MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall met on Thursday to discuss a wide range of topics, from decorative banners to a Dollar General store proposal and an energy purchase program.

At the start of the meeting, MATH Chair Fletcher Thornton said he wanted to make a statement about the group.

“When we started MATH, we wanted to have a platform for people in the community to come and express their views on issues that we were looking at in the community,” he said.

What they didn't envision, said Thornton, “was an activist role” on local issues.

He said MATH's role is to bring the community together. The group also has given people a forum to talk about everything from barking dogs to code enforcement and even odd house paint colors.

Originally, the idea behind MATH was to provide input to the district's supervisor. Thornton said that has changed, with the current supervisor, Jim Comstock, welcoming the group to give its input directly to the Board of Supervisors when it wishes.

Thornton asked Comstock to give the group an idea of what he thinks about the activist role that MATH has appeared to be heading toward, “because we report to him.”

“I did not know that this was coming,” said Comstock.

“Activism is wonderful and it has its place,” Comstock continued, but said marching and waving signs won't affect him on matters that come before the board. He said he deals only in facts.

Thornton noted he has been getting nervous due to MATH's involvement in the issues surrounding a proposal to locate a Dollar General store in the town, an item on the group's agenda that night.

Joe Sullivan, the district's representative on the Lake County Planning Commission, said such issues can cause division. They have stayed away from divisive issues because their goal was to create a better Middletown.

“I think that a town hall is a place for debate,” said Lisa Kaplan, adding that because MATH has a large role in the Middletown Area Plan, that it is important to discuss matters related to development and growth in MATH's forum. Thornton said everyone agreed with that.

Kaplan then went on to present one of the meeting's main discussion topics, a proposal she put forward to hang decorative banners on the town's light poles between the high school and the senior center as a way of making the town more inviting.

She said she contacted Caltrans and Pacific Gas and Electric that week to ask about requirements, and gathered information on permitting and applications in an effort to get the process rolling.

Thornton said the first question that needed to be brought before MATH was if the group wanted to be involved in the banners project or if the Middletown Area Merchants Association – which had hung banners in the past – wanted to have input. Kaplan said she was planning to approach the merchants association next.

During the discussion it was noted that since the merchants association had previously done the banners, permits already should be in place. It also was suggested that the banners could help slow traffic through the town.

Comstock said the banners are an expensive project, and that the Board of Supervisors would have to sign off on the permits.

Voris Brumfield said Calpine also had worked on the banners but had stopped doing it. She also noted the expense.

Thornton said the matter needed to be taken to the merchants association and then brought back to MATH for further discussion. He said MATH also needed to speak to county officials.

MATH Board member Claude Brown suggested Kaplan speak to the merchants association and come back with some concepts, and he volunteered to go and speak to the county.

Thornton said the matter would be put back on the agenda in August.

In other business, Monica Rosenthal gave an update on the committee that MATH had voted at its last meeting to form in order to explore the proposal for a Dollar General store at 20900 Highway 29.

A complete application hasn't yet been submitted for the project, which is being spearheaded by the Texas-based firm Cross Development, which builds the stores and leases them to Dollar General.

Rosenthal said five people met to take part in the committee, which is meant to objectively review the strengths and weaknesses of Dollar General's Middletown proposal.

The group read through the Middletown Area Plan, which Rosenthal said provides a foundation for such projects when it comes to the location.

The plan states that new development should be subject to design review guidelines, with an emphasis on maintaining Middletown's small town character and lifestyle.

She said the plan speaks to community identity and looks at incompatible construction. In reviewing Cross Development's Dollar General proposal, Rosenthal said the committee had concerns due to compatibility, fitting the town's theme and lifestyle, signage and building design.

“Two of the bigger concerns were building site orientation and parking,” she said, noting that the Middletown Area Plan calls for parking to be in the back of the building, not the front, which is what is called for in the Dollar General store layout.

“The other serious concern is traffic impacts,” she said, noting the store's close proximity to Middletown High School.

She said the committee identified several policies in the Middletown Area Plan that are inconsistent with the Dollar General as proposed.

She also noted that there could be a number of reasons why a complete proposal hasn't been submitted for the plan, from community outcry with regard to the Kelseyville store proposal – which the Lake County Planning Commission denied but which is scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors July 21 on appeal – as well as significant road improvements Caltrans is seeking at the site.

If a complete application is submitted for the store, the Community Development Department would conduct an initial study. At that point, Rosenthal said the Middletown Dollar General committee will have something to work with, and could submit a letter regarding its concerns to the county.

Also on the Thursday agenda, Gigi and Roy Stahl gave a presentation on power purchasing in the wake of the Board of Supervisors' approval last month of an ordinance to establish a community choice aggregation program.

Such programs allow for lower rates for ratepayers and a more selective mix of energy sources in the local energy portfolio, including an increase in alternative sources such as solar, wind and geothermal.

This spring, a new firm called California Clean Power Corp. came to the county with a proposal for a turnkey solution to run such a program, promising a 2-percent rate reduction and $2 million annually for the county.

However, the Stahls said they were concerned that the county needed to better explore its options, pointing out that a similar program in Sonoma saves as much as 11 percent for ratepayers and in Marin, savings of up to 8 percent have been achieved.

“If we do this in Lake County, we should tailor it to Lake County needs,” said Roy Stahl, an electrical engineer.

He said local jobs could be generated and it could be an exciting opportunity – “if it's done right.”

After the California Clean Power Corp. proposal came forward, the Stahls began making contact with the organizations in Marin and Sonoma counties that are running such programs and compiling data for analysis.

“Everyone's looking at Lake County. They are waiting for us and wondering what we are going to do,” Gigi Stahl said.

She added, “The bottom line is, let's urge our Board of Supervisors to slow down a little bit and look at all the various options.”

That includes inviting other service providers to share what they can offer, she said. That's what Mendocino County did, when it invited five different entities to provide information.

The Stahls urged community members to learn more about the program, and tell their friends and neighbors.

Also on Thursday, MATH heard an update from Marlene Elder on the effort to bring free family movies to the Middletown Square Park each month during the summer.

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.