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Volume 170 • Issue 55 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, May 10, 2021
Photo courtesy of EDH Fire
Flames flicker as El Dorado Hills firefighters get to work extinguishing the blaze at Bertelsen Park Thursday.
Bathrooms ‘a total loss’ after EDH park blaze Noel Stack Managing editor
Courtesy photo
Retiring Rescue Union School District Superintendent Cheryl Olson spends some time with students. Olson has worked more than 40 years in education.
A fire destroyed the bathrooms at Peter Bertelsen Memorial Park in El Dorado Hills just after 11 a.m. Thursday. “It’s a total loss,” said El Dorado Hills Community Services District General Manager Kevin Loewen, who posted a Facebook video a couple hours after the building, once used as the community pavilion, was consumed by flames. El Dorado Hills fire crews arrived at the scene, 801 Redwood Lane, at about 11:12 a.m. to find the large restroom building well involved in fire, EDH Fire Chief Maurice Johnson shared with the Mountain Democrat. “Crews were successful in extinguishing the fire, keeping it contained to the original building,” Johnson said. “The fire is under investigation and no injuries were reported.” Bertelsen Park is named after El Dorado Hills Fire Lt. Peter Bertelsen, who in 1965 lost his life in the line of duty. The nearly 11-acre park is one of the EDHCSD’s oldest, established in 1962.
EID to assess its aging water treatment plants Michael Raffety Mountain Democrat correspondent Thinking deep thoughts about four water treatment plants went into phase 2 April 26. After awarding a nearly $300,000 contract to consultant Carollo Engineers in June 2019, the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors added $566,600 plus $50,000 for capitalized labor costs, primarily for district engineering staff to work on the phase 2 study. Having looked deeply into the status and operation of treatment plants in Strawberry, Pollock Pines, Sly Park and El Dorado Hills, the consultant will now develop “an asset management plan for the district’s water treatment plants” that will “provide cost-effective solutions for aging assets, improve operational efficiency and maintain regulatory compliance.” The fifth water treatment plant at Outingdale was not assessed because it was recently upgraded with a new tank, new pump station and other improvements, including safer access to the diversion dam and associated facilities. Phase 2 “will develop a roadmap for future capital improvement programs over 20 years,” district engineer Tracey Eden-Bishop told the board. She added that the phase 2 plans will provide for rehabilitation and replacement. The plans will also prioritize projects and identify n
See EID, page A6
Rescue superintendent says goodbye to a ‘special place’
Jana Rossi Staff writer
A
fter 41 years working in education, Cheryl Olson is exchanging her California lifestyle for Rocky Mountain air. The Rescue Union School District superintendent announced her retirement earlier this spring, saying goodbye to her many years in the California school system. “I love our community. I love living where I work because I enjoy seeing families out and about and in the store. I truly love what I do. My favorite thing to do is to go to the sites, help out in classrooms and support staff and students however I can. I will miss Rescue, the teachers and staff, the students and the families,” Olson told the
Mountain Democrat. Olson stepped into the superintendent’s role at RUSD four years ago, relocating from the Bay Area, where she was superintendent of the San Bruno Park School District. Much of her career was spent teaching in Redding, which launched her on the path to administration, first as a principal and then assistant superintendent in that Northern California community. One of her accomplishments she is most proud of, Olson revealed, was the ability to get her district open for in-person instruction early on during the pandemic. “I am extremely proud of our teachers and staff who worked hand in hand with us to make it happen. They were positive and determined to open safely and
successfully,” she said. “Our board was committed to making sure our schools could open. Our parents worked tirelessly too, partnering with us as never before, supporting their children’s learning and also navigating life, work, being learning coaches and everything else they had going on throughout the year. “It was not easy for anyone,” she continued. “I can honestly say that had we even had one group who had not supported our endeavors and supported our commitment to the health and safety protocols, it would not have worked. We have a district full of devoted, dedicated individuals who care about kids. That means the world to me.” Come July, Olson will join her n
See Olson, page A6
South Lake Tahoe mayor to run for county supervisor seat in 2022 Tahoe Daily Tribune SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace announced last week she will run for El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor in the 2022 election. Wallace said she submitted her paperwork to the Secretary of State and El Dorado County Elections Department. “I’ve spent the last 23-plus years as a resident of District 5, both in South Lake Tahoe and Pollock Pines, concerned about either the reduction of services or complete lack of representation
for certain areas of the district,” Wallace said in a statement. “I plan to spend the next year and a half listening to all the communities in this district to find out how they want their representative to work for them. I will be spending time in every area (Kyburz, Strawberry, Tahoma, Twin Bridges, Pollock Pines, Meyers, Fallen Leaf Lake and South Lake Tahoe) no matter how small or large, to discuss the issues that are important to each neighborhood. I will find out how the county can better serve your needs, the needs of
Tamara Wallace District 5.” Wallace said she believes in compromise, that she will listen to all sides and is not afraid to make tough choices. “I understand that as an elected I don’t represent myself or my opinions and beliefs, but the citizens who I serve,”
she said. “This election should and will be about what you need. I have a decades-long history working with local government, a background in accounting, a dedication to hard work and record of leadership. My tenure on South Lake Tahoe City Council has been filled with success after success. Relationship building, balanced budgets, dealing with decades long deferred maintenance, finding a middle ground without compromising my values and ethics. Being able to disagree without being disagreeable.”
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