LAKEPORT, Calif. – County department heads involved in the Valley fire recovery work updated the Board of Supervisors this week on latest developments in areas including cleanup, temporary housing and tree removal.

One of the key steps the board took at its Tuesday morning meeting was to continue the health emergency due to the Valley fire conditions that Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait first declared in late September.

Since then, the board – as it's required to do – has revisited and continued the health emergency proclamation every two weeks.

“The proclamation is tied closely to the debris removal program, and we expect to continue this proclamation through its completion,” Tait told the board.

Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski told the board that, as of just before the Thanksgiving holiday, 1,244 properties burned in the fire had registered for CalRecycle's cleanup program, with about 100 others pursuing cleanup through private contractors.

In the CalRecycle program, 455 parcels have been cleared of debris, 267 of those have been sampled for heavy metals and of those properties that were tested, 131 had samples back that met cleanup requirements, said Ruminski.

He said there is a 10-percent fail rate in the testing, usually due to asbestos – found in building materials like pressure-treated wood – that appears in soil samples.

When samples fail to pass, Ruminski said crews go back to the particular properties, scrape down and remove another 2 inches of soil in areas where the asbestos testing was high.

As of last week, 53 teams were involved in the residential cleanup, Ruminski said.

The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to continue the emergency health proclamation, and agreed to hold a special meeting on the morning of Dec. 22 in order to extend the proclamation when it is next due for consideration.

Also on Tuesday, Carol Huchingson, the county's Social Services director and recovery coordinator, updated the board on other fire recovery-related matters.

She said Cathy Saderlund, the county clerk/auditor-controller, has invited the federal Office of the Inspector General to do a pre-audit on how the county has handled the Valley fire finances.

“The feds said that was unusual that a county would reach out and request that, but we want to make sure we get it right,” Huchingson said.

She said Undersheriff Chris Macedo is working with officials to keep in place portable cell towers brought into the county during the fire. There are concerns that without the towers – which were slated to be taken to the Bay Area for other purposes – there would be difficulties in local cell communications.

She said FEMA has leased pads at the Clearlake Resort in Clearlake and a mobile home park for ages 55 and older in Clearlake Oaks for the purpose of placing manufactured housing units. FEMA is still pursuing a site on Grange Road near Middletown for a group manufactured home site.

On Tuesday, notices of nuisance were mailed out to property owners impacted by the Valley fire who had failed to submit right of entry letters for cleanup, she said.

Those property owners will have 30 days to comply or else they will be abated, with Huchingson explaining that the goal is to get the properties cleaned up while the state crews are here.

The Community Development Department is preparing to open a satellite permit center at the Middletown Senior Center, with hours from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, Huchingson said. In the spring, it's intended that Community Development staff will work seven to eight hours a day at the site.

Huchingson said she also is continuing to hold office hours in Middletown, and continues to hear about new concerns, including impacts on businesses. In the case of one business owner seeing her business drop, Huchingson planned to brainstorm with other officials to find out what help is available.

Huchingson also reported on the Hidden Valley Lake Campground, where dozens of fire survivors – as well as a number of others who weren't displaced by the fire – have been living, despite attempts by county officials to find them other amenities.

The campground is set to close for the winter on Dec. 7, and Huchingson said Social Services and Behavioral Health staff have been working with campers, particularly those in tents, to find them other places to stay. At a resource fair held the Thursday before Thanksgiving, 11 families registered for assistance.

At last count, there were about 80 people at the campground, but Huchingson said new problems were arising.

She said free, unsupervised use of utilities had drawn people who are not fire survivors. There also have been other issues, with Macedo reporting to her on Monday that sheriff's deputies responded to the campground for a fight involving a weapon.

“It's probably time for that campground to close,” she said.

The county has been contracting with Konocti Harbor Resort in Kelseyville to offer a certain number of refurbished rooms, Huchingson said. At last count, there were 120 people in about 50 refurbished rooms.

The original agreement between the county and Konocti Harbor was for six months, with the backing of the state. However, the arrival of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its payment policies make it necessary to end that agreement. Huchingson said FEMA either pays a hotel rate or rental assistance.

She credited resort management with going above and beyond in providing resources, and being willing to work out the details so they can take FEMA assistance directly in order to continue to offer temporary housing to fire survivors.

Huchingson said it may be three to four months before there are significant numbers of FEMA manufactured housing units in group sites for displaced Valley fire survivors.

She said the vast majority of people in transitional housing are renters, and the rebuilding of rental stock is a long range undertaking, which is why the temporary housing is needed.

In other updates, Public Works Director Scott De Leon told the board that a county-hired arborist has completed identifying trees in the right of way. The trees have been marked with the letters “LC” in white, to denote they are to be taken down as part of the county's tree removal project.

He said the county was continuing to work with FEMA on environmental clearance and hoped to begin removal of trees already down in the right of way by week's end.

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.