LAKEPORT, Calif. – During a short Tuesday morning session, the Board of Supervisors heard an update on an energy efficiency project which resulted in the county receiving a refund check, and also held a public hearing on a proposed road benefit zone.
Supervisor Jeff Smith was absent for the meeting.
Officials from Pacific Gas & Electric were on hand to present the county with a refund check for $13,992 thanks to an energy efficiency project that began in 2010.
PG&E representative Robert Cherry told the board that in mid-2010 Caroline Chavez, then deputy director and now director of the Public Service Department, contacted the company to ask for help with fast-tracking an energy efficiency project.
He said the county was applying for stimulus funds through a state program that was designed by the federal government.
“There were a lot of bumps in the road, it was tough,” said Cherry, adding that they got through it.
Two years later, the completed project included the installation of 27 air conditioning and heating units, 160 plug load sensors, nearly 200 lighting occupancy sensors installed around the courthouse, new lightning systems throughout county facilities, including the jail, and an algae aerating system at Holiday Harbor in Nice, he said.
That new equipment will save the county an estimated $17,000 annually on PG&E bills, and has reduced the county’s carbon dioxide footprint by 56 metric tons, Cherry said.
As a result, the county was receiving the rebate check, said Cherry, who added that other lightning projects are planned as well.
Supervisor Denise Rushing thanked PG&E and recognized Public Services and Chavez for her efforts, as well as the work of the Community Development Department and its director, Rick Coel.
Also on Tuesday, Public Works Director Scott De Leon went to the board regarding the proposed establishment of County Service Area 23-Zone R, Chippewa South, in the Clear Lake Riviera Subdivision in Kelseyville. There are 385 parcels in the proposed benefit zone.
On Aug. 14, the board had initiated the 45-day balloting process for the proposed establishment of a benefit zone for road improvements.
The Tuesday hearing was a necessary step to receive public input and accept last-minute ballots from property owners.
No ballots were submitted, but resident Tom Nixon, the only speaker, thanked the board for its help.
He said he wasn’t sure what was going to happen. “I’m as anxious as everybody else is.”
Nixon also thanked Board Chair Rob Brown and De Leon for their assistance.
Brown said that the ballot count at that point indicated there were 96 ballots supporting the zone’s establishment and 93 against.
“It appears that it has passed by three,” Brown said.
De Leon said his staff would make a final ballot tabulation and bring back a final resolution at the board’s Oct. 23 meeting.
Brown closed the public hearing – which also ended the time period during which ballots could be received – with the board setting Oct. 23 for consideration of the final resolution and ballot count.
De Leon also asked the board on Tuesday for approval of an agreement with Santa Rosa-based GHD Inc. for engineering services on two bridge rehabilitation projects – the Clover Creek Bridge on Bridge Arbor North Road and the Middle Creek Bridge on Rancheria Road.
The projects are funded by the Federal Highway Administration’s bridge program and California Bridge Toll-Credit funds, according to De Leon’s report to the board.
No local match funds are required, and the projects are 100-funded, De Leon said.
He said of the federal bridge program, “As a taxpayer it’s not one of my favorite programs, but as a public works director, I love it.”
That’s because he said it allows the county to replace structures it otherwise couldn’t afford to fix.
He said Lake is one of the state’s top counties in California in terms of the number of structures for which it’s pursuing the rehabilitation funding.
De Leon said the all-inclusive contract with GHD also calls for the company to handle subcontractors, which will save staff time. He said GHD had hired three local firms for some of the subcontracting work.
Rushing moved to approve the agreement, which the board approved 4-0.
In other business Tuesday, the board approved the findings of fact and denied Old Muddy II’s appeal of a mitigated negative declaration and minor use permit for a small winery at 8200 S. Highway 29 in Kelseyville; allocated a temporary fifth animal control officer position; and approved an amended light duty policy for employees.
The supervisors also held a hearing for a nuisance abatement assessment of $8,402.36 on property at 1956 Big Valley Road in Finley, owned by Cassandra Murphy, and approved the assessment; approved allocations from Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funds totaling $100,000 for the sheriff-coroner, $25,000 for the jail and $14,000 for the District Attorney’s Office; and presented a proclamation to local 4-H members designating Oct. 7-13 as National 4-H Week.
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