact us at Contact Us (General Inquires).  Our next challenge will be to encourage native grasses to grow without the benefit of artificial irrigation or an unlimited budget.  We are open to ideas and “demonstration projects” to see what may work.  We know that seeding with grass mat and irrigation works and suspect that seeding with grass mat would work in a more normal summer where it actually rains occasionally.  However, covering approximately 90 acres with grass mat is prohibitively expensive.

 

Your Open Space Volunteer Managers,

Glenn Leimbach and Bruce Randall