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MATH to discuss Dollar General proposal, gateway arches
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall is expected this week to get another update on a plan to build a Dollar General store in the town and discuss a proposal to place decorative gateway arches.
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14, at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.
Meetings are open to the community.
One of the agenda's main items is an update on the Dollar General store proposal.
Texas-based Cross Development wants to build the 9,100-square-foot store at 20900 Highway 29 in Middletown.
The Lake County Planning Commission turned down the proposal in April, but Cross Development is appealing the decision, and is scheduled to appear before the Board of Supervisors at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 19.
In other business, the group will discuss a proposal to place town gateway arches over Highway 29.
There also will be recognition of donations for Middletown Square Park, which is located in front of the community and senior center.
Thursday's meeting also will offer the opportunity for public input from community members and a discussion of agenda items for the Aug. 11 meeting.
The MATH Board includes Chair Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Margaret Greenley, and members Linda Diehl-Darms and Gregg Van Oss.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
For more information email
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Clearlake City Council to hold hearing on abatements, discuss property purchase
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council will hold a public hearing to confirm assessment penalties on abatement cases and discuss a property purchase this week.
The council will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 14, for a closed session to discuss labor negotiations, anticipated and existing litigation, and a public performance evaluation of City Manager Greg Folsom before the public session of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The council will hold a public hearing to confirm assessments for administrative penalties for failure to abate public nuisances.
Altogether, the council will consider taking action on 19 properties, for total administrative penalties totaling $55,000, according to the staff report from Code Enforcement Supervisor Lee Lambert.
Also on Thursday, Folsom will take to the council a request to appropriate $90,500 from Series A bond funds for the purchase of properties on Pearl Avenue, which are to be used for a Lake Transit bus stop and turnout at Highlands Park, according to Folsom's report.
In other business, the council will consider a rebuttal to an argument against Measure V, the sales tax measure for road improvements to go on the November ballot; a certificate of appreciation will be presented to the Lions Club; and the council will get annual updates from the senior and youth centers.
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Supervisors to reconsider separating Water Resources, Public Works; get Red Cross report, discuss crane agreement
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will again discuss a proposal to separate the Water Resources and Public Works departments, get a report from the American Red Cross on Valley fire fundraising and assistance, and continue discussing an agreement for repayment of costs for removing a crane from the lake in 2011.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 12, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors/calendar.htm . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
In an item timed for 9:30 a.m., Supervisor Jim Steele is asking the board to once again consider separating the Public Works and Water Resources departments, approve revisions to the Water Resources director classification and establish the minimum qualification criteria, and approve a broader-than-normal advertising process because of Clear Lake's unique attributes.
The two departments currently are headed by Scott De Leon.
In March, the board had discussed separating the two departments, but ultimately decided to leave the configuration as it was.
In his memo to the board for the Tuesday meeting, Steele said that a lake manager requires specialized technical background and that the county may be losing grant dollars by not having a separate department head overseeing the lake.
He also suggested that the Public Works Department has to focus efforts on Valley fire recovery.
“Without a carefully chosen and well supported Director, the Water Resources Department will
flounder to understand the lake ecosystem and advise the Board,” Steele wrote. “Clear Lake is the underpinning of the economy in many areas such as fishing, vacationing, second home and resort vacationers as well as birding and other forms of ecotourism. Continuing to develop those attributes will help make up for lost resort capacity due to the recent fires but also support recovery funding.”
In another timed item on Tuesday, at 10 a.m. the board will receive a report from the American Red Cross regarding funds raised for Valley fire survivors and the funds the organization has expended to assist those survivors. Board Chair Rob Brown has requested the presentation.
Also on Tuesday, in an untimed item, the board will continue its consideration, begun last month, of an agreement with Martin Scheel for the repayment of abatement costs associated with the removal of a submerged crane in Clear Lake.
The crane, which Scheel was using in his former construction business, went into the lake in November 2010 during a storm. He did not have the means to remove it on his own, so the county proceeded to have it removed.
The county's cost to have the crane abated totaled $59,945.07. Scheel signed the crane over to the county, which sold it for scrap, recovering $4,039. That leaves a total cost of $55,906.07, county officials reported.
At its June 14 discussion, the board opted to put off the decision to give Scheel an opportunity to seek out a loan. Scheel told Lake County News he already has tried to secure such a loan but was unsuccessful.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
7.1: Adopt resolution correcting typographical errors in Resolution 2016–97 amending the position allocation chart for fiscal year 2016-17 to conform to the recommended budget.
7.2: Approve minutes from the Board of Supervisors meeting held on May 3, 2016.
7.3: Authorize the Registrar of Voters to render all services necessary to conduct the city of Lakeport’s General Municipal Election on Nov. 8, 2016, for the purpose of electing three members of the city council, and request to consolidate said election with the State General Election, pursuant to the city’s Resolution No. 2581 (2016).
7.4: Authorize the Registrar of Voters to render all services necessary to conduct the city of Clearlake’s General Municipal Election on Nov. 8, 2016 for the purpose of electing three members of the city council, submit Measures V, W, and X to the electors, and authorize the Registrar of Voters to prepare the official canvass of votes cast, pursuant to the city’s Resolution No. 2016-24.
7.5: Approve Resolution No. 1516-11 of Lake County Board of Education Updating a Conflict of Interest Code.
7.6: Approve resolution of the board of trustees of the Konocti Unified School District ordering a school bond election, and authorizing necessary actions in connection therewithin, pursuant to the district's Resolution 31-15-16.
7.7: (a) Adopt resolution accepting official canvass of the Presidential Primary Election held on June 7, 2016; (b) approve certification of county elections official results of the official canvass of the election returns and the results of the 1% manual tally of randomly selected voting precincts for the June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election; and (c) approve certification of county elections official results of the canvass of write-in votes cast for qualified candidates at the June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election.
7.8: Approve annual renewal of the veterans subvention program certificate of compliance and the Medi-Cal Cost Avoidance Program Certificate and authorize chair to sign.
7.9: Approve amendment two to the agreement between the county of Lake and SHN Consulting Engineers & Geologists Inc., for technical services in support of the implementation of cleanup and abatement order R5-2015-0713 at the Eastlake Landfill, for an additional amount of $80,300 and a contract total of $116,560, and authorize chair to sign.
7.10: Approve permit for Tom's Aircraft Enterprises to conduct aeronautical activities at Lampson Airport for FY 2015-2016 and authorize chair to sign.
7.11: Sitting as the Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, approve the award of bid for the 2016 demolition project, Lake County, CA, Bid No. WR16-01, to Coleman Construction, in the amount of $107,038 and authorize the Water Resources director to sign the contract and notice of award.
TIMED ITEMS
8.2, 9:15 a.m.: Presentation regarding the actions of community members who generously donated to help provide the opportunity to host a peer support training set for November in Lake County.
8.3, 9:30 a.m.: Discussion and consideration of (a) separating the Public Works and Water Resources Departments; (b) approve revisions to the Water Resources Director classification and establish the minimum qualification criteria; and (c) request an advertising process broader than normal because of the unique nature of the position and value to the county’ economy.
8.4, 10 a.m.: Informational report by American Red Cross on funds raised for Valley fire survivors and funds expended to assist Valley fire survivors.
8.5, 11 a.m.: Assessment appeal hearing, sitting as the Lake County Local Board of Equalization, Spanish Canyon Investments LLC - Application No. 03-2014 - 2881 Meadow Dr., Lakeport, CA (APN 044-481-14) David Costa - Application No. 06-2014 - 5199 Fife Rd., Lucerne, CA (APN 033-525-05).
NONTIMED ITEMS
9.2: Consideration and Approval of North Coast Opportunities to operate HCD’s Rapid Re-Housing Program on behalf of Lake County for a two-year period, commencing approximately October 2016, subject to ratification by the Lake County Continuum of Care.
9.3: Consideration and approval of notice of award and contract for the Foard Road at Anderson Creek Bridge Replacement Project to Bridgeway Civil Constructors Inc. in the amount of $724,382 and authorize the chair to execute the agreement and notice of award.
9.4: Consideration and approval of notice of award and contract for the Dry Creek Road at Dry Creek Bridge Replacement Project to Bridgeway Civil Constructors Inc. in the amount of $794,766 and authorize the Chair to execute the Agreement and Notice of Award.
9.5: Consideration of continuing the proclamation of a declaration of a local emergency due to wildfire conditions.
9.6: Consideration and approval of 2016 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) application in the amount of $138,467.
9.7: Continued from June 14, consideration of an agreement between the county of Lake and Martin Scheel for the repayment of abatement costs associated with the removal of a submerged crane in Clear Lake.
CLOSED SESSION
10.2: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9 I(d)(2)(e)(1) – One potential Claim.
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Clearlake continues rollout of medical marijuana cultivation permit program
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake continues to work through the early stages of its new marijuana cultivation permitting process, enacted earlier this year.
The Clearlake City Council passed a new city marijuana cultivation ordinance in February that was based on the work of an ad hoc committee that included council members, business people and a dispensary owners, as Lake County News has reported.
In addition to banning commercial cultivation, the ordinance requires a city-issued permit in order to legally cultivate marijuana.
The permits are good from May through April of each year, the city reported.
The period for applying for the permits ended May 1, but City Manager Greg Folsom said that, because May 1 was a Sunday, they continued to accept applications through the end of the day Monday, May 2.
The permits require an annual $150 registration that city officials said will help offset the city’s cost to administer the program.
Altogether the city issued 47 of the permits, for total revenue of $7,050, Folsom said.
That's far less than the city's administration originally had anticipated. At one point this spring Folsom estimated that if they issued 500 permits, they could take in about $75,000, which would have helped to fund code enforcement operations and staff.
“That was the potential,” said Folsom, explaining that number was based on the number of grows in the city at the time. “We were hopeful that it will grow to be something like that.”
In the final fiscal year 2016-17 budget the council accepted in June, Finance Director Chris Becnel included $15,000 in permit revenue from the new ordinance.
“The start-up of this permitting has been somewhat slower than anticipated,” Becnel's budget narrative said.
As for why he thinks why more permits weren't sought and issued, Folsom said, “I think it's a combination of things.”
For one, he said that the permits all seemed to come in at the last minute, indicating a lot of people may still not know about the new ordinance or its requirements.
“We want people to comply,” Folsom said. “We weren't trying to catch people.”
He said city code enforcement staff currently are working closely with the Clearlake Police Department on the larger, non-permitted, commercial grows and are expected to transition into compliance checks on the existing permits soon.
Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli told Lake County News that his agency doesn't oversee the permit process, and is separately pursuing its work to seek out illegal commercial grows.
The department has announced the eradication of numerous large grows in the city over the last few months.
Celli and his staff reported to the council in May that so far this year they do not have any homicides associated with marijuana, unlike the situation in 2015, in which there were six homicides that had that connection.
For more information regarding the city’s medical marijuana cultivation ordinance, visit the city’s Web site at www.clearlake.ca.us .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
