Freaktan
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The Tulare County Sheriff's Department is taking its stance against marijuana cultivation a step up.
In an effort to eradicate illegal gardens in the mountain regions of Tulare County, the Sheriff's Department will discuss putting together a task force at Tuesday's Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting, said Eric Coyne, county spokesman.
At Tuesday's meeting, Coyne said, sheriff's officials will ask the board to help with funding the task force, such as lobby for state and federal money.
Coyne, Sheriff Bill Wittman and Supervisor Allen Ishida, Dist. 1, are just a couple of county officials who have been concerned about the rapid increase in marijuana cultivation in the Tulare County hills.
"Last year, Tulare County led the state in the number of plants seized," Coyne said. "Half our land mass in Tulare County is made up of park land, national forests, monuments, etc. and there is some very rugged back country up there.
"And, more and more, what (illegal cultivators) are doing is growing marijuana."
Most of the suspected cultivators, Coyne said, are involved in organized crime, such as from the Mexican drug cartels.
"They bring folks up here - Mexican nationals - and park them in the forest," Coyne said. "They set up sophisticated piping, irrigation systems and, sometimes, clear out the trees under the main canopy.
"We probably find less than half of it, and we're still removing more and more every year."
With marijuana being a huge cash crop for organized crime dealers, which also include street gangs, Coyne said, there is more revenue to spend for illegal activity.
"When we come across these gardens, the Sheriff's Department aren't dealing with hippies and pickup trucks, they are dealing with drug cartels or gangs with heavy military-style hardware," Coyne said. "The last thing anyone would want is an innocent tourist, a backpacker or a couple out for a country stroll stumbling upon someone with an AK-47 guarding a marijuana garden."
The concern for safety in the hills, as well as the Valley floor, is putting law enforcement, at this point in time, in a difficult situation, Coyne said.
"It takes up a tremendous amount of resources to do (marijuana garden) investigations and if we have more violent crime on the Valley floor and have plants up in the park, we don't want to have to ignore marijuana growths in the parks to go down and deal with violence in the Valley floor, but that's what we'll have to do if push comes to shove and we have to make a choice."
County officials do not want the Sheriff's Department to have to make that choice, Coyne said
"So, what the sheriff is proposing is putting together a task force that would partner with state and federal agencies to focus on marijuana eradication," Coyne said. "What we want is a pilot project, such as we had in the (now-established) rural crime task force, and we'd be glad to share our methods and the knowledge we gain with any other jurisdictions later."
Coyne said Tulare County authorities do not want this county to be known as the largest marijuana cultivation area in the state.
"Our number one goal here is that we want [illegal cultivators] to realize that Tulare County is a bad place" to grow their marijuana, Coyne said.
A public hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in regard to building division permit fees.
Resource Management Agency officials will host the public hearing after which RMA would like the supervisors to approve the fee schedule and methodology for building division permit fees, effective Oct. 31.
For any non-listed building related tasks, based on an hourly rate, RMA officials are asking for the fee to be $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspections and sub-standard inspections.
For inspections without a permit requirement, RMA is asking for a billable hourly rate of $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspectors and sub-standard inspections.
To recover costs for approvals to use alternatives to the code, RMA is asking for a billable hourly rate of $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspections and sub-standard inspections.
For those cases where a client begins construction prior to obtaining the necessary documentation, RMA is asking to charge double the normal fees.
Also, RMA would like a $60 penalty fee established against all returned checks.
Also included in Tuesday's agenda, the county's fire services consultant will give an update on his fire services study.
Tuesday's meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and will be in the supervisors' chambers, located in the county's administration building, 2800 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia.
Newshawk: Freaktan - 420Times.com
Source: The Porterville Recorder
Copyright: 2005 The Porterville Recorder
Contact: bwilliams@portervillerecorder.com
Website: https://myopr.com/articles/2005/08/29/news/local_state/news02.txt
Author: Kara Machado
In an effort to eradicate illegal gardens in the mountain regions of Tulare County, the Sheriff's Department will discuss putting together a task force at Tuesday's Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting, said Eric Coyne, county spokesman.
At Tuesday's meeting, Coyne said, sheriff's officials will ask the board to help with funding the task force, such as lobby for state and federal money.
Coyne, Sheriff Bill Wittman and Supervisor Allen Ishida, Dist. 1, are just a couple of county officials who have been concerned about the rapid increase in marijuana cultivation in the Tulare County hills.
"Last year, Tulare County led the state in the number of plants seized," Coyne said. "Half our land mass in Tulare County is made up of park land, national forests, monuments, etc. and there is some very rugged back country up there.
"And, more and more, what (illegal cultivators) are doing is growing marijuana."
Most of the suspected cultivators, Coyne said, are involved in organized crime, such as from the Mexican drug cartels.
"They bring folks up here - Mexican nationals - and park them in the forest," Coyne said. "They set up sophisticated piping, irrigation systems and, sometimes, clear out the trees under the main canopy.
"We probably find less than half of it, and we're still removing more and more every year."
With marijuana being a huge cash crop for organized crime dealers, which also include street gangs, Coyne said, there is more revenue to spend for illegal activity.
"When we come across these gardens, the Sheriff's Department aren't dealing with hippies and pickup trucks, they are dealing with drug cartels or gangs with heavy military-style hardware," Coyne said. "The last thing anyone would want is an innocent tourist, a backpacker or a couple out for a country stroll stumbling upon someone with an AK-47 guarding a marijuana garden."
The concern for safety in the hills, as well as the Valley floor, is putting law enforcement, at this point in time, in a difficult situation, Coyne said.
"It takes up a tremendous amount of resources to do (marijuana garden) investigations and if we have more violent crime on the Valley floor and have plants up in the park, we don't want to have to ignore marijuana growths in the parks to go down and deal with violence in the Valley floor, but that's what we'll have to do if push comes to shove and we have to make a choice."
County officials do not want the Sheriff's Department to have to make that choice, Coyne said
"So, what the sheriff is proposing is putting together a task force that would partner with state and federal agencies to focus on marijuana eradication," Coyne said. "What we want is a pilot project, such as we had in the (now-established) rural crime task force, and we'd be glad to share our methods and the knowledge we gain with any other jurisdictions later."
Coyne said Tulare County authorities do not want this county to be known as the largest marijuana cultivation area in the state.
"Our number one goal here is that we want [illegal cultivators] to realize that Tulare County is a bad place" to grow their marijuana, Coyne said.
A public hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in regard to building division permit fees.
Resource Management Agency officials will host the public hearing after which RMA would like the supervisors to approve the fee schedule and methodology for building division permit fees, effective Oct. 31.
For any non-listed building related tasks, based on an hourly rate, RMA officials are asking for the fee to be $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspections and sub-standard inspections.
For inspections without a permit requirement, RMA is asking for a billable hourly rate of $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspectors and sub-standard inspections.
To recover costs for approvals to use alternatives to the code, RMA is asking for a billable hourly rate of $57 for plan checking and $61 for inspections and sub-standard inspections.
For those cases where a client begins construction prior to obtaining the necessary documentation, RMA is asking to charge double the normal fees.
Also, RMA would like a $60 penalty fee established against all returned checks.
Also included in Tuesday's agenda, the county's fire services consultant will give an update on his fire services study.
Tuesday's meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and will be in the supervisors' chambers, located in the county's administration building, 2800 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia.
Newshawk: Freaktan - 420Times.com
Source: The Porterville Recorder
Copyright: 2005 The Porterville Recorder
Contact: bwilliams@portervillerecorder.com
Website: https://myopr.com/articles/2005/08/29/news/local_state/news02.txt
Author: Kara Machado