KELSEYVILLE – The county's Code Enforcement manager gave the Board of Supervisors on update on Tuesday on a massive abatement case the county voted to act on last month.

The case of Charles Fowler's 360-acre property on Adobe Creek Road – which Board Chair Ed Robey said was one of the biggest abatement cases the county has dealt with – went before the board at its Jan. 15 meeting, as Lake County News has reported.

The property is littered with old cars and appliances, garbage, dilapidated mobile homes and tons of greenwaste.

While the board voted to abate the case, they also included in that vote provision to give time for Fowler's adult daughter, Sara, to help come up with a cleanup plan to help her ailing father.

Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield told the board that since the Jan. 15 meeting, they have received a proposed cleanup plan from Sara Fowler.

However, Brumfield said the agencies involved in supervising the situation – including Code Enforcement, Environmental Health and the District Attorney's Office – were concerned that Sara Fowler's plans doesn't designate time frames for cleanup, means of disposal or locations of the materials.

The agencies haven't been able to fully evaluate the newest plan, which they had only received by 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Brumfield said.

Further hangups involved Charles Fowler denying Code Enforcement access to his property, citing concerns about erosion, Brumfield said.

She added that Code Enforcement staff has nevertheless prepared warrants to seek a judge's permission to enter the property to assess the situation.

Brumfield said the cooperating agencies working on the Fowler case met to discuss a phased abatement process. She said they plan to move forward with cleaning up the property if the Fowlers' plans don't pan out.

Robey asked Brumfield if they needed further help from the board as far as setting a course.

“At this point we feel we have been given direction by the board sufficient to move forward with the abatement of the property,” said Brumfield.

Another potential sticking point is that Sara Fowler still does not have legal authority to intercede for her father in the cleanup.

Charles Fowler told the county his daughter is acting on his behalf, but board members, including Supervisor Rob Brown, remained concerned that Sara Fowler needs power of attorney to truly take control of the situation.

For two years, Lakeport Disposal had dumped greenwaste on the property. The company has previously stated that it paid Charles Fowler $500 a month to handle the materials, while Fowler claimed he was not paid, as Lake County News has reported.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington noted in the meeting that company officials told him the greenwaste had been removed, but from the report he said he could see that wasn't the case.

Lakeport Disposal told Lake County News last month that they had gone out to the property and bulldozed the greenwaste to help distribute it, and had removed a large amount of plastic and other trash that had been mixed in with the greenwaste.

Ray Ruminski of Environmental Health said this week that his agency is conducting a separate enforcement case relating to the greenwaste being dumped at Fowler's property and not a permitted facility. Environmental Health is the local enforcement agency for the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

Environmental Health was concerned about the greenwaste because of the amount dumped, its ability to catch on fire and also because it had been placed in a watershed, as Ruminski told Lake County News last month.

District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who had spoken about his office's involvement on Jan. 15, told Lake County News Tuesday that one of his investigators and his environmental circuit prosecutor are working with the county team on the abatement process.

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

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