Carolyn Ruttan of Lake County Water Resources said the program will require visitors to the county to have their boats visually inspected by program volunteers, who also must question owners to make sure that boats are cleaned, drained and dry before launch.

This week Ruttan will be distributing new annual stickers to residents and monthly stickers to visitors this week, she said.

Resident stickers are purple on gold with a blue annual 2011 sticker, while visitor stickers are blue on white with a purple monthly January sticker, Ruttan reported.

The stickers for visitors will replace the previously required bands, which Ruttan said were difficult, if not impossible, to see from a distance. She added that stickers also have been well received by residents and local enforcement authorities.

Because it's so important to protect local lakes, Ruttan said any area residents or visitors who launch their boats in other water bodies must have their boats inspected by an approved Lake County Mussel Prevention Program inspector before relaunching in any county waters.

If such boats need to be decontaminated after visiting an infested county, that procedure is a free service by the Water Resources Department, Ruttan said.

Ruttan said Lake County residents do not need to take their vessel to a participating business to buy a set of 2011 stickers.

Instead, she said they need their California Department of Motor Vehicles vessel registration – which needs to show the vessel registered in Lake County – and the copy of the mussel prevention program application form that they were given when first signing up for the program.

She said they will fill out a new form, be asked whether they keep their boat clean, drained and dry, and reminded to have their boat rescreened whenever they return with boat from out of county.

Ruttan said county residents must take an active part in preventing mussel infestations by educating their friends, family members and visitors about the mussel threat and the relative ease with which mussels can be transported from one water body to another.

The mussels' larvae, called veligers, are microscopic in size, she said.

A new ordinance further strengthening the Lake County Mussel Prevention Program will go before the Board of Supervisors for a first reading on Jan. 11, to be followed by a second reading Jan. 18, Ruttan said.

If the ordinance is adopted, it will go into effect 30 days after that, she added.

For more information, contact Carolyn Ruttan, 707-263-2344, or visit Water Resources online at www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Water_Resources/Mussel_Prevention.htm .

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CLEARLAKE – Rules and procedures applicable to local government bodies and local government officials under the Ralph M. Brown Act will be the subject of a workshop type meeting sponsored by the Clearlake City Council on Saturday, Jan. 8.

The workshop will take place beginning at 10 a.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall located at 14050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake.

Community members are invited to attend the workshop.

The session has been noticed on a special agenda as a joint workshop of the Clearlake City Council, the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency, the Redevelopment Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission.

The featured speaker at the Jan. 8 event will be Anita Grant, county counsel for the county of Lake.

One of the organizers for the workshop is Robert Riggs, a member of the city's Redevelopment Advisory Committee.

Riggs urged the Clearlake City Council to sponsor the workshop at the council’s Dec. 9 meeting, during which new Council members Jeri Spittler and Joey Luiz were sworn in and seated, as Lake County News has reported.

Riggs, who also is a Lake County attorney, noted that the Brown Act is an especially topical subject for the community and its leaders as two new council members, as well as new appointees to various city commissions, get set to take their seats.

“The basic purpose of the Brown Act is to assure transparency in government and responsiveness to the community,” Riggs said. “In Clearlake we are now seeing an incredible surge of energized citizens who are stepping forward to help bring about a vision for an improved city. They need to know and understand their rights as members of an involved community, as well as, the duties and constraints that are imposed upon their representatives under the Brown Act.”

He added, “We are extremely fortunate to have a person in our community such as Anita Grant who is available and willing to assist with this town hall. I don’t know of anyone more knowledgeable about the Brown Act here in the county, or anywhere else, for that matter.”

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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake, State of California, will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the County of Lake’s application for a General Plan Amendment (GPAP 10-06) and a Minor Modification to a Use Permit (MMU 10-05), proposing to amend Lake County General Plan Policy LU-6.12 concerning mixed use resorts, and a Modification to the General Plan of Development for Cristallago Development Corporation’s General Plan of Development (GPD 05-05) proposing additional mitigation measures for community benefits, greenhouse gas emissions, water, asbestos, traffic and biological and cultural resources.

The site is located at 3580, 3595, 3851, 3907, 4051, 4141, 4151, 4161, 4283, & 4483 Hill Road, Lakeport, CA and further described as APNs 003-046-66 & 67, 005-009-04, 05, 06 & 07, 005-010-05, 16 & 17, 005-011-06 & 07 and 005-012-33.

The Board will consider adoption of a negative declaration for the proposals based on Initial Study IS 10-36.

The staff report will be available at the Community Development Department, (Lake County Courthouse, 255 North Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA) twenty (20) days before the hearing.

The Planner processing this application is Emily Minton, (707) 263-2221, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The public hearing will be held in the Board of Supervisors’ Chamber in the Courthouse on TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2011, at 10:00 A.M., at which time and place interested persons may attend and be heard.

If you challenge the action of the Planning Commission on any of the above stated items in court, it may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Lake County Board of Supervisors at, or prior to, the public hearing.

KELLY F. COX

Clerk of the Board

By: Mireya G. Turner

Assistant Clerk to the Board

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The local officials elected on June 8 and Nov. 2 will take part in a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony next week.

The oaths of office will be given by County Clerk-Auditor Pam Cochrane at the beginning of the Board of Supervisors meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.

The newly elected officials technically take office on the first Monday in January, which is Jan. 3, according to County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.

Those taking the oath Jan. 4 will include District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith and District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, both of whom were reelected in the June 8 primary; Francisco Rivero, who unseated incumbent Rod Mitchell to win the sheriff's race on Nov. 2; Don Anderson, who led in the primary before winning Nov. 2; and Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker, Treasurer-Tax Collector Sandra (Kacharos) Shaul and Cochrane, the latter three all running unopposed and winning reelection June 8.

Also taking the oath on Tuesday is new county Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook, said Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.

Holbrook took office earlier this year after Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck retired early and took the oath at that time, as Lake County News has reported. However, Fridley said that was an appointment to fill the vacancy, and his term officially starts in January.

Outgoing District Attorney Jon Hopkins retired early, necessitating an early swearing-in for Anderson, who is expected to take the oath from Cochrane Thursday afternoon in a private ceremony.

Rivero will also take the oath early in a private ceremony, with Cox to administer the oath to the sheriff-elect on Monday.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Bob Galusha, who has been with the city since July 2005, was appointed to the interim city administrator's spot at the end of a special open session the council held Tuesday afternoon, according to City Clerk Melissa Swanson.

City Administrator Dale Neiman resigned Nov. 4 following the election to the council of Jeri Spittler and Joey Luiz, with whom he said he was unwilling to work, as Lake County News has reported.

Police Chief Allan McClain has been filling the interim city administrator spot since Neiman's departure in mid-November, but he also had announced on Nov. 4 that he was retiring.

McClain's retirement goes into effect Dec. 30, which necessitated the council finding an interim replacement.

Following the open portion of the meeting, the council adjourned into closed session to further discuss the interim city administrator issue, Swanson said.

She said that the council emerged from closed session shortly after 4 p.m., with no reportable action.

Earlier this month the council voted 4-1 to appoint Lt. Craig Clausen as the city's interim police chief, as Lake County News has reported.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Directors, County of Lake, State of California, has set TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2011, at 10:30 A.M., Board Chambers, Courthouse, Lakeport, as time and place to consider a proposed Ordinance amending Article IX to Chapter 15 of the Lake County Code establishing a fee-based inspection program for all water vessels launched in the County of Lake. A certified copy of the proposed Ordinance is available at the Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that at said time and place any interested person may appear and be heard.

If you challenge the action of the Board of Supervisors on any of the above stated items in court, it may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence delivered to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors at, or prior to, the public hearing.

KELLY F. COX

Clerk of the Board

By: Mireya G. Turner

Assistant Clerk to the Board