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Several boat ramps in county parks to close; city boat ramps remain open
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Due to historically low water levels caused by the ongoing drought in California, three boat ramps on Clear Lake that are located at County parks are being closed.
Lake County Public Services Director Caroline Chavez said the following ramps are closing:
– Keeling Park in Nice;
– Lucerne Harbor in Lucerne; and
– Lakeside Park in Kelseyville;
“We are taking steps to close these ramps due to the hazardous conditions to boaters and their vessels,” Chavez said.
Clear Lake is currently below zero on the Rumsey gauge and water levels continue to drop.
The Clearlake Oaks boat ramp is still open, and could be so for approximately another month before low water levels cause its closure, according to Chavez.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira reported that the Third Street and Fifth Street boat ramps in Lakeport are fine, and there are no launching restrictions.
The First Street boat ramp should be used for small vessels only, such as kayaks or jet skis, officials said.
Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe said several boat ramps have been closed in Redbud Park in Clearlake, but there is a still one ramp open.
Signage has been placed in Redbud Park warning boaters of the low water level.
City officials in both cities continue to monitor their boat ramps for safety.
The Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville closed its boat ramp earlier in August.
Information about private boat ramps can be obtained from their owners.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Supervisors approve $184 million budget
LAKEPORT, Calif. – After seven and a half hours of budget hearings on Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county's final recommended 2014-15 budget.
The new budget's appropriations total approximately $184,767,583. That final number was adjusted by about $5 million since County Administrative Officer Matt Perry held a budget workshop with the board Aug. 12.
This year's budget total is down from $188 million last year, according to Perry.
“A lot of special projects account for the decrease in total appropriations,” Perry told the supervisors.
The 2014-15 budget also includes 965 full-time equivalent positions, up from 937 last year, Perry said. He attributed the increase to new positions added in the Probation and Social Services departments.
In addition to adopting the new budget, the board unanimously approved a resolution establishing position allocations for fiscal year 2014-15 to conform to the adopted budget and voted to continue the county's general hiring freeze, although Perry has the authority to waive that freeze as appropriate.
Perry said he prepared the budget keeping in mind board priorities, including Code Enforcement – where two new positions are to be added over the next two years with a one-time allocation. Those positions will help deal with enforcement issues that include illegal marijuana grows.
Other priorities include the jail expansion, water quality programs, senior centers and youth-related activities – such as the proposed Kelseyville skate and BMX park – capital projects, the south county Behavioral Health expansion and Lampson Field, as well as upgrades to water systems and roads, sidewalks and bridges.
Perry said another area of emphasis is staff development – and a resulting succession plan for department heads – which he said has been either overlooked or sacrificed during the recession.
Many of the county's top managers are baby boomers, and while Perry said many of them don't have immediate plans for retirement, that prospect is not far off in the future.
As such, he budgeted one-time general fund money for staff development, explaining to the board that he wanted to work with Marymount California University – which just opened its newest campus at the county-owned Lucerne Hotel – to develop staff training programs.
Perry said he also wants to continue to cultivate the relationship between the county and Marymount, as the four-year university's presence in Lake County offers local youth a great opportunity for education and also is a benefit to county employees.
In her last budget hearing, Board Chair Denise Rushing – who is leaving the board when her term expires at the end of this year – expressed gratitude to the board and county staff, who she said had worked as a team to manage in difficult times.
“This is one of the toughest budgets we've seen and we've said that since 2008,” she said.
Board looks at department challenges
Throughout the day, the board went over high points of each department budget with county administrative staff and the respective department heads.
Many of the departments continue to face challenges such as funding, hiring and retention.
For Animal Care and Control, Director Bill Davidson sought the board's direction on reduced hours of operation.
The agency is suggesting having a later opening of 11 a.m., which Davidson said isn't particularly late in the day when looking at other animal control agencies around the region.
The board approved a temporary, four-month reduction in hours – from October through January – with the supervisors to revisit the issue at the start of next year.
The Lake County Library also is facing reduced funding levels and challenges in having the needed funds to continue buying books and other materials, so its department head has to look at places to cut.
County Librarian Christopher Veach said he's looked at a variety of options, with the only thing left to cut being library operating hours.
Retiring Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker said his office has suffered due to the retirement of several of its experienced staff.
Wacker, assessing the county's economic recover, told the board that Lake was one of the last counties to go into the recession's economic downturn.
“We're still kind of digging our way out of it,” he said, noting that he is starting to see positive signs, like a decline in foreclosures, which in recent years had ballooned in Lake County as they had elsewhere.
“The thing I need now are experienced appraisers to get the job done,” Wacker said.
In the Community Development Department, it's proposed that a new Code Enforcement supervisor and a dedicated officer be added at a cost of $250,000 over two years.
Community Development Director Rick Coel said an updated nuisance abatement ordinance the county adopted in 2012 has streamlined the process, making it run more efficiently and reducing the time to get to nuisance abatement hearings, if they are needed.
“We really need a committed staff,” Coel said.
For Public Works, Director Scott De Leon said he's facing revenue levels that are trending down.
His road budget had $18 million in revenue in the 2012-13 budget year, rose to $22 million in 2013-14 and this year is down to $15.9 million. He said the changes are due to project-specific revenue.
Gas tax also is down, De Leon said.
Gas tax totaled $3.4 million in 2012-13, $3.7 million in 2013-14 and for the coming year has dropped to $3.2 million, he said.
Regarding tourism and marketing, in April the Board of Supervisors approved a staff proposal to close the county's Visitor Information Center in Lucerne. The center costs an estimated $175,000 to run each year.
Perry said the center is on track to close the first Monday in October, staying open through the Konocti Challenge.
The board's direction to staff in April had been to work on negotiating a contract with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for taking over some of the Visitor Information Center's duties, including answering calls and emails, and providing services on the weekend.
Perry said he worked with chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton on negotiating a contract. They came close but didn't finalize an agreement,” he said.
“I'm wondering if maybe there's other options out there,” said Perry.
Board members agreed with the idea of looking at other options, with that discussion to be planned for an upcoming meeting.
Fulton told the board that she believed the chamber was well suited to provide the marketing services to the county.
The chamber also will bring back a proposal, she said.
Fulton maintained that for the $53,000 that it was proposed that the chamber be paid for the Visitor Information Center duties, the county will get services identical to those it got when paying $175,000 annually to operate the center.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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Lakeport City Council approves water emergency, conservation measures
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday night the Lakeport City Council unanimously approved a resolution instituting a stage one water emergency that includes requirements to conserve water.
During the public hearing on the item, City Attorney David Ruderman presented the resolution to the council, as Public Works Director Mark Brannigan was not at the meeting.
Ruderman gave the council an outline of actions taken by the state earlier this year in response to the drought, including a January gubernatorial drought emergency declaration and an April executive order in which Gov. Jerry Brown directed the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt emergency water conservation regulations.
Last month, the State Water Resources Control Board instituted a number of regulations that Ruderman said everyone must observe.
Those include no outdoor irrigation causing runoff onto pavement or nonirrigated land, no washing cars with hoses not equipped with shut-off nozzles, preventing use of potable water to driveways or sidewalks, and no use of potable water in decorative fountains unless they are circulating.
There also are additional requirements for urban and nonurban water suppliers, with Lakeport among the latter.
The difference between the two kinds of water suppliers is the amount of detail in their conservation plans and that smaller water suppliers don't have to report to the State Water Resources Control Board regarding implementation.
In Lakeport's case, Ruderman said the city has to enforce a limitation on irrigation ornamental landscapes with potable water to two days per week or implementing implement water conservation measures to achieve similar reductions when compared to last year.
Ruderman said the city has a water rationing procedure in its code.
He said that Brannigan wanted the council to understand that the city has a water supply – including its groundwater table – equal to what it had at this time last year.
“But we don't know what this fall is going to bring and he (Brannigan) thinks that it's prudent for us to look ahead and try to do what we can now” in order to avoid having to implement mandated restrictions in the future, Ruderman said.
He also noted that the State Water Resources Control Board can impose a $10,000 per-day fine on water suppliers that don't follow its mandates.
Councilwoman Stacey Mattina wanted clarification about outdoor water uses, asking if a tomato garden was not considered ornamental.
Ruderman said that gardens for food are exempt and that landscaping with a function – such as a soccer field – may be watered.
“It's time to get on board,” said Councilman Tom Engstrom.
Ruderman said the water emergency won't be in effect until it's published as a legal in the local newspaper.
City Manager Margaret Silveira said the city will notify water customers of the restrictions in mailings going out in the next billing cycle as well as online.
Mayor Kenny Parlet asked if the city's budget would be impacted if all city water users cut back significantly.
City Finance Director Dan Buffalo said no, that the city's rate structure allows for water rationing without a big impact to the bottom line.
The only public comment offered on the matter was from Scotts Valley resident Thomas Nickel, who wanted to know if the city might set up a water hot line to report waste issues.
Nickel said he sees a lot of waste in landscaping due to lack of monitoring, using the wrong sprinkler heads and not using drip irrigation.
Council members said they didn't want the issue of water use to become heated between neighbors, or for people to get in trouble for trying to keep up their lawns.
Silveira said neighbors will be doing each other favors by letting them know if water is running at night or if sprinklers are broken.
She said the goal is to reach out to people who keep having water issues, and to urge neighbors to talk to one another.
Engstrom moved to adopt the resolution, with the council voting 5-0.
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Temporary restraining order filed against Lake County over Measure N marijuana rules
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A group of medical marijuana patients has served a temporary restraining order against the county of Lake in an effort to stop enforcement of Measure N, the county rules for medical marijuana cultivation voters passed in June.
The complaint was filed in federal court on Friday by a number of named and unnamed plaintiffs who are seeking a preliminary injunction.
The plaintiff group includes 60-year-old patient Mona Allen, who was growing six mature plants, 66-year-old patient Paul Ray Harris who was growing nine plants and 70-year-old patient Nina Faye Sikes who, together with her elderly husband, was growing 14 immature plants.
Defendants are the county of Lake, Sheriff Francisco Rivero, Undersheriff Chris Macedo, Lt. Loren Freeman of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Community Development Director Rick Coel and 50 unnamed individuals.
County Counsel Anita Grant said a hearing on the temporary restraining order request was held Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco.
She said the judge did not make a decision Tuesday, but instead took the matter under submission.
The case is alleging that the Lake County Sheriff's Office – which is responsible for enforcing Measure N – has been conducting unconstitutional raids on properties around the county without search warrants or abatement notices required under code enforcement law.
The plaintiffs claim violations of their state and federal constitutional rights, which protect against unlawful search and seizure, invasion of privacy and a denial of due process.
They also allege sheriff's personnel are ignoring patients’ refusal to search their property and prying open locked gates to gain access.
County officials have denied forcing their way into properties without consent.
In their declarations, Allen, Nina Sikes and her husband Elvin Sikes – all Clearlake Oaks residents – said their grows were eradicated by county officials on Aug. 1.
Allen said she was not at home at the time, and that law enforcement passed through two fences – prying one of them open – in order to get to the six mature and six immature plants she and her husband were growing on their one-acre parcel.
Elvin Sikes, who with his wife Nina had 14 immature plants on their half-acre parcel, alleged that law enforcement “burst through two closed fences without my consent” before chopping down the plants.
“I was at home at the time of the raid, but I did not voluntarily consent to any search or seizure,” Elvin Sikes said in his declaration.
“Although this case is about medical marijuana patients being unfairly targeted, it’s more about privacy and property interests that should be protected by the state and federal constitutions,” said Joe Elford, a San Francisco-based lawyer and chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, who is working with attorney Jeremy Blank on behalf of the plaintiffs. “The county is not above the law, and it has an obligation to respect people’s constitutional rights when carrying out local policy.”
Last December, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2997, which bans outdoor cultivation in community growth boundaries; limits plant numbers on parcels larger than one acre outside of community growth boundaries to six mature or 12 immature plants; prevents grows on vacant parcels; limits indoor grows to 100 square feet or less; keeps outdoor cultivation 1,000 feet from schools, parks or other facilities serving children, and 100 feet from water bodies; allows collective grows not exceeding 48 mature plants or 72 immature plants on agriculture-zoned parcels of 20 acres or more; and makes the Lake County Sheriff's Office responsible for enforcement.
The ordinance ended up going on the June 3 ballot due to a successful referendum, with voters approving it 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent.
Measure N went into effect July 11, 10 days after the Board of Supervisors approved the final election results for June 3.
Last month, local officials – assisted by Freeman – conducted enforcements in the Spring Valley area.
During a Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 19, Freeman estimated 30 properties had been inspected in that community.
At that same meeting, Allen and a number of growers complained to the board about the enforcements and promised to sue.
Elford previously sued the county in Lake County Superior Court over its temporary medical marijuana cultivation rules in 2012.
That ordinance allowed for up to six plants to be grown outdoors on a half acre or less, 12 plants on parcels of half an acre to one acre, 18 plants on parcels one to five acres in size, 36 plants on five- to 40-acre parcels, and a maximum of 48 plants on parcels 40 acres and larger.
In that case, Elford argued those limits were not enough to satisfy the plaintiffs' medical needs.
In August 2012 Elford's three clients received a preliminary injunction which ran out at the end of that year.
The case was dropped in June 2013 before the permanent injunction stage and about a month after the California Supreme Court issued a decision in the City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center Inc., which upheld the land use planning powers of local governments.
A local judge later denied Elford more than $150,000 in attorney's fees in the case.
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