The designation would apply to Highway 53 between its junctions with Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks and Highway 29 in Lower Lake.

On Thursday evening, the Clearlake City Council voted 5-0 to approve a request for support presented by Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain, in his capacity at Clearlake Rotary's president, and Rotary Secretary Carl Webb.

In a letter McClain had sent to both the supervisors and the council, he said that Caltrans has indicated that all of Highway 53 is available for adoption.

The council agenda had incorrectly stated that the Rotary was seeking to have the portion of highway named after Lance Cpl. Ivan Wilson, killed last year in Afghanistan.

McClain said the intent wasn't to honor one person but, rather, all veterans.

He added, however, that Wilson's death had brought home to many community members the high cost that can come with service to the country.

“This was started because of the emotions and the things that people felt when we brought one of our own home,” McClain said.

Webb agreed that everyone has a special spot in their hearts for Wilson, but they want to honor all veterans of all wars with the effort.

Vice Mayor Judy Thein said she thought it would be a powerful gesture, and pledged 100-percent support.

Councilman Roy Simons said the thought of what veterans have given for this country “breaks my heart. I don't know what else to say.”

The council's 5-0 vote for the proposal earned a round of applause.

On Tuesday, Webb and fellow Rotarian Bill Cornelison spoke to the Board of Supervisors about the plan.

Webb and Cornelison indicated they had support from Caltrans, but that the Rotary would have to pay for the signs.

Cornelison said Assemblyman Wes Chesbro has indicated through his staff that he's willing to introduce a bill dedicating the highway, which would go to the Legislature early next year.

District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock pointed out that the effort is especially appropriate in Lake County, which has a very high percentage of veterans.

“I think this is a great spot to offer this honor,” said Supervisor Rob Brown, noting that the county received a great when it hosted The Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Memorial, in June.

He pointed out that the stretch of highway set for the designation overlooks a property that the county has dedicated for a memorial park to Wilson. Brown said it's a good spot, with a good organization to head up the effort.

“I too support this. It's a very good idea,” said Board Chair Denise Rushing.

The Board of Supervisors approved the request for support unanimously.

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Meeting since late last year the group indicated that its work is close to completion, but a few more months should lead to a completed product.

Following about 50 minutes of discussion, the board voted unanimously to have the committee bring back a final document at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Committee Chair Marc Hooper told the board that the group formed on Dec. 12, 2008. The committee has 13 members – 10 of which were in attendance – along with six alternates.

The groups members include Victoria Brandon, Lars Crail, Steve Devoto, Melissa Fulton, Jeff Gleaves, Sky Hoyt, Paul Lauenroth, Sequoia Lyn-Franklin, Andre Ross, JoAnn Saccato, Michelle Scully, Liz Weiss and Dr. Broc Zoller. Alternates include Deb Baumann, Dr. Glenn Benjamin, Stephen Grammer, Lori Gray, Larry Heine and Hooper, who despite being an alternate has facilitated the meetings.

He said the committee met 17 times from January through August, and established a definition of consensus for its work that requires “general agreement among voting members with up to two abstentions and none in opposition.”

A seventh draft of the final report is nearly completion but it hasn't yet been approved by the committee, said Hooper.

By the committee's last meeting on Aug. 17, “We had reached no final recommendation for the Board of Supervisors,” said Hooper.

They did have a proposal for the regulation of GE crops in Lake County which is listed as Proposal 11 (which can be found at the GE Crop Advisory Committee page on the county Web site at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/AdvisoryBoard/Genetically_Engineered_Crops_Advisory_Committee/Member_Proposals.htm ) that contains 10 points.

Among those points are allowing commercial growers to grow GE crops with a registration obtained from the agricultural commissioner, the supervisors' establishing a GE Review Committee and compliance audits for approved growers.

“If we had a little bit more time to work on this we might be able to reach consensus on all 10 proposals,” said Hooper.

Supervisor Rob Brown said he met with Victoria Brandon and Broc Zoller on Monday, and they indicated more time would be helpful. “I agree after talking to them that possibly a few more meetings could accomplish that,” he said, noting, “Everyone wants to get it done.”

Brown, who along with Board Chair Denise Rushing sat in on some of the meetings, observed, “The time spent on this was unbelievable.”

Rushing said the committee approached its work with seriousness. “I'm blown away by this work. I think you're so close to having something that we can take forward.”

Brown liked the committee at one point to a roller coaster, but said its members had gotten the group back on track.

In the interest of time and focus, Brown suggested dismissing the six alternates – who could still attend the public meetings. Hooper would remain the facilitator, despite being an alternate himself.

Brandon said she's been on county committees before, and none were like this. “We were basically left to define our own mission on a very contentious subject,” she said.

The group's members “have all learned a great deal from each other,” with a lot of energy and concern put into reaching an outcome, she said.

“We've got specific, defined issues that we know are still in debate,” she said.

JoAnn Saccato told the board that the alternates should be allowed to remain. Steve Devoto asked if the board would leave it up to the committee about whether or not to keep the alternates.

Brown said it didn't matter to him, but that the larger the committee, the more unwieldy. “There have been some struggles here,” he said, adding that one female alternate who wasn't at the meeting had been a “hangup in many of these meetings.”

He believed that the alternates issue needed to be decided during the meeting.

Brandon said a group of 19 can be tough to work with because people tend to make speeches at one another. “If we're planning to go ahead on an expedited basis, a smaller group may be helpful,” she said.

Big Valley Environmental Director Sarah Ryan, who has attended the meetings as a member of the public, said she thinks the alternates should stay, and that the woman Brown referred to was a strong environmentalist who should be head. The alternates have been part of the process since the beginning, she said..

Alternate Stephen Grammer agreed with the idea of streamlining the process, adding, “I'm not trying to get out of it.”

Another alternate, Lorrie Gray, told the board, “ I'm slightly offended that now you want to wipe us off of the committee.”

Brown said it was a suggestion that arose from his conversations with six committee members who contacted him.

Devoto said he found it “highly offensive” that Brown was taking complaints from individual committee members. Brown said he wasn't taking complaints, and that he merely was making a suggestion to “speed this thing along.”

Brandon said one of Brown's comments about how the suggestion came about may have been misleading. She said she had discussed committee dynamics with Brown, who asked if she had suggested it was a good idea. Brandon said she agreed that it was a good idea, but that the suggestion “didn't originate here.”

Supervisor Anthony Farrington, noting he was amazed by the documents the group has produced so far, suggested letting the committee chart its own course, and Supervisor Jeff Smith agreed the committee should decide.

Zoller said he found the discussion over the alternate issue “unfortunate,” and suggested it may be a setback that will cost a few meetings to get past.

“I think it's been counterproductive,” Zoller said. He added that the committee has better things to do and the proposal should be dropped.

Rushing asked if the group's standard of consensus will make it hard to come to a final proposal. Brandon said it's possible. “Achieving that level of agreement is always extremely difficult.”

She said they could use a super majority on deciding their issues, but she didn't know that the resulting document would have the same meaning. The committee adopted its consensus rule so they would talk through their issues and not just steamroll those who disagreed.

The committee might not come back with a unanimous proposal, said Brandon.

In that case, Supervisor Jim Comstock suggested if they can't come to a united decision, that they include in their document why they can't and how the group was split in order to give a fair representation of both sides of the issues. He said the Supreme Court does it that way. Fellow board members agreed.

“This, by the way, is an amazing body of work,” said Rushing, with Hooper reminding the board that it isn't yet done.

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Channels in the Clear Lake Keys are clogged with the thick algae, which is causing serious concerns for residents. Photo by Mike Anisman.

LAKEPORT – After considering the summertime algae troubles of the Clear Lake Keys and other hard-hit areas, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday decided that developing short- and long-term plans to deal with the algae issues was a better choice than declaring a state of emergency.

Board Chair Denise Rushing asked the board to discuss what measures they could take in the current situation.

In the Clear Lake Keys, located in Rushing's Northshore district, the algae has created different problems than it has elsewhere. The lakeside community's channels are clogged with the algae, which has been particularly abundant this year.

The Keys' homeowners association is looking for assistance, and Rushing said she'd learned this past week that there was possible funding available for eradication.

After seeing the algae for herself firsthand, she called it “disastrous” and said she wanted to see it declared a disaster due to health and business concerns.

Community members, Rushing reported, were finding that the algae drifts from the lake itself were contributing to the problem. She said she wanted to ask the county's Lakebed Management division for help in dealing with the problem.

Supervisor Rob Brown suggested rather than giving loans as it had in the past – one of which was partially forgiven – was not as good an option as establishing a benefit zone to clean up the algae. He compared it to a benefit zone established to help clear snow in one Cobb area.

“Is it truly an emergency or is it just an inconvenience?” Brown asked.

Rushing said it was a good question.

“Until you are next to the lake you don't really appreciate what they are dealing with here,” she said, noting that the thick, dried algae clogging the main channel looks like broken concrete.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington said the county will see more impacts – such as the algae – resulting from low water levels on the environment. “Pushing for this declaration is the right direction,” he said.

Brown wondered what would do the most harm – algae or headlines in Wednesday's papers announcing that the county had been declared a disaster area. “There's a lot to consider,” he said.

Ruth Valenzuela of state Assemblyman Wes Chesbro's office told the board they didn't need a disaster declaration to get help with state funding. She suggested the county needed to put an abatement plan in place.

Rushing asked about the source of the state funds that could help the county. Valenzuela said the funds come from court judgments won by the state water board, with the funds then going into an abatement fund. The situation fit because of health concerns which were identified in a June 19 statement from Lake County Public Health, she said.

Brown suggested the perception has been the problem, referencing Bay Area media coverage of the bloom.

Pam Francis, deputy director of the county's Water Resources Division, said a community service district – as Brown had suggested – can't address algae.

Eric Jensen, who sits on the board of directors for the Keys homeowners association, said mosquitoes also have become bad in the area, and that a type of algae harvester demonstrated last week is very expensive to rent.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said he spent two hours running his boat around the lake near Clearlake's Redbud Park, and that it helped clear the area out.

Rushing said a near-term solution isn't helping the lake's long-term issues. While the algae isn't this severe every year, when it's this dramatic the county needs to have a contingency plan.

Sunset Resort owner Dian Gibson said she's heavily impacted by how the algae has affected the city of Clearlake, where her resort is located. She's new to the county and said she was “ill prepared” for the severity of an algae bloom. Gibson said she's not had a guest since June 13.

Gibson and Clearlake City Council member Joyce Overton are working together to create a volunteer base to work on algae-related issues. They've also hosted two algae town halls.

Big Valley Rancheria Environmental Director Sarah Ryan said they've had success clearing the algae, which arrived at the rancheria's Konocti Vista Casino marina on Aug. 8.

She said she uses three people a day who skim off the algae and shoot it with a fire hose that uses recirculated water from the lake. That's been pretty successful for only a few thousand dollars, said Ryan, noting it would be unbearable to live with if it were like other areas of the lake.

Ryan wondered if the homes and houseboats on the Keys were contributing to nutrient loading that is feeding the algae.

Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Victoria Brandon said it's ironic that the algae is coming up in connection with the Keys area, which used to be a wetland. She noted wetlands are how the lake cleans itself.

Darin McCosker, general manager for the Clearlake Oaks County Water District, said about $1.5 million has been spent by his district since 2002 to make sure the sewer system isn't part of the problem.

McCosker agreed with the need to look at solutions for both now and in the future, and should include a mechanical removal component.

Dr. John Zebelean told the board that “hiding the reality is not going to help at all” when it comes to the algae situation.

Zebelean said it's not algae but a living organism, cyanobacteria, that's plaguing the lake.

The board ended the discussion by directing county staff to begin looking at a plan.

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The meeting will be held in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. for a closed session with its labor negotiator before opening up the public session at 6 p.m.

The Clearlake Rotary Club is asking the council to offer its support for the club's pan to seek a Veterans Memorial Highway designation on Highway 53, from its junction with Highway 20 to its junction with Highway 29.

The club – which received support for the request from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday – said Caltrans has said the highway is available for adoption. Assemblyman Wes Chesbro's staff has indicated his willingness to introduce the legislation in the Legislature's next session.

In redevelopment news, City Administrator Dale Neiman will take to the council a request for authorization to file a request with the California Department of Housing and Community Development to amend the redevelopment plan to add 10 years to its implementation period.

“We want to file the request early in the process so we know if there are any problems before we spend a substantial amount of money on the amendment,” Neiman wrote.

He'll also ask the council to adopt a resolution that will establish a redevelopment project area committee related to the redevelopment plan's amendment.

In July the Lake County Grand Jury issued its annual report, which references the city in four places. Neiman will ask the council to review and approve his three-page response, which addresses everything from the grand jury's suggestions that the city eliminate or reduce council members' benefits and health coverage to questions about assess forfeitures and petty cash adjustments.

The council also will receive a quarterly report from the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, hold public hearings to confirm administrative penalties on nuisance abatement cases, set priorities for the federal stimulus grant funding for energy savings improvements and consider establishing a job description and salary level for the public works director and city engineer positions.

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The project, which takes place on Aug. 26, is necessary to meet the continued increase of electrical demand in the area. The work will start at 8:30 a.m. and last until approximately 3 p.m.

Crews will be replacing overhead equipment and poles between Sulfer Bank Road and Windflower Point in the community of Clearlake Oaks.

During construction, vehicle traffic may be impacted at times due to flagging necessary to maintain safety for the public and PG&E crews.

Also during construction, some customers will experience minimal planned outages to allow PG&E crews to safely complete the work.

PG&E operates and maintains more than 132,000 miles of power lines throughout its vast service area – from near the Oregon border in the north to Bakersfield in the south and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Sierra Nevada in the east. It maintains and improves its facilities, investing billions of dollars into maintaining and upgrading its electric transmission and distribution systems every year.

This year's budget is down slightly from the $201 million budgeted for last year. County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said that's due to the completion of a large number of projects in the year past.

About 50 department heads and county staffers gathered in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport for Cox's initial remarks on the budget, which he gave at 8:30 a.m. that day.

In his budget overview, Cox noted that the county isn't yet seeing a recovery in certain key local revenues due to the county's lagging economy.

The county is also experiencing near record high unemployment levels, he said. Last Friday, the state Employment Development Department reported that Lake County's July unemployment was 15.4 percent.

The county's revenue from sales tax, transient occupancy tax and property tax transfers have declined, Cox said.

This past year, the county's property tax rolls broke even, he said; while that's better than some counties have fared, that's still down from the 3.6-percent increase the county saw last year, and the 12-percent increase two years previously.

Cox said the county has, and will continue, to take aggressive actions to stimulate the local economy, including buying from local vendors. “The message the board has been sending to us is getting through loud and clear,” said Cox.

He said the county's largest general fund department, the Lake County Sheriff's Office, has taken “extraordinary and exemplary” measures to buy from local vendors.

Cox showed a pie chart of the county's major revenue sources for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The largest source, 29 percent, is the state, followed by 17 percent in reserves and carryovers that the county has amassed. The federal government and taxes each provides 16 percent, while charges for services provides 9 percent; utility services 5 percent; interest, rent and concessions, 2 percent; other governments, 2 percent; miscellaneous, 2 percent; fines, forfeitures and penalties, 1 percent; licenses, permits and franchise, 1 percent; and other, 1 percent.

In a pie chart showing appropriations, Cox explained that 22 percent of the county's annual budget goes toward social services, followed by 20 percent for the criminal justice – specifically, the sheriff's office and the District Attorney's Office.

Officials said all of the sheriff's office funds totaled $26 million, while the District Attorney's Office budget totaled $3.8 million.

Other appropriations are public works, roads, airport and flood, 15 percent; health services, 9 percent; water, sewer and lighting, 9 percent; community and economic development, 7 percent; general government, 5 percent; education and recreation, 4 percent; other services, 4 percent; solid waste, 2 percent; insurance, 2 percent; general fund contingency, 1 percent.

Cox said nearly $16 million in property tax goes into the county's general fund, which this year totals $54.1 million. “The sheriff and jail budget uses almost all of that,” said Cox, noting that, if the District Attorney's Office is added to that, they use all of the property taxes.

All other county appropriations come from other county sources.

Revenue sources for the county have changed over the last decade. From 2001-02 to the new 2009-10 budget year, state funding resources have declined from 37 percent to 29 percent, while federal sources have risen from 10 percent to 16 percent. Taxes have edged up from 11 percent to 12 percent, and the county's fund balance also has risen from 15 percent to 20 percent. Charges for services have dropped from 12 percent to 9 percent.

In comparison, social services appropriations in 2001-02 were at 26 percent, versus 22 percent for the 2009-10 fiscal year. Criminal justice edged up slightly, from 19 percent to 20 percent, as did public works, from 14 percent to 15 percent. Community development rose from 4 percent to 7 percent.

Overall, the county budget grew from $124 million in 2001-02 to $194 million this year, Cox said.

Cox said the county expects to spend $46.1 million in salaries this year, with 930 positions budgeted – down from 968 last year.

The county's general fund remains debt free, but, as Cox noted, “We don't know what's going to happen to us with the state.”

Besides that, there is the county's aging infrastructure and threats to Clear Lake because of invasive species, he said.

One of the biggest impacts to the county is the state's suspension of Proposition 1A – meant to protect county revenue sources – which means a loss of $2 million in property tax revenues. “We've absorbed that within this recommended budget,” said Cox.

The county also will lose $68,000 in William Act subventions, won't get reimbursement from the May special election – not a surprise since the county also hasn't ever been reimbursed for the gubernatorial recall, Cox said.

He acknowledged the county's employees and department heads for their work in reaching the final draft budget.

Cox also gave particular appreciation to the Lake County Officers Association and Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association for their understanding of the county's funding limitations, and for giving up any cost of living increases in the new fiscal year.

Supervisor Jeff Smith thanked Cox and his staff and the department heads for their work. To be able to absorb $3.5 million in budget cuts this year “is unbelievable,” said Smtih.

Board Chair Denise Rushing said Cox had told the board a few weeks ago that they would be OK, but she said she didn't know how it would be possible until she saw the budget.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he attended a recent Regional Council of Rural Counties meeting, at which members were informed that the Legislative Analyst's Office is anticipating double-digit deficits for the state by November, making rebudgeting a possibility.

As a result, Farrington said he anticipates the county may need to use its reserves to get through the year.

Over seven and a half hours on Aug. 20, the board heard from all of its department heads, who outlined their budget challenges.

This year, the process was substantially abbreviated, with department heads going over highlights and not reading through the entire budget narratives included in the budget document, which numbers approximately 314 pages.

At the end of the day, Smith offered the resolution, which was approved unanimously.

“Excellent job as always, but this was a particularly tough year,” Rushing told county staff.

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