The board meeting starts at 9 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport, and will be broadcast live on Channel 8.

In July, the board adopted a temporary moratorium on new wireless communications facilities. The 45-day moratorium was meant to give the county time to amend its zoning ordinance in response to concerns by community members regarding the facilities' possible impacts on public health and safety.

Upper Lake resident Cheryl Little Deer's appeal of a Planning Commission decision giving the OK to a new Edge Wireless tower near Upper Lake gave rise to the moratorium, as Lake County News previously reported.

The temporary ban was approved July 24, the same day as the supervisors approved a finding of fact that denied Little Deer's appeal and allowed the Edge Wireless tower project to move forward.

With the 45 days close to an end, County Counsel Anita Grant is bringing the matter back to the supervisors, who will consider whether the urgency ordinance should be extended.

Also under untimed items, Supervisor Denise Rushing is asking fellow board members to consider a resolution approving participation in the Sierra Club's Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration.

The effort kicked off in July, and follows up on a successful “Cool Cities” effort that has so far been joined by 665 cities nationwide, 101 of them in California.

Participants in both the city and county versions of the “cool” effort pledge to take on climate protection through green building, energy efficiency projects, use of renewable energy and more.

Examples of “cool cities”: The city of Warwick, Rhode Island, replaced traffic lights and crosswalk signals to reduce carbon emissions by 1,200 tons. In Evanston, Ill., the city added wind farms to its power grid to meet its resolution to use 20 percent renewable energy.

North Coast cities that have signed on to the effort include Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma and Arcata.

By joining the Cool Counties program, Lake would pledge to reduce global warming emissions by 80 percent by 2050, which amounts to a 2-percent reduction annually.

One of the ways the county could achieve that is by “greening” its fleet. The Sierra Club reports that it will shortly unveil a tool to show fleet managers the benefits of using hybrid vehicles – including reduced emissions and lower fuel bills.

If Lake joins the Cool Counties program, it would be among the first counties nationwide to do so, joining Alameda; Arlington County, Va.,; Cook County, Ill.; Dane County, Wis.; Hennepin County, Minn.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Montgomery County, Md.; and Queen Anne's County, Md.

Other topics for the board to consider:

Timed items

9:15 a.m. – Status report and update on Code Compliance Division activities; and options to establish the enforcement fee/cost recovery program.

10 a.m. – Supervisor Anthony Farrington is bringing to the board a discussion on the merits of implementing Propositions 60 and 90, which allow people aged 55 and over to transfer a property's tax base value or rate from an existing residence to a replacement residence; intracounty transfers are covered by Proposition 60, while intercounty transfers apply under Proposition 90.

10:30 a.m. – Consider a request from the Anderson Springs Geothermal Impact Mitigation Fund Committee to construct an arch at the entrance of the community of Anderson Springs.

Untimed items

– Three different proposed ordinances or resolutions from Public Works regarding post construction requirements for new development and significant redevelopment of storm water management facilities.

– A proposed amendment to the rental agreement between the county's Mental Health Department and Terry Sochet for property located at 14141 Lakeshore Blvd., Clearlake.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:3}

Center Board President Jim Swatts told Lake County News that he and the IRS settled on a figure of just over $33,000, and that he signed the agreement papers Thursday morning.

That settlement, which has taken months to reach, will allow the center to move forward with selling its thrift shop building to the county for $150,000, as Lake County News previously reported.

The county agreed earlier this year to purchase the building to pull the center out of its financial troubles, which have been serious enough to warrant a recent grand jury investigation into the center's affairs predating Swatts' taking over the center's leadership.

The purchase agreement includes a rental agreement in which the county will rent the building back to the center for $1 per year, with an opportunity for the center to repurchase the building for $150,000 in 10 years.

County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the title company had contacted him to let him know that the tax liens on the property had been cleared. Cox said he'll be signing the papers this morning at 11 a.m. to close the deal.

“It looks like it's working out – thank goodness,” said Cox Thursday evening.

The Board of Supervisors had already approved one extension to the purchase agreement earlier this summer, and another extension was scheduled for their consideration on this Tuesday's agenda, Cox said.

Swatts said he has worked to resolve the IRS liens since he took over as the center's board president in July 2005.

During the last few months, Swatts had been waiting for the settlement on a day-to-day basis. Swatts said the holdup in reaching a resolution resulted in another food company attaching the center's bank account.

As Lake County News reported in June, the senior's center's total tax liability is about $39,000, of which $16,000 is penalties.

In May Congressman Mike Thompson wrote to the Sacramento IRS office to ask them to dismiss the penalties, which would have reduced the debt to about $23,000. Thompson's letter cited the failure of the center's former executive director – Rowland Mosser – to pay the IRS the taxes the center owed.

But when the IRS heard that the center was selling the building, IRS officials began suggesting that the tax liability could go as high as $72,000, counting additional penalties, Swatts previously told Lake County News.

Lake County News called the IRS about the tax penalty issue.

Spokesman Bill Steiner said tax liability amounts go up or down for a variety of issues, including unwillingness to pay.

That, however, hasn't been the case with the center, which has been sending the IRS $500 each month since March 2006 as part of a repayment plan, according to Swatts and the center's Executive Director, J.J. Jackson.

“Typically, penalties can be dismissed, but interest is what we call statutory,” said Steiner, which means it cannot be removed from the tax bill.

As for specifics of the center's situation, and why the numbers were jumping around, Steiner said, “The IRS can't talk about it,” because of confidentiality. Even he wasn't privy to the case information, he added.

“The IRS is always willing to work with the entity to make sure they can stay in business and pay the taxes off,” Steiner said. “It's not our resolve to put people out of business.”

Every situation is different, said Steiner, and a decision to remove penalties is based on a case's unique circumstances. The decision is ultimately up to a revenue officer with the IRS collection division.

Swatts said he was told the center could have its money as soon as next week, once the attachment to its bank account is resolved.

The $150,000 will allow the center to pay off its bills, including other outstanding liens against the property, and put a new roof on the building.

“We will be able to go forward,” Swatts said.

With this major obstacle now nearly a thing of the past, Swatts is preparing for his next move.

“I'm resigning the end of this month,” he said, although he recently had been reelected the center's board president for another year.

Swatts told Lake County News in a previous interview that he has worked long hours each week during the past few years to get the center back on its feet, which he said he promised to do before stepping down as board president.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:2}

A nearly filled council audience – more than 50 people attended the meeting – many of them motorcyclists were there to complain about the Blue Heron Rally, an event created to raise money for Lake County Community Action Agency.

As Lake County News first reported on Tuesday, the event had a large law enforcement presence, which Lake County Community Action Agency Executive Director Georgina Lehne and motorcyclists have said caused the low turnout.

Before opening up the meeting to public comment, Mayor Judy Thein asked City Administrator Dale Neiman to address the public.

Neiman said he realized not long after arriving at the city earlier this year that it needed new rules and procedures for dealing with special events.

He said the city must create a special event permitting process, with one point person in order to ensure all appropriate agencies are notified. A new process should include a special event application, he said.

Referring to Saturday's poker run, Neiman said one way it could have been handled better was coordinating traffic control at intersections as the motorcycle pack moved through the city.

"We didn't think about it because we didn't have these procedures in place," he said.

Neiman said they were asked for traffic control on the day of the event, but stopping traffic on the highway required that the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans be involved.

A new application process would help organizers know what information to provide, said Neiman.

As for the police presence, Neiman explained it by saying, "We operated under the assumption that as many as 10,000 people may attend the event." Agencies responded with a number of officers to cover that amount of people, he said.

Neiman said that, to his knowledge, only one Clearlake Police car was outside of city jurisdiction for the run, and that was because it was following two bikers wearing gang colors.

Neiman said the city wants to know about specific problems people had with city employees so they can investigate it.

"It's important to recognize tonight that the council can't make any decision related to any comments," he said, explaining that was because the topic wasn't on the agenda, which requires a formal request from an individual or group.

The council listened as more than a dozen people went to the podium to state their concerns. Also present for the meeting was Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain, who listened but offered no responses or comments.

Joan Moore, director of the city's youth center, credited Councilwoman Joyce Overton – who also is Moore's sister – with her work on the rally and efforts to develop a youth center.

Moore said the event was a huge disappointment, which comes at a time when the youth center has signed up 65 youth for its programs, 64 of which are very low income and can't pay the program fees.

She said they're still raising money to help the young people, including selling leftover Blue Heron Rally T-shirts for $10 each.

Roy Sivertson, a Clearlake resident who spent 20 years in the Marines, said he sees gangs around Clearlake all the time, but they're not on motorcycles.

He said riders at the rally were treated like criminals by an oversized police force. Meanwhile, he said last November his home was burglarized and police told him they didn't have the money to process the fingerprints.

"How come you had the money to do what you did Saturday yet you don't have the money to process fingerprints?" he asked.

John Rice, who works at the Clearlake Safeway as a butcher and has ridden his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in hundreds of rally events, said four hears ago the Hells Angels held a run in Lake County and CHP were out in force to help control traffic.

"Nobody helped us Saturday. They harassed us. They got in the middle of the pack to break us up," Rice said.

When he tried to talk to McClain at the event, Rice said McClain rolled up his car window and wouldn't talk with them.

The community's children are the ones who really will suffer, said Rice. "There needs to be an explanation."

Marty Comito worked on organizing the event. She said that the Iron Pigs, who originally had been the event hosts, pulled out when they heard The Fryed Brothers were coming, accusing the band of an affiliation with the Hells Angels – an accusation band supporters and the band themselves have vehemently denied.

She blamed Clearlake Police Officer Tim Celli, an Iron Pigs member, for the club's decision to pull out of the event. She questioned the accusations against The Fryed Brothers, and reported that the Iron Pigs took part in a Hells Angels-sponsored run in Reno last year.

"The police department may have made a public relations blunder too big to cover up," Comito said.

Dante DeAmicis, who came to the meeting sporting his leather jacket, gave some of the evening's most colorful commentary on the rally's failure, stating that the city spent a lot of money to destroy a good cause.

He called Saturday's events and "ugly display of hysteria based on movie stereotypes."

DeAmicis said most bikers are middle class folks who have "honest money" in their pockets.

The fallout, he said, is that people will spread the word for hundreds of miles that

Clearlake is run by and for hicks, "blue-nosers" and paranoids.

Vic McManus, one of the riders who led Saturday's pack rider, said people came from all over to support the community's kids, only to run a law enforcement gauntlet and receive poor treatment.

He said when he tried to talk to McClain and shake his hand Saturday, McClain snatched his hand away. "I was disgusted, he should be, too," said McManus.

Responding to Neiman's comments about lack of communication between agencies, McManus said there must have been communication for there to be so much police presence at the rally.

He, too, referred to the CHP breaking up the bike pack which, which he said couldn't have been unintentional, as was the claim.

"The motorcycles I was with aren't coming back," he said.

Lehne spoke to the council, explaining her agency's many services to the community, including a food pantry which recently was hit with so much demand that they had to shut the doors in order to have time to restock it.

Lehne said rally participants and vendors from out of town have told her they will not come back to the county, a fact which is hurt the county's and the city's reputation. She estimated her agency lost $16,183 on the rally.

County Supervisor Jeff Smith said the county has many large events, some – such as BoardStock – with an even greater police presence. Yet those events succeed, he said.

"You just can't blame it on law enforcement," he said.

Bill MacDougall, principal of Carle Continuation High School and senior principal of Konocti Unified School District, said he wasn't there to point fingers.

"What happened was a shame," he said. "Who is to blame? I don't know."

A lot of people worked hard on the rally, said MacDougall. "As a community, we lost."

The community is moving in the right direction in helping the community's children, said MacDougall, who pointed to a huge homeless problem among children in the school system.

He attributed the rally's failure to a lack of communication, and urged the community to put it aside, learn from it and work together. "I know that we can do a lot better than we did."

Dr. Richard Savarese, a retired child psychologist, said he attended the event but didn't stay long because he was uncomfortable with the atmosphere created by the police presence.

He said the anger exhibited during the night's public comments is a secondary feeling, that the primary emotion is hurt.

The rally's failure, he said, has hurt people. "Hurting people is not the way for this place to move forward."

He said he thought there was a hidden agenda in the way the event was handled. "This is a dysfunctional system right now."

At the end of the meeting, during the councilmembers' communications, Overton offered her only comments about the rally she helped to organize.

"I'm really sorry how things turned out on that but we need to move on," she said.

Moving forward, Overton added that she wanted to try to turn a negative into a positive.

Lehne didn't present the city with a bill for the money the rally lost – she told Lake County News earlier this week that she was considering doing just that – but it's expected that the rally's outcome will be formally agendized for discussion by the council during its Sept. 13 meeting.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:3}

That appears to be the case with a Kelseyville couple's plans for a commercial riding stable in Kelseyville, which has drawn protests from those who live close by the proposed stable's location.

The county's Community Development Department held a public hearing on a minor use permit that John and Joanne Van Eck have requested for their property, located at 4965 Steelhead Drive.

Community Development Director Rick Coel led the hearing, Planner Kevin Ingram giving a brief rundown of the plan.

The Van Ecks, who have owned the 97-acre property next door to Clear Lake State Park since 2001, have plans for a commercial stable with nine horse stalls and a riding academy that will allow for 15 students each week. Plans also include a covered riding arena and a club house, the size of which was not specified.

John Van Eck told Lake County News in an interview Wednesday evening that he and his wife raise cattle, Morgan horses and Shires, a draft horse breed that originated in Great Britain, on the property, which is zoned for agriculture.

Van Eck is a retired engineer who worked in San Francisco, and has owned ranches in Petaluma and in Scotts Valley before purchasing the Steelhead Drive property. The Van Ecks also are developing the 16-lot Lakeview Estates Subdivision in Kelseyville.

Van Eck said he is creating the riding academy for disabled children as a way of giving back to the community.

He said he is following the county's mandates in setting up the project. His neighbors, he said, aren't interested in his opinion or what he's trying to do. “I want to keep it rural I want to keep agriculture a viable option here in Lake County.”

Under the minor use permit the Van Ecks would be able to host three special, nonprofit events annually, Ingram explained.

The Van Eck's ranch has been the site of special events during the last few years, including the California Carriage Classic, and recent fundraisers for Westside Community Park and the Lake County Republican Party.

But Van Eck's neighbors along Steelhead Drive turned out in force Wednesday to question the project and lodge their concerns with the county. About 30 people crowded into Community Development's conference room for the meeting.

Neighbor Jim Clement started off the public comment, saying that the residents in the area had had their way of life impacted negatively since the Van Ecks' arrival in 2001. Part of the impact, said Clement, was a lawsuit between Van Eck and the area's water district that caused the district to have to raise fees to pay off legal bills.

Priscilla Clement handed Coel a petition with signatures against the project on the Van Eck ranch, which she said used to be known as “the pasture.”

As soon as Van Eck bought the property, he fenced it, sent out legal documents and the bad feelings started, said Priscilla Clement. Van Eck told Lake County News that the legal documents Clement referenced were hold harmless agreements he asked neighbors to sign to protect himself against liability claims if people accessed his property.

Clement said there should be “no commercial anything, whatsoever,” on the property, because her concern was that it was an opening to having the property become an events venue for weddings and parties. She said the ranching that Van Eck currently is doing already has impacted her enjoyment of the area.

Sharon Ketchum said she was concerned that the stable would be built too close to the home of her elderly father, James Clement, whose allergies will be exacerbated by dust and animals.

Of the 13 people who spoke or asked questions about the project, only Ethel Manning, who owns property across Kelsey Creek, said she was not against the project and felt the Van Ecks had beautified the property, which had been owned by Bud Gaddy, her husband's grandfather.

Jay Sherman of the State Parks Division said waterways were his main issue, especially relating to nearby Cole Creek.

“My concern is the runoff from the concentrated manure,” which can increase nitrates in the water, which hurts fish and boosts aquatic weeds, Sherman said.

Debbie Majestic, who lives on Steelhead Drive with husband Dave, said the narrow, 21-foot roadway which is not bordered by sidewalks already poses safety concerns, and having large horse trailers and pickups moving down it will only exacerbate the issue.

She questioned why the Van Ecks chose to buy property near a residential neighborhood if they wanted to have such a facility. Majestic also said she didn't feel the project's numbers added up; the plan calls for a 100-space parking lot yet has only nine stalls and is supposed to have only 15 students per week.

Todd Mansell of Public Works said he looked at the project and believed it would have minimal impacts – only about as much as two new homes.

The Van Ecks, accompanied by their attorney Barry Parkinson, sat quietly through the hour-and-20-minute hearing. When Coel offered John Van Eck a chance to speak, he said he would hold his comments until the hearing went before the Planning Commission.

He did, however, say he's spent nine months working on the proposal to offer disabled children a place to ride horses, and voiced frustration at the “not in my backyard” attitude he said most of the comments represented.

“If I want to build a 5,000-square-foot facility to have those kids there, I'll do it,” he said.

Coel summed up the comments, saying, “What I'm hearing consistently is noise, lighting and traffic – those are the big ticket items.”

The project will go before the Planning Commission at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in the Board of Supervisors' chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:2}

As Lake County News reported on Monday, County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, who also is executive director of the Redevelopment Agency, and Deputy Redevelopment Director Eric Seely took the matter to the board. Cox and Seely asked for a discussion on ways the county could work with Affinito to expedite the development of a new hotel.

Cox told the board he received a letter from Patrick Brennan, director of franchise development for Choice Hotels, who reported that Affinito has submitted an application for a Mainstay Suites Hotel franchise.

Brennan's letter asked the county for a letter, within 15 days, outlining what assistance the county will offer the project, and specifically seeks to know if the Lucerne Clubhouse property will be redeveloped to allow for additional parking.

“What we might have here is somewhat of a chicken-and-an-egg situation,” said Cox: both Choice Hotels and the county want certain commitments from the other to allow the project to go forward.

In the county's case, Cox said there are still numerous code violations at Affinito's Lucerne Motel and Lake Sands Resorts properties, located at 6339 and 6335 E. Highway 20 in Lucerne, respectively. In June, the county ordered Affinito to abate the blighted buildings and stop renting rooms as apartments.

“Bottom line, we very much would like to see a new hotel constructed in Lucerne,” said Cox.

The question, he added, is what are the county and the Redevelopment Agency willing to do to facilitate the project?

When Board Chair Jeff Smith opened the topic up for public comment, a line of area residents made their way to the microphone to give input and ask questions.

First to the podium were two renters at the Lake Sands who have fought eviction.

One of the women, Carol King, told the board that Affinito's property manager Dennis Cox “takes cash from us under the table” for rent.

The women wanted to address Affinito's behavior toward his tenants and maintenance of his property, but Smith said that wasn't on the agenda

Supervisor Denise Rushing asked the board to hear the women out, acknowledging there are two separate issues with Affinito and the county – the hotel project and code enforcement.

“We're having to deal with the nature of the person we're dong business with,” said Rushing.

Smith, however, asked that the matter be separately agendized for a future meeting, and continued to remind other board members, staff and the public of the specifics of the agenda item.

Dennis Cox also spoke to the board, saying Affinito is “not a big gangster” as he has been portrayed, and that he just hasn't understood “the way things work” in Lake County, and that has led to misunderstandings.

Lucerne resident Lenny Matthews, however, wasn't convinced, and asked the board to consider “who you're dealing with.” Matthews said the motels' tenants needed assistance with transition to new homes, if not from a legal then from a moral standpoint.

But during the meeting it was established that transitional housing is only available for legal housing, and the housing at Affinito's motels isn't legal.

Dominic Affinito didn't appear at the meeting, but he was represented by son, Robert Affinito, and daughter, Christina, who said she manages the hospitality portion of her father's business.

Robert Affinito said they want to build a new hotel and give people a reason to visit. “If we can't build the hotel, I don't know what we'll do with it,” he said of the property, adding that they'll likely sell it.

Donna Christopher of Lucerne said she is concerned that the county was considering working with Affinito when they had no idea what the proposed project looks like. She also said she'd like to see the club house saved.

Like Matthews, shes urged the county to use caution with Affinito, who she said has failed to make a good faith effort in redeveloping the properties. “If you're dealing with the devil and you don't smell sulfur something is out of whack.”

She also urged them not to give any ground in order to get a decent project. “You guys are in the driver's seat, not the fleabag hotel owner.”

Christina Affinito said the hotels were “never, ever meant to be permanent housing for anyone.”

She added, “Our idea was to purchase the property and build a hotel there, a nice one.”

Lucerne resident Craig Bach said he had lived in Mendocino County for 23 years, and had watched Dominic Affinito's past performance, which he said included a long list of broken promises. “I do believe we have to make sure what we see is what we get.”

Supervisor Rob Brown told Smith he felt the matter should be reagendized so all of the matters about code enforcement and the project could be heard at once. He said there are bigger issues than just the parking Affinito is requesting – the matter also touches on Affinito's ownership and management.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he had no problem with taking the matter up again, but that he was concerned about making a decision about Affinito based on his character.

“I don't know him,” said Farrington, but he said the board shouldn't open up the matter of Affinito's character.

Robey also wanted another discussion agendized, because he said he had a problem offering a conceptual agreement with someone in the middle of a code violation.

He said he liked the hotel idea, but suggested there are many ways redevelopment could be used in the matter.

The Redevelopment Agency committed to not using eminent domain on residences, but this is commercial property, said Robey. “We do have the authority to use eminent domain if we wanted to and pursue that route of redevelopment.”

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she was concerned about the “chicken-and-the-egg” situation with Affinito. If she agreed to work with Affinito, Rushing said, she wanted strict deadlines which, if they aren't met, would end negotiations.

“The process matters as much as the outcome,” she said.

The board eventually came to a consensus that staff and Rushing would draft a letter to Affinito regarding support – in concept – of his project.

An additional discussion on the code violations and tenants has not been scheduled, although Rushing promised to speak with the two Lake Sands tenants about bringing their concerns back to the board at a future date.

In other supervisors' news, the board gave final approval to the proposed the mobile home conversion ordinance. As Lake County News previously reported, the ordinance is meant to protect homeowners in mobile home parks when parks are converted to other uses, and includes stipulations that park owners help cover relocation costs.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:2}