The PEG Channel, found on Channel 8, provides public access programming to the community, and is funded in part from franchise fees paid into the general funds of Clearlake and the county by cable provider Mediacom.

Board Chair Ed Robey, who sits on the PEG board, reported that the new joint powers authority agreement between the county and city calls for a five-person board to manage the station.

The station's budget will be funded by the city and county, said Robey.

Originally, the city of Lakeport was expected to take part, reported county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.

However, Lakeport – which also receives franchise fees – decided not to participate, citing lack of funds. Cox said Lakeport's decision made it necessary to rewrite the draft contract.

Current budget challenges will make it difficult to fund program expansions for the station, said Cox.

Because of lack of interest and inattention over the years, “This PEG station just about died,” said Robey.

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she wanted to know what other communities get from Mediacom as far as support for their PEG stations. She said she believed other areas get more from their franchise agreements.

Cox pointed out that changes in state law meant that local governments no longer have the ability to negotiate their franchise agreements.

There is no requirement for governments to use franchise fees to support PEG stations, Cox added.

The station currently “is a pile of electronic boxes,” which are stored in a cubicle at Clearlake City Hall, said Robey.

It has no studio and no equipment to speak of, with its remaining cameras either old and broken, said Robey. Some of the equipment even disappeared.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said it's key for the station to be worked into a classroom environment. Robey said that had been the case at one point, but a former city administrator stopped working with Yuba College and the effort effectively stopped.

Clearlake Council member Joyce Overton, also a PEG board member, said that Yuba College no longer has the room to set aside for the station.

Both she and Robey noted, however, that there is renewed interest in the station, and there are hopes to have a facility devoted to PEG.

Robey said the board estimated they would need $50,000 to properly run the channel. Cox, however, said that the county only budgeted $5,000 for its half of running the station this year.

That won't help the station afford new equipment, although Robey suggested that they might be able to get “hand-me-down” equipment from larger stations that are upgrading. The station also may apply to the Wine Auction for a grant.

Supervisor Rob Brown said most stations get sponsorships to help cover expenses. Supervisor Jeff Smith agreed, saying the station should seek underwriters. Smith also suggested looking to the Clearlake Chamber of Commerce for use of its conference room as a PEG classroom.

He added that the Board of Supervisors probably should not have given a full $30,000 grant to KPFZ/Lake County Community Radio, but should have considering splitting the amount between the radio station and PEG.

Rushing suggested addressing organizational needs, completing bylaws and pursuing nonprofit status, in addition to tapping Mediacom for more support and resources.

Clearlake Mayor Curt Giambruno wondered if Mediacom purchases large quantities of camera equipment and, if so, would it make such equipment available to PEG?

Brown questioned PEG's importance and asked if it is really watched that much. Robey said it was, pointing to the many college classes that are broadcast on it, as well as the Board of Supervisors meetings.

Many people watch a lot of television as part of their everyday life, said Rushing. “This is one channel that connects them to here.”

Cox said it costs the county between $13,000 and $14000 a year to broadcast the board meetings.

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CLEARLAKE – The concept of bringing local nonprofits to a central location to better serve the community was a leading topic of a joint meeting of the Clearlake City Council and Board of Supervisors held Thursday morning.

The meeting took place at Clearlake City Hall.

Tom Jordan, chair of the Lake County Community Action Agency (LCCAA) board, presented to the board and council the idea of using a 16-acre, county-owned property off of 18th Avenue and behind Redbud Hospital, as a “nonprofit village.”

In the LCCAA proposal, the land would house the agency's current operations – including food distribution, a perinatal substance abuse program and substance abuse treatment, emergency housing for families.

A sizable location would allow LCCAA to relocate the community youth center there, expand services to include tutoring services and a computer lab, offer affordable housing for families and people with mental health issues who need permanent supervision. The location also would be available to other groups, Jordan noted.

One of the community's most pressing needs, said Jordan, is for emergency housing, or a safe house, for "throwaway youth" – young people who are homeless for any number of reasons, but usually because of their families' inability or unwillingness to care for them.

"We have no place to help these children get their lives turned back around," said Jordan.

A number of "guardian angels" in the community currently help house the children, said Jordan.

The village setting would include such a safe house, which Jordan said would serve five young men and five young women, and be supervised on a 24-hour basis.

There also will be housing available for foster youth transitioning from the system out into the world, said Jordan. "We have no transitional housing in this county for such children."

On this "community campus" LCCAA staff would always be present, said Jordan.

He said the agency envisioned medium- to high-density housing, using green building techniques, landscaping and walking paths.

"Clearly we would love to go green," said Jordan, adding that the agency is considering solar paneling, geothermal heat exchange, use of green materials and new forms for construction, including rooftop gardens.

"We really do believe this would be the best use for this property," he said.

Supervisor Rob Brown asked how much the nonprofit village would cost to build. Jordan said they have not arrived at a total cost, because first they wanted to see if there was consensus with, and support from, local governmental agencies, especially since they would like the county to give LCCAA a minimum-priced lease on the property.

Jordan said funding would come from federal and state sources, as well as tax credits and grants. The building, he added, would likely be done in a phase approach.

“This is a great concept,” said Supervisor Jeff Smith.

However, Smith suggested that other important service providers – such as the Konocti Unified School District, whose Oak Hill Middle School is in the area, as well as Hospice Service and Yuba College – also should be involved in the discussion.

County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said there has been a lot of interest in the parcel over the years. Most recently, Habitat for Humanity approached the county about using part of the land for affordable housing.

There also is the matter of transferring local court facilities to the state, which Cox said necessitates the building of some new court facilities in Lakeport and Clearlake. He suggested that, if the county were to let the land go for the project, that Clearlake could, in return help the county locate land appropriate for a court building in the center of town.

Clearlake Council member Joyce Overton, who works closely with LCCAA on its youth programs and especially in running the city's youth center, said the idea for the nonprofit village is to have a place where all needs – from mental health to drug recovery to hospice – can be met by any number of local groups and agencies.

LCCAA, she said, works all over the county, not just in Clearlake.

Georgina Lehne, LCCAA's executive director, gave the council and the board a snapshot of the current size of the agency's services.

Last year, LCCAA distributed 260 tons of food to families around Lake County, said Lehne.

She said she's seeing an increase in people seeking help – not just the working poor and the homeless, but those who are caught up in the mortgage crisis.

Lehne said the agency wants to network with other nonprofits. “This model concept of a nonprofit village would be really unique.”

LCCAA, in cooperation with Principal Bill MacDougall of Carle High School, is the lead agency on putting together the safe house for homeless children, she said.

Lehne said there are as many as 1,000 homeless children in Lake County every month – many of whom are found looking in garbage cans and dumpsters for food – and the agency is running out of places to put them.

Centralizing services, said Lehne, would lead to a stronger, healthier community.

Supervisor Ed Robey, who chaired the meeting, suggested having a summit of local nonprofit service agencies to come up with a master plan and gauge interest in participating in the concept.

Supervisor Denise Rushing pointed out that the thing that could get in the way of the project becoming a reality is money. She suggested looking at the costs on order of magnitude, syngergies and funding sources, all of which ultimately would be determined by which groups will, and which won't, participate. A summit could be the starting point for that exploration.

Smith said further exploration of the project also needed to take one key consideration into account – what is the highest and best use for the property? The county held onto the land, wanting to put it to its best use, said Smith.

He also questioned if the city needed more affordable housing, adding that he hears from many people who believe there is too much already. Clearlake City Administrator Dale Neiman reported that 300 low-income housing units – including apartments – have been built in the city during the past three years.

Cox said the county should determine if it will ever need the property for expansion. He also suggested an appraisal of the parcel, which the assessor most recently valued at $9,000, and which likely is far below its actual value.

Smith pointed out that the property also has great views and great commercial land development potential.

Rushing said the nonprofit village concept is a valid one, whether or not this is the right property.

Overton agreed that another property was a possibility.

MacDougall – who was delayed in coming to the meeting because he was finding students who had gone AWOL from school – gave a short, succinct plea for support for the safe house for homeless youth.

“We're in a situation right now where we have many, many, many kids who are homeless,” he said.

At Christmas, he had to find homes for 10 youngsters to stay.

MacDougall said he deals with homeless children all the time, and the issue is only getting worse.

“Your constituents, your children, are suffering, and they are suffering more now than I have ever seen in my 21 years in this community,” he said.

The council members and board members agreed to move forward with setting up a nonprofit groups summit to explore the concept further.

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Lt. Mike Hermann reported that Clearlake Police Officer Carl Miller, currently assigned to the Konocti Unified School District as a school resource officer, arrested the suspect, a continuation school student.

Police allege that the teen is responsible for numerous documented areas in the city where graffiti was observed, according to Hermann.

The graffiti in this case included spray painting and adhesive stickers depicting spray-painted images that were made with the use of stencils, a technique similar to screen printing, Hermann said.

Hermann said the graffiti was neither gang-related nor racially motivated.

According to police, the graffiti markings began showing up last November, reported Hermann. The distinct patterns matched items found in the teen's possession – including spray paints, stencils and work tools used to create the graffiti and stickers.

Following arrest the suspect was booked into Lake County Juvenile Hall for felony vandalism, according to Hermann.

Miller has identified several other sources of graffiti within the city and will be working on pursuing those cases as well, said Hermann.

Still not concluded, said Hermann, are a series of vandalisms featuring hate speech and gang symbols that hit a Clearlake neighborhood last May.

In October, Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit, president of Lake County's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and her first vice president Rick Mayo, went to the Clearlake City Council with their concerns about the case, and the fact that it had not been solved.

“There hasn't been a positive closure on that one,” Hermann told Lake County News on Thursday.

“We believe we know who may have been responsible for that but there hasn't been enough to prove it,” Hermann added.

Police encourage those who are victims to graffiti to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 994-8251 for investigation and documentation.

Anyone with information about persons responsible for vandalism should contact dispatch or an officer.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The community is invited to take part in a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of about 1,500 acres on Mt. Konocti on March 18. Photo courtesy of County of Lake.

LAKEPORT – The county's plan to purchase 1,500 acres on Mt. Konocti is scheduled for a public hearing later this month.

County Public Services Director Kim Clymire, who is leading the effort to purchase the land on behalf of the county, reported Tuesday that he will take the matter to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18.

Late last year, the Fowler family offered the County of Lake the first chance to purchase the land on the mountain's west side, which includes Buckingham Peak, the location of telecommunications towers, as Lake County News has reported.

Clymire said that, during final budget years last year, the Board of Supervisors unanimously supported his request to pursue acquiring the property. At that time, no definite plans were made or money budgeted because the property was not for sale.

Since then, the family offered the county the first right of refusal on the property, “knowing that the county has always shared their vision to preserve and conserve the property and open it up to the public for nonmotorized trail recreational opportunities,” Clymire noted.

Clymire said the hearing will explore acquiring the property for a public park with nonmotorized trails.

At the meeting Clymire will give an updated report on the project and discuss potential funding options.

A recently completed appraisal looked at the land in two parcels, valuing all of the property at $3.5 million, or $2.6 million minus the parcel containing the communications towers.

Clymire reported that, with the board's approval, he has already submitted funding applications Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and Congressman Mike Thompson.

The county hosted a preliminary meeting last month to discuss the acquisition and it included interested representatives and individuals from the county, the sellers, Bureau of Land Management, Sierra Club Lake Group, Lake County Land Trust, The Ridgeline Trail, State Parks and the Trust for Public Lands, Clymire said.

Some of those groups may also help fund the effort to purchase the acreage on Mt. Konocti, Clymire reported.

Anyone wanting to show their support for the land acquisition is urged to attend the March 18 board meeting. Clymire also invites the community to submit comments in writing to him, to be entered into the record, by mailing them to 333 Second St. Lakeport, CA 95453; or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information about the property purchase, contact Clymire's office at 262-1618.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The hour-and-a-half-long meeting saw only three council members present – Vice Mayor Chuck Leonard and Council members Joyce Overton and Judy Thein. Roy Simons was ill and Mayor Curt Giambruno's wife is ailing.

The council's first order of business was to approve a rate increase for Clearlake Waste Solutions. As Lake County News reported last week, the increase – limited to 12.26 percent – was required because the company must upgrade its diesel trucks according to new state regulations.

Before the council Thursday were four property abatement cases: 14170 Woodland Drive (Ruth March), 3806 Pearl Ave. (David Canafax); 15889 25^th Ave. (Cecil and Raynette Hendricks); and 16075 and 16085 27^th Ave. (Nima Kazeroonian).

All but Canafax's were approved with little or no comment. City resident Alice Reece said she had seen the property and it appeared to have been cleaned up, although the city had received no receipts from the owner indicating cleanup had, indeed, taken place.

Council member Joyce Overton wanted to have a building inspector check out the property first, before moving forward with abatement. However, City Administrator Dale Neiman said it would take 30 days to line up abatement and voting for it would still allow a building inspector to see if it had, indeed, been cleaned up.

Council member Judy Thein argued that the property had serious health concerns and that she wanted to keep the process moving forward. She moved to abate the property, with Leonard seconding. The motion passed 2-1.

The council also asked its staff to further investigate plans for the city's new Web site.

The site, at www.clearlake.ca.us, recently was redesigned by Jack Barker, manager of the city's PEG TV channel. The site previously had been designed and maintained by a former building inspector who left the city last sumer.

Barker also is leaving the community, which places the city in the position of needing to decide how the site will be administrated.

City Finance Director Michael Vivrette's staff report had proposed several options, including having Barker continue to maintain the site, from a distance, for $20 per hour; hiring BitSculptor, which developed the city of Lakeport's site for about $6,000, to either maintain the site or redesign it; purchasing software and finding someone on the city staff to maintain the site; or taking up offers from several people, with different levels of experience, who had expressed interest in working on the site.

Neiman and Vivrette were in favor of hiring BitSculptor, and audience members also said the site should be minded by a professional company.

Thein pointed out that the city has spent a lot of money trying to develop its site, and after numerous efforts have, essentially, ended up back at the drawing board. She suggested that the city needed a plan for the site, and what the city wants it to be, before moving forward.

If considering a professional company, Thein said they should seek more than just one bid before making a decision. She suggested drafting a plan and then opening it up to the community for bids.

In addition, she argued that the city should look at other local sites – such as those built by the county and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, the school district and local businesses – for ideas.

The suggestions received the support of the other council members present, who joined in directing staff to formalize a plan as a first step before going out to bid.

In other council news, council members received a staff report from Neiman on the city's midyear budget review, and agreed to contract with Melissa Floyd for planning services.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The council meeting will start at 6 p.m., and will be preceded by a 5 p.m. staff and council workshop, in which they'll discuss the annexation update, and committee assignments and liaisons with other agencies.

The 56-page sewer district ordinance, No. 872, is necessary to comply with recent federal and state legislation regarding the operation of sewer systems, according to a staff report by city Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan.

In his report, Brannigan also notes that the city needs to modernize its 30-year-old chapter municipal code in order to meet Environmental Protection Agency and 2007 California Plumbing Code.

A copy of the ordinance can be found on the city's Web site at www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/docs.aspx?deptID=43&catID=102.

Following the open portion of the meeting, the council will adjourn into closed session to discuss labor negotiations with the Lakeport Employees Association.

Lakeport City Hall is located at 225 Park St.

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