The 5-0 decision was made at the board's Tuesday meeting.
Before the item came up before the board, Spring Valley residents Cathy and David Jones spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting regarding a citation issued against the Spring Valley water system last year by the California Department of Public Health.
The Joneses claimed that Lake County Special Districts had not addressed the citation or made the necessary fixes, and the board could therefore be responsible for people becoming sick.
Supervisor Denise Rushing said the citation is being worked on, and that Special Districts met with state officials and the Spring Valley system's advisory board last week regarding the citation.
During the board's consideration of the moratorium, the Joneses again spoke up, and were the only Spring Valley residents to do so.
Cathy Jones said the board passed an urgency ordinance previously to protect the area's residents, but failed to demand Special Districts fix the problem that led to the citation.
“This ordinance does not fix the ignored citation issue,” she said.
Jones further suggested that noncompliance with the citation was being used as a lever to pressure Spring Valley residents into expanding their water system, and suggested their water could become contaminated due to “outlandish delays.”
“Fixing our system is necessary, we know that,” she said. “Expansion beyond that is not financially realistic. It's asking too much of property owners to fund an expansion we might need down the road for growth.”
Rushing said the board and the county aren't “ignoring” the citation. She said the board directed Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger to work with the state, which he's done, and the result is they've reached a conclusion.
She said Dellinger met with Bruce Burton of the Department of Public Health on Nov. 6, and the county will install flow meters as part of a capital project to improve and expand the system.
Dellinger said the state may allow Special Districts to defer a stationary backup generation and some storage, which will put their overall system project at $1.4 million, down from $2.1 million.
He said the county has $400,000 in reserves for the project, but will need an extra $1 million in grants. A fee increase in Spring Valley also will be needed.
That will be handled by lifting the connection moratorium for 55 homes, each of which would pay $18,000 in fees, which Dellinger said would fund the next series of improvements.
David Jones disagreed with Dellinger's summation of the situation. At an October meeting the board held in Spring Valley, Jones passed out water production numbers which showed that valley residents only used 43 percent of the water system's capacity, and 34 percent was unaccounted for.
Jones said there are dozens of vacant homes in the area, with foreclosed homes and homes for sale that aren't moving.
“The urgency ordinance as written has a problem,” he said. “There are no water shortages out there. There never were.”
Jones told the board he didn't want to see the urgency ordinance continued.
Dellinger said the state felt the ordinance and hookup moratorium were necessary.
Rushing added that if the county didn't implement the urgency ordinance and the state decided to instead take its own action, “It will take us forever to get out from under it.”
Cathy Jones asked why the county couldn't just fix the flow meters. Rushing relied that the flow meters have to be part of the larger project. Dellinger added that flow meters alone won't solve the capacity problem.
Rushing moved the ordinance, which the board accepted unanimously.
In other board business on Tuesday, members recognized World AIDS Week, which will be commemorated locally Nov. 30 through Dec. 6. Rushing presented a proclamation designating the week to Ken Young, program coordinator for the Community Care HIV/AIDS Project Drop In Center.
Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton gave a presentation to the board as part of its consideration of an agreement with the chamber for marketing, economic development and visitor information services. Fulton said the chamber and the county have been working together for more than 15 years.
The board was in favor of the agreement, but Rushing and Board Chair Ed Robey questioned the chamber's endorsement of political candidates. Fulton said in December 2007, the chamber surveyed its members, 44 percent of which said they didn't support making candidate endorsements, which have since stopped.
The chamber does, however, speak on issues, such as it did when it recently came out against a proposed ban on genetically engineered crops.
Robey said he wanted to see a clause inserted in the county's contract with the chamber that will prevent endorsing candidates in the future.
Also on Tuesday, Robey and other board members noted ongoing problems with service by television and Internet provider Mediacom, which broadcasts board meetings on TV Channel 8 as part of its franchise agreement. However, recent meeting broadcasts haven't taken place due to a variety of technical and equipment issues.
“We've had a series of problems for a series of weeks,” said Robey. “I'm getting a little concerned.”
Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who has been in the midst of taking his law school finals online, said Mediacom's Internet service also has been intermittent in the last few weeks.
“It's just ludicrous,” he said, reporting hundreds of people without their Internet connections, with no explanation.
He said the board needs to let the company know how the outages affect business, commerce and education locally.
Robey plans to have the issue agendized for an upcoming meeting.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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