The board had given the go ahead to revise the program standards after a presentation by Greg Giusti, chair of the county's invasive species council, at the board's Dec. 8 meeting, as Lake County News has reported.
Giusti and the council came up the new standards for the program – established in 2008 – with a focus on making sure that all vessels launching into local water bodies first be cleaned, drained and dry.
The overarching goal of the program is to protect the county's waters from damaging invasive species, such as quagga and zebra mussels, which have been moving quickly across the west and spreading through lakes in California.
The county's new standards include a two-tiered approach for residents and nonresidents, and a requirement that boats be inspected if coming from infested areas.
The new rules also exchange the sticker system, which has been used to signify which boats have been inspected, for bands that are color coded by month to ensure that nonresidents are complying with one-month reinspection requirements.
Giusti told the board on Dec. 8 that the stickers, when given to a nonresident at the start of the year, were like a yearlong pass, and they had concerns that the boats weren't being reinspected after leaving and returning to the county. The color coded bands are meant to increase the likelihood that nonresident boats are regularly checked.
On Dec. 8, the board asked County Counsel to make some adjustments to the ordinance, and she came back with a draft with the change in place.
Grant said the invasive species council did an extraordinary thing – they held a special meeting on Dec. 14, the day before the supervisors met, in order to look over the draft. “They were able to offer almost immediate feedback on this,” said Grant.
She said the council also expressed its desire to discuss fee changes, but Grant said that has to be done in a public hearing process. “That can move forward but not today,” she said, as it would need legal noticing beforehand.
One of the particular changes the board had requested was a separate inspection requirement for boat trailers, with separate bands. Grant added that, and said the council suggested no additional charge for the boat trailer bands and inspections.
Giusti told the board that the colored bands would only be good for the month in which they were purchased.
Grant said the ordinance noted that there is one local decontamination station in Lakeport, a station the county gave to the city. Pam Francis, the county's deputy director of Water Resources, said there actually are four trained and certified businesses in Lake County that can offer boat cleaning services, including two in Clearlake that use their current steam cleaning equipment, plus a mobile unit.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked Francis what the status was of the rest of the county's decontamination stations. In addition to the one given to Lakeport, Francis said the county sold two to Los Angeles and still has one left.
Other points in the new ordinance include a tiered fee system for boats.
Giusti said the council found that most of the boats coming into the county are about 20 to 21 feet. So they suggested that vessels up to 22 feet in length be charged $22, while any boats over 22 feet in length be charged $30. That inspection fee includes issuance of a color coded band if the boat passes the requirements.
Giusti said they were trying to be as accommodating as possible for boats undergoing inspection.
Supervisor Jeff Smith asked about the location of the bands on trailers, suggesting they should be on the back portion. There was no mention of where the trailer bands should be located in the protocols, although the boat's band is supposed to be on the front third of the vessel, Grant said.
Farrington was concerned about where the bands actually could go on the boat. Melissa Fulton, a member of the invasive species council, said the bands are 16 to 18 inches long, so they can fit on various fixed spots on the front of the boat.
Board Chair Denise Rushing joked that Farrington and Smith should be made boat inspectors due to their attention to the band details.
Farrington moved to advance the ordinance to a final reading at the board's meeting on Jan. 5, 2010. The board approved the motion 5-0.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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