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Kayakers, neighbors at odds otential river access site I Recordnet. Page 1 of 2 Im News KAYAKERS, NEIGHBORS AT ODDS ON POTENTIAL RIVER ACCESS SITE LODI LANDFILL TO BE TESTED FOR SUITABILITY AS RECREATIONAL PAD By Keith Reid February 12,2012 Record Staff Writer LODI -The Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery will begin testing an old Lodi landfill near the Mokelumne River for methane gas content next month, a process that could eventually lead to the city converting the land into a kayak launching pad or other forms of river access. Neighbors in the Mokelumne Village development that border the 3.7-acre Awani Drive landfill have been staunchly opposed to the idea of creating an access point to the river near them, but they will wait over the next year for information on the area's suitability for recreational access as CalRecycle digs monitoring wells, said Jeff Hood, interim Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services director. "At the end of the year, it will give us a better picture of what(toxins)are there and if public access, or any other type of access, could be allowed," he said. "We will have a better understanding of the conditions, and what steps or mitigation will be necessary to have some use of the location." The Awani Drive river access potential has been discussed in Lodi for more than 20 years. City leaders considered opening it up to the public in the early 1990s. A development agreement with the River Pointe subdivision that borders the site to the west includes language that states the Awani Drive acreage could be used for residents to access the river. The site was not developed for a variety of reasons, including cost and the potential toxic cleanup. Neighbors on Awani Drive say that despite a chain-link fence with a sign notifying people that entering the vacant land is trespassing, the former landfill is being used as a homeless camp and a place for teens to party. The land can easily be accessed by people willing to jump the fence or walk the railroad tracks that sit just west of the river. "They're out here swimming,jumping off the (train)trestle bridge, all that stuff," said Robby Nixon, whose home abuts the land. "We see drugs, alcohol, you name it." A Lodi kayak group has hoped for more access to the Mokelumne River, however.The group launches from Lodi Lake on Wednesday nights in the summer, but the 30-plus members of the group would like more areas to meet and launch. The Awani Drive site is one of the only locations in Lodi with the potential to provide such a launching point. That is not the crux of the Awani Drive neighbors' problems, however. "We're not afraid of kayaks or kayakers," said Joan Morrison, an Awani Drive resident and board member of the Mokelumne Village home owners association. "It's the other things that come along with it." http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120212/A NEWS/202120308/-1/... 2/13/2012