Stella's Sugar Shack has been in place for a while now (March maybe?), and the old building was gone I believe last I visited (May).
The plans for a floating foundation due to the high water table have been finalized for a while as well, but it sounds like they are moving at an Ant's pace in the construction if the foundation is not complete after two months of work (assuming they ARE working).
It should not take more than a couple weeks to do the foundation on a building that size floating or no, so typical Santa Rosa pace unless this is somehow a lot more complex than the average job.
My biggest concern on this entire project is access. We have been locked in, and locked out of this facility in the past, and their staffing levels are somewhat a joke currently. Last time we were there we got locked in while they did some *investigation*. It was absurd, and they did not learn anything by preventing us from leaving . They took down our names.. .I think I could have got away with Barney Rubble, but the main issue is that we sat there for 45 minutes while they did...????
Santa Rosa's finest did not ask us any questions, and did not tell us really tell us what was going on. There was some suspicions activity in the parking area, and a truck was left there (seems like good evidence to me!). All we were told is that they were waiting for someone else to show up to do the investigation. I never saw anyone new one the scene, and they finally just let everyone out, and asked for our names. This was around 8:30pm in the evening.
The other major concern I have is staffing, and competency. Stalla honestly is the most committed and reliable worker they have, and that is two days a week. If they lock this place down, and don't get some competent help, getting into the facility may become a huge hassle.
Imagine an instructor meeting some AOW students for a night dive on Friday evening, but wait, they can't get to the water! Where is the staff that is suppose to be manning the facility?? ... no where to be found... With an almost nonexistent week day load, are they going to man this place weekdays for the occasional diver, or LDS that wants to dive there? I think that would be highly unlikely.. .so then what for those that do venture down during the week?
As it stands, they have not done a very good job (read BAD) in handling things with the nonrestrictive system they have in place. The same holds true for Perch. We went to dive there on Sunday, and the gates were locked because there was a funeral, and the gate keeper.... FORGOT! :11:
Obviously Santa Rosa is taking this seriously, but I sometimes wonder if they will run out of money before all this ever get's done, and one way of viewing this is that may not be a bad thing!
It does sound like they have the diving public engaged in ABQ however, so I'll wait to hear more from Kevin before engaging in active involvement without invitation.
