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– Weekend Edition –
Committee revived to hash mobile home park issues Eric Jaramishian Senior staff writer
El Dorado County reestablished a mobile home park ad hoc committee Oct. 8 to tackle issues regarding mobile home parks. The committee will work with local stakeholders, including local organizations dedicated to advocating for affordable housing in the area, to work on issues and collect data on mobile home park residents’ concerns about rent increases, old infrastructure and reported predatory practices. This is the latest effort in addressing the issues “We are in a noted by the county and local affordable housing situation where nonprofits, including in my park people Housing El Dorado. are walking The organization recently released a away from their study into mobile homes; they’re home parks, detailing hardships that some abandoning them park residents currently because they face. Supervisors Brooke can’t sell them Laine, District 5, and and they can’t George Turnboo, upkeep them” District 2, volunteered to sit on the committee. — Steven Noble “I have received dozens of complaints … there are a lot of concerns,” Laine said. “I also have met with some park owners and have gotten some clarification from them on the problems as they see (them) and where they are able to do more if we would like them too.” The board unanimously voted to approve the reestablishment of the ad hoc. “There was talk about if we could wait until January to do this, but in my mind this topic is flaring up again and I would rather get in front of it,” said District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin. Comments were made at the beginning of the meeting on reviewing rent stabilization legislation Tuesday from stakeholders and mobile home park residents. Steven Noble, a resident of Sunset Estates in El Dorado Hills, said since 2022 when the park was bought out by an out-of-state company, his rent has gone up by more than 20%, echoing the concerns of many mobile home residents throughout the county who claim many will ■ See COMMITTEE, page A9
MAIL LABEL
VOLUME 173 • ISSUE 98 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2024
New Mosquito Bridge hits 70% complete
Odin Rasco Senior staff writer
D
espite setbacks from fire, heat and rain totaling to almost 100 days’ worth of project delays, the Mosquito Bridge Replacement Project continues to make forward progress, hitting the 70% mark in September. A recent project update town hall meeting held by the El Dorado County Department of Transportation and Shimmick Construction presented community members with a clearer picture of how far along the bridge has come, as well as what to expect in the coming months. For community members who still regularly traverse along Mosquito Road’s twist and turns and across its historical bridge, some project progress is clear as day; the two concrete piers which will one day support the deck of the bridge now tower into the air as they approach completion. The presentation took viewers through a milestone-by-milestone recap of the progress already made, from the establishment of the trestles on either side of the canyon were two massive cranes sit to aid in construction to the latest update on how far the piers have come along — by midSeptember, six out of eight tiers had been completed on both. After a recap of what has already been done, the presentation shifted to look at next
Mountain Democrat photo by Odin Rasco
Two towering cranes raise above the Mosquito Bridge Replacement Project site, which has recently hit the 70% completion mark, according to a presentation recently given by the El Dorado County Department of Transportation. steps and expected completion windows. The pier columns at the north and south end of the canyon are both expected to be completed by November, with winter erosion control measures to be put into place around the same time. The tables which will sit atop the two piers are expected
to be completed by March 2025, with the superstructure of the bridge coming fully together in November 2025. Bridge barriers and a poly overlay on the bridge deck are expected to come shortly after the superstructure is complete, with a completion window set for December 2025. The final touches —
drainage systems and completion of the realigned roadways — are set to come together in spring 2026, meaning the days of traveling across the old Mosquito Bridge and the series of switchbacks that lead to it to may be a thing of the past in just around a year and a half. ■ See BRIDGE, page A8
Suspected animal hoarder involved in hit-and-run arrested Eric Jaramishian Senior staff writer
A Nevada City man suspected of a DUI crash involving several dogs on Latrobe Road near South Shingle Road last Friday was arrested on 34 counts of animal cruelty. Brady Fehr, 67, was booked into Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada City and faces 33 misdemeanor and one felony animal cruelty counts, according to the Nevada County Sheriff ’s Office. He was no longer listed on the inmate log as of Thursday morning.
California Highway Patrol officials say they were dispatched to a hit-and-run crash into a fence on Latrobe Road around 1 p.m. Oct. 4, discovering bystanders gathering numerous dogs at the scene which had reportedly been under the care of Fehr. The dogs escaped when Fehr hit a barbed-wire fence and opened a hole in his cargo box containing the animals; all were turned over to El Dorado County Animal Services. Fehr, driving a rented 2021 GMC Box Truck, reportedly fled the scene into Amador County. Amador-area CHP officers subsequently arrested Fehr on
suspicion of being under the influence “of a combination of alcohol and drugs,” according to CHP Officer Andrew Brown. The Nevada County Sheriff ’s Office had been investigating Fehr since Oct. 1 and on Oct. 6 learned about the crash, which resulted in the death of one husky-type dog and injured several others. NCSO executed a search warrant at Fehr’s property. He cooperated with officers as they seized 33 adult dogs and took him into custody. Fehr claimed he owned and operated an animal rescue called Mother Lode Husky ■ See ARRESTED, page A8
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