LAKEPORT, Calif. – At the suggestion of the county’s Public Works director, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided to use reserve funds to complete four property purchases in the Middle Creek Restoration Project area while the county waits for reimbursement from the state.

In an extra item placed on the agenda Tuesday morning, Scott De Leon asked the board – acting as the board of directors for the Lake County Watershed Protection District – for its approval of the plan to help close the sales on the four properties.

The county is purchasing the properties as part of its effort to restore wetlands in the 1,650-acre restoration project area, which will improve the health of Clear Lake.

De Leon said the funds, which come through the Flood Protection Corridor Program Grant, should have been made available within four weeks. The program grant funds 100 percent of the property acquisition and relocation costs.

Five purchase offers were made and four owners accepted. The board approved purchasing three of the properties on July 24 and the fourth on Aug. 28, De Leon reported. The properties the county is purchasing include:

• 7998 Reclamation Road, Upper Lake, 0.65 acres, owned by Kevin and Esther Morrill; $140,000 purchase price; $2,000 moving expenses, $4,000 title costs.
• 8230 Sailor Ave., Upper Lake, 4.5 acres, owned by Robert and Kelly Sterling; $240,000 purchase price, $10,000 for replacement housing, $20,000 in moving expenses; $4,000 in title costs.
• 8050 Reclamation Road, Upper Lake, 11 acres, owned by Philip and Marcia Rooney; $250,000 purchase price, $102,500 for replacement housing, $15,000 in moving expenses, $4,000 in title costs.
• 8230 Sailor Ave., Upper Lake, 4.77 acres, owned by Ruth E. Embry; $115,855 purchase price; $2,000 in moving expenses; $4,000 in title costs.

With the funds delayed De Leon said not only are the county’s purchases in danger of falling through but the sellers’ new property purchases were in jeopardy.

“The state’s creating a lot of problems for us here and a lot of problems for these folks,” he said.

De Leon said his department was made aware last week that the state wanted additional review of the properties, including reviews of every title encumbrance to see how it may potentially impact the project and environmental reviews that are less than six months old. He said the department emailed the state about the encumbrances and couldn’t get a response.

The alternative to waiting and endangering the sales was to use reserve funds to cover the $913,355 needed for all four properties, with De Leon anticipating the state would reimburse the county in eight to 10 weeks.

Board Chair Rob Brown was concerned about the possibility that the state might pull the plug on the program and not reimburse the county. De Leon said having the county front the money for the sales is allowed in the state grant program’s process. He said the county also had an agreement with the state to cover the purchases.

De Leon said the only potential risk was if during an environmental review the county discovered an issue on one of the properties that it would be required to clean up. However, he felt the risk was low, adding that county and state staff have been on the properties within the last six months.

Supervisor Denise Rushing said the project is just too important to make the process more complicated.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said the restoration project was a No. 1 project for the county, suggesting they wouldn’t be losing a lot if the reimbursement didn’t came through.

Some of the affected property owners spoke about their concerns about the process, which has proved to be stressful.

“This process needs to be streamlined somehow,” said Robert Sterling, who said he’s now paying for two mortgages while he waits for the money to come through.

Kevin Morrill said he and his wife – whose parents owned the property before them – are trying to move to Nebraska to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

As they’re waiting for the escrow to close on their new home in Nebraska, the potential for the sale falling through is causing difficulties for the seller, who is trying to purchase another home, Morrill said.

Morrill said he appreciated that the board was doing, and that it made he and his wife feel like they mattered. “Nobody cares. It’s a piece of property to everybody else.”

The board unanimously voted to cover the purchases, with De Leon saying he was going back to work immediately to get the paperwork to the auditor’s office by day’s end in order to complete the sales.

De Leon told Lake County News after the meeting that the county had made a number of property purchases several years ago before the state funding was frozen.

In March 2011, after a levee in the restoration area was breached, the county received assistance from Assemblyman Wes Chesbro’s office in addressing the funding freeze.

Later that month, the California Department of Water Resources released $7 million to purchase properties in the area, as Lake County News has reported.

De Leon said that while the funds recently became unfrozen, the state added new requirements.

He estimated there are still about 80 properties the county needs to purchase for the wetland restoration area.

“It is taking quite a bit of time,” he said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .