COBB ABATEMENT MONITORING COMMITTEE
Report to Cobb Area Council
August 16, 2018
• If you were here last month, you will recall Hobergs Development Director Scott Schellinger state that Hobergs management was confident and determined to complete the project by JULY 31, 2018. THAT GOAL WAS NOT MET.
• Glenneth Lambert and I toured the property yesterday, and found that while a significant amount of wood has been removed or converted to chips, a lot of wood in the form of logs, rounds, slash and wood debris remains on the property.
• They told us their plan to use a tub grinder fell through because they could not get liability insurance to cover their workers. So they resorted to chippers, which were significantly slower, and limited as to the size of material they could handle.
• Moving forward, their plan is to remove the remaining wood from the property by truck. We question the viability of this plan, but have not heard a response to our challenge.
• We have also questioned the plan to leave the concrete in place until they are ready to grade the property.
• Besides following up with our concerns in writing, today I wrote the following to Jasjit Kang, Director of Environmental Health:
I am quite certain both of you have your hands full with work related to the latest wildfire disaster! (I’m guessing you were still slammed by the aftermath of the Pawnee Fire when the Mendocino Complex blew up!!)
I know those things are much more urgent priorities, so I’m willing to “take a number” and wait until you and other County staff are able to turn your attention to the situation at Hobergs.
For the record, and for your information, I’m forwarding an email I sent to Dan Nelson and Scott Schellinger last evening, following up on a tour of the property I did with Glenneth Lambert in the late afternoon. If you scroll down past my note, you will see one from Glenneth and then one from Dan Nelson.
To summarize:
In our opinion, the project was NOT completed by July 31, 2018, as promised. Nor was it completed by August 15, 2018. Much work remains to be done.
As I’ve shared before, there is an urgent need to define what constitutes completion. Since we are merely citizens, and have no authority, we need County staff (Environmental Health, Planning Department, Air Quality, other?) to stipulate what is required. Specifically:
• Whether or not ALL the wood debris needs to be processed or removed
• Whether or not the concrete and rubble needs to be processed or removed
Again, I understand FULLY that you and other County staff have your hands full with other more pressing matters right now, so this is not in any way a complaint or criticism. However, as soon as you are able to turn your attention to this “never-ending story”, it will be a HUGE help.
• This is but the latest of several efforts I’ve made to engage the County staff. In June, I had a conversation with Jasjit Kang to see if he’d had success in meeting with the Director of Planning Department, Air Quality Control, and anyone else who had jurisdiction in order to review the Abatement Order and define specifically what work needed to be completed to lift the order.
• Mr. Kang was most apologetic, explaining that he was completely overwhelmed in the aftermath of the Pawnee Fire. Obviously, that situation has been severely exacerbated by the River and Ranch Fires.
• Nevertheless, I forwarded correspondence to Supervisor Rob Brown, in an effort to keep the ball in the air and get whatever help we can to bring this situation to a rapid and satisfactory conclusion. I’ve let him know we understand he may be caught up with the latest fire disaster, but we’re anxious to keep this project on the radar.
• As your representatives and advocates, Glenneth and I will continue to persist. It’s now been more than two years since I put up my hand in the first CAC meeting and volunteered to lead this effort. I was not thinking it would be more than a few months. But life happens how it happens, and here we are…
• To those of you who are frustrated and impatient, I feel your pain!
• To those who long for resolution, I’m right there with you!
• To anyone who has ideas about how to succeed in achieving a successful conclusion, and wants to roll up their sleeves and get involved – we welcome your help!
Respectfully submitted,
Karl E. Parker