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Thoma Electric helps to restore the San Luis Obispo Octagon Barn Center

San Luis Obispo Octagon Barn Center Update, March 2010.

There has been considerable progress over the last several months and some very good news:

• Most importantly, the Forbes Family Foundation has given the Land Conservancy funds to help get us through the Conditional User Permit (CUP) process with the County. This is an extremely generous gift and it is a strong endorsement of our vision for the Barn, its role as the trailhead for the Bob Jones Trail, and its potential for an important role as a meeting place.
  


• We are working hard on preparations for the CUP. The permit will give us permission to grade the site and to hold the variety of activities that we want at the site. To get the permit, we must describe our intended use in considerable detail and complete a list of reports. We have completed a traffic study, have hired a contractor for biological, archeological, and architectural/cultural reports; we will build on similar products developed for the Bob Jones Trail. David Dubbink Associates has also come forward to generously offer to help on our noise study.
  


• Through interaction with the County planners and with our partner County Parks, we realized that we needed to specify somewhat more detail about how buildings and major/large trees will be sited and what they will, generally, look like. Recall that in addition to the Barn and the Milking Parlor, we will add bathrooms, storage space, and some covered space (for visitors to get out of the sun, rain, wind). We'll also add hundreds of plants and trees. We brought together a cross section of experts and interested parties to develop a revised vision for the area around and near the Octagon Barn (enclosure). We've started discussions with Specialty Construction and Cuesta College's Construction Technology Program about helping to size up the work that needs to be done on the auxiliary structures.
  


• We've also started on the arduous task of bringing water to the site. A well was drilled last year, but it is over 1000 feet from the Barn. Farm Supply has installed a pump and we are working with Thoma Electric to bring power to the well site. After that, we'll start on the trenching and laying of pipe to get us from the well to the Barn area.
  


• We've started exploratory discussions about starting a group, informally for now, called "Friends of the Octagon Barn". This would be a group subsidiary to the Land Conservancy, but would be focused primarily on the Octagon Barn Center. We think that this is a way we can bring in special skills and persons interested in this type of project more than in our primary mission of land conservation and restoration. If you are interested in this activity or have suggestions about how to make it work to best advantage, please let me know.
  


• Lastly, the Forbes' gift is THE major boost we need to get us through the CUP process. However, there are still other significant needs for funds and volunteer support. The Land Conservancy is diligently working on refining the amounts of our needs and working with partners to reduce cost with innovative solutions. We welcome any and all support that you're willing to offer this remarkable community effort (our tag line "raising a barn, raising a community" seems more real every day). We'd be happy to describe our plans and needs.

B. K. Richard, Trustee
Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County and Octagon Barn Committee