The crowd was on the light side at the Feb. 13 Temescal Valley Municipal Advisory Council meeting — about 25 to 30 people. Chairman Eric Werner announced that the MAC will now meet on the second Wednesday of the month, freeing up the first Wednesday for folks who want to attend Corona City Council meetings.

Additionally, the March 13, April 10 and May 8 meetings will be at Trilogy — in the Sequoia Room at The Lake Center, 24477 The Lodge Drive. The MAC board believes that rotating meeting locations will provide a better opportunity for more people to attend and become acquainted with the council and the work it does in providing us with the latest news from our county service providers.

We have a new sheriff’s liaison — he’s Lt. Dan Ybarra and works out of the Elsinore station. He can be reached at 951-245-3300. or email: dybarra@riversidesheriff.org. Lt. Ybarra told those at the meeting that he has no idea where the city of Corona came up with the sheriff’s response times that have been flaunted at several city presentations. He said he had never seen those response times before and was working to find out where they originated.

Tony Meacham, from the Cal Fire Norco station, said the county recently renegotiated the area serviced by Corona fire in the city/county contract. Meacham said that in reviewing response times and calls, County Station 64 in Sycamore Creek is capable of being the first responder in some of the area that was being serviced by Corona fire. He said the city’s responsibility area now stops about mid-Wildrose. An interesting fact — while the city’s service area has decreased, what the county pays the city hasn’t. It’s still $619,000 a year.

Meacham also discussed the county’s response time and how those times are calculated. Instead of a “one formula fits all plan,” the county realistically looks at areas — whether urban, rural or outlying, and the population within each of those areas to determine realistic response times. Here’s another interesting fact — county fire has a faster response time than Corona fire. And, while the city doesn’t mention this in its presentations, it is included in the service plan the city will be filing with LAFCO along with the annexation application.

Becky Mitchell, from the county’s Economic Development Agency, gave an update on the Clean Money Fundraising Program available to Temescal Valley and El Cerrito youth groups. It’s a great program. Approved youth groups, and school clubs and organizations providing a minimum of 10 kids between the ages of 11 and 17 can earn up to $500 for volunteering three hours on a Saturday to clean up our rural areas that have been used for illegal dumping. To learn more, contact her at 951-830-0330 or email: blmitchell@rivcoeda.org.

The rest of the meeting was devoted to annexation discussion. Most everyone had attended the city’s Feb. 6 public hearing and most everyone had an opinion.

If you haven’t already thanked Corona Councilman Stan Skipworth for his no vote on the annexation, please take a minute and do it now — SSkipworth@ci.corona.ca.us.

We won’t detail everything that was said or the updates discussed because you can find most of that elsewhere on this website. But — everyone agreed — we must keep “annexation news” in front of folks — keep talking about it and keep getting opposition letters signed.

Suggestions included posting annexation information on all the Temescal Valley community Facebook pages and send letters to the editor. Letters can be no more than 200 words, and must include your name, address and phone number. Your address and phone number will not be published. Letters can be emailed to: letters@pe.com.