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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
9-13-2008 Diaz Lake is about to get more accessible to anglers with disabilities, thanks to volunteer work provided by Lone Pine residents, the Lone Pine Lions Club and the Bishop Lions Club.
Lone Pine resident Bruce Cotton first broached the subject of adding an Americans with Disabilities Act-approved fishing deck with wheelchair access to Diaz Lake about two months ago. The Inyo County Board of Supervisors approved the project Tuesday and gave a crew of volunteers the go-ahead to begin work immediately following the Lone Pine Film Festival next month.
The deck, which will be similar to the one constructed on Buckley Ponds near the Owens River in Bishop last year, will be 16 feet by 20 feet with a 45-foot ADA access ramp. It will be constructed on the east side of Diaz Lake.
“This is a preferred location for the deck, because there is ADA parking nearby,” said Inyo County Deputy Administrator and Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Hamilton.
The deck will sit five to seven feet out on the water and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to use its equipment to deepen the water near the completed deck to provide better fishing opportunities.
Cotton proposed that volunteer labor and donations would be sufficient to get the job done, if the board would only approve the project.  Anglers fishe Diaz Lake near where an ADA accessible fishing deck will be constructed in October by a group of volunteers. All materials have been donated for the deck project. File photo
But, of course, the wheels of government move slowly, and before the Board of Supervisors could give its blessing, it had to wade through a mire of technicalities and labor issues.
The Planning Department, Public Works Department, Risk Management, County Council, Parks and Recreation, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the State Department of Fish and Game and the Bishop and Lone Pine Lions Club worked together over the past few months to answer questions related to donated work and materials, such as prevailing wages and public contracting issues.
“The first issue involves whether persons working on the fishing dock project must be paid prevailing wages,” said Inyo County Assistant County Counsel Randy Keller.
State labor codes require that prevailing wages are paid to all employees on public works projects.
According to Keller, public work is defined as “work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds,” and “work done under the direction and supervision or by the authority of any officer or public body of … any political subdivision.”
“We believe that the proposed project is not a public work under this definition and that prevailing wages need not be paid to persons working on the project,” Keller said.
Keller also had concerns about certain issues with the public contract code and procedures for hiring outside help for county projects.
According to Keller, there were some initial questions wether the Public Contract Code bidding procedures would apply for the project.
“We conclude that they do not,” Keller said. “The bidding requirements of the code apply only to public works contracts awarded by the county.”
The Public Contract Code requires a contract only for work exceeding $4,000. The proposed Diaz Lake handicapped accessible deck project will be a gift from the volunteers who build it and the sponsors who donate the materials, therefore making it exempt from the contract code.
The California Department of Fish and Game recently completed a review of the proposed deck construction, which will include the use of a backhoe to set the concrete foundation and an excavator, which will be used to deepen the lake near the deck.
Based on information provided to the DFG, the agency “determined that a lake and/or streambed alteration agreement … is not required for this project,” DFG Senior Environmental Scientist Brad Henderson said.
With all the ducks in a row, construction on the Diaz Lake ADA fishing deck is scheduled to begin the second week of October immediately following the Lone Pine Film Festival. The work is expected to take three to four weeks to complete.
“I am very pleased that this is going to happen, because it is something that will help other people,” said Cotton, who is disabled.
Cotton said that he has been in contact with several disabled veterans in Southern California who are chomping at the bit to get up to the Eastern Sierra and go fishing. He added that once the deck is complete, he hopes to schedule a fishing day with that group.
“We’re really excited about the handicapped deck,” said Fifth District Supervisor Richard Cervantes, who’s district includes Diaz Lake. “It will be a real asset to our community, for both visitors and residents alike.” |
