LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a Lake County Special Districts request to convert a portion of a county loan to a grant to increase the agency's chances of receiving state funding for infrastructure improvements at the Lakeside Heights subdivision.
A landslide that began last March at the 29-home north Lakeport subdivision, located off of Hill Road across from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, damaged several homes.
The cause remains under dispute, with homeowners alleging that leaks in the county's water infrastructure saturated the hillside, causing the ground movement.
County officials hold that leak reports don't back up the homeowners' assertions, with tort claims the property owners submitted this summer turned down by the county's third party liability administrator.
Two of the damaged homes were demolished earlier this month as county officials moved forward with winterizing the slide area at the subdivision.
Special Districts Compliance Coordinator Jan Coppinger took the request to the board, which sat jointly as the Lake County Sanitation Board of Directors.
In April, the board approved a $350,000 loan to Special Districts to address the water and sewer infrastructure in the subdivision. Since then, the California Department of Public Health has provided grant funds to reimburse Special Districts for costs associated with the water system.
Special Districts officials reported that the agency has spent approximately $64,729.92 of the board's loan on sewer replacement costs, including two new manholes, pumps, electrical, temporary piping, security fence and labor. The department is working with the County Counsel's Office to submit a claim to the county's insurance carrier for reimbursement of those costs.
To address the sewer collection system, Special Districts has applied to the State Water Resources Control Board for grant funds totaling just over $299,000 to pay for geotechnical monitoring and sewer relocation design work.
Coppinger told the board Tuesday that state water board staff has suggested the county reduce its request to under $250,000, which will allow the agency staff to make the determination on whether the county will receive the funds.
Otherwise, she said the request will have to wait until the water board's next meeting in November, putting the project off until next spring.
“It's really an uphill battle,” Coppinger said of getting the grant funding, with state officials not giving the county much encouragement on its chances of receiving the funds.
However, if state water board staff denies the grant, Coppinger said the county can seek the state board's approval. “We get one more opportunity to make our case and try to get this funding.”
Coppinger said it's already been determined that it was not appropriate to pass on the costs for Lakeside Heights' infrastructure relocation to all Special District customers in the Northwest Regional Wastewater System.
Thus, Special Districts was asking for the supervisors to convert $49,020 of the loan into a grant so the funding request to the state could be reduced and the chances of a successful application increased, Coppinger said.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry said Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger had spoken to him before bringing the request forward, and Perry concurred that the request would increase the chances of getting the grant.
Perry said the funds for the $350,000 loan to Special Districts were borrowed from the county's infrastructure reserve fund.
Randall Fitzgerald, president of the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association, asked what the options were in the absence of state funding assistance.
“Well, they're limited,” said Coppinger.
Coppinger said the county could assess the Lakeside Heights homeowners, “which we really all know is a nonoption,” she said.
There aren't many other funding avenues, said Coppinger, adding that Special Districts is focusing on the state funding opportunity.
“This is where all of our hope is right now, is on this grant,” she said.
In answering Fitzgerald's questions, Coppinger confirmed that there were no federal funding options, just the state.
Fitzgerald asked how long they estimated the neighborhood could survive on a temporary sewer system like the one they have now.
“We were hoping to have it completed before winter,” said Coppinger, explaining that the temporary pipes – which are above ground – are at risk of freezing and other damage.
“Really, it's gone longer than it should have with this type of setup that we have,” she said. “We really do not want to see this try to last through the winter.”
She said Special Districts staff will be checking the equipment daily, which will increase costs, and reiterated that they want to get the work done before the hard freezes take place this winter.
Fitzgerald asked if the county has ever maintained a temporary system through the winter before. Coppinger said she wasn't sure.
“This is quite unusual,” she said.
The fact that the subdivision's temporary sewer system is at risk is one of the main reasons that the state water board staff has tried to work with the county on the very unusual situation.
If the county reduces the request to less than $250,000, the county could have an answer within two weeks, Coppinger said.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington was absent and Supervisor Rob Brown recused himself from the discussion due to his daughter and son-in-law owning a home in the subdivision.
Supervisor Jim Comstock moved to approve converting the $49,000 loan to a grant to go toward the sewer relocation project at Lakeside Heights, which board colleagues Denise Rushing and Jeff Smith joined him in approving.
On Oct. 8, the board also had approved a $20,000 budget transfer for additional work on the subdivision's winterization project. The funds will cover additional work to be performed by Coleman Construction, which will grade and install plastic sheeting on areas north and south of the original work area on the slide.
In other business on Tuesday, the board held a workshop that ran more than two and a half hours on the proposed Lake County Clear Lake Programs Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance, or the “Healthy Lake Ordinance,” a proposed half-percent sales tax that the board is considering placing on a ballot next year.
The board took no formal action at the end of the workshop, with Public Works Director Scott De Leon saying he intended to return to the board at the Nov. 5 meeting to address some additional aspects of the proposal.
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