LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In a brief special meeting on Tuesday evening, the Lakeport City Council took the final step necessary in order to implement new water rates for city residents.
During the seven-minute meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to implement the new increased rates from 2022 to 2026.
However, a 1954 ordinance in city municipal code requires that any resolution to increase water rates must have two readings, rather than one.
That necessitated the council holding the special meeting on Tuesday night.
There was no public comment before the council took its vote and adjourned.
City officials said the new water and sewer rates will go into effect on Nov. 1.
The new rates will support the city’s plans for $7 million in capital utility projects over the coming five years.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — It’s time once again to lift Lake County’s annual burn ban for the late fall and winter season.
The burn ban will be lifted for 2021 as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, the Lake County Air Quality Management District reported.
The ban is being lifted now that Cal Fire has determined that wildfire risk has been significantly reduced by the recent rains, the district said.
Lake County’s joint fire agencies and Air Quality Management District’s open burning program has incorporated both fire safety and air quality management since 1987.
In related news, Cal Fire’s Sonoma Lake Napa Unit said it has suspended its burn ban for the season for Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties effective on Oct. 26, for areas in the State Responsibility Area.
However, Cal Fire referred residents of that coverage area to their respective air quality management districts to verify it is a permissive burn day according to local regulations.
Burn permits are required for all outdoor burning in the Lake County air basin. Burn permits will be available at your local fire protection district.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said a smoke management plan is required for multiday burns, overnight burns, standing vegetation burns, whole tree or vine removal, burns over 20 acres, and any other burn where significant smoke impacts may occur or sensitive receptors may be impacted.
A smoke management plan can be obtained at the Lake County Air Quality Management District office; call 707-263-7000 to make an appointment.
Bring a map showing the burn location, burn site coordinates (GPS locations), parcel number or address, acres to be burned, and details of vegetation to be burned. A fee is required for all burn permits, payable at the time the permit is issued.
Smoke management plans, agricultural burn permits and residential burn permits are $29, land development/lot clearing burn permits are $88. Cash or check only (exact change is appreciated).
Only clean dry vegetation that was grown on the property may be burned. Residential burn permits require a one acre or larger lot of record, a burn location that is at least 100 feet from all neighbors, and at least 30 feet from any structure in order to qualify.
Lot clearing/land development burns require special permits available at your local fire protection district. Read your burn permit carefully and follow all the conditions.
Officials ask community members who plan to use burning to please be considerate of their neighbors. A permit does not allow you to create health problems for others. You can be liable for health care costs, fines, and other costs resulting from your burning.
Consider composting or using the vegetative waste pickup provided with your waste collection service as an alternative to burning leaves.
A parade of storms will continue to bring rain to Lake County, California, and other parts of the West Coast through Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Graphic courtesy of AccuWeather. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Over the course of the weekend, Lake County saw several inches of rainfall as an atmospheric river passed over Northern California.
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said the rainfall came about a month ahead of average.
The region badly needs the water due to the ongoing drought. As well, California has been hard-hit by another wildfire season.
“Repeated storms delivering such copious rainfall will have a major effect on the wildfire season — effectively ending the wildfire season from Northern California northward,” Porter said.
The storms also are forecast to bring heavy snowfall to the Cascades and Sierras.
There was steady rainfall from Saturday night into Sunday afternoon before the precipitation started to ease.
The National Weather Service’s observation stations in Lake County reported that, for the 36-hour period ending 2 a.m. Monday, there were rainfall totals around the county ranging from 4.29 inches near Upper Lake, 4.43 inches in Kelseyville, to 5.41 inches in Lyons Valley, 6.09 inches in Lower Lake, 6.75 inches near Lake Pillsbury, 7.69 inches at Bartlett Springs, 8.73 inches at Hidden Valley Lake, 9.23 inches in Middletown and 9.52 inches in Whispering Pines.
While Porter said the parade of storms that has brought the heavy rainfall to Lake County and Northern California “will have a positive impact on the water table,” he added, it “won’t be enough to solve all of the water problems which have been compounding for many years.”
Along with the heavy rainfall came numerous reports from Saturday night through Sunday of downed trees, downed lines, boulders in roadways and mudslides.
A mudslide on Sunday afternoon closed Highway 20 in both directions at Highway 16, with another slide later reported near Island Drive in Clearlake Oaks.
The National Weather Service said lighter rainfall would continue in Lake County into Monday and Tuesday, with nearly another inch of rainfall possible in that time
The unsettled weather is the tail end of a strong upper low pressure system winding down into British Columbia through Monday, the National Weather Service reported.
Conditions are expected to clear beginning on Wednesday and continuing until later in the week, according to the forecast.
Temperatures will increase toward the end of the week from the mid 50s to the high 70s in some parts of Lake County, the forecast said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Tom Corringham, University of California San Diego
Satellite photo showing a river of moisture extending from Hawaii to Calfiornia, Oct. 24, 2021. NOAA
Ask people to name the world’s largest river, and most will probably guess that it’s the Amazon, the Nile or the Mississippi. In fact, some of Earth’s largest rivers are in the sky – and they can produce powerful storms, like the ones now drenching northern California.
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere that extend from the tropics to higher latitudes. These rivers in the sky can transport 15 times the volume of the Mississippi River.
When that moisture reaches the coast and moves inland, it rises over the mountains, generating rain and snowfall. Many fire-weary westerners welcome these deluges, but atmospheric rivers can trigger other disasters, such as extreme flooding and debris flows.
Atmospheric rivers are an important water source for the U.S. West.NOAA
In the past 20 years, as observation networks have improved, scientists have learned more about these important weather phenomena. Atmospheric rivers occur globally, affecting the west coasts of the world’s major land masses, including Portugal, Western Europe, Chile and South Africa. So-called “Pineapple Express” storms that carry moisture from Hawaii to the U.S. West Coast are just one of their many flavors.
My research combines economics and atmospheric science to measure damage from severe weather events. Recently I led a team of researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Army Corps of Engineers in the first systematic analysis of damages from atmospheric rivers due to extreme flooding. We found that while many of these events are benign, the largest of them cause most of the flooding damage in the western U.S. And atmospheric rivers are predicted to grow longer, wetter and wider in a warming climate.
Rivers in the sky
On Feb. 27, 2019, an atmospheric river propelled a plume of water vapor 350 miles wide and 1,600 miles long through the sky from the tropical North Pacific Ocean to the coast of Northern California.
Just north of San Francisco Bay, in Sonoma County’s famed wine country, the storm dumped over 21 inches of rain. The Russian River crested at 45.4 feet – 13.4 feet above flood stage.
For the fifth time in four decades, the town of Guerneville was submerged under the murky brown floodwaters of the lower Russian River. Damages in Sonoma County alone were estimated at over US$100 million.
Events like these have drawn attention in recent years, but atmospheric rivers are not new. They have meandered through the sky for millions of years, transporting water vapor from the equator toward the poles.
In the 1960s meteorologists coined the phrase “Pineapple Express” to describe storm tracks that originated near Hawaii and carried warm water vapor to the coast of North America. By the late 1990s atmospheric scientists had found that over 90% of the world’s moisture from the tropics and subtropics was transported to higher latitudes by similar systems, which they named “atmospheric rivers.”
In dry conditions, atmospheric rivers can replenish water supplies and quench dangerous wildfires. In wet conditions, they can cause damaging floods and debris flows, wreaking havoc on local economies.
After an atmospheric river event that caused severe flooding in Chile, sediment washed down from hillsides into the Itata River can be seen flowing up to 50 kilometers from the coast.NASA Earth Observatory
Helpful and harmful
Researchers have known for some time that flooding due to atmospheric rivers could cost a lot of money, but until our study no one had quantified these damages. We used a catalog of atmospheric river events compiled by Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, and matched it to 40 years of flood insurance records and 20 years of National Weather Service damage estimates.
We found that atmospheric rivers caused an average of $1.1 billion in flood damages yearly in the western U.S. More than 80% of all flooding damages in the West in the years we studied were associated with atmospheric rivers. In some areas, such as coastal northern California, these systems caused over 99% of damages.
Our data showed that in an average year, about 40 atmospheric rivers made landfall along the Pacific coast somewhere between Baja California and British Columbia. Most of these events were benign: About half caused no insured losses, and these storms replenished the region’s water supply.
But there were a number of exceptions. We used a recently developed atmospheric river classification scale that ranks the storms from 1 to 5, similar to systems for categorizing hurricanes and tornadoes. There was a clear link between these categories and observed damages.
Atmospheric River category 1 (AR1) and AR2 storms caused estimated damages under $1 million. AR4 and AR5 storms caused median damages in the 10s and 100s of millions of dollars respectively. The most damaging AR4s and AR5s generated impacts of over $1 billion per storm. These billion-dollar storms occurred every three to four years.
A moister atmosphere means worse storms
Our most significant finding was an exponential relationship between the intensity of atmospheric rivers and the flood damages they caused. Each increase in the scale from 1 to 5 was associated with a 10-fold increase in damages.
Several recent studies have modeled how atmospheric rivers will change in the coming decades. The mechanism is simple: Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet. This causes more water to evaporate from oceans and lakes, and increased moisture in the air makes storm systems grow stronger.
Like hurricanes, atmospheric rivers are projected to grow longer, wider and wetter in a warming climate. Our finding that damages increase exponentially with intensity suggests that even modest increases in atmospheric river intensity could lead to significantly larger economic impacts.
Scientists have developed a scale for categorizing atmospheric rivers that reflect both their replenishing capacities and their dangerous effects.
Better forecasting is critical
I believe that improving atmospheric forecasting systems should be a priority for adapting to a changing climate. Better understanding of atmospheric rivers’ intensity, duration and landfall locations can provide valuable information to residents and emergency responders.
It also is important to discourage new construction in high-risk areas and help people move to safer locations after major disasters, rather than rebuilding in place.
Finally, our study underlines the need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. These storms will keep coming, and they’re getting stronger. In my view, stabilizing the global climate system is the only long-term way to minimize economic damage and risk to vulnerable communities.
On Monday, Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA03) and Mark Amodei (R-NV03) introduced the “Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act” (H. R. 5692).
This bipartisan legislation would authorize federal land management agencies to take proven, commonsense measures to prevent the proliferation of invasive species in our nation’s waterways, lakes, reservoirs and aqueducts.
Garamendi is a representative of Lake County, California, which has seen its critically important tourist economy centered around Clear Lake threatened by invasive quagga mussels and other aquatic invasive species exacerbating the lake’s harmful algal blooms.
Garamendi has secured federal resources in recent years to help curb the presence of invasive species in Clear Lake, and the “Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act” can provide key support in this ongoing effort.
“Invasive species crowd out native wildlife and incur billions of dollars in avoidable damage to our nation’s critical water infrastructure, particularly in western states like California,” Rep. Garamendi (D-CA) said. “In my Congressional District, proliferated quagga and zebra mussels clog water pipelines, reduce the capacity of canals, and damage reservoir operations for hydropower, water storage, and flood control.
“The best defense against spreading invasive aquatic species is simple: inspection and decontaminating watercraft so they do not spread aquatic invasive species from one waterbody to another,” Garamendi continued.
“Our bipartisan ‘Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act’ would ensure that federal land management agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service have the legal authority to conduct these inspections on federal land. In addition, our bill would establish a new U.S. Bureau of Reclamation grant program for inspection stations at federally managed reservoirs like those that comprise the Solano and Central Valley Projects,” Garamendi continued.
“Congress can and should take decisive action to limit the spread of aquatic invasive species, and that’s exactly what our bipartisan ‘Stop the Spread of Invasive Muscles Act’ will accomplish. I will continue working with my colleague representing the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, Congressman Amodei, to ensure this bill becomes law,” Garamendi concluded.
“I am proud to join Congressman Garamendi in introducing the ‘Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act’, which invests critical resources in building and operating additional invasive species inspection stations, while also allowing the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service to aid in these efforts. This legislation is a commonsense solution to empower our federal agencies to be responsible stewards of our lakes and waterways, which is vital to the preservation of Lake Tahoe," Rep. Amodei (R-NV) said.
According to California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, invasive quagga mussels were first detected at an intake for the Colorado River Aqueduct in 2007, which supplies water for communities in southern California.
Since then, the State of California has confirmed that all reservoirs, lakes, and watersheds receiving raw Colorado River water have been exposed to quagga mussels.
The first confirmed find of zebra mussels in California was in 2008, at the San Justo Reservoir in San Benito County, California.
The following organizations have endorsed the “Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act” (H. R. 5692): Western Governors' Association, National Wildlife Federation, National Marine Manufacturers Association, American Sportfishing Association, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
The full text of the “Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act” can be viewed here.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A new state jobless report shows that in September Lake County experienced its lowest unemployment rate since the pandemic began, while California’s overall rate remained unchanged.
The Employment Development Department on Friday released labor force data for September.
The report showed that Lake County’s unemployment was 6.2% in September, down from 7% in August. Lake County’s September 2020 jobless rate was 8.9%.
The lowest previous rate since last year’s pandemic onset for Lake County was 6.9% in May.
Additionally, this is Lake County’s lowest jobless rate since February 2020, according to state data.
A total of 570 unemployment claims were filed in Lake County in September, according to a state dashboard, compared to 837 in August. In September 2020, the state said 2,795 unemployment claims were filed in Lake County.
In September, California’s rate was 7.5%, unchanged from August. In September 2020, the state’s jobless rate was 10.6%.
The number of Californians employed in September was 17,594,600, an increase of 43,300 persons from August’s total of 17,551,300, and up 1,159,100 from the employment total in September of last year.
The state’s unemployed totaled 1,418,800, a decrease of 12,700 over the month and down 531,300 in comparison to September of last year.
The picture appeared better nationwide last month, when unemployment was 4.8%, down from 5.2% in August and 7.8% in September 2020, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
In Lake County, job sectors showing growth last month were wholesale trade, 11.1%, and government, 2.3%.
Sectors that were down included total farm, which showed a decline of 28.1%; mining, logging and construction, down 2.1%; leisure and hospitality slipped by 1.6%; and educational and health services declined by 1.4%.
Lake County’s jobless rate in September ranked it No. 39 out of California’s 58 counties.
The lowest unemployment rate in the state in September was 3.6% in Marin. Imperial County had the highest, with 18.1%.
The statewide picture
California’s employers added 47,400 non-farm payroll jobs, which account for 24.4% of the nation’s 194,000 overall jobs gain in September 2021.
So far, California has now regained 1,723,800, or 63.5%, of the 2,714,800 jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state’s payroll jobs totaled 16,669,900 in September 2021, up from 16,622,500 in August 2021 and 15,874,100 in September 2020.
Nine of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs in September. Leisure and hospitality added 23,300 jobs last month thanks to strength in performing arts and spectator sports, with professional and business services posting a notable gain of 6,900 jobs thanks to increases in computer systems design and architectural and engineering services.
Job gains also were reported in manufacturing, 5,700; information, 5,000; government, 3,100; education and health services, 2,600; trade, transportation and utilities, 1,900; construction, 1,400; and financial activities, 1,300.
The “other services” sector registered the largest month-over employment decline with more than half of its 3,700 job losses coming in religious, grants, civic, and professional and like organizations. The other industry to report a job decrease was mining and logging, which reported 100 lost jobs.
The state said the number of jobs in the agriculture industry increased by 700 from August 2021 to 420,400 jobs in September. The agricultural industry has 16,900 more farm jobs in September 2021 than it did the September prior.
In related data that figures into the state’s unemployment rate, the Employment Development Department said there were 493,987 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the September 2021 sample week. That’s compared to 638,976 people in August and 2,801,538 people in September 2020.
Concurrently, 78,878 initial claims were processed in the September 2021 sample week, which was a month-over increase of 15,325 claims from August, but a year-over decrease of 147,394 claims from September 2020, the Employment Development Department said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport Police Department and the Lake Family Resource Center are preparing to launch a new program that will offer resource assistance to homeless individuals and those struggling with mental health challenges, and assist officers with de-escalating crisis situations.
At its Oct. 19 meeting, the Lakeport City Council unanimously approved the new crisis intervention responder program and authorized Police Chief Brad Rasmussen and City Manager Kevin Ingram to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Lake Family Resource Center.
The program will assign a community crisis intervention specialist, which Lake Family Resource Center will fund, to the Lakeport Police Department.
Rasmussen said the program is the result of a collaboration with Lake Family Resource Center that began over the summer.
City officials and Lake Family Resource Center staff are now in the process of finalizing the memorandum of understanding, with a goal of having the program in place and operating by Nov. 1.
Under the agreement, a community crisis response specialist will work with the Lakeport Police Department and be based out of the agency’s headquarters at 2025 S. Main St.
The Lake Family Resource Center has received grant funding through Dec. 31, 2022, that will enable it to hire and pay for the crisis response specialist’s salary and benefits.
The community crisis response specialist will work primarily with Lakeport Police’s homeless liaison officer.
That team will spend most of its time doing outreach to homeless, but will respond to other calls for service throughout the city while on duty, and will be available to assist with situations where the crisis responder can provide expertise — such as those involving domestic violence and sexual assault.
Rasmussen said there will be minor costs to the police department to implement the program. The council’s approval on Oct. 19 covered an estimated $5,000 financial impact.
The Lakeport Police Department is increasingly getting calls both for homeless individuals as well as people in other types of crisis, including mental health-related issues, who Rasmussen said need the kinds of help and resources that are usually beyond what a police officer can provide.
Due to recent national events involving law enforcement interaction with persons in crisis — including those with disabilities and with substance addictions — Rasmussen said there continues to be a public request for more crisis response specialists on the street handling calls along with the police.
He said his agency has been increasing officer training and efforts to gain more available crisis response over the past several years in order to provide better service to the community.
Seeking solutions for crisis intervention
During a Sept. 9 Lakeport City Council discussion with staff on the city’s challenges in addressing homelessness, Ingram said it was safe to say that a majority of Lakeport Police’s calls involve some combination of individuals who are homeless or need mental health-related services.
“Housing is only one component,” said Ingram, explaining that wraparound services are needed and are just as important.
He said the police department has had an agreement with Lake County Behavioral Health Services for three years in an effort to bring in crisis intervention services.
However, for a variety of reasons — including staffing, COVID-19 and the inability to figure out how to bill out services — Behavioral Health “has never set a foot” in the police station, Ingram said.
Ingram said the city is excited about the potential for working with Lake Family Resource Center to get a full-time intervention specialist.
He said the city gets a lot of calls daily about homeless individuals and those with mental health issues in the city’s parklands and shopping centers.
Rasmussen said of homelessness, “It is a major crisis not only in our community but in our state and our country. It just seems to continue and get worse,” which is why they’ve tried to actively engage with homeless people or those who need mental health services.
It also led to the agency establishing the homeless liaison officer position. Officer Melissa Bedford has been working in that role for more than 18 months, he said.
Even so, Rasmussen said that until the police department gets some kind of social worker or crisis intervention person on the street working with officers, they will have a difficult time making more progress in addressing homelessness.
Rasmussen said the general public expects police to be all things and to make problems go away, and they can’t.
He also touched briefly during that meeting on the city’s work with Lake Family Resource Center to bring that crisis intervention position to his department.
“Unless we have all the services and housing, we’re never going to solve the problem,” he said of homelessness. “It’s going to take all of those components to solve it.”
New agreement offers hope for progress
Rasmussen said his department had been struggling with how to deploy a crisis intervention specialist when, in July, they began talking with the Lake Family Resource Center.
Sheri Young, the center’s victim services program director, said Lisa Morrow, the center’s executive director, had been speaking with Rasmussen about the situation.
Young said center staff began brainstorming about the city’s needs and came up with how grant funding they had in place could be used for a new program to help underserved populations, with a special focus on homeless individuals, those in need of mental health services, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Rasmussen and center staff drew on theories and concepts being used in similar programs in other communities and agencies to create their own program, Young said. “Ours will be unique to our own county.”
In the end, she said it all tied together beautifully and they’re determined to make it happen.
She said center staff have been excited to draft protocols and job descriptions for the full-time position, with interviews of job candidates starting last Friday.
The goal, she said, is to roll out the program on Nov. 1 — whether it’s starting the extensive amount of training the position will require or putting that individual into the field.
Young added that they have a great plan for support and supervision of the crisis intervention specialist and the program as a whole.
Young has a longtime passion both for victim advocacy and law enforcement, and loves to be able to morph those two together. “It’s going to be pretty spectacular.”
From the center’s side, she will oversee the crisis intervention program, along with help from the center’s behavioral health program director, Jennifer Nielson, who brings a background in psychotherapy to the effort.
At the Oct. 19 council meeting, Lakeport City Councilman Michael Green had asked Young about how to sustain the program past the end of the grant funding, which runs out at the end of December 2022.
Since then, she said she’s been thinking about Green’s question.
Both she and Rasmussen believe that, after collecting data over the coming year, it will provide them with the opportunity to find additional funding resources.
If anyone can find the funding and write the grant to get it, it’s Young.
Her talent as a grant writer has brought in significant grants that have allowed Lake Family Resource Center to expand its services in the community, including a growing focus on human trafficking.
“I’m really excited about this,” she said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the community’s assistance in locating a missing Lakeport woman.
Shirley Schield, 75, was last seen early Monday, the sheriff’s office said in a Nixle alert issued shortly before 10 p.m. Monday.
Her family said she may suffer from dementia.
At approximately 3:06 a.m. Monday, Schield left the Northport Trailer Park, located at 5020 Lakeshore Boulevard in Lakeport.
She was carrying a dog leash and headed on foot toward the Lakeport area on Lakeshore Boulevard.
Schield is a Caucasian woman, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 pounds. She has blue eyes and short white hair and may respond to “Carol” or “Shirley.”
She was last seen wearing a light blue and pink sweater with light blue pants.
If anyone has seen Shirley Schield or anyone matching her description, please contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office nonemergency line at 707-263-2690.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors is set to consider a final agreement for a land swap to facilitate a new sheriff’s headquarters and affordable housing development, and will also take up the appeal of a permit for a commercial cannabis operation in Upper Lake.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 963 1160 6935, pass code 252799. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,96311606935#,,,,*252799#.
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and pass code information above.
At 9:06 a.m., the board will present a proclamation designating the month of October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
At 9:30 a.m., the board will consider the exchange agreement for the Lakeport Armory at 1431 Hoyt Ave. and a county-owned property at 15837 18th Ave., Clearlake.
“This land exchange would provide an opportunity to build at least 50% of the housing units as deed restricted affordable units located within the City of Clearlake and would allow the relocation of the Sheriff’s Office to the Lakeport Armory to help address their space needs,” County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson wrote in a memo to the board.
At 10:45 a.m., the board will hold a public hearing to consider an appeal of the Lake County Planning Commission’s approval of a major use permit and adoption of an initial study for a commercial cannabis project on 46 acres at 10717 and 10680 Schuette Road in Upper Lake, owned by Blue Lakes Organics.
The appeal was submitted on behalf of Ray Hoffman, owner of Le Trianon Resort. Part of the basis for the appeal is that Hoffman alleges that the land use compatibility with the resort was not studied. Concerns about drainage and runoff to nearby properties and into Blue Lake, odor and the site plan are among other issues raised in the appeal.
In other business on Tuesday, with Agriculture Commissioner Steve Hajik planning to retire effective Feb. 11, 2022, in an untimed item the board will consider giving staff direction regarding the recruitment process for Hajik’s successor.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Approve Amendment No. 2 to Agreement for recruitment services for Lake County Public Health officer.
5.2: Adopt resolution reappointing Anita L. Grant as county counsel for the county of Lake.
5.3: Adopt resolution authorizing the agreement in the amount of $757,550.00 between the county of Lake and the California Mental Health Services Authority for the period of agreement execution through Dec. 31, 2024, and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
5.4: Adopt proclamation designating the month of October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
5.5: Approve continuation of resolution authorizing teleconferenced meetings during a state of emergency continue to exist.
5.6: Approve the Lake County District Attorney's Office — Victim Witness Division's Policy for direct financial victim assistance.
5.7: Adopt resolution approving county of Lake Health Services Department to submit a renewal application and certification statement for the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Grant with the State of California, Department of Public Health for Fiscal Year 2021 through 2022, in the amount of $270,601.06 and authorizing the board chair to sign said certification and interim Health Services director to sign application.
5.8: Approve amendment five to the agreement between the county of Lake and the Kelseyville Motel for COVID-19 emergency isolation housing and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.9: Adopt resolution approving the certification statement for the State Department of Health Care Services, CMS Branch’s California Children’s Services Administration Plan Renewal Grant for FY 2021-2022 and authorize the board chair to sign said certification statement.
5.10: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the first amendment to the agreement between the county of Lake and Management Connections for temporary staffing support services completed during fiscal year 2021-22 for a sum not to exceed $60,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the amendment.
5.11: Authorize the IT director to issue a purchase order to Dell Technologies for Microsoft Windows server licenses in the amount of $29,930.
5.12: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods or services, and (b) approve the master agreement between the county of Lake and NCE for consulting services related to pavement preservation and rehabilitation of county roads, and (c) approve supplemental services agreement number one and authorize the chair to sign the agreements.
5.13: Adopt resolutions rescinding prior rejections and accepting certain roadways for public use for the purpose of providing increased water flow and necessary fire hydrants for fire protection to the communities of Forest Oaks and Bonanza Springs Subdivision No. 1.
5.14: a) Approve the FY 2021 Emergency Management Performance Grant application in the amount of $137,931 and b) approve the FY 2021 Emergency Management Performance Grant – American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in the amount of $60,483 and c) authorize Sheriff Brian Martin to sign the grant subaward face sheet, the authorized agent document and the subrecipient grants management assessment form; d) authorize County Administrative Officer Carol J. Huchingson to act as the authorized agent on behalf of the county to sign the standard assurances and initial each page, the lobbying certification and the FFATA financial disclosure document and e) authorize the chairperson of the board of supervisors to sign the certification of the governing body resolution.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:06 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of October 2021 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
6.3, 9:15 a.m.: Presentation of an annual report on the activities of Lake County Resource Conservation District.
6.4, 9:30 a.m.: Consideration of the Clearlake-Lakeport Armory Exchange Agreement to exchange the properties located at 1431 Hoyt Ave., Lakeport, CA (APN 003-046-750-000) and 15837 18th Ave., Clearlake, CA (APN 010-043-010) .
6.5, 10:45 a.m.: Public hearing, discussion and consideration of appeal (AB 21-03) of the Planning Commission approval of major use permit (UP 20-45) and adoption of initial study (IS 20-56) for a commercial cannabis cultivation license on a property located at 10717 and 10680 Schuette Rd., Upper Lake; APN's 003-002-11 (cultivation site) and 003-001-21 (clustering property).
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Direction to staff regarding recruitment for new agriculture commissioner upon the retirement of Steve Hajik effective Feb. 11, 2022.
7.3: Consideration of (a) waiving the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approval of the agreement between the county of Lake and North American Mental Health Services for telehealth psychiatry services for fiscal year 2021-22 for a contract maximum of $975,000.00 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.
ASSESSMENT APPEALS
8.1: Approve withdrawal on the following Assessment Appeal Applications: No. 24-2019 Charles Bellig Trs., 01-2020 Rodney Miller, and 25-2020 Lakeshore Drive II.
8.2: Continue the following Assessment Appeal Applications: No. 21-2020 Renfro Family and 23-2020 Brad Revelli.
8.3: Approve stipulation on the following Assessment Appeal Applications: a) No. 24-2020 Charles E. Bellig; and b) No. 26-2020 Deborah Ann Bakhtiari.
8.4: Deny the following assessment appeal applications on timeliness, as no request for hearing received: 02-2020 Beatrice Bell and 11-2020 through 20-202 H&S Energy.
CLOSED SESSION
9.1: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code section 54956.9(d)(1): Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. County of Lake, et al.
9.2: Public employee evaluation: Director of Public Works, Water Resources and Community Development (until 06/13/21) Scott De Leon.
9.3: Public employee evaluation: County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson.
9.4: Public Employee Evaluation: Interim Health Services Director Carol Huchingson.
9.5: Conference with negotiators regarding property tax exchange for the annexation of the South Main Area (136.78 acres south of the current Lakeport City limits); price and terms of payment: (a) County negotiators: Supervisor Scott, Supervisor Simon and C. Huchingson and (b) city of Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council will hold a special meeting to finalize the process for raising water rates for city utility customers.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. In accordance with updated guidelines from the state of California and revised Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards, persons who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are required to wear a face covering at this meeting.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the City Clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. Oct. 26.
Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that are read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council before the meeting.
The meeting’s only item is the discussion and final action on the proposed increase to city water rates.
Last Tuesday, the council unanimously approved resolutions increasing the city’s water and sewer rates, but Lakeport’s municipal code requires a second reading in order to finalize approval of a water rate hike.
Should the council approve the resolution establishing the new water rates, they will go into effect, along with the previously approved sewer rates, on Nov. 1.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Sunday evening solo vehicle crash near Middletown led to the death of a child, as well as major injuries for two others and a small vegetation fire.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said the crash occurred at 5:28 p.m. Sunday on Highway 29 north of Hilderbrand Drive.
Authorities did not release the name of the 10-year-old girl who was fatally injured in the wreck.
The CHP said Manuel Santos Torres, 24, of Middletown was driving a 2007 BMW 550i northbound on Highway 29 with Jennifer Palalia-Zuniga, 26, and the 10-year-old girl, both of them also from Middletown, riding as his passengers.
For reasons that the CHP said are still under investigation, the BMW veered off the east side of the roadway and hit multiple trees.
Due to the force of the impact, the BMW caught fire and began a small vegetation fire, which the CHP said was extinguished quickly.
The CHP said emergency personnel removed the three occupants from the BMW.
The child died of her injuries at the scene, the CHP said.
Santos Torres and Palalia-Zuniga, both of whom were wearing their seat belts, sustained major injuries and were transported to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital for treatment, the CHP said.
Radio reports indicated air ambulances couldn’t fly because of the weather on Sunday.
The CHP said neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected as factors in the wreck.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Elementary and secondary school revenues and spending increased in most areas in fiscal year 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of School System Finances.
All but two of 36 reporting areas, spanning 35 states and the District of Columbia, had increased revenues for public school systems, according to preliminary fiscal year, or FY, 2020 finance data on elementary and secondary schools.
All but five states reported an increase in total expenditure in FY 2020.
Because of the pandemic, the two areas that had 1-year declines (student transportation and food services) had slower growth in 10-year spending than other categories.
Increased spending in instruction and teacher salaries offset notable decreases in spending on student transportation and food services in a school fiscal year that included a global pandemic.
In 2020, as a result of COVID-19, school closures affected at least 55.1 million students in 124,000 U.S. public and private schools.
The survey also offers a window into 10-year trends, which shows steady increases in revenue and expenditures across public school systems.
Because of the pandemic, the two areas that had 1-year declines (student transportation and food services) had slower growth in 10-year spending than other categories.
Some revenue and spending categories decrease
Preliminary Annual Survey of School System Finances provides users with an early look at FY 2020 school system finance data compared to the prior year. State education agencies submit a majority of the data, which they collect from school systems in their respective states.
The U.S. Census Bureau is releasing data tables and the accompanying visualization early in an effort to provide the public with timely information about how these data may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reporting areas’ total revenue increased to $584.9 billion in FY 2020, up 2.2% from $572.5 billion in FY 2019, according to survey data.
Total expenditure by these reporting areas grew to $586.4 billion in FY 2020, an increase of 2.5% from $571.8 billion in FY 2019.
The survey also provides spending breakdowns across categories: instruction, administration, instructional staff support, pupil support and other support services for students and staff.
Current spending consists of expenses for day-to-day activities of school systems, including teachers’ salaries and benefits and most other school system daily expenses.
It is the largest category of total expenditures, accounting for 87.3% of total expenditures in FY 2020 with $512.0 billion reported by school systems — up 1.5% from $504.2 billion in FY 2019.
Despite the increase in overall current spending, two significant categories of current spending decreased from FY 2019: student transportation and food services.
Total student transportation expenditure for reporting areas decreased 5.7% to $20.1 billion in FY 2020 from $21.3 billion in FY 2019.
Only five out of 36 reporting areas — Delaware, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Washington, Wyoming — reported increases in student transportation.
Food services expenditures decreased overall for reporting areas, from $23.7 billion in FY 2019 to $15.9 billion in FY 2020, a 32.9% decrease.
Only eight out of 35 reporting states — Alaska, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming — reported an increase in food services expenditure in FY 2020.
Federal revenue for public school systems also decreased slightly from the prior year. Overall revenue from federal sources was $40.8 billion in FY 2020, a 1.0% decrease from $41.2 billion in FY 2019.
How COVID-19 affected school finances over whole decade
The graphic below shows trends in public elementary and secondary school finance statistics over the last 10 years for the areas that reported on the preliminary FY 2020 Annual Survey of School System Finances.
While most categories of revenue and expenditure have increased steadily over the past decade, there is one notable exception — a decline in federal funding for schools. Some categories, such as transportation and food services, continued to grow over the previous 10 years but were disrupted, at least temporarily, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue from both state and local sources have increased each of the past 10 years, while revenue from federal sources has decreased overall from FY 2011, a year during which additional funding was provided by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Despite additional assistance for public elementary and secondary school systems from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, total federal revenue was only $40.8 billion in FY 2020, a decrease of 1.5% from $41.2 billion in FY 2019.
However, the full implications of the CARES Act on federal revenue for public school systems is not expected to be felt until the next full fiscal year.
Final data release expected in May 2022
These data are preliminary and are subject to change by the final release of FY 2020 Annual Survey of School System Finances data tables and files.
The full release of public elementary and secondary school system finance data from the FY 2020 Annual Survey of School System Finances is expected in May 2022 and will include finance data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Due to the early release of the data, only a subset of geographic areas is included in the data tables and visualization.
State education agencies that submit the majority of the data for the survey had a soft due date of August 13, 2021 to submit data files, but also have the option of submitting later in the calendar year in order to verify the quality of their school systems’ financial data.
Stephen Wheeler is a supervisory survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Economic Reimbursable Surveys Division.
