LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors voted to declare a local emergency because of the continuing deterioration of a hillside that has damaged several homes in a north Lakeport subdivision and which potentially could damage more, as well as public water and sewer lines.
The board voted 4-0 to approve the proclamation declaring a local emergency for the Lakeside Heights subdivision, located off of Hill Road East across from Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Supervisor Rob Brown recused himself from the discussion because one of his family members lives in the subdivision.
In the proclamation it states that the county finds that “conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” exist in the subdivision, with several homes damaged to the point of no longer being habitable, and risk to public water and wastewater facilities, and nearby Hill Road.
The document also is seeking state and federal emergency declarations.
Lake County Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger told the board that the declaration is a way for the county to pursue state and federal funding to relocate the sewer and water infrastructure that serve the subdivision’s homes.
County Counsel Anita Grant added that the emergency may also activate potential funding sources for the subdivision’s homeowners, several of whom are faced with the need to demolish homes that have been pulled from their foundations and made uninhabitable by the sinking hillside.
Dellinger gave a brief update on the situation, which came to light late last month.
The board previously had approved Dellinger contracting with a geotechnical firm to investigate why the hillside was degrading.
He said temporary power is now being installed for a pumping station set up at the subdivision, and he plans to come back before the board next week to discuss strategies for going forward.
While there is a significant decrease in water now coming out of the hillside, Dellinger said there has not been an appreciable slowing in the rate of the hillside’s movement.
He estimated that in the last week week there has been a further elevational drop of another 4 to 5 feet.
Dellinger said the geotechnical engineer the county hired is rethinking his original approach to dealing with the situation. Dellinger said he would cover the new proposal with the board next week.
He also told the board that all of the water and sewer lines to the red-tagged homes have been disconnected.
Dellinger said he was concerned that continued earth movement will damage the county’s water and sewer infrastructure in the area.
The county has worked with a property management company to schedule a meeting for Lakeside Heights homeowners at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Westlake Clubhouse, 3320 Lakeshore Blvd.
A concerned homeowner told the board at Tuesday’s meeting that water continues to flow steadily down the hillside on Downing Drive.
Dellinger said the source of that water is not yet known, adding that it could be groundwater. He also pointed out that there was another water system when the development first was built in the early 1980s.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington moved to approve the emergency, which was approved 4-0.
Dellinger told Lake County News after the meeting that with new fractures continuing to open up in the ground even after dewatering the hillside, Special Districts and the geotechnical engineer are trying to develop a new strategy for solving the problem of the shifting hillside.
“I don’t know that any of us could have predicted what has happened over the last few days,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
041613 Board of Supervisors - Lakeside Heights Emergency Proclamation
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