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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH INFORMATION ABOUT BILLINGS AND OFFICER.
CLEARLAKE – An investigation into a Friday crash involving an officer on his way to a call has ruled that the officer was at fault, according to a Monday report.
Lt. Mike Hermann of Clearlake Police reported that the agency concluded its look into the crash, which took place at the intersection of Highway 53 and Lakeshore Drive Friday night. The report also was reviewed by the California Highway Patrol's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team.
The Friday crash involved Det. Richard Towle and 19-year-old Desiree Perez of Kelseyville, as Lake County News first reported over the weekend.
Towle was responding from the area of 40th Avenue with lights and sirens to an emergency call in which an individual was threatening to kill an off-duty police officer, said Hermann.
When Towle came to the intersection at Highway 53 he was hit by Perez, driving southbound on Highway 53 in her Honda Civic, said Hermann.
Sgt. Tim Celli has passed through the intersection ahead of Towle, said Hermann.
Perez and another vehicle traveling towards the intersection had reportedly slowed for Celli's patrol vehicle, but then accelerated again after he cleared the intersection, according to witness statements, Hermann reported.
Because of “natural vision obscurements” at the intersection, Perez and other southbound vehicles were unable to see Towle's patrol vehicle until he actually entered the intersection, according to Hermann.
After seeing each other's vehicle, both drivers attempted to avoid a collision but were unable to, said Hermann. Perez's vehicle struck the passenger side of Towle's patrol car, causing major damage to both vehicles.
Both Towle and Perez were transported to Redbud Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries and released, Hermann said.
Hermann reported that, while section 21056 of California Vehicle Code states that the "driver of an emergency vehicle is exempt from the rules of the road while responding to an emergency," it also states that drivers of emergency vehicles need to drive with "due regard" for the safety of all persons using the highway.
The department's investigation concluded that Towle failed to ensure that all cross traffic had come to a stop or that it was clear to enter the intersection against the red light, according to Hermann.
As a result, Hermann said the investigation ruled that Towle was at fault for the collision.
Regarding the reason for the emergency response, Hermann reported that Scott Billings, 24, of Clearlake was arrested for public intoxication.
Billings, who was known to the department, had been making some threats outside the home of Officer Tim Hobbs, said Hermann. It was determined that Billings was too intoxicated to properly care for himself, and he was transported to the Lake County Jail.
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LAKE COUNTY – A soldier with ties to Humboldt and Lake counties was killed last week in Iraq.
“We lost a hero,” Ginny Craven of Operation Tango Mike said in a statement released Monday on the death of SPC Peter W. Schmidt, 30, of Eureka.
Schmidt, who was serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was killed in action Nov. 13 in Mikhisa, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated during dismounted combat operations.
He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash., and had been deployed since April, according to Craven.
Craven founded Operation Tango Mike, a local group that sends troops overseas care packages. She said Schmidt's cousin, Valerie Donelson of Kelseyville, told her about him, and he became a recipient of the group's care packages.
Schmidt's death has been taken hard by the Operation Tango Mike volunteer family, who are also grieving, as they have lost one of their own, said Craven.
A graduate of Arcata High School, Schmidt is being remembered as a creative, athletic and kind man, who signed up for the military during wartime because he wanted to make a difference, Craven reported.
Schmidt wrote frequent and informative letters, describing daily life, rewards and disappointments in a war zone, Craven reported. He marveled at the Iraqis’ determination and often shared candy and other prized items with Iraqi children.
He enlisted in 2004, knowing the likelihood of being deployed to Iraq, Craven reported. The prospect did not deter him; in fact, he wanted to go to Iraq to contribute and to make a difference in the lives of the Iraqi people.
Another example of Schmidt’s giving nature was his Web page, according to Craven. Schmidt shared photos, giving folks a glimpse of everyday life in a war zone. He expressed his frustrations, but continued giving of himself. Not only did he post pictures of military equipment, but he shared pictures of himself interacting with Iraqis.
“He was indeed making a difference,” said Craven.
Schmidt is survived by his parents, Mike and Marianne Schmidt of San Jose; siblings, Andrew, Amy and Daniel; grandfather, Bill Schmidt and aunt, Diane Sigola, both of Cloverdale; and cousin, Valerie Donelson of Kelseyville.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE – A vacation complex to be built on an existing resort has earned the enthusiastic support of the Clearlake Planning Commission as well as city residents, who say the project will help the city's tourism and its look.
At its regular meeting Nov. 6, the Clearlake Planning Commission approved a use permit for Serenity Cove, a 138-unit vacation condominium project, said Commissioner Al Bernal.
The project also will include a restaurant open to the public, a 50-slip marina, a clubhouse, swimming pool and pier/dock, according to city planning documents.
Serenity Cove is currently known as Funtime Resort, but is commonly known as the old Garner’s Resort on Old Highway 53, Bernal explained.
Proposing the development is the firm Serenity Cove LLC, based in San Francisco.
The group includes Leo Cassidy, John McMahon and Damian Johnston, three Irishmen who met after arriving in the United States, Cassidy told Lake County News in an interview.
“We've been friends for a very long time and have been going to the lake there for 20 to 25 years,” said Cassidy.
Since then, he said he's gotten to know every inch of the lake, and watched the community go through transitions. “I've seen seen a lot of changes all through the years there,” Cassidy said.
Recognizing the area's potential, and understanding its resort past, Cassidy said he and his partners began exploring purchasing property for a development.
First, they looked at the Lamplighter Resort, but Cassidy said the “previous regime” in the city's building department raised enough issues with the plan that he walked away from it.
Next, the group began looking at Garner's Resort three years ago, going through a due diligence process because of the potential risk involved in the sizable project. He said they purchased the resort two years ago and began working with city staff on the project.
The five-story condominium development will include 138 units with one, two or three bedrooms in order to serve everyone from single visitors and couples to families, said Cassidy. The entire development will be accessible from the water and open to the public, Cassidy said.
A boardwalk will link to nearby Anderson Marsh State Park, which has plans to expand its walking trails, Cassidy said.
“We put a lot of thought into this,” he said.
The hope, he added, is for the resort to draw back tourism to Clearlake, offering a place with amenities that will appeal to everyone from fishermen to families.
Cassidy also hopes the resort will help draw bass tournaments back to Clearlake. “All the fish are not in Lakeport,” he said.
He suggested Serenity Cove could be a mini Konocti Harbor.
Cassidy said he has been in construction for many years, and has completed developments around the country, most of them much bigger than this one. He said some of his projects include high rises in Miami and Honolulu.
City approves project basics
Clearlake City Administrator Dale Neiman processed the Serenity Cove use permit.
“My conclusion, it's a good project for the city,” Neiman said.
Neiman said the resort currently is permitted for 128 units, so the development Cassidy and his partners are proposing would only increase that by 10 units.
He said there will be a homeowners association, and he foresees retirees, people seeking second homes and young professionals buying the resort's condominiums.
The resort currently has 17 older mobile homes, none of which are in good condition, along with one RV, said Neiman.
Eight of the mobiles are occupied by a total of 16 permanent residents, said Neiman. A survey of the property owners discovered two very low income households, five low income households and one in the moderate income bracket.
Neiman said the residents will need to be relocated before construction can begin. He said it hasn't been decided if relocation assistance will be provided.
None of the residents came forward to ask for assistance at the Nov. 6 Planning Commission meeting, said Neiman. Two of the residents spoke at the meeting and said they saw no problem with the development.
Project gets enthusiastic response
Bernal said a large crowd came to the Nov. 6 Planning Commission meeting. Besides the developer, speakers included resort residents, neighboring property owners, Clearlake business owners and Clearlake Vision Task Force members. He said no attendees at the meeting spoke against the project.
Cassidy said he believes the project is receiving support because “this is a development the City of Clearlake is crying out for.”
The commission had to resolve three issues prior to giving approval for the use permit, according to Bernal. Those issues were the five-story height of the three buildings on the site, preservation of the oak trees on the site and traffic safety concerns for entry and exit to and from the project. The issues were resolved.
The height of the building, said Bernal, will not be an issue for fire protection and will not result in restrictions of views from adjoining properties.
By letting the developers build upward, said Neiman, the city was able to get an exchange on open space, which will help preserve almost all of the eight-acre property's numerous oak trees.
Bernal said only five of 38 mature oaks, some already diseased, will be removed.
On the issue of traffic, the area of the property that faces Old Highway 53 will include road widening to allow for turn lanes, lessening the traffic concerns, Bernal reported.
“What impressed me the most is we've got outside investors and developers that see the potential of Clearalake – the water, the climate – and they're willing to invest in us,” said Bernal.
The quality of the proposed development, its efforts to promote the city and tourism, and the developers' efforts to work with the city, resort residents and neighbors, all strengthened the project's appeal, Bernal explained.
In addition, he said the project dovetails with the goals of the Clearlake Vision Task Force report, which seeks to improve the city's tourism as a way of strengthening the economy.
An added benefit is that the project is a major upgrade of a property currently already used as a resort facility, Bernal said.
Resort won't be built right away
Everyone agrees that construction on the Serenity Cove resort project is still at least two years out.
Bernal said the Planning Commission's use permit approval is the first step towards actual construction of the project.
Next, the developers must gain approval by the State Department of Real Estate and process a subdivision map through the City of Clearlake, Bernal explained.
Then, said Neiman, the developers need to solidify financing, finish construction drawings and submit them to the city, and satisfy the different utility companies' requirements.
When building starts will depend largely upon the market, which has now slowed down, said Cassidy.
The pricing of the condominiums also will depend on how the market looks in a few years, said Cassidy.
By that time, the developing partners will have decided on the materials for the project, which Cassidy said he considered to be “green.” No decision has been made about using solar power, he added.
Cassidy is confident that the market will turn a corner, and he said he believes the coming decade has a lot in store for Clearlake.
“I believe there's going to be major changes up there,” he said.
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It's been a dry year across the state, and the impacts have been hard on some areas of the county. But Rachelle Henry, general manager for the Upper Lake County Water District, told her board at its Nov. 15 meeting that the district's customers have stepped up.
The district didn't issue a call for conservation, said Henry. But their pumping hours for this October totaled 150, down from 231 at the same time last year.
Henry told Lake County News in an interview after the meeting that she hasn't seen a year this dry during the five years she's been with the district.
“Our wells are down, definitely,” she said.
But the district's customers – accounting for 402 hookups – took on the matter of saving water, she said.
“I'd like to get the word out there about how grateful we are to our constituents,” she said.
Understanding annexation issues
The district's board is now in the process of reviewing a basic annexation agreement that the district could possibly use when future projects are presented, said Henry.
Two possible annexations looming in the future are the Meadow Point mobile home park near Judy's Junction restaurant and the Habematolel Pomo's proposed casino project, said Henry. The district originally was told that the tribe wanted to break ground for the casino in 2008.
Neither project has made a formal application to the district for annexation, Henry said.
However, Habematolel members attended the district board's Oct. 10 meeting to give the district a check for $7,727.33 to cover an engineering study. Henry said the study explored hooking the casino up to the district as well as other alternatives to provide water to the project.
If the tribe does make formal application to join the district, Henry said that the district doesn't have to approve it.
A Bureau of Indian Affairs environmental study on the casino had a lot of holes in it, according to district board members. Henry sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated June 18, in which she outlined some of the issues, including pointing out that water quality and supply and hydrologic studies needed to be completed prior to the project's approval, not after.
She also explained that the bureau used a 2001 opinion survey on Upper Lake residents' response to a community arch as a basis for community acceptance of the casino. The casino, she pointed out, wasn't on the drawing board at that time.
Henry and the district's board members said they want the district's current customers to weigh in on any possibly annexations.
District upgrades under way
Henry reported that the district's master plan calls for updating its outdated pipe.
Today, 6-inch pipes are considered minimum size for systems such as Upper Lake's, yet in some places they found pipes as small as 2 inches, she explained. They've already replaced several areas of the small pipe to bring it up to accepted standards.
Board Chair Allen Merriman pointed out that the district has had fewer broken pipes and leak problems recently.
Henry said the district doesn't have a hookup moratorium.
The small district does, however, needs money to make system improvements, said Henry.
Last May, capacity expansion and connection fees rose from $3,000 to $10,200, Henry said. A district study found the overall fee should cost $20,400, but the district decided to reduce the fee.
In other district news, at a special meeting Nov. 28, the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) will hold public hearings on the spheres of influence updates for the Upper Lake, Clearlake Oaks and Konocti County Water Districts, according to LAFCO documents.
The Upper Lake district's next board meeting will take place Dec. 12.
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