Court razor wire fence to receive a face lift
Ridgecrest, Calif. — A court fence described by the Planning Commission and the contractor as an eyesore will be redesigned as early as Friday.
At the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, the Project Manager Jared Cascadden from Office of Court Construction Management said he found some money to redo the fence, including taking down the razor wire from the top.
“I honestly don’t know where I was able to pull this off. It was very, very challenging to get this done,” Cascadden said. “But I was able to find a little pool of money.”
Cascadden told the commissioners he expects to have the crews ready to go by today for work to begin Friday morning and possibly continue through Saturday.
He said this will take down the razor wire only. He has retained a local landscaper to add some plants around the fenced area, which is now bare dirt.
Cascadden said the local landscaper will plant some drought-tolerant items, including various trees, rocks and other shrubs. He said fruitless pear trees that were originally taken out will be replanted as part of the effort.
When work is complete, it will close the book on a briefly contentious issue with the Planning Commission, which claims it was not consulted regarding the fence.
The fence was put up as a security precaution for the judge.
Since the project was from the state, it didn’t need to go through local commissions.
The fence did go through the Kern County Engineering, Surveying and Permit Services Departments, which issued a building permit. Since project didn’t need the county to sign off on it, plans were not presented to the planning department.
Likewise, plans did not need to come before the Ridgecrest Planning Commission for approval.
The commission took issue with the design last month, calling it an eyesore.
A letter drafted by Chairman Craig Porter went out in strong opposition to the fence and asking it be redone.
The City Council was also asked to send a letter as well.
