LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the documents needed to move forward on an annexation and water main project for the Clearlake Oaks County Water District and the County Service Area serving Paradise Valley.

Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger and his compliance manager, Jan Coppinger, took the matter to the board on Tuesday morning.

The effort to annex County Service Area No. 16-Paradise Valley – which serves nearly 80 homes in the Paradise Cove community – into the Clearlake Oaks County Water District has been under way for some time.

County and district officials have agreed that it provides the best alternative for getting Paradise Valley's homeowners the dependable water supply they need.

Despite the drilling of additional wells, the Paradise Valley water system has had water capacity issues for several years, is under a connection moratorium and, because of the drought, is under mandatory conservation requirements.

Last November, the county received $2.6 million in state funding for water-related projects, as Lake County News.

That total included $1,378,000 for the new pipeline project. Another $375,000 match is coming from Dr. James Berger, a principal of Brookwood Land Development LLC.

Berger plans to develop the 77-unit Paradise Valley Ranch housing project across Highway 20 from Paradise Cove.

During the Tuesday discussion, Dellinger explained that the 8-inch water main would extend approximately 1.8 miles between Paradise Valley and Clearlake Oaks, connecting the two water systems.

He said the contractor, O.C. Jones & Sons – which already is working with Caltrans on the ongoing Highway 20 overlay project – estimated there was a 45- to 60-day timeframe in which to complete the project.

Dellinger told the board he was concerned that if the project didn't manage to move forward within the time frame, it could delay O.C. Jones in its work for Caltrans, which could result in as much as $170,000 in additional costs through contract change orders.

Concerns about capacity

The Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board approved the preannexation and annexation agreement ahead of the supervisors' Tuesday meeting.

“This is a project that needs to happen,” said Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board Vice President Richard Kuehn.

However, Kuehn and his fellow board members had voted against a “will serve” letter to Brookwood Land Development.

That's because Kuehn said the district was concerned about having to meet the development's water needs at some point in the future when it might not have capacity.

Board Chair Anthony Farrington said the district wouldn't be required to provide hookups if there was a water moratorium, adding that's the risk any developer takes.

Dellinger, referring to the letter's language, said the document made it clear that the developer understands that there might be limitations in the future due to a moratorium.

Kuehn said they don't want to limit development in Clearlake Oaks. “This project's ready to go forward, other than this will serve letter,” he said.

During the discussion, Kuehn said the district would not commit to the “open-ended” will serve letter.

Among the benefits of the project, Coppinger told the board, is that the Clearlake Oaks water district will be allowed by the state to move one of its grant applications to the head of the line for consideration.

“It's a real benefit to the Oaks,” she said.

Dellinger said he thought it had been made clear that if there were to be a connection moratorium in the future, “all bets are off,” but he added that Berger's property is going to be annexed into the district.

Richard Carlile, the engineer who is working with Berger on the project, said the will serve letter is a placeholder, and that the developer knew there may be moratoriums in the future.

He suggested that the wording of the letter be clarified to say that it is conditional, and subject to the Clearlake Oaks district having capacity at the time of the Paradise Valley Ranch annexation.

Carlile said the project so far has a general plan of development approved for it. “There's a long ways to go for Dr. Berger's project,” he said, adding that Berger is willing to put up the money for it.

County Counsel Anita Grant cautioned that the county could add in the suggested language but recommended that the board's approval of the will serve letter be conditional on the Clearlake Oaks board's approval.

Supervisor Jim Steele asked if the updated will serve letter will delay the project. Dellinger said no, that the construction, modeling and archaeological monitoring contracts before the board were the priority items.

Farrington called it a “win-win” project that will bring jobs and economic development to the Northshore.

The board then separately approved a letter of agreement to participate in the Proposition 84 Integrated Regional Water Management Drought Grant with Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District as the fiscal agent; adopted a resolution approving the preannexation and annexation agreement between CSA No. 16 and Clearlake Oaks County Water District; waived the competitive bidding process and approved the award of the $800,000 construction contract to O.C. Jones & Sons for the pipeline installation; waved the consultant selection process and approved the agreement for engineering services for the water distribution system modeling with MC Engineering in an amount not to exceed $37,800; and approved the agreement with Pacific Legacy Inc. for archaeological services for the pipeline project in an amount not to exceed $37,000.

'A do or die situation'

The Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board is now expected to go back and accept the will serve letter for Brookwood with additional language suggested by Carlile – “as long as capacity exists” when annexation occurs – to address that board's concerns about future capacity.

As for County Service Area No. 16, Coppinger told Lake County News in a separate interview that once the annexation is finalized, that service area will dissolve and become a part of the overall Clearlake Oaks County Water District.

With the project moving into its next steps, “We are under a huge crunch,” said Coppinger.

That's because the pipeline has to be in the ground before Caltrans finishes its overlay project. Otherwise, Coppinger said there will be a seven-year moratorium on any action to cut into the road to place new infrastructure like the pipeline.

“It's a do or die situation for us,” she said.

Road work already is under way on the project, Coppinger added.

“We have to get that little stretch of pipe in quickly,” she said.

Coppinger said the goal is to have O.C. Jones digging the new pipeline by June 1 in order to not delay the company's work with Caltrans.

She said the project is one that benefits everyone involved.

“This is a win-win-win, and very seldom do we see a situation where we put something together where everybody wins,” she said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.