A graphic from the proposed Middletown Area Plan shows the area of the county that the plan covers.

LAKEPORT – This Tuesday the Lake County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the draft Middletown Area Plan document.

The board will initially convene at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3, in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.

After completing the rest of the agenda – including a closed session to discuss labor negotiations – the board will reconvene at 6 p.m. for the area plan discussion at the Geysers Geothermal Visitors Center, 15500 Central Park Road.

The 232-page draft document can be found here: www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Community_Development/documents.htm.

The plan, which is a long-term guide for growth in the planning area, is meant to complement the Lake County General Plan, according to the document's executive summary.

Communities included in the plan – which covers approximately 150 square miles in the county's southern portion – are Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake, Anderson Springs and the outlying rural areas. County documents said the plan proposes to rezone some lands in the area, as well as amending the general plan.

Special study areas are Middletown, Coyote Valley, Langtry/Guenoc.

The plan considers resources such as ground and surface water supplies, wetlands and riparian areas, oak woodlands, flora and fauna, historical and archaeological resources, sensitive and critical resources – such as Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, Rabbit Hell, Hells Half Acre – and includes policies on how to maintain and protect those areas while allowing for development.

Also considered in the plan are public safety issues – including seismic activity, fire and flood hazards, law enforcement, public emergencies, air quality and noise.

Planning objectives attempt to balance recreation, housing, agriculture and a variety of other uses. The commercial portion of the plan includes building and site designs for businesses, landscaping and pedestrian corridors.

Other items on the agenda include the following.

Timed items

9 a.m.: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda.

9:05 a.m.: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the Clerk of the Board’s Office, first floor, courthouse).

9:10 a.m.: Consideration of request from Lake Transit Authority to relocate the bus stop and install a shelter structure near the southwest corner of Third Street at Main Street, Lakeport (Old Courthouse Square).

9:30 a.m.: Public hearing, appeal of Brian Case of the Lake County Planning Commission’s denial of a general plan amendment from agriculture and rural lands to industrial and rural lands and a rezone (RZ 10-01) from “A-SC-WW-FF” (Agriculture-Scenic-Waterway-Floodway Fringe) and “RL-WW-FF” (Rural Lands-Waterway-Floodway Fringe) to “M1-W W -FF” (Commercial/Manufacturing-Waterway-Floodway Fringe) and “RL-W-FF” (Rural Lands-Waterway-Floodway Fringe); located at 12942 and 12982 Highway 29, Lower Lake, CA (APNs 012-023-260 and 012-023-270).

10:15 a.m.: Protest hearings for annual water standby charges and delinquent water fees in County Service Areas Nos. 2, 6, 7, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21 and 22. Continued from July 20.

10:30 a.m.: Discussion/consideration of proposed resolution of intention to establish proposed Zone Q (Orchard Shores Subdivision) of County Service Area No. 23; approve the engineer’s report, the form of ballot and balloting process for the assessment, and setting a public hearing for protests and balloting determination (to be held Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 9:15 a.m.).

10:45 a.m.: Hearing, appeal of order for destruction of a vicious animal; located at 3896 Dixie Ave., Nice, CA (Gerald Lindquist).

11:30 a.m.: Assessment appeal hearings: (a) Dorice Gracia - Application No. 94-2009 - APN 032-221-240-000; located at 4315 Lakeshore Blvd., Nice, CA; and (b) Jose Acosta - Application No. 98-2009 - APN 351-121-060-000; located at 13962 Apple Lane, Clearlake Oaks, CA.

Nontimed items

– Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

– Discussion/consideration of request for out of state travel for Animal Care and Control Officer Nehemiah White to Durango, Colorado, from Aug. 22 through Aug. 28 to attend Equine Investigators Academy.

– Update on emergency action taken on March 2 regarding the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System – Interim Collection System improvements.

– Discussion/consideration of proposed resolution approving the application for grant funds from the 2010 infrastructure fund of the Stewardship Council to support the construction of a boathouse and aquatic center at Lakeside County Park.

– Request for board direction regarding the development of a Countywide Transportation Mitigation Fee Program.

– Presentation of Central Garage fleet cost-per-mile report.

Consent agenda

– Approve Minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held on July 20, and July 27, 2010.

– Approve letters to key legislative leaders urging support of the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5766) and letter to Congressman Thompson expressing gratitude for introducing this legislation, and authorize all Board members to sign.

– Adopt the Library Materials Loan Policy (establishing loan periods and a limit on the number of items a person may have checked out at one time at the county libraries).

– Discussion/consideration of proposed resolution approving the standard agreement between the county of Lake and the California Department of Mental Health for state hospital bed purchase and usage for fiscal year 2009-10, and authorizing the director of Mental Health to sign Agreement No. 09-79094-000.

– Approve grant deed and direct clerk to certify for recordation (a portion of APN 007-037-070 - Roderick A. Schnabl and Sylvia R. Schnabl); approve purchase agreement between the county of Lake and Roderick A. Schnabl and Sylvia R. Schnabl, for Kelsey Creek Drive FEMA Storm Damage Project, and authorize the chair to sign.

– Approve engineering and inspection agreement between county of Lake and Rural Communities Housing Development Corp. (RCHDC) for review of plans and specifications and inspection of work for the construction of curb, gutter, sidewalks and drainage improvements, located at 6853 Collier Ave., Nice, CA (APN 031-053-220), and authorize the chair to sign.

– Authorize the elections official to render all services necessary to conduct the city of Lakeport’s General Municipal Election on Nov. 2, 2010, for the purpose of electing two members of the Lakeport City Council, pursuant to the City’s Resolution No. 2393 (2010).

– Approve issuance of 90-day notice of termination of rental agreement for property located at 14141 and 14147 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake, and authorize the chair to sign.

– Adopt Resolution No. _____ amending Resolution No. 2010-108 establishing position allocations to conform to the recommended budget for fiscal year 2010-11, Budget Unit No. 5011, Department of Social Services and Budget Unit No. 2302, Probation Officer-Juvenile Court.

– Approve amendment No. 4 to equipment repair and service contract between the county of Lake and Peterson Tractor Co. (clarifying the annual maximum contract amount of $100,000 allowed with each annual renewal), and authorize the chair to sign.

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Carolyn Ruttan of the Lake County Department of Water Resources discusses weed issues with local residents who took part in the annual Invasive Weed Awareness Week tour on Thursday, July 22, 2010. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY – Lake County officials recently held events as part of California’s “Invasive Weed Awareness Week,” which is the third week of July.

This year the Lake County Weed Management Area had a proclamation read and adopted by the Board of Supervisors proclaiming July 18 through 24 as “Invasive Weeds Awareness Week in Lake County.”

The primary mission during the week was to raise public awareness about the impacts that invasive weed species have on our local environment and natural resources.

A display was set up at the Lake County Agricultural Center showcasing numerous invasive weeds and a weed tour was hosted by the Weed Management Area, a group of agencies and individuals dedicated to detecting and eradicating invasive weed species in Lake County.

This year marked the Weed Management Area’s fifth annual weed tour, a four-hour event where the public was invited to caravan to various locations to see first-hand what these invasive species look like and to learn about their impacts on the environment.

This year’s weed tour highlighted arundo, tamarisk, Spanish broom, tree of heaven, water primrose, a discussion on goat grass as well as an aquatic weed discussion that included samples.

This event was made possible by the following Weed Management Area members Greg Dills, East Lake & West Lake Resource Conservation District; Cathy Koehler, UC Davis McLaughlin Reserve; Carolyn Ruttan, Lake County Department of Water Resources; and Katherine Blyleven, Lake County Department of Agriculture.

Weed Management Area members thanked all those who participated in this year’s tour.

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“Are you for or against Lowe’s or development or competition?”

That’s the sort of inane question that has characterized debate over Clearlake’s decision to sell our property to a couple of strip-mall developers – but the real issues have little to do with any of that.

You see, I’m for development – and competition – and I think Lowe’s could be an improvement to existing employment and purchase options. If properly conditioned, I could support this project.

But am I for this deal to sell our property? Absolutely not!

Am I in favor of all our redevelopment funds being pledged to it? No way!

Do I condone avoidance of the public participation one should expect around the largest commercial deal we’ve ever done? No!

Is it OK with me that we’ve avoided the scrutiny and conditions of approval that might assure that the developer produces a sustainable project that provides community benefits, reflects our values and is integrated into a more comprehensive, economic plan? No, it's not OK!

And must I oppose a deliberate and transparent process to protect us from shoddy accounting and shady, backroom deals? No, of course not!

But some would have you think, “you’re either ‘fer us or ‘gainst us.” Our city’s administrator, some council members and even some staff would love to blame all our problems on others. But who can they blame for their failures? Get ready, it’s ... “you people!” And unless you go along with their program – this means you!

That’s how they deflect responsibility for their failure to manage the economic crisis that has been looming for years – blame it on others.

Look, I know times are hard, the economy sucks and it’s tempting to excuse them and I do sympathize for their current state of desperation.

But “you people” and the “Sierra Club” did not cause our problems – as much as they’d like you to believe so. The mayor rags on “you people” for her inability to manage a meeting and they’ve even authorized staff to inform the public that their deficit is the Sierra Club’s fault. Give me a break!

Here are the facts.

Our city administrator’s own projections showed that the only immediate benefit (until 2012) from the Lowe’s project was to allow redevelopment funds to be diverted to pay part of his and our city engineer’s salaries – a temporary measure to help cover their budget deficit.

This was before any Sierra Club involvement. But they would have us believe that the Sierra Club’s insistence on an environmental impact report (EIR) caused that deficit.

Since then those hours were cut – so they have exactly the same economic picture they had. Nothing else changed and clearly, the loss of city services, at this time, has nothing at all to do with the Sierra Club or you people – it’s the same deficit budget they had.

But they use their offices and city resources to spread this false propaganda and further erode confidence while opening us up to greater liability. What in the world are they thinking?

They might instead have considered charging administrative time towards preparing an EIR to keep the project moving – but they drag their feet and complain rather than resolving the issues and moving forward positively. It’s so much easier to just blame someone else, isn’t it?

So, what are the real issues – what am I for or against?

For me the issues are responsibility, responsiveness to constituents, process transparency and community benefit. These things have all been lacking.

I’m against scapegoating and I’m for intelligent planning and leaders who act maturely, accept responsibility for failure, learn from it and move forward positively to build consensus and success.

So, to my council members, here’s the point – I’ll not blame you for the state of the economy, so please stop blaming me (as in – you people, Sierra Club, Lake County, etc.) for your inability to intelligently manage the situation and move us towards consensus and shared prosperity.

Please remember, we are all in this together – let’s get it together.

Tim Williams lives in Clearlake.

The decision regarding Boeger Land Investments LLC came out of a closed session at the board's July 20 meeting, according to County Counsel Anita Grant.

At Tuesday's board meeting, supervisors approved a consent agenda that included adopting a resolution authorizing commitment of monies paid through the firm's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy plan to the system upgrades.

Developer Matt Boeger has maintained Boeger Land Investments LLC as a holding company for a 50-percent portion of a 110-acre lakeside property called the Marina at Lyons Creek, as Lake County News has reported.

Boeger is a principal in Boeger Land Development and president of Cristallago Development Corp., which this spring received the Board of Supervisors' approval on its housing and resort development in the north Lakeport area.

He told Lake County News in an interview last year that the marina property was purchased out of bankruptcy, with an already large accrued tax liability.

The Lake County Tax Collector told Lake County News that the tax liability, through this past June 30, was $1.4 million, but court documents filed this month put the amount at $1.9 million.

In June 2009, Boeger Land Investments filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after Westamerica Bank, which holds a $500,000 note on the property, attempted to foreclose on the property, according to court documents.

The marina property originally was proposed to be connected to an easement to Cristallago, but the final plans didn't include the marina, according to Emily Minton, a county planner who has worked on the project. Boeger said last year he still planned to develop the property under a club structure that would be available to Cristallago residents.

The land is important for another reason – it includes an easement that will provide water for the Cristallago development. Boeger told the Lake County Planning Commission in September 2009 that the water rights and the easement is held free and clear by North Lakeport Water System Inc.

The easement document shows that the two partners in the property, Boeger Land Investments and Clovander Inc., granted the North Lakeport Water System Inc. the easement.

Earlier this month Westamerica Bank lodged a conditional objection to the confirmation of Boeger Land Investments' second amended plan of reorganization.

Documents filed on July 12 showed the bank wanted to see the Board of Supervisors' support for a financing plan to pay off the back property tax.

The filing reported that a new private lender, Diversified Lending & Real Estate of Ukiah, has agreed to put up $1,285,000, of which $800,000 will be used to buy the county's property tax debt, with the remainder going to the firm to pay other costs. Boeger will remain in control of the firm.

Westamerica will retain its lien and get a new interest only note payable quarterly at prime plus 2 percent, which will be due in three years.

The bank's filing noted that the county had “tentatively agreed that the entire $800,000 it receives will be used to fund a water treatment facility” that will benefit the marina property and surrounding areas.

However, it also stated that there was a “critical uncertainty” about the county's support for the plan, and pointed out that, at that time, there was no resolution authorizing the agreement.

Grant said the board's resolution was to respond to Westamerica's questions about what the county intended to do with the property tax funds. She said the bank wanted to know if it could secure its own claims on the land.

She said the board is continuing its commitment to use the money to improve the north Lakeport water system if it receives the funds.

Westamerica noted in its filing that if Boeger Land Investments “is prepared to honestly and reasonably respond” to the bank's concerns, and if the plan had the county's backing, it would withdraw its objections to the reorganization plan.

Court documents show that another hearing on the Boeger Land Investments case is scheduled for Aug. 5 in Santa Rosa.

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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

The two-page document tells recipients, “Unfortunately, the City has had to end the code enforcement program in May, 2010 due to the lawsuit the Sierra Club filed against the City on the proposed Lowe's store.”

The letter encourages people unhappy about code enforcement's elimination “and the environmental problems that will be created” to contact Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Cheri Holden, and includes the number to her business, Watershed Books.

On the letter's reverse side, the letter include the mailing addresses of the group's board of directors, which includes Tom Gilliam, Juliana Vidich, Tom Marchand, Debra Sally, Monica Rosenthal and Steve Devoto.

While Holden hadn't talked to anyone at the city as of Wednesday, she said the letter was brought to the attention of the attorney who is handling the case for the Sierra Club.

She said the Sierra Club was consulting with the attorney on what actions to take. “Something is in process,” Holden said.

In March the Sierra Club Lake Group filed a lawsuit against the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency and KK Raphel Properties of Danville, the developer proposing to build a regional shopping center – including a Lowe's home improvement store – at the now-closed Pearce Field airport property on Highway 53, as Lake County News has reported.

The suit alleges that state law was violated because the project was approved by the city on Feb. 25 without a full environmental impact report, and it seeks to have the project's approvals set aside.

Since the lawsuit was filed, some of the city council members and City Administrator Dale Neiman have increasingly blamed the Sierra Club for the city's serious financial straights, saying that the project would have brought in significant sales tax revenue for the struggling city.

However, well before the Lowe's project was approved or the lawsuit filed, code enforcement was being scaled back, including cutting two positions and spreading out the work to police and other city staff, actions approved last summer as part of the 2009-10 budget.

During the midyear budget review on Feb. 11, Neiman suggested the city consider filing bankruptcy and detaching portions to return to the county, two routes later proved not to be feasible.

At the council's July 1 meeting, Neiman delivered a report on the temporary elimination of code enforcement, placing blame for the program's demise squarely on the Sierra Club.

“What we plan to do is mail or give people a handout explaining the problem when we receive a complaint,” he stated in his one-page staff report.

Neiman wrote the letter as a result, Clearlake Mayor Judy Thein confirmed on Wednesday.

The letter states that the Sierra Club didn't file a lawsuit against the Kelseyville Lumber store, which is 28 percent larger than the proposed Lowe's.

“When the permit for Kelseyville Lumber were being processed the Sierra Club was actively objecting tot he Provinsalia residential project in Clearlake,” said the letter, which also pointed out that the 2010-11 Lake County Grand Jury determined that the environmental document the city prepared for the Lowe's project “was studied more intensively than previous studies done on similar businesses in Lake County.”

The document also includes a graph of public nuisance cases handled by the city from 2005 to 2009. In 2005, cases numbered 557, rising to a high of 1,265 in 2008, and down slightly to 1,206 last year.

The code enforcement program's elimination will result in “environmental contamination, depreciation of property values and people living in unsafe buildings,” Neiman's letter stated.

Victoria Brandon, the former Sierra Club Lake Group Chair who more recently has spoken on behalf of the group regarding local projects, said they found out about the letter being circulated over the weekend. She used the words “harassment” and “scapegoating” to describe the city's letter.

She said the only thing that the lawsuit is trying to achieve is an environmental impact report, and the fastest way to move the project forward is for the city to concede that it should have done the report and then get to work doing it.

Brandon said Neiman and the city are refusing to discuss a settlement and therefore are exposing the city to “some very hefty legal costs” in the future, besides engaging in what she characterized as “grossly irresponsible and counterproductive” behavior.

Brandon doesn't believe the developer will pay for the report and the project is dead “if it was every really alive in the first place.

Neiman, whose job has been reduced to half-time because of budget constraints, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Thein said that over the previous weekend Neiman, while at his Humboldt County home, fell several feet and was hurt, suffering a concussion and broken collar bone, among other injuries.

With inquiries being directed at Holden, she confirmed that she has been getting calls at her business.

Holden said the city's isn't dealing honestly with the code enforcement issues. “The people shouldn't be misled that way,” she said.

No one has threatened her, but those she spoke with were convinced that she had some connection to code enforcement.

Holden added that people need solutions to the issues and the calls must stop. She said those who called her “were totally misled and therefore confused and frustrated, as well they should be.”

Thein said she hadn't received any feedback from community members about the letter, and she was surprised to hear that anyone actually had called Holden.

Clearlake City Clerk Melissa Swanson said the city gets requests for code enforcement action all the time, however she didn't know how many of the letters had been sent out.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CLARIFIED REGARDING THE EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION LISTED AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND THE LPOA CONCESSIONS MENTIONED IN PARAGRAPH FOUR.

LAKEPORT – In a special Tuesday evening meeting that lasted barely six minutes, a divided Lakeport City Council voted to approve a resolution that would upgrade the retirement benefits for the city's police officers.

In a 3-2 vote the council managed to pass a motion that last week failed to get even a second, but the council members, for the most part, seemed none too happy about the decision.

Lakeport Police Officers Association President Norm Taylor said after the meeting, “The LPOA felt we were in contract and felt that we had negotiated the increased retirement benefit, and we expected that the city would fulfill their agreement at some point and we're glad to see they voted this way.”

A 2006 memorandum of understanding reached between the city and the Lakeport Police Officers Association gave several concessions to the city – including a new health insurance plan that was less expensive for the city initially with officers also taking less of a cost of living increase – in exchange for the city's agreement to upgrade the retirement plan from 2 percent at age 50 to 3 percent at age 50, effective this past July 1.

That formula gives a retirees starting at age 50 a benefit value of 3 percent for every year of service. Last week City Attorney Steve Brookes said the formula was considered a way to draw high quality staff.

The city's proposed 2010-11 budget already covers the $73,158.06 in increased costs to the city this year that changes to the new formula would cause, with officials reporting that those costs were covered by two unbudgeted and vacant police officer positions.

Despite the fact that the costs were covered and the city made a promise to the police officers association, last week the council had balked at approving the agreement, citing concerns about increased costs and the city's finances, as Lake County News has reported.

On Tuesday evening, city Finance Director Janet Tavernier said Councilman Ron Bertsch had questions about the cost percentages, which she checked with Sebastopol actuary Nick Franceschine, who had been at last week's meeting but did not attend the special meeting.

She said Franceschine told her that for the first 12 years of the plan the employers' portion would range between 35 and 42 percent of the total cost, with the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) estimating it would come in at about 38 percent.

That percentage will be cut in half after 12 years if there are no dramatic changes to the plan and if the work force remains the same, Tavernier told the council. CalPERS expects to make a 7.75 percent return on the plan.

“We have to act on a plan before Aug. 1 of every year,” Tavernier said, otherwise CalPERS will not work on the new plan amendment until November or December.

Last week, the council had directed Brookes to speak with the police officers association to see if they were willing to renegotiate the agreement.

Brookes told them on Tuesday that he had spoken to Taylor, who was in the audience for the meeting, and that Taylor said the group believed that their contract provisions should be ratified.

Community member George Spurr asked when the contract ends. Mayor Jim Irwin said it expires at the end of this calendar year.

Bertsch asked Brookes if any officers were planning to retire between now and December. Brookes indicated there might be two.

When Irwin asked the council for its desired action, Councilman Roy Parmentier said they would “catch hell” if they didn't honor what they had promised.

However, “Come the first of this year we're going to be looking for some changes,” including a two-tier retirement program, he said.

“I realize we made the deal with you guys and we'll live with it,” he said.

Councilman Bob Rumfelt moved to approve the resolution and introduced the ordinance to amend the CalPERS contract to make the changes, which will be the focus of an Aug. 17 public hearing.

Parmentier seconded the motion, which the council approved 3-2, with Bertsch and Council member Suzanne Lyons voting no.

Tavernier told Lake County News after the meeting that all other city workers – those in the “miscellaneous” not the “safety” designation – receive a 2.5 percent at 55 retirement package, with employees contributing 8 percent per month. The total employer cost is another 16.5 percent..

For police officers, they pay 9 percent per month, and currently the employer contribution is 28 percent, but will rise to 38 percent due to the new plan, Tavernier said.

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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .