seen on the beach. But if the city council accepts the recom-mendations of the forest and beach commission, the maxi-mum number will drop to a little more than two dozen, andthere will be restrictions on what can be burned.

Fires emit a lot of smoke and leave the sand full of sootand burned detritus, and for decades, people have arguedabout whether they should be limited, or banned outright.Carmel Beach is reportedly one of the few government-

owned beaches in the statethat doesn’t restrict the num-ber or type of fires.

Under current city law,fires can only be built southof 10th Avenue and must beput out by 10 p.m. To controlthem further, last Thursday,the forest and beach com-mission voted 3-2 to recom-mend that the planning com-mission and city councilapprove the installation offire rings and require thatfires only be built in them.Further, just “dry-agedwood” could be burned —not driftwood, scrap, treatedwood, pallets or trash.

The changes would con-stitute a year-long experi-ment on ways of reducingthe negative effects of beachfires.

Commissioners KarenFerlito and Kathy Bangdeveloped a list of recom-mendations, based on work-shops, feedback and theirown research. Specifically,they call for 26 fire rings, ofa design yet to be deter-mined, to be placed along thesand south of 10th Avenue:Two at the bottom of thestaircases at 10th, 11th, 12th,13th and Santa Lucia, andfour in the stretch between

n Restrictions on parties also on table

By MARY SCHLEY

IF WE get good weather on Christmas, Carmel Beachwill be dotted with fires as revelers enjoy the holiday amidsome of the greatest scenery on the California coast. Onpleasant summer evenings, more than 100 fires can often be

PHOTO/MARY SCHLEY, RENDERING/CITY OF CARMEL

A warm night induces people to light numerous fires on beautiful Carmel Beach, even in the off-season(top). Aiming to keep the sand white and control the number of fires, the forest and beach commission isrecommending the installation of 26 fire rings, as shown on the aerial image above. See FIRES page 21A

See McINCHAK page 26ASee SCULLY page 24A

See WELL page 25A

n Storms delays drilling

By KELLY NIX

A LAWSUIT aimed at stopping California AmericanWater from drilling a desalination test well in Marina wasmoved from Monterey County to Santa Cruz County thisweek, while rainy weather forced a delay in work on the pro-ject.

On Wednesday, attorneys for Cal Am and Marina CoastWater District — the agency that filed the suit against theCalifornia Coastal Commission for issuing a permit to CalAm for the test operation — agreed to have the case heard inSanta Cruz. Marina Coast believes it can’t get a fair trial inMonterey County, although the agency has not explainedwhy.

This week, after lawyers for Cal Am and Marina Coastwent back and forth over procedural issues related to the law-suit, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas W.Wills directed them to try to reach an agreement on wherethe case should be heard. The parties decided on Santa CruzCounty and also agreed that the case wouldn’t be heard untilafter Jan. 6, 2015.

Unanimously approvedMarina Coast is seeking a restraining order to prevent Cal

Am from drilling the test well, claiming that the well willcause environmental harm to dune habitat. That argumentwill be heard when a Santa Cruz judge takes up the case. Thecoastal commission unanimously approved the test well at aNov. 12 meeting in Half Moon Bay.

Marina Coast originally filed the lawsuit in SacramentoSuperior Court, and also removed the first judge assigned tothe case. Last week, though, Sacramento County SuperiorCourt Judge Michael P. Kenny granted Cal Am’s request tohave the case heard in Monterey County — a decision that

n Perotti, Fenton cases still pending, too

By MARY SCHLEY

THE WIDOW of Steve McInchak — who died inOctober while pursuing a lawsuit against the City ofCarmel for employment discrimination and “intention-al and negligent infliction of emotional distress” — willcontinue pursuing the suit, according to McInchak’slawyer, Michelle Welsh.

The news came after a hearing Tuesday in MontereyCounty Superior Court Monterey to get the suit back ontrack after McInchak’s sudden death of a heart attack.

Some parts of the original lawsuit will be droppedbecause McInchak is no longer alive, and “the judgewanted to know which causes of action survived hisdeath,” Welsh explained. Also, his widow, KarenMcInchak, will become his “personal representative” inthe suit for the remaining causes.

The judge set a case management conference forApril 14, 2015, “to report that all has been done, andthen probably he will set it for a settlement conferenceand trial,” Welsh said.

Meanwhile, former administrative coordinatorsMargi Perotti and Leslie Fenton — who were put onleave in October 2013 and fired in March of this yearby former city administrator Jason Stilwell — remain innegotiations with the city to get their jobs back. Thetwo women were fired amidst accusations of accessing

McInchak’s widow tocarry on with lawsuit

See DAM page 23A

Rain fills new channel at dam removal siteBy CHRIS COUNTS

FOR THOSE who lobbied hard for the $83 million pro-ject to remove the San Clemente Dam, the sight last week ofwater flowing down the recently cut channel between the oldCarmel River and its new route was cause for celebration.

“I really thought of it as a historic moment,” said LorinLetendre, president of the Carmel River WatershedConservancy, who visited the site Dec. 10. “The river hasnever gone into a new channel like that. It was so gratifyingto see.”

Last summer, the new channel was cut to divert theCarmel River away from San Clemente reservoir into SanClemente Creek. A dike was constructed to keep the waterfrom flowing into its former path, which is now a stockpileof sediment that was dredged from behind the dam. If allgoes according to plan, the sediment area will one day becovered with the same upland scrub vegetation found on sur-rounding hillsides.

Next year, the dam will be removed, and the habitat dis-rupted by the three-year construction project will be restored.Once the flows in the Carmel River reach a suitable level —likely in May — a section of the river will be routed into adiversion pipe, creating a dry river bed.

Next, a series of step pools will be constructed along asteep section of the river so steelhead will be able to maketheir way upstream from below the dam to spawn.

If all goes according to plan, next summer will also seethe actual removal of the dam. It is unclear how the dam willbe taken down, but Cal Am project manager Aman Gonzaleztold The Pine Cone Cal Am is considering two possible meth-

ods — one that requires explosives and another that involvesusing heavy equipment to chip away at the concrete.California’s Department of Water Resources dam safety divi-sion will need to sign off on whatever method is used.

Constructed in 1921, the 106-foot-high concrete arch dam

By CHRIS COUNTS

THE MANAGER of the Grateful Dead for two decadesand a 1959 graduate of Carmel High School, Rock Scullydied this week in Monterey at 73. He had been battling lungcancer.

Scully was the son of Milton Mayer, an editor and colum-nist for The Progressive magazine, and Jane Mayer, who wasactive in Carmel politics. The family moved to Carmel Pointin 1951 and lived in the Custer House. Scully and his brother,Dicken, spent many an afternoon at nearby Carmel RiverBeach, which they knew as Stewart’s Beach.

“That was our playground,” recalled Dicken, who said the

Rock Scully, 73, CHS grad who managedthe Grateful Dead

The Carmel Pine ConeVolume 100 No. 51 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com

T R U S T E D B Y L O C A L S A N D L O V E D B Y V I S I T O R S S I N C E 1 9 1 5

December 19-25, 2014

Court fight over testwell moved again —this time to Santa Cruz

Commission recommends rings to limit beach fires

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