LAKE COUNTY ―  The Lake County Board of Supervisors will hold a closed session Tuesday, Aug. 7, to discuss whether the county can become involved in litigation. An earlier story incorrectly reported the supervisors would discuss a resolution supporting the concept of not-for-profit water supplies, based on information from a county source.

County Counsel Anita Grant said Thursday morning “There is no resolution on the agenda for the closed session.”

Third District Supervisor Denise Rushing said Thursday “any discussion of a resolution will be in open session.” She added she hopes it will be on the board agenda soon.

Rushing took the matter to the Board of Supervisors at the request of Lucerne Community Water Organization and LucerneFLOW, which are working for public ownership of water supplies. 

CLEARLAKE – In an effort to support and expand its programs for families in need around the county, the Lake County Community Action Agency (LCCAA) is introducing a new event.

The Blue Heron Rally, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 18, is a 60-mile motorcycle ride around Clear Lake that organizers expect will draw thousands to the county. The event is sponsored by the Iron Pigs M.C. as a benefit for LCCAA.

A proposal that LCCAA Executive Director Georgina Lehne took to the Clearlake City Council last month explains that the day-long event will begin with breakfast at 8 a.m., with motorcyclists and antique cars leaving from Redbud Park for a drive around the lake at 11 a.m., with stops at towns along the way.

The minimum donation to participate is $50, which includes breakfast, a t-shirt, pins for the first 500 to sign up and a barbecue dinner. Car clubs are welcome.

The day also will include vendors at Austin Park, a 50/50 raffle, games for the family and music. Raffles will be held for a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a touring scooter.

The run will end at 4 p.m. at Austin Park, where the fun will continue with a barbecue and the Fryed Brothers Band providing the evening's featured entertainment. Billed as the world's best biker band, the Fryed Brothers are a headlining group at motorcycle events around the country. Its mix of country, bluegrass, rock, and rhythm and blue were featured at Jay Leno's Love Ride in Los Angeles.

Lehne, who received a $2,000 grant from the City Council for the rally, hopes it will become an annual event. Besides promoting the event locally, LCCAA also has advertised the event in several major motorcycle magazines.

Event supports important programs

The event is a creative fundraising approach that the nonprofit LCCAA is taking to help fund its myriad programs that provide nutritional and health care services. Programs include youth mentoring services and a homeless shelter, to the New Beginnings drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, food banks and a clothes closet, and transitional housing for the homeless.

LCCAA also is in the midst of fundraising for a youth safe house.

The safe house for teens, said Lehne, also is crucial, considering a study that showed that between 800 and 1,000 Lake County children are homeless, runaway or “throwaway” -- in other words, their families don't care enough about them to keep track – each month.

Lehne said the safe house “is something that we really, really need here.”

Lehne said LCCAA is expanding to meet the incredible amount of need that exists in the community.

Hunger and nutrition are primary issues, with a report Lehne provided noting that the demand for emergency food in the county growing 227 percent this year over last. In 2005, LCCAA served 17,026 people through its Emergency Food Program, with most of those people coming from households in the Clearlake area.

Lehne said 1,090 families in the Clearlake area are below the poverty level, with many of them part of the “working poor.”

Thirty-nine percent of the people receiving food stamps are children, said Lehne, with nearly 15 percent of the county's children going to bed hungry each night. More than half of students in county schools qualify for free or reduced meals, she added.

The agency is looking at its food programs differently, according to Lehne's report, and rather that calling their services “emergency,” they're now calling them “supplemental.”

LCCAA delivers 500 boxes of commodities on a monthly basis to needy families and seniors as part of the Supplemental Food Program, said Lehne.

In July, LCCAA kicked off a program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income families around the county. “I'm really excited about this program.”

The agency also will once again supply backpacks and school supplies to children of low-income families. Last year they gave out 500 backpacks which were gone, seemingly, in no time. “That was amazing to me,” Lehne said.

Fundraising events like the rally are especially important because, despite rising needs, every year the agency is faced with another funding cut, and must find other ways to fill in the gaps, said Lehne.

How you can help

For more information or to book your reservation, call 995-8010, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the event's Web site, www.blueheronrally.org to download an application. Checks can be mailed to LCCAA, P.O. Box 6649, Clearlake, CA 95422. Credit cards are accepted.

LCCAA also accepts general donations from the community.

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

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CLEARLAKE – The Clearlake City Council on Thursday voted to use redevelopment funds to purchase 61 vacant city-owned parcels and get rid of a fund surplus that could shut down the Redevelopment Agency.

“We have a very serious financial problem with the Redevelopment Agency's housing fund,” City Administrator Dale Neiman told the council Thursday.

Neiman said the state requires the city to use 20 percent of its tax increment revenues to help low- and moderate-income families with housing.

The state also mandates that the Redevelopment Agency's Housing Set-aside Fund can't exceed $1 million for four years, reported Neiman. If it does, the state can shut down the agency and only allow debt service to be paid.

Clearlake's Housing Set-aside Fund has now passed the four-year mark of being over $1 million; Neiman said the fund balance was estimated at $2.3 million as of July 1.

Some of those housing funds may have been transferred to the city's general fund over the years, said Neiman.

If the agency is shut down, the city would have to cut $230,000 out of its general fund, because the city was expecting the agency to pick up that amount in administrative expenses.

Neiman and his staff came up with the plan to solve the problem, which involves the city selling the Redevelopment Agency 61-city owned parcels throughout the city's boundaries.

The 61 lots would cost $1,531,100. Neiman's staff report said the city arrived at that number by looking at sales of comparable properties, with sales prices of lots of similar size averaging $25,100.

The sale would reduce the Housing Set-aside Fund to $459,920, said Neiman, which would solve the overage problem.

The Redevelopment Agency would then use the 61 parcels in developing a first-time homebuyer program, the guidelines for which would be developed over the next year, Neiman reported. That prospective use adheres to the city's General Plan for the properties in question, he added.

The city and the Redevelopment Agency would enter into a loan agreement to cover the purchase price, but the agency would not be able to begin paying back the loan until 2010, reported Neiman. That would give the city $602,770 in interest earnings over the next three years.

Neiman said there are still a number of procedures that need to be fulfilled before the sale can be complete, including going before the Planning Commission for a finding that the property disposition adheres to the city's General Plan.

The only person to speak out against the plan was City Councilman Roy Simons, who has made redevelopment one of his key issues.

The Redevelopment Agency, he said, has “been a total disaster for 16 years, and now you're going to burden it with this?"

Instead, he suggested putting the parcels on the market immediately and using the money for road repairs and development.

Neiman explained that selling the property on the market wouldn't address the fund overage or the Redevelopment Agency's obligations to provide low- and moderate-income housing. He said the plan was beneficial for both the Housing Set-aside Fund and the city, and solves a problem he originally didn't think had a workable solution.

Councilman Chuck Leonard agreed. “We've got to look a the bigger picture here and not just take these narrow views of things," he said to Simons, adding that they can't continue to focus on how the agency was operated in the past.

City resident and Supervisor Jeff Smith, who was in the audience, said as part of public comment that the solution was a “win-win” for the city.

“If you didn't take this opportunity you'd be nuts,” Smith said.

When the council – which also sits as the Redevelopment Agency board – makes decisions on redevelopment issues it must pass separate resolutions on behalf of both the city and agency.

Four separate motions – two on the city's behalf and two for redevelopment – were necessary to approve the property sale plan. Leonard moved all four items, all of which were approved 4-1, with Simons voting no on all of them.

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

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CLEARLAKE – After a lengthy public comment period, the City Council went forward with final approval of an ordinance to control underage drinking in private residences.

The ordinance was up for its second reading Thursday night, after having been approved on its first reading at the council's July 12 meeting.

Police Chief Allan McClain said the ordinance allows police to address "an issue we couldn't touch before."

If police are called to a home and have probable cause to believe that underage drinking is taking place and the legal guardians of the minors drinking aren't present, the person throwing the party can be cited.

During public comment on the item, city resident Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit said she had researched underage drinking laws and felt there were some laws already in place that could be used to make the ordinance more specific. She passed that information on to the council and McClain, including teenage party prevention and dispersal codes from the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The proposed ordinance "doesn't go far enough," she suggested, and the city could get some assistance from Alcoholic Beverage Control to strengthen it.

City Administrator Dale Neiman said the city will consider the information and can bring the ordinance back to add in more specifics.

But a number of city residents who spoke to the issue felt the ordinance goes too far, that it will open the city to lawsuits and be abused by police officers, besides the fact that it could be challenged on constitutional grounds.

Regarding legal concerns, Neiman said City Attorney Tom Gibson had reviewed the ordinance before it went to the council.

There also was concern that the ordinance didn't explain the probable cause that would give officers the ability to investigate underage drinking at private residences.

McClain said the courts struggle with defining probable cause because of the numbers of variables.

Mayor Judy Thein said similar ordinances have been passed in the cities of Healdsburg, Petaluma and Los Gatos, and by Sonoma and Orange counties.

Speaking as a member of the public, Supervisor Jeff Smith said he supported giving police officers "another tool for their tool box."

"If this ordinance saves only one life, it's done its job," he said.

However, he questioned who acted as the legal guardian for young people ages 18 to 21, who are technically adults. Would parents then be held responsible if their children in that age group were found drinking?

McClain said it wasn't an attempt to go back on parents, but he explained the law sees people as minors until age 21. If people in that age group are drinking, they can be cited, he said, as can the person throwing the party where they're drinking if their parents aren't present.

If a similar ordinance comes to the county, Smith said he wants to have County Counsel Anita Grant look over that guardianship issue, which he said jumped out as a "gray area."

"That's the only part I'm concerned about in the ordinance," said Smith.

During the council discussion, Councilmember Joyce Overton said it was her understanding that parents can be held responsible for their children until age 25 when it comes to the education system.

She was concerned, however, about having a written protocol for officers going into homes.

He said existing laws and court decisions define what police can and can't do. Officers are prevented from simply going up and knocking on doors to look for illegal activity.

A police officer would have to be dispatched to the home on a call for a legitimate reason; then, if they saw juveniles with alcohol, they could begin investigating, McClain said.

Councilman Chuck Leonard said every ordinance is potentially open to abuse, and that it's impossible to lay out all the steps that might lead to an enforcement action. It's meant to be a tool to stop underage drinking, he said.

The council voted 5-0 to accept the ordinance on its second reason. It goes into effect in 30 days.

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

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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED. 

LAKE COUNTY – The Board of Supervisors turned down an appeal Tuesday to stop a cell phone tower installation near Upper Lake, then immediately placed a temporary moratorium on other wireless communications facilities until the county can reconsider its zoning ordinance.

The appeal, filed by Upper Lake resident, Cheryl Little Deer, had disputed the Planning Commission's approval of a US Cellular cell tower near Upper Lake along Highway 20.

District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said she couldn't support all of the conclusions in the 10-page finding of fact prepared by County Counsel Anita Grant. A call to her office inquiring about the specifics of her concerns was not returned.

Supervisor Rob Brown said the board had an exhaustive conversation in closed session about the appeal and that they tried to take into account all the needs and concerns expressed by community members. Brown said it was “impossible to find justification to uphold the appeal.”

He said that didn't mean the community members weren't justified in their concerns, and that he hoped the proposed moratorium would help to address the situation. “They can at least take credit for the discussion that we're having.”

Brown moved to deny the appeal and approve the finding of fact. The board voted 3-2 to deny the appeal, with Rushing and Anthony Farrington voting no.

The board postponed discussing the moratorium until later in the meeting, after Community Development Director Rick Coel supplied them with information on current applications for wireless facilities.

The moratorium would place a 45-day hold on applications to construct, modify or place wireless communications facilities in the county, giving the county a chance to amend the zoning ordinance to take into account residents' concerns about the towers. Grant's report on the moratorium said the board could extend it for 22 months and 15 days following a properly noticed public meeting.

Coel told the board there is an incomplete application from Metro PC for a wireless facility in the Shoreline Communities Plan area, which stretches along the Northshore to the south county. Coel didn't specify the proposed site's exact location.

US Cellular has applied for another tower in the Middletown area, and Coel said that application is complete.

Board Chair Jeff Smith said he also knew of a plan to place a wireless tower in an area above Clearlake.

The board approved the moratorium 5-0, with no members of the public coming forward to comment on it.

The findings of fact

In the finding of fact report on the US Cellular cell tower appeal filed by Little Deer, Grant explains that Little Deer's appeal was denied based on several factors at the suggestion of Community Development Department staff.

In particular, Community Development said the Telecommunications Act of 1996 precludes local governments from regulating the placement, construction or modification of telecommunications facilities based on radio frequency emissions and their effects on the environment.

“A preliminary analysis performed by a radio frequency engineering consulting firm working on behalf of US Cellular indicates US Cellular is in compliance with FCC (Federal Communications Commission) radio frequency emission requirements,” the report stated.

Emissions and their possible negative affects on the environment, humans and animals had been one of the main arguments Little Deer presented to the board at its two hearings on the matter, held in May and June.

According to the report, the Telecommunications Act doesn't allow the project's denial on the grounds that the emissions are harmful to the environment.

Community Development also argued against Little Deer's contention that the tower would interfere with the area's scenic corridor. “... Highway 20 has not been officially designated a state scenic route at the location relevant to this appeal,” the report states.

The findings also dismissed Little Deer's contention that an environmental impact report should have been prepared. Community Development countered that an initial study was conducted and it identified both potential impacts and appropriate mitigation measures.

The county also found that the cell tower project in question is consider with the county's General Plan and Zoning Ordinance.

The findings of fact did, however, include three additional conditions on the project, namely:

• That the tower not exceed 120 feet in height, and should be “only that height objectively necessary to meet the applicant's coverage objectives as specified in the Use Permit.”

• US Cellular must provide periodic evidence of compliance with FCC emissions restrictions to Community Development Director Rick Coel. “Failure of the applicant to maintain compliance with FCC emissions regulations will result in the immediate revocation of this Use Permit,” the conditions state.

• The tower must be camouflaged to blend into the surrounding area or be designed to resemble a tree “of a type indigenous to the siting area.”

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

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CLEARLAKE – The sale of Timberline Disposal and negotiations for the sale of the city's business park will be on tonight's Clearlake City Council agenda.

The owner of Timberline Disposal, the Ratto Group of Companies, is in the process of selling the company, according to a staff report from City Administrator Dale Neiman to the council.

Timberline's prospective buyer is Clearlake Waste Solutions Inc., headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Carroll of Carmel, who will own 45 percent of the company; John Shea of Pahrump, Nev., secretary and chief operating officer, who also will have a 45-percent share; and Vice President and General Manager Bruce McCracken of Hidden Valley, with a 10-percent share in the company.

McCracken is Timberline's current manager.

Carroll and Shea also share joint ownership in several other Southwestern companies, including waste disposal businesses.

The issue is going before the council for review and comment because of the franchise agreement between the city and Timberline.

Franchise agreements normally have a provision that requires the city to approve ownership transfers, Neiman's report states. However, the city's franchise agreement with Timberline contains no such provision.

"The rule in this situation is we do not have the authority to approve the transfer," Neiman wrote to the council.

Carroll, Shea and McCracken are scheduled to go before the council and answer any questions, Neiman reported.

They're also going to ask for a rate adjustment next month, Neiman reported, in order to meet requirements for retrofitting disposal trucks with improved air pollution control equipment.

In a June 18 letter to Neiman, the principals of the new company say they're requesting to take over Clearlake's disposal contract, as well as the county's franchise agreement and both franchises in the City of Ukiah.

A summary statement of the company's goals that accompanied that letter say Clearlake Waste Solutions plans to retain longtime employees, offer "continued low rates that help control illegal dumping," provide options for the city to become 100-percent compliant with the state's Air Resources Board, help neighborhood and community groups with recycling, build a green wood/waste facility to help control the costs of recycling that material and offer extended business hours.

City considers hiring firm to assist with airport sale

The council also is set to discuss entering into an agreement with McDonough Holland & Allen, a legal firm also used by the City of Lakeport, to provide legal services related to the city's negotiations with Katz Kirkpatrick, a Roseville firm interested in purchasing and developing the city's business park.

Neiman's report to the council states that the city is considering selling the 26-acre property, and is waiting for an appraisal. The appraisal should be completed in mid August, and will determine if the project is financially viable, Neiman reported.

The reason the city is seeking legal help on the matter from the firm and not City Attorney Tom Gibson is because of the firm's experience with redevelopment projects.

Specifically, the state requires that when a redevelopment agency provides financial assistance to a private project, prevailing wage rates must be paid, Neiman reported. That has raised construction costs by between 20 and 30 percent.

If prevailing wage becomes an issue in this case, Neiman said Katz Kirkpatrick won't purchase the property. He said McDonough Holland & Allen has expertise in that area, and that he's worked with them over the last 15 years.

Gerald J. Ramiza, the attorney who would work with the city, told Neiman in a letter that his current billing rate is $275 per hour.

Other items on Thursday's agenda:

• Consent agenda: Adoption of an ordinance regulating underage drinking.

• Consideration of modifying the plans for the Burns Valley sidewalk project.

• Consideration of amending the 2006-07 budget.

• A proposal that the city's Redevelopment Agency purchase property from the city and enter into a loan agreement for the purchase price.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive. A closed session meeting regarding employee negotiations will begin at 5:30 p.m.

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

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