Lakeport City Council to continue cell phone tower appeal hearing

LAKEPORT, Calif. – An appeal of a Lakeport Planning Commission decision to allow a cell phone tower on North High Street is back on the Lakeport City Council agenda on Tuesday, although the company proposing the project is seeking a continuance.

The council will meet for a closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, to discuss property negotiations for 910 Bevins St. before convening in open session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

At its June 16 meeting, the council heard Nancy Ruzicka's appeal of the commission's approval in May of Complete Wireless Consulting's plan – which it submitted on behalf of Verizon Wireless – to install a cell phone tower at 1875 N. High St., as Lake County News has reported.

The 72-foot tower has been designed as “monopine” – which is meant to look like a pine tree.

Ruzicka, whose family owns the nearby High Street Village shopping center, and numerous residents of the nearby neighborhoods spoke against the project to the council, citing everything from health concerns to aesthetic impacts.

The council voted to continue the matter to July 7 and to have staff prepare potential findings to support the appeal.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram's report to the council explains that staff has prepared a resolution with findings for granting the appeal of Verizon's use permit and denying it, “based on the evidence, testimony, and comments” the council considered at the June 16 hearing.

However, Ingram also reported that Complete Wireless Consulting is requesting the council grant a 60-day continuance to thoroughly evaluate alternative designs and locations for the siting of a tower “to address the purported significant gap in coverage for the Central Lakeport area.”

The council could still decide to overturn the commission's decision or to request modifications of Verizon's proposal, according to Ingram's report.

Also on Tuesday, the council will meet new Administration Department intern Brittany Benner and present Finance Director Dan Buffalo with a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting given by the Government Finance Officers Association for the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

In other business, City Clerk Janel Chapman will take to the council a request to nominate a voting delegate and alternate voting delegates for the League of California Cities annual conference, to be held in San Jose this fall.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram also will seek the council's authorization to send out a request for proposals for housing grant consulting services.

On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; warrant registers from June 18 and July 1; and minutes from the special city council meeting of June 11 and the regular council meeting of June 16.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

070715 Lakeport City Council agenda packet

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 05 July 2015

Board of Supervisors to discuss putting Holiday Harbor on the market

LAKEPORT, Calif. – County administrative staff this week is asking the Board of Supervisors to consider the possibility of putting the Holiday Harbor marina in Nice up for sale due to the recovering economy.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 7, 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 untimed discussion, County Administrative Officer Matt Perry will take the Holiday Harbor discussion item to the board.

The county's redevelopment agency purchased Holiday Harbor, located at 3605 and 3655 Lakeshore Blvd., in 2008 as a “primary catalyst” project to spur economic activity, according to Perry's report.

While the redevelopment agency initially tried to sell the property, the “Great Recession” and the February 2012 dissolution of the redevelopment agency stalled those efforts, with the county continuing to operate the facility as a marina since then, while making some improvements, Perry said.

“Since the economy is beginning to recover and trying to maintain the property and operate the marina has stretched county resources (both staff and money), staff recommends that the County now try to sell the property,” he wrote.

Perry said the county has contracted with a Fremont-based real estate broker to develop a marketing program to help sell the property.

First, however, he said the board needs to give county staff direction on whether to sell additional public property nearby, and decide what projects should be developed on the site.

In other business, at 9:10 a.m., the board will present a proclamation commending James Hankins for life-saving efforts on June 1, and at 9:12 a.m. will hold a swearing-in ceremony for new deputies Armando Alvear II, Nicholas Leon Buell and Kalen Sage Brock-Walder.   

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Coleman Construction for abatement services of nuisance conditions at 12577 Widgeon Way (APN 035-132-36 - Iron Skillet Inc.), in the amount of $14,820, and authorize the chair to sign.

7.2: Adopt resolution approving the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) contract with the state of California, Department of Public Health for fiscal years 2015-16 through 2016-17, and authorize the director of Health Services to sign said contract.

7.3: Adopt resolution amending the 2014-17 CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness State General Fund Pandemic Influenza and HHS Hospital Preparedness Program contract, and authorize the director of Health Services to sign.

7.4: Adopt proclamation commending James Hankins for life-saving Efforts on June 1, 2015.          

7.5: Approve amendment one to agreement between the county of Lake and Quincy Engineering Inc., for final design and right-of-way services for the South Main Street and Soda Bay Road Corridor Improvement Project in Lake County a decrease of $2,262 for a new contract maximum of $2,180,333, and authorize the chair to sign.

7.6: Adopt resolution of intention to name an existing unnamed road in the Upper Lake area to Patty Lane; set the date and time of the public hearing, and direct the clerk of the board to give notice pursuant to Sections 8322 and 8323 of the Streets and Highways Code.

7.7: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and A&P Helicopters for FY 2015/16 marijuana reconnaissance and eradication on public and private lands, in the amount of $80,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation commending James Hankins for life-saving efforts on June 1, 2015.     

8.3, 9:12 a.m.: Swearing-in ceremony for deputies Armando Alvear II, Nicholas Leon Buell and Kalen Sage Brock-Walder.   

8.4, 9:15 a.m.: Discussion/consideration of abatement of vacant lots for fire prevention and reallocation of abandon pear orchard abatement funds of $40,000 towards this purpose.

8.5, 9:30 a.m.: Hearing, nuisance abatement assessment confirmation and proposed recordation of notice of lien in the amount of $7,547.97, for 6586 Cheviot Road, Lucerne, CA (APN 034-343-01 - Gary Rahmer and Ellen Rahmer).

8.6, 9:45 a.m.: Consideration of request for board direction regarding proposed amendment to Lake County Zoning Ordinance regarding age limits on manufactured home installations.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.2: Consideration of request for board direction regarding selling Holiday Harbor (3605 and 3655 Lakeshore Blvd, Nice) and neighboring public park property.   

9.3: Consideration of Administrative Encroachment Permit #15-13 for the Hot Car and Boat Show.

9.4: Consideration of request for sheriff's detective to deviate from Lake County Vehicle Policy, Part D, subsection section k, as it relates to assignment of a take-home pursuit vehicle.   

CLOSED SESSION

10.2: Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Bond v. Martin, et al.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 05 July 2015

Lake County Time Capsule: Herndon Pioneer Cemetery

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Within the massive archives of historian Henry Mauldin lies the story of the origins of the Herndon Pioneer Cemetery located on Stagecoach Lane in Lower Lake.

The Nathaniel Herndon family undertook an arduous journey in 1854.

Like many other pioneers heading west, they left Missouri for California.

Unlike other pioneer parties, the Herndons belonged to one of the largest teams heading west.

This massive wagon train, led by Doc Mathews, consisted of 40 wagons which were hauled by oxen.

Oxen were selected as the beasts of burden for the emigrants' journey because oxen usually cost less than a horse or mule.

Oxen were known for their dependability, however, if an ox chose to make a run for it, it could easily be rounded up, as they were slow animals.

Another good reason for selecting oxen was that oxen paraphernalia fit within a pioneer's budget, with a yoke costing about $25 then.

Oxen also were favored for their ability to browse on plants which horses or mules would not eat. Too, mules and horses required grain, which took up space on a wagon which was needed for other items.

One can only imagine what the overland journey entailed.

Those forging their way west with the Herndon party included family names of Hale, Grigsby, Copsey, Mathews, Coffman, Slater, Jarvis, Dollar, Henry and Smith.

Once his family arrived in what is now Lake County, Nathaniel Herndon homesteaded land in Lower Lake in 1856, and decided to make use of three of those acres as a family cemetery.

As time went by, his cemetery site became a community burial grounds for those with the following surnames: Adams, Asbill, Copsey, Dean, Dillard, Green, Hutchinson, Kirtley, Mitchell, Morris, Scarf, Thurston and Wilson.

In 1950 George Patch was laid to rest here as well. He was, according to cemetery records, “the last traditional leader and shaman of the Koi Nation.”

The old Herndon Pioneer Cemetery suffers from vandalism and the passage of time. Many of the graves were once marked with wooden crosses, and those have disintegrated due to weathering and natural causes.

There are still some distinguished, ornate monuments which have withstood time's ravages. There are granite gravestones, and some made of a volcanic ash called “tuff.”

Some of the family plots which were once marked by iron fencework are now without their fence boundaries.

Research is ongoing by the Lake County Genealogical Society, but so far there are 27 names included in the Herndon Pioneer Cemetery, with the largest group belonging to the Herndon family. There is Nathaniel Herndon along with eight other family members.

Some of the burials from this cemetery have been moved to nearby Lower Lake Cemetery on Lake Street.

From time to time, according to the Lake County Historical Society's Pomo Bulletin, the Lower Lake Cemetery on Lake Street expresses a desire for all of the burials at the Herndon Pioneer Cemetery be moved to their cemetery, but, as you can imagine, the descendants of these pioneers stringently object to the idea.

Others who stridently object to moving the burials are members of the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West, and those who love Lake County history.

Efforts by the Lake County Board of Supervisors and concerned local citizens have their work cut out for them to restore and preserve this important piece of Lake County's past.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

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Written by: Kathleen Scavone

Published: 05 July 2015