The restaurant, on Dam Road Extension in Clearlake, was built by Redding-based developer Barry Johnson, who has completed other projects locally, including the Department of Motor Vehicles building in Lakeport.
Johnson and business partner Dave Hughes had gone before the Board of Supervisors – sitting as the board for Lake County Special Districts – last Tuesday. Reaching a decision had been delayed a week after the board went into an emergency closed session based on a comment by Johnson that board members perceived as a litigation threat.
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger had given Johnson a conditional “will serve” letter in May saying the county would allow the restaurant to hook up if certain conditions were met.
The problem with hooking up to the system arose from the fact that the infrastructure is taxed and has experienced spills resulting in expensive fines for the county, according to Dellinger.
At the Sept. 16 meeting, the board had directed Dellinger to get information on the mitigations necessary to allow the restaurant to hook up, and also asked Dellinger and County Counsel Anita Grant to put together a security agreement that would ensure Johnson makes the necessary upgrades.
The agreement requires Johnson to pay Lake County Special Districts $130,515 in cash in order to cover “mitigation measures, restorative charges and shared costs” necessary to service the restaurant with a sewer connection. In lieu of cash, Johnson can supply a security in the form of a cashier's check or letter of credit for $195,773, which is one and a half times the cost for the mitigation measures.
Interim measures, such as a temporary pumping station, will need to be put in place before the next storm season in order to avoid spills, said Dellinger.
He also brought the board an estimate for $1.2 million to fully update that part of the sewer system, with improvements including a forced main and a new pump station.
Board Chair Ed Robey said that, under current policy, residential development can hook up to the system without fees, while commercial is made to pay. Robey suggested fees should be applied to all construction.
Board members also questioned the high cost to hook up the restaurant. Dellinger said it worked out to $18,645 per single family unit equivalent, and the Carl's Jr. is expected to have the equivalent impact of seven single family homes.
Dellinger said the issues in the area are one reason for the higher cost. “We don't have the magnitude of problems in our other collection systems that we have in this one right now.”
He added that he's concerned that future spills could be much more expensive than a recent $60,000 fine against the county.
Even with the problems, Dellinger noted there is a possibility of 630 single family hookup equivalents in that part of the system.
Hughes encouraged the board to move forward with fixing the sewer system's problems and finding a way to pay for it, and agreed that both commercial and residential development should be part of the solution.
He said he was baffled by the $18,645 figure per hookup; he said if all hookups paid that amount it would total about $10 million, far above the $1.2 million estimate to fully upgrade the system.
However, Hughes said he wanted to focus on getting Carl's Jr. open. “I don't think the Carl's Jr. project is going to be a significant enough addition to the problem that all of a sudden we have to have pumping trucks standing by.”
He also encouraged the board to act quickly, because the area could lose economic opportunities and jobs due to delays.
“We need to get it open. We need the jobs, we need the sales tax revenue in the city and the county,” Hughes said.
Supervisor Denise Rushing disagreed with the county having issued the will serve letter. “We weren't ready for this is what is the issue,” he said.
She agreed with other board members that there should be a refund mechanism for Johnson if some of the interim measures that will be put in place, like a temporary pump station, can somehow be reused.
Robey also said he felt Johnson should get some financial credit for having paid $23,000 to fund a study that looks at the overall costs to fix the system.
In a 4-0 vote – with Supervisor Anthony Farrington absent – the board approved the security, indemnification and regulatory agreement with Johnson.
Hughes told Lake County News following the hearing that Johnson intended to move forward quickly with the agreement in order to get the restaurant open.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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