A site requiring cleanup on the Fowler property. Code Enforcement photo.
KELSEYVILLE – The county wants to keep pushing forward on an extensive cleanup effort on a private property in Kelseyville, despite the landowners' requests for more time.
Last Tuesday Charles Fowler went before the Board of Supervisors to argue that he has made a significant effort to clean up his 360-acre property on Adobe Creek Road.
But significant effort, Supervisor Denise Rushing pointed out, didn't necessarily result in significant results, which is what will be needed to abate the land's current condition.
In January the board approved having Code Enforcement staff move forward with the abatement process on the property, as Lake County News has reported.
Fowler's property in recent years has accumulated piles of scrap metal, old equipment, nuisance vehicles and several trailers which county staff reported aren't habitable and certainly don't meet the criteria for the farmworker housing Fowler says he's entitled to have.
Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield said her staff has done recent walk-throughs on the property but there has been little improvement. At the same time, contractors have submitted bids for the cleanup's first phase.
Brumfield said final approval of those bids will be agendized for the board's consideration on April 1.
Fowler and his daughter, Sara, submitted a document proposing how they would conduct cleanup, but Brumfield said it lacked critical information, such as the timeframes for completion and how they would dispose of the materials slated for removal.
Board members also said they wanted actions prioritized, including taking care of potential health and safety issues first.
Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski said there is a possibility of petroleum leaking into ground near Adobe Creek.
Another critical issue is the unpermitted septic systems with several old trailers installed on the property, said Ruminski. Water samples at the sites indicated a high sewage content.
Fowler had allowed Lakeport Disposal to dump piles of greenwaste on his land, which is not a permitted greenwaste facility. Lakeport Disposal officials previously stated to Lake County News that they took equipment out to spread the greenwaste last fall.
Ruminski said spreading the materials pushed them into tributary streams which, as Supervisor Ed Robey Pointed out, will put a high organic nutrient load into the lake, something county officials are trying to reduce.
Fowler makes his case to the board
Fowler spoke to the board about his longterm farming use of the land, which includes seven acres of winegrapes, and where he has grown vegetables, alfalfa hay and livestock.
He is currently wheelchair bound after suffering from Cushing's disease, which caused a tumor to grow on the pituitary gland in his brain. The result is that Fowler has been unable to do hard physical work for three years.
One priority for cleanup according to board members was cleaning up the site of an unpermitted dwelling surrounded by trash, pictured in slides Brumfield showed the board.
“I want to give Charlie every opportunity possible to get this done,” said Brown. He said the situation hadn't simply happened; the county has received complaints about it for at least years.
“We need to see more than a plan, we need to see some serious action on it,” said Brown.
While wanting to give Fowler a chance to do the work himself, Brown also questioned if he could do it himself, in his current condition.
“A good part of it is done,” Fowler maintained, adding that seven loads of material, much of it scrap metal, has been removed but it's been difficult to get someone to come and do the work, especially during the wet months.
Community Development Director Rick Coel said he believed it was necessary to first deal with the garbage and the substandard mobile homes.
The greenwaste, which had been in windrows, could have been dealt with, said Coel. But Lakeport Disposal's action to spread out the materials – which contained trash – has made the situation more difficult.
While Coel said he appreciated Fowler's effort, he called it “too little, too late.”
“I'm just really concerned the longer we wait the more difficult it will be to clean this up,” he said.
Coel was against renegotiating the process in light of considerable effort from different agencies in the county to put a cleanup plan together.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington said county staff had his whole-hearted support, and that stalling the process was a disservice to both Fowler and the community.
“This has been going on for years,” he said. “This is, unfortunately, something we can't tolerate.”
John Brookes, one of Fowler's neighbors, said that there has been an “incredible amount of foot-dragging on Charlie's part” in getting the process completed.
Richard Schnabel, part of Fowler's caregiver team, asked for compassion considering Fowler's medical condition, which has been developing over the past five to seven years.
Schnabel said Cushing's disease causes changes in personality, and was a reason for the the situation on his property. “It's not just been developing outside of Charlie, it's been developing inside of Charlie.”
Supervisor Jeff Smith said having the county move forward with cleanup might be in the best interests of Fowler's health.
Smith said he didn't see the cleanup being completed unless the county does it. “As far as I'm concerned it's time o get moving.”
Fowler's neighbor, Tom Macomber, said he didn't approve of the mess but supported giving Fowler additional breathing room. Regarding the property's condition, “In less than one week I see a major, major improvement.”
Fowler wanted to keep the six trailers on the property, but Coel said that only one of the trailers meets the age requirements – post-1977 – and it has serious mold problems.
In light of the staff reports the board's consensus was to keep moving forward. Brumfield said the bids for phase one of the cleanup will not be awarded until April 1, and the work likely wouldn't start for a few weeks afterward.
Much remains to be done
Brumfield told Lake County News that Fowler has removed as much as 50 percent of the materials – some of it old farming equipment, vehicles, wine racks and oil tanks – from one of the sites that needs to be abated on the property, but much remains to be done.
She added that Code Enforcement has found that the trailers Fowler wants to keep on the land are both against code and, even if they weren't, wouldn't be allowed because Fowler doesn't have enough current agricultural use on the land to justify them.
Two of the trailers had people living in them but they have since moved out, said Brumfield.
Brumfield said the phase one cleanup bid is for $39,000, and there are a minimum of two other cleanup phases that are now out for bid. “Phase I is possibly going to be the largest one to impact the property.”
Just how long will it take to completely abate the property?
“I would hope that prior to next winter a decision will be made to have the property in full compliance,
she said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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