SACRAMENTO – The California State Senate voted 31-0 Monday to approve Senate Bill 1023, which would allow local agency formation commissions (LAFCOs) to convert local resort improvement districts and selected municipal improvement districts into community services districts, without substantive changes to the districts’ powers, duties, financing, or service areas.

The legislation is by North Coast Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa).

The Wiggins bill, which next heads to the Assembly for further consideration, also creates an accelerated procedure for converting the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District into a recreation and park district.

SB 1023 is co-authored by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and sponsored by Napa County.

LAFCOs control the formation, boundaries, and dissolution of cities and most special districts within their respective counties.

SB 1023 creates a new boundary change procedure, called an "expedited reorganization," and allows LAFCOs to convert resort improvement districts (RIDs) and three specified municipal improvement districts (MIDs) – Montalvo, Bethel Island and Embarcadero – into community services districts (CSDs).

The Wiggins measure also creates a new accelerated reorganization to specifically allow the El Dorado County LAFCO to convert the Tahoe Paradise RID into a recreation and park district.

California's 3,400 special districts deliver the public facilities and services that their communities want, matching community services to community needs. To help the districts remain responsive to their residents and property owners, the Legislature has rewritten a half-dozen of their principal acts to reflect more recent constitutional and statutory trends.

However, the statewide law that applies to the few remaining resort improvement districts and the municipal improvement districts' special acts is not up-to-date.

“MIDs and RIDs are so similar in concept to community services districts that some local officials want to convert them,” Wiggins says. “This bill allows RIDs and MIDs to convert into CSDs more quickly, without changing boundaries, altering duties, raising costs, or eroding anyone's constitutional rights. If they use these voluntary procedures, district officials can gain access to modern laws that help them serve their communities.”

MIDDLETOWN – Friends of the Middletown Library are having their semi-annual book fair on Saturday, June 19.

The sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the front lawn of the Middletown Library, located on the corner of Calistoga and Callayomi Streets in downtown Middletown.

Stop by on the way to Middletown Days festivities.

Books will be sold by the bag at a bargain price of $5 per bag. There will be a special sale of paperbacks, which will go for $3 per bag.

Books for sale include best sellers, children’s, mysteries, spy intrigue, romance, cookbooks, self help, reference, audio tapes and CDs – and some surprise offerings.

All proceeds are for the purchase of new books and supplies for the library and the new library building fund.

Please show your support of the local library by joining the Friends of the Middletown Library on Saturday, June 19.

NICE – A Mother’s Day tea will be held Sunday, May 16, at the Sons of Italy.

They will serve assorted teas, tiny sandwiches, baked goods, fresh fruit and other finger foods.

Bring your mom or a friend to the club hall, 2817 E. Highway 20 in Nice.

The bar is open for specialty drinks and socializing at 3 p.m., the tea will be served at 4 p.m.

All tickets cost $15 at the door.

Bring your own tea cup and, if you want, a story to share.

Call 707-274-9952 to reserve a table or get information.

LAKEPORT – The Lakeport Main Street Association will host its “Dinner and a Movie” night on Sunday, May 30, at Library Park, 225 Park St.

Imagine being in your favorite spot at Library Park enjoying a classic movie for the whole family.

Join them for a night of fun at Library Park while watching “E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial.”

A beer and wine reception will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. and the movie to follow at 8:15 p.m.

The cost for dinner and the movie is $20 per person, or $10 for children under age 12. To attend the movie only the cost is $5.

Presale tickets can be purchased at the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Kitchen Gallery and Hillside Honda.

The event is sponsored by Park Place Restaurant, Molly Brennan’s Pub, Main Street Pizza, Angelina’s Restaurant, the Lakeport Main Street Association and its members.

Bring your lawn chairs or favorite blanket for comfort.

MIDDLETOWN – The next HazMobile event will be held on Friday, May 14, and Saturday, May 15, at South Lake Fire Department, Highway 175, in Middletown.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events may be canceled due to rain.

Households can bring up to 15 gallons of toxic items free of charge. A charge will be made for amounts above 15 gallons.

Items that are accepted include paint, solvents, fuels, 5-gallon propane tanks, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, dry cell batteries, fluorescent light tubes (up to 60 feet free) and other toxins that cannot be put in the trash.

Excluded items that cannot be accepted are televisions, computer monitors, ammunition, explosives, radioactive materials or infectious wastes.

To learn how and where to properly dispose these items, please contact the Public Services office at

707-263-1980.

This is a residential service. Charges apply to businesses; phone 707-468-9786 for more information and business appointments.

Free recycled paint is available at Lake County Waste Solution Transfer Station at 230 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport on a first-come, first-served basis. Five-gallon containers of tan, brown, gray and pink are available.

Used oil can be recycled year round at a number of sites in the county.

The HazMobile program is subsidized by the Lake County Public Services Department Solid Waste Division. If you have any questions regarding this or any of Lake County’s Solid Waste programs, please call 707-262-1760 or the hot line number at 707-263-1980.

UPPER LAKE – The Northshore Dive Team will hold a training this Sunday, May 16.

The training will be held at Library Park on Park Street in Lakeport beginning at 9:30 a.m. Participants also can meet at the Northshore Fire Protection District's Station 90 in Upper Lake at 9 a.m. to make the trip over.

All interested personnel are encouraged to attend. You don't have to be a diver to be a team member.

The team, which operates through community donations, also is seeking help in updating its dive gear. Donations can be sent to the team at P.O. Box 61, Upper Lake, CA 95485.

For more information, call team leader Capt. John Rodriguez at 707-275-9007 or 707-349-3367, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the team's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Upper-Lake-CA/Northshore-Dive-Team/289897949089?ref=ts.