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November 4, 2011
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Reporter, The Friday Flyer
A lawsuit has been filed against the City of Canyon Lake, City of Menifee, Riverside County, the security firm representing the Canyon Lake Property Owners Association (Allied Barton) and Canyon Lake City Manager Lori Moss. It was filed October 28 in Riverside County Superior Court on behalf of three minor children who lost their mother, Angela Marie Wright, 39, in an accident that occurred in the early hours of December 22, 2010.
The accident took place at around 3:15 a.m. It is reported that Angela was on her way to work in Temecula when her car apparently slid off of flooded Goetz Rd. into Salt Creek and into the East Bay. A Riverside Sheriff’s dive team recovered the car several hours later, with Ms. Wright’s body still inside.
The lawsuit claims the incident was a wrongful death that could have been avoided if that section of Goetz Rd. had been closed to traffic that night. No monetary damage has been set.
The lawsuit states that the children suffered the loss of their funeral expenses, as well as the loss of love, society, companionship, comfort, affection and moral and financial support that they would have received from their mother, according to an article published in The Californian (October 31), written by Jim Rothgeb.
According to The Californian reporter, the lawsuit continues to state that for several years, Canyon Lake, Menifee and Riverside County jointly owned or controlled that section of Goetz Rd. and were aware of the dangers of Salt Creek when rainwaters flood the usually dry riverbed intersected by the road.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Lori Moss, as the city manager, had the authority and responsibility to protect the public. It suggests the defendants knew of the possible flooding risk that day but did not take steps to avoid it.
Mayor Barry Talbot responded to the lawsuit at the City Council meeting on November 2, stating, “The fact there is litigation does not mean that any defendants are guilty of anything; tort litigation is the way our legal system has developed to spread the cost of accidents. The purpose is to provide for the surviving children funds Ms. Wright would have provided if this extremely unfortunate accident had not occurred.”
He added, “The City is a member of a risk sharing pool with other cities since cities get sued for this type of accident. Therefore, the cost here is shared by the pool, not borne by the City. The pool has provided experienced outside representation for the City.”
Riverside County officials made the decision later in the day of the accident to permanently close Goetz Rd. south of the East Gate. Road and bridge construction already was scheduled to begin January 3 under the direction of the Riverside County Transportation Department. Completion of that project is scheduled for January 2012.
The City Council agenda on November 2 originally included Resolution No. 2011-31, which, if adopted, would allow the City to vacate the right of way for Goetz Rd., the bridge and a portion of Railroad Canyon Rd. Doing so would move the City boundary to a new acoustical wall behind the homes of Cruise Circle residents, leaving that portion of Railroad Canyon and Goetz Roads in the City of Menifee.
The item was pulled from the agenda during the City Council meeting and expected to be placed on the agenda in February 2012.
According to Lori, the plan to vacate this portion of roadway began as long ago as May 2006, when the City of Canyon Lake entered into an agreement with A. Murphy Ranch LLC, whose plans were to build a large development adjacent to Canyon Lake. The vacated right of way was to become part of the County of Riverside for development of the Audie Murphy project. A condition of that Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was that the developer be responsible for processing the boundary change with Riverside County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
In 2008, the City of Menifee incorporated and, as a condition of its incorporation, was to process the LAFCO application for Canyon Lake’s vacation of right of way, according to Lori. The application was filed in September 2011 and is being reviewed by LAFCO for a possible hearing in December. The County of Riverside stepped in and pulled the bonds for the Audie Murphy project in order to finish the Goetzt/Railroad Canyon Rd. bridge project.
Once vacating right-of-way is approved, all public safety and maintenance costs will be the responsibility of the City of Menifee 30 days after the LAFCO action is taken and the documents recorded.
It doesn’t appear this process will have any bearing on the lawsuit, as that portion of roadway was within the City limits of Canyon Lake at the time of the accident. According to The Californian article, the lawsuit has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Taylor. The plaintiffs’ attorney is Robert Knaler of the Gomez Law Group in San Diego.
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