From the property the county is seeking to purchase, there are spectacular views of the county and beyond. Photos courtesy of Kim Clymire.

LAKE COUNTY – The county's effort to acquire a large area of property on the top of Mt. Konocti will take its next step forward next month, when the Board of Supervisors holds a public hearing on the purchase.

The matter is scheduled for a hearing at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, during which the board will review and consider signing the purchase agreement reached between the county and the Fowler family, the property's current owners. At that time the board also will take public comment.

The county is currently pursuing the purchase of a 176-acre area on Buckingham Peak, which is the site of communications towers – and generates $75,000 in revenue annually – and an additional 1,512 acres encompassing a substantial area including the mountain's major peaks.

At a March 18 public hearing, the Board of Supervisors gave unanimous consent to moving forward with negotiations and setting aside $1.2 million to purchase the communications towers site.

Public Services Director Kim Clymire reported that, since then, the acquisition negotiating team – which includes Clymire, county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, County Counsel Anita Grant, and Supervisors Rob Brown and Ed Robey – successfully completed a recent round of negotiations with the Fowlers' representative, attorney Peter Windrem.

That agreement, which the Fowlers already have signed, is allowing the county to move forward with the acquisition, said Clymire.

Cox said the board will consider two actions on Aug. 5 – approving the actual purchase agreement for the tower site and considering the option agreement for the remaining 1,512 acres, at a price of $2.6 million.

The agreement calls for closing escrow on the 176-acre site within 60 days, said Cox. “It would be done right away, just as soon as we could close escrow.”

Purchase of the remaining property, said Cox, is supposed to be concluded by Sept. 15, 2009, although he said there is some “wiggle room” possible.

The county will be required to put $100,000 down on that part of the property, said Cox. “We're not about to lose $100,000 so we're definitely going to buy it.”

Clymire told Lake County News in a previous interview that the county is in discussions with the Bureau of Land Management about getting help from a property exchange program that could help fund buying the larger parcel.

There also will be local fundraising, with the assistance of the Lake County Land Trust, said Clymire.

Clymire said he also had applied to Congressman Mike Thompson, and US Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for their assistance. “All three of them have expressed support for the acquisition.”

Cox said the county believe it's going to be able to secure some degree of both state and federal funding for buying the Mt. Konocti lands.

He said county representatives will meet with representatives from Thompson's and Feinstein's offices toward the end of August. There's also the possibility of bond funding, he added.

“We have a lot of work to do, but all signs are that there will be federal participation in this, and maybe state participation,” Cox said.

The Fowler family has owned the property for decades and gave the county the first opportunity to purchase the land in an offering made late last year, as Lake County News has reported.

For views from the top of the Mt. Konocti property, see the Mt. Konocti gallery, http://lakeconews.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,37/.

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