LAKE COUNTY – On Tuesday community members from Kelseyville and Lakeport gathered for a special Mendocino College Board of Trustees meeting that met at the two sites that have topped the list of prospective Lake Center campus locations.
The afternoon meeting first convened at a 14-acre site at 3360 Merritt Road, located half a mile from downtown Kelseyville, where board trustees had the chance to see the current vineyard and consider locating a new $7.5 million Lake Center campus project there.
They then moved to a 31-acre site in Lakeport at 2565 Parallel Drive, which had at one point been the college's No. 1 pick before the former owner – who has since lost it to foreclosure – asked for $2.9 million after an appraisal valued it at $1.53 million.
After that, it was back to the college's current Lake Center at 1005 Parallel Drive, where a closed session was scheduled.
However, Board Chair Janet Chaniot emphasized, “No decision will be made today in closed session.”
Mike Adams, Mendocino College's director of facility services, said Tuesday that the board had considered more than 15 sites in trying to locate the best location for its new Lake County campus, which will be funded with Measure W bond money.
“Of the 15 sites there were two that floated to the top,” said Adams – and the college board visited them Tuesday.
On Merritt Road, the board was accompanied by about 50 community members, many of them from a steering committee that has formed to gather support for the Kelseyville location. Supervisor Anthony Farrington also was on hand for the site tours.
A concept study envisions using only a portion of the property for the college buildings, leaving a large part of the vineyard still intact, said Adams. It still hasn't been determined who would operate the vineyard, he added.
Adams estimated that it will cost a couple hundred thousand dollars to make site improvements.
A soils geotechnical study has been completed, said Adams, while the environmental study is in its first phase and pesticide and herbicide studies are under way because of the surrounding agriculture.
Adams said a cultural resources study – which looks at the area's archaeology – is being done, but an alternatives assessment that's required because they're proposing to convert agricultural land is still in the future.
An environmental impact report on the Merritt Road site is expected to take about a year, said Adams. Once that's done, the college must apply to the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) in order to be annexed to Lake County Special Districts, which would provide sewer and water.
During public comment at Merritt Road, Tom Nixon, a retired Clear Lake State Park ranger, spoke in support of the site. He said the nearby natural resources made it the best suited for the campus.
Nixon pointed to nearby Kelsey Creek, which he called a “virtual laboratory” waiting to be studied. The area's significant cultural sites, the proximity of Clear Lake State Park, the planned new park on Mt. Konocti and Taylor Observatory all add to the site's value, Nixon said.
Later, at the 31-acre Parallel Drive site, about 60 people – many of them Lakeport city officials, including council members Suzanne Lyons, Roy Parmentier and Ron Bertsch, as well as business leaders – gathered to look at the land.
They found waiting for them refreshments and a sound system that Jan Bruns of the Lakeport Main Street Association had arranged for the presentation.
“We have heard a lot of information about both sites we are considering,” Chaniot said.
Adams said a preliminary site evaluation for the Parallel Drive location already has been completed, and the board also has approved a California Environmental Quality Act document for it.
He said the campus project will be built in phases. “We built the Ukiah campus in the same manner.”
Adams said the site has a higher water table than Merritt Road and better transportation access.
A county resident himself, Adams – who said he lives halfway between Lakeport and Kelseyville – said he was proud of the community and how it has supported the college effort.
Chaniot said when the Mendocino College main campus first was being built there had been a opposing viewpoints about whether or not to center all college operations in Ukiah or have additional centers in Willits and Lake County.
“I have always wanted those centers out in the two counties,” she said, adding that bringing a new campus to Lake County is a fulfillment of the dreams of many people.
The conceptual plan for Parallel Drive calls for the campus being centered on the site, said Adams, with expansion at the back. A water hookup is nine-tenths of a mile away, near McDonald's.
Goldwater Bank, which purchased the property for $1.6 million in an August trustee sale as part of a foreclosure action, has indicated interest in retaining a one-acre, commercially zoned area at the front of the property, Adams said.
No further reports or studies are needed on the site, said Adams. “The property is ready to go.”
However, he added, there still needs to be a water line, frontage improvements and encroachment permits.
Chaniot said both sites are beautiful.
During public comment, Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Victoria Brandon asked them to hold a community meeting where the campus project could be discussed.
Local businessman Bill Kearney urged the college to locate in Lakeport.
“We really appreciate what Mendocino College has brought to our community over the last 20 years,” said Kearney, noting that for Lake County, the new campus project “is something to be really proud of.”
Leslie Firth, another business owner and president of the Lakeport Main Street Association, said students “are truly the focus” of the effort.
She pointed to Lakeport's many offerings that would benefit students – from the Soper-Reese Community Theatre to the library and bookstores.
Lakeport Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll, who has worked to lobby the college to stay in Lakeport, said the city currently is looking at alternatives to extend water service to the site, including bringing a water pipe over from S. Main Street and under the highway to Parallel Drive.
Later, at the Lakeport City Council's meeting, Knoll presented an update on the water issue to the council, noting that taking the water sources under the highway would be significantly less expensive than bringing the water sources down Parallel Drive.
He also asked the council to approve a resolution supporting the campus being located in Lakeport. Several Lakeport business people attended the meeting for the discussion.
The council approved the resolution in a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Bob Rumfelt recusing himself because he is a part-time instructor at the college.
Knoll told the council that city staff is due to meet with college representatives to discuss the proposed Lake Center campus on Thursday. He said he'll report back to the council about the meeting's outcome.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
