Hosted by District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, the afternoon meeting was held at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, the site of all of Rushing's previous town halls in Lucerne.
“We're not going to solve world problems. We're going to work on Lucerne,” Rushing told the crowd of close to 70 people.
The meeting focused on updates on several fronts, from redevelopment to the county's fiscal health.
Accompanying Rushing to the Saturday forum were Deputy Redevelopment Direct Eric Seely and county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.
Seely updated town residents on a variety of redevelopment projects.
One of redevelopment's most recent accomplishments is the Harbor Village Artists colony next to Lucerne Harbor Park on Highway 20, said Seely. The county recently installed new street lights there and is preparing to have a mural painted.
There's also the Lake County Sheriff's regional office across from the park. Seely said Sheriff Rod Mitchell intends to assign deputies there full-time to serve the entire Northshore.
Regarding the Lucerne Hotel – known locally as “the Castle” – Seely said the Board of Supervisors gave redevelopment and county administrative staff direction to give the building's owners technical assistance in finding a buyer. That includes using grant funds for a structural evaluation and appraisal.
Seely said the county wants to see the building renovated and used as a lodging facility that can act as an economic catalyst to create jobs and bring money to the area.
The sellers, a group of Northern California churches, can only hold the property for a limited time, and Seely said the county is considering purchasing parcels of the property to help give the current owners more time. That also would give the county a stronger negotiating position to make sure the property is used for a beneficial purpose.
Seely said that, if the price was right, the county could consider buying the land and holding it for resale to a developer.
Another important local landmark, the senior center itself, has received help from the county in the form of funds to pay off old debt and to make facility upgrades. Some of those work projects are set to begin soon, Seely said.
The state's current budget crisis has stopped one redevelopment effort – the Third Avenue Plaza and Pier. Seely said the state can't sell bonds right now, which has stopped the project in its tracks.
“We're basically in a freeze until they accept a budget,” he said.
As soon as those funds are released the project, which includes a new pier and park improvements to the east of the exiting Alpine Park, will be ready to go, Seely said.
Two projects that Seely said aren't hampered by those funding concerns are the Fourth and Fifth Avenue sidewalk project and a new sidewalk at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Highway 20, the latter supporting a new pharmacy set to break ground in about a month. The sidewalk projects are set to start within the next few weeks.
Seely said the county has been working with Cal Fire on a system of gates to protect the paper subdivision above the town from illegal dumping. Those gates were supposed to have been installed last year but the project was delayed.
“This is going to be an ongoing project,” said Seely, who guessed that illegal dumpers will move to other areas – possibly where there is a larger population – which could lead to more arrests because of the likelihood of witnesses.
Work also is under way to start a utility undergrounding district in Lucerne such as exists in Nice, said Seely.
It likely would take close to 10 years to accomplish, but the district would result in power poles being removed in areas of Country Club Drive and the Highway 20 corridor, with lines placed underground. He said the best place to relocate utilities is underneath current sidewalks, which would mean new sidewalks also would be installed.
Other redevelopment-aided projects on the Northshore that benefit Lucerne are the breaking of ground on a 23-unit senior housing project in Clearlake Oaks and a new fire truck for Northshore Fire Protection District, Seely said.
Rushing told the gathering that both Seely and Cox are working hard to help Lucerne.
She then introduced the Ninth Street community art project, which will build a bench and art piece out of natural building materials. The project is especially aimed at young people, said Rushing.
Informational coffee meetings will be held March 6 and April 3, with the project itself being built between May 11 and 24. She said more information will be announced closer to those dates.
The county has contracted with natural builder Massey Burke to lead the effort. Burke – who has worked on many natural building projects, including a temporary arch on the mall in Washington, DC, said natural building uses soil, sand and straw. Lake County has great colored soils filled with clay that are perfect for the building technique, she said.
In other community planning news, Rushing told the group that the draft fire safe plan for the area will be released at the start of April. The Shoreline Area Plan is expected to be released soon, and Rushing said the county's planning department noted that the group that worked over several years to assemble it was one of the most functional they've worked with so far.
Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield gave an update on projects being pursued by her department, which has moved to the second floor of the Lake County Visitor Center on Highway 20 in Lucerne.
She said they're organizing a large illegal dump site cleanup in the spring and are working on the abatements of the Lucerne Motel and Lake Sands Resort on the lakeshore.
Rushing said the motel and resort properties have been long-running concerns in the town, and she thanked the Affinito family – members of which were in attendance – for working with the county to abate the buildings, which should be down soon. The buildings may, in fact, be burned down as a practice fire by the Northshore Fire Protection District.
Brumfield said the Code Enforcement Division will focus on the highways and other high visibility areas and then move into the communities. A discussion about requiring universal garbage collection in the county may be before the Board of Supervisors soon to help reduce illegal dumping.
Lucerne Friends of Locally Owned Water and Lucerne Community Water Organization (LCWO) representatives also were allowed to make brief presentations, and they encouraged town residents to get involved with their activities, which include keeping California Water Service honest, said Craig Bach, president of LCWO.
During a brief “State of Lake County” report, Cox said the Board of Supervisors will have a mid-year budget review at this Tuesday's board meeting.
“We're going to have to have to make some adjustments in our budget,” said Cox, noting that some revenue areas are showing declines which will affect the county's general fund, his area of greatest concern.
Cox worried about possible state plans to withhold payments from counties for services such as mental and health services, and transportation and roads, which could force the county into having to borrow money, which it so far has refused to do.
During the meeting, Rushing polled attendees on several issues to see if they had a sense of changing trends. Business and infrastructure appear to have less activity, while law enforcement response, civil liberties and community investment are the same. Volunteerism, local projects, code enforcement and environmental efforts are up.
She said the county has focused in Lucerne on building community, cohesiveness, economic vitality, code enforcement and illegal dumping. Now she wants to “plug the leaks” regarding water and energy.
Looking ahead, Rushing said the county and the country at large can expect further financial system distress.
Rushing then moved into a brief discussion of the local economy, including food and energy security.
She said she formed two groups to look at energy and food security. Both are well-attended, with the food security having an attendance about three times the size of energy.
During the meeting Rushing emphasized the importance of strengthening the local economy.
“Old timers who remember the Great Depression will tell you that Lake County didn't notice it,” she said.
That's because the county had its own economy that could sustain itself, she said.
Rushing said there are resource limits on all fronts, and the trick is to manage those limits.
She said it's estimated the county is spending more than $2 million annually on energy. It's also estimated that county residents spend as much as $100 million on energy each year, money that is leaving Lake County – a place that generates more energy than it consumes, thanks to The Geysers and the growing number of private and public solar installations.
All sustainability efforts, said Rushing, start with individuals and their personal choices.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:3}
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
