LAKE COUNTY – The county's escrow on 1,344 acres on Mt. Konocti is expected to close this Friday, according to county Public Services Director Kim Clymire.
Clymire said the land will be used as a day use county park with non-motorized trails.
The Fowler family, which has owned the land for more than 50 years, offered the county first right of refusal on the land in late 2007, as Lake County News reported. The purchase price is $2.6 million.
According to the terms of the agreement between the county and the Fowlers, escrow had to start no later than Sept. 15 and end by Nov. 15.
The county already has completed a purchase of 176 acres on Buckingham Peak. The site's communication towers are generating close to $100,000, which Clymire said previously will be used for ongoing maintenance of the entire Konocti property.
Public Services reported that the park is tentatively scheduled to officially open in May of 2010.
First, the county must make some improvements that are a condition of the sale, such as realigning the road away from the seller's residence, creating pedestrian access around the gate at the base of the mountain that is to remain closed, except for authorized vehicles or by special facility use permit arrangements.
In addition, signage, parking improvements, benches and tables installation will be done as soon as possible, according to Public Services.
Clymire's office reported that beginning this week, a series of focused master management plan meetings will begin with a committee appointed from applications received from letters and newspaper articles that were sent out last month soliciting applications.
The committee, with previous and future public input from eight evening meetings and approximately 25 presentations to community groups, will decide on types of use, flora and fauna identifications, areas of restricted access, fire management and emergency response plans, and other issues.
Representatives from equestrian and nonmotorized mountain bike groups will be invited to meet with the committee as part of the plan development process and determinations will be made as to whether or not those types of activities will be allowed on the mountain, Public Services reported. Consideration also will be given as to whether or not dogs will be permitted on the mountain.
The county hopes to have the plan in draft or final form by the spring or summer of 2010.
Clymire offered his thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to acquire a major portion of the mountain for the public's enjoyment for current and future generations.
“I commend each of you, and especially the Lake County Board of Supervisors, for helping to make this forward thinking acquisition a reality,” Clymire said Tuesday.
For more information about the Mt. Konocti purchase, visit www.preservekonocti.org .
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