Drowning Prompts Demands for Footbridge Over Arroyo

Of all the regrets and all the should-have-beens talked about in hushed tones Friday, residents returned over and over again to the one thing that might have saved Joel Burchfield’s life: a footbridge across the Arroyo Simi.

Plans have been underway for about six years to build a footbridge over the river to link the Liberty Bell neighborhood and Arroyo Vista Community Park. It would span the spot where police believe the 11-year-old boy was swept to his death in heavy rains Wednesday, but it remains unbuilt because of bureaucratic stumbling blocks.

For residents who watch children dart across the river every day, the delay has gone from an inconvenience to a dangerous situation.

“If they can build Albertson’s and things like that, you’d think they could build a little bridge,” Maria Kinkead said with disgust, looking down at the brown waters of the arroyo. “I hope they do something now. They should have thought about this.”

On Friday, while his family and friends grieved, a team of four psychologists tried to help Joel’s classmates cope with his death, and neighbors made calls to City Hall to express anger that the bridge they were promised has not been built.

“This is just a tragedy that never should have happened,” said Susan Montelongo, who was walking Friday with her two small children near the crossing. She said her husband had already called City Hall to request action on the footbridge.

Moorpark City Council members defended the delay in building the bridge, saying six years is not an unduly long time to wait for a public project.

“It is a typical development process,” Mayor Paul Lawrason said. “It’s just the way things go when you are doing a public works process.”

“I don’t believe the city has been remiss in its efforts to construct that bridge,” Councilman Bernardo Perez said. “But that sounds woefully inadequate to try and offer to the family.”

Council members said the point of building the $600,000 footbridge was never to protect the public from storm-swollen waters of the arroyo, but only to provide access into Arroyo Vista Community Park on the south side of the river. That park, a 70-acre facility, was dedicated about a year ago and is still under development.

“The whole idea of the bridge project was not generated out of safety concerns,” Perez said. “Certainly this points out that it will be a benefit to have the bridge in, not only for access, but during certain weather conditions, for safety.”

The crossing spot, right where Liberty Bell Street empties out onto the riprapped banks of the flood control channel, has been used for decades, council members said. But they said this is the first time that neighbors have raised the safety issues.

“I haven’t heard people mention it as a dangerous thing, although I have always had kind of a cautionary feeling about it, that I wish there weren’t children down there playing,” Lawrason said.

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Council members said they will ask for an update on the bridge at an upcoming meeting, but point to the Ventura County Flood Control District, which owns and manages the Arroyo Simi, as the reason for the delay. To save money on construction costs, the footbridge is to be built simultaneously with Villa Campesina Park, a small neighborhood park planned for the north shore of the arroyo.

Because the park includes an easement that the flood control district isn’t willing to give up, both projects have been put on hold. Perez said the city has been trying to negotiate with the district to get at least part of the land designated for the Villa Campesina Park.

Flood control officials said they have never stood in the way of the city building the footbridge. But they acknowledge problems with the easement at the proposed Villa Campesina Park site.

“We’ve been working with the city but we have never been at odds,” said Alex Sheydayi, the district’s deputy public works director.

He said flood control engineers are still puzzled over how Joel Burchfield was swept away, because water flows were not that strong Wednesday afternoon.

According to the department’s gauges, water was flowing at a rate of 500 or 600 cubic feet per second in the Arroyo Simi about the time Joel was walking home, or about 4 mph. By midnight it had reached about 1,200 cubic feet per second, but was still far shy of the swift waters from last January’s storm, which raged at a rate of 7,000 cubic feet per second.

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Sheydayi said flood control officials are reluctant to fence off the arroyo because of the expense and because residents traditionally resist being separated from the river by a fence. Furthermore, Sheydayi said, he isn’t sure fencing would help.

“Unfortunately nothing, not even fencing, keeps kids out of the arroyos,” Sheydayi said. “Kids have to be made aware, their parents have to tell them, ‘Don’t go there.’ ”

On Friday, Moorpark Unified School District officials reinforced previous warnings to children to stay away from the arroyo--regardless of the weather--in letters to parents sent home with all 6,500 students.

The district also provided staff psychologists to meet with students who had trouble dealing with the death of a classmate.

A team of psychologists visited Chaparral Middle School, Mesa Verde Middle School and Mountain Meadows elementary school, where Joel’s brother is a student.

They were also available to any students in the district who felt they needed to talk, said Frank DePasquale, assistant district superintendent.

“Most of the students are just trying to figure out why this happened to such a nice friend,” DePasquale said. “There were a lot of tears, but the students are all helping each other, too.”

DePasquale denied reports that Joel was forced to walk because of older students bothering him on the bus, although he acknowledged that older students tend to haze younger students. DePasquale said students riding the school bus are required to comply with district requirements for good behavior.

“It’s a privilege, not a right, and students know they can be taken off the bus if they don’t follow the rules,” he said.

Some students who attended classes Friday wrote letters to the family or drew pictures to send to the Burchfield home.

“I drew a heart and wrote, ‘We love Joel,’ ” said Blanca Virgen, 11.

FYI

Memorial services are planned for noon Monday at Holy Cross Church at 13955 Peach Hill Road in Moorpark. Everybody is welcome. A reception at the church hall will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Joel Burchfield Memorial Fund, c/o Roger Willis, 4498 Forestglen Court, Moorpark 93021.

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Coping With a Child’s Death

Moorpark Unified School District officials sent home a series of suggestions for helping children and parents deal with the death of 11-year-old Joel Burchfield.

* Recognize that children’s feelings may take days or weeks to emerge.

* Avoid dwelling on the details of the incident, steering the discussion instead toward expressing feelings.

* Be prepared for what may seem inappropriate behavior, including complaints of headaches or stomachaches, sleep disturbances, fear of darkness, crying or whimpering, irritability and whining, and clinginess.

* Provide children with information on safety practices for rivers.

* Encourage children to continue being a friend to Joel’s brother.

* Seek help from the school district if child’s reactions seem extreme or continue for a long time.