LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided not to move forward with repairing plastic placed over the landslide area at the Lakeside Height subdivision in north Lakeport, concerned about the high cost for only a temporary fix.
Supervisor Rob Brown recused himself from the discussion, and Jeff Smith was absent from the meeting.
The board had held over the discussion from its meeting last week after asking Public Works Director Scott De Leon and Community Development Director Rick Coel to explore some additional options.
Last March, a landslide began at the 29-home subdivision overlooking Hill Road East. Several homes were damaged, as Lake County News has reported.
The county hired local contractor Coleman Construction to demolish the two most severely damaged homes, contour the area where the homes had been and then place plastic over about five acres of the slide area. The Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association contributed, along with the county, to paying for the plastic covering.
However, the plastic has been damaged by wind, sunlight and animals, leaving the ground exposed in a number of areas.
De Leon spoke to a geotechnical engineer from a consulting firm that has worked on assessing the landslide and confirmed that keeping the ground dry during the rainy season is important.
“It’s how much do you want to spend and how much effort do you want to put into this, knowing this is temporary,” said De Leon, adding there is no guarantee the plastic will help.
He said that he and Coel were not prepared to recommend putting down new plastic due to the cost.
Coleman Construction submitted estimates for putting down new plastic, at a cost of $17,493.86, and for using tarps to cover the hillside, which would cost $25,482.49.
“Is Hill Road East really at risk at this moment?” Supervisor Denise Rushing asked.
“That's a really difficult question,” replied De Leon.
He said the ground movement that has happened so far has not been abrupt or catastrophic. “The chances of it just cascading down the hill and closing the road are probably not very high.”
Randall Fitzgerald, president of the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association, asked if there had been any consideration of attempting erosion control through methods like putting down gravel. De Leon said no, that putting gravel down would add weight to the slide area. He also noted that the slide is not on county owned property.
He said county staff has not been focused on the permanent solution or repair, but has been looking at the more immediate issues of keeping the road open.
Fitzgerald said they were all concerned about how taxpayer money should be spent, and said the short-term solutions don't seem to be feasible or economical.
He asked if an effort could be made to start thinking longterm about possible solutions.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington didn't support spending money to put down new plastic on the slide area. He said he wanted to direct staff to come back at the end of spring or start of summer with other options, including putting down ground cover to stabilize the hillside.
Rushing told De Leon she would like him to do some analysis for a future time regarding how Hill Road East might be approached differently if they were looking at building a road there for the first time or if they had to deal with a catastrophic slide event.
Fitzgerald told Lake County News after the meeting that, based on his daily observations, there has not been further ground movement at the subdivision since last summer.
He didn't disagree with the board's decision to not make repairs to the plastic cover on the slide.
“We homeowners would rather the county do nothing at this stage than to spend taxpayer money
on more plastic sheeting that would be pulled up in late spring anyway,” he said. “We want to see a longterm solution to the erosion, not any more expensive Band-Aids.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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