Month: October 2018

COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday October 18, 2018,
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
PRESENT: Gary Prather, Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska, Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy
56 community members present
• CALL TO ORDER at 6:03 (shut down cell phones; sign in please)
• Approval of Minutes from September, 2018 One addition to add Ron as present in last meeting minutes.
MOTION to approve with amendment Robert Stark:, seconded by Magdalena, all approve.
• SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Replacement wood stove program
The Lake County Air Quality Management District will begin taking applications for the Woodsmoke Reduction Pilot Program on Oct. 15.
There is $135,000 available for residents of Lake County who want to replace an uncertified wood stove or fireplace insert with a new, EPA-certified wood, electric or gas device.
The Woodsmoke Reduction Pilot Program is a voucher program supported by the California Climate Investments Program and administered by local air districts.
This program provides vouchers to replace non-EPA certified wood-burning stoves and fireplace inserts with an EPA-certified woodstove or insert, or a natural gas, propane, or electric heating device. A wood-burning fireplace used as a primary source of heat may also qualify.
For certain communities designated by the state and for low-income households, the vouchers may cover the entire cost of the replacement (up to $8,000).
After all the low-income applications are processed or after 2 months of the start of the program, a standard voucher of $2,500 is available to all households that want to upgrade to a 2020 compliant woodstove or cleaner device, and $1,500 for a standard EPA certified device. (If funds are still available, the standard vouchers will be issued)
Homeowners and tenant occupied residential homes are eligible. Tenant applicants must obtain owner approval prior to receiving a voucher.
The program will begin accepting applications on Oct. 15. Applications are available at the Lake County Air Quality Management District office: 2617 S. Main St., Lakeport, or by emailing Fahmy Attar at fahmya@lcaqmd.net.
Vouchers will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, and expire four weeks from the date they are issued.
• TREASURER’S REPORT Gary Prather: $54 post office box renewal,$2951.93 new balance.
• PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
• Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE CAVERN Cobb Area Volunteer Emergency Radio Network now has about 40 radios out in the community. We hope to get to 100. Update from Mel. Settling on one of three repeater sites. He has the proposal regarding the location if you would like to see. Website soon up.
Ham repeater held up on Prather mountain for about 3 hours during the power outage.
• Firewise Community Update from Cindy
Continuing to organize our community.
Cobb has been divided into six sections and is in the process of organizing to become Firewise certified communities.
Group One (calling themselves Jones Creek Crossing) consists of Gifford Springs, Star View, Alpine Meadows, Cobb View Heights and they meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6:00 at the Little Red Schoolhouse.
Group Two includes Whispering Pines, Cobb School, Estates neighborhood, Pine Grove and Gordon Springs. There is a small group formed within this larger group that is organized to get Firewise certified. This is “phase one” and then the larger area will be considered “phase two”
Group Three is the Bottle Rock corridor and Harrington Flat and is gathering momentum and learning about the process
Group Four Includes Adam Springs, Fox-Venturi, Pine Ridge, Pine Summit and had done a lot of work gathering information and working on the application process
Group Five includes Loch Lomond, Salmina Meadows, Seigner Springs and Wildcat. The sub-group in Salmina Meadows has recently had their Firewise application approved and is the first Cobb Firewise community! The remainder of Group 5 is organizing.
Group Six is in need of volunteers.
All groups meet during the “working lunch” portion of the Cobb Safe event every spring and the Cobb Resilient event every fall. Free lunch is provided at this event.
Three groups were far enough along in their organization to have Jeff Tunnell from the Bureau of Land Management come to do the required assessment (Groups 1,2 and 4). The information from Jeff will be used to create a neighborhood work plan. This plan will have 3 or 4 achievable goals to work on over the following year to help the community be fire safe. Each year the groups will do a bit more to help their area be more resilient.
The strengthening of community ties can benefit residents in many ways, and is especially helpful in an emergency
Cobb Resilient update:
On Saturday, November 3, 10AM-5PM, a Neighbors Firewise Public Forum day will take place at the Cobb Elementary School.
Calfire Grant update:
The release of funds for the Calfire grant awarded to the nonprofit SSCRA to help Firewise Communities get established by providing homeowners with 75% funding assistance up to $1250 per acre has been delayed, pending CEQA and some smaller concerns. Eliot and Magdalena will be meeting with Calfire officials from the Sonoma Lake Napa Unit and the State next week to address these concerns. Development of the homeowner application process is also delayed as a result.
There will be overall grant firewise priorities and then at the next level priorities from the local firewise groups that will inform setting the final requirements at the level of individual residents. The firewise groups may decide to prioritize income, but there is no such general requirement.
PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Brief re-cap of presentation from last month on Dark Skies Jessica Pyska. Shows a photo looking toward Santa Rosa of how bright the light is that direction. She had a letter drafted last month regarding this issue. Hopefully we can prevent future developments from creating light pollution.
She presented the new draft of the letter which includes all the comments that were submitted on the Cobb Council website.
Gary Prather states that he was not clear about the original letter, but with this clarification he does support it now.
Robert Stark noted that the Friends of Cobb brought this issue up when the Hardester’s Market went in and made sure that they had considerate lighting. So this is an issue that has been discussed on Cobb in the past.
You can read more online about these ideas at darksky.org
Here is the letter with all the comments that had been emailed in added. It was passed around to be signed by anyone who supported it.
Lake County Board of Supervisors
255 N. Forbes Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
RE: Lake County Dark Sky Certification
Dear Supervisors;
As all residents and visitors of Lake County know, one of the most amazing shows in town happens after the sun goes down. The dark, rural lands of this county offer some pretty spectacular stargazing. For generations, the Cobb Mountain area has hosted visitors from all over California who come to admire our starry nights and stay up late watching meteor showers. For many Cobb residents, the dark nights are the reason we live here. We want to preserve our dark nights and protect the economic bump that our summer friends provide the community each time they visit.
Much like most of California, Lake County is on a path towards growth and development. We, of the Cobb Area Council, encourage the County government to explore how light pollution can be managed thoughtfully and proactively with new development. In particular we encourage you to define appropriate lighting guidelines to protect our local dark skies. Please join with the efforts of the Taylor Observatory as they seek Dark Sky Certification from the International Dark Sky Association for Lake County. We feel an obligation to maintain our dark nights for future generations, as well as continue to promote Astro-tourism locally. Lake County has the unique opportunity to use the Dark Skies certification to promote astro-tourism, combined with eco-tourism, wine tourism, and arts/crafts tourism, to create a full package for attracting outside dollars to Lake County without significant capital investment by the County.
Thank you for your consideration.
Letter was signed by 35 people.
Election Preview –
Measures L Jim Comisky the fire district contracts to CalFire for services. Costs went up this year on the contract, so they came up with a formula of $200 per household, with other formulas for land, etc. This is just to maintain the current staffing. This is not for new equipment or new buildings, just to keep what we have. For more information go to: http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/ROV/Current_Election.htm
Question from Rich, 1.6 million shortfall for CalFire. What is to say that they won’t do that again? Response: this situation has never happened before and we don’t expect that it will happen again. Gary says that it is very rare that CalFire personnel get raises, so it probably won’t happen again soon.
Dave Leonard Measure H Bond measure to help repurpose and refurbish equipment and buildings in Middletown Unified School District. After four meetings priorities were made and they created lists of critical needs vs. desires. He brought an informational sheet with specifics of what this bond measure would fund. More questions can be addressed with the Superintendent, Catherine Stone. She can be contacted at catherine.stone@middletownusd.org 707-987-4100
-No money can be spent on teacher salaries, but one comment is that we need to increase the salaries to help teacher retention in MUSD. That will not be addressed with this Measure, but it is something we need to address.
Proposed Lake County Geothermal Exploration and Development Ordinance – Supervisor Rob Brown
-after the Valley Fire we talked about infrastructure projects. We knew that some people would not rebuild, so we talked about Right to Farm Ordinances that would inform new people who moved here about the Geothermal projects. Then the disclosure is there.
-This proposal has been being worked on for awhile, but because of all the other distractions the comment period has been extended. If we still need more time, we will take that time.
-Use permits will remain the same. The use permit cannot be changed without going through the public input process.
-There is a concern about the make-up of the grievance committee. This should be clarified. Calpine cannot be on the committee if they have a financial interest in the claim.
Perhaps there could be an academic or a regulator on the committee? The number needs to be higher. It doesn’t need to be a majority, it is a board to resolve issues.
Nuisance Section 3.1- it seems like the Geothermal industry is getting a big bonus that the community that we cannot claim any nuisance for geothermal activity.
Questions about how many days we have to complain. How long would we have to make a claim? 60 days seems insignificant.
Friends of Cobb format should be revisited. There is already a committee in place.
Robert Stark:
-Why are we even making this law?
-In 1980’s this town stunk and had many problems with the Geothermal industry.
-There are many industries that should have been notified.
-If there is a 5 mile radius
-The Geysers were just purchased by investors, so they are going to want to make some money. They are going to be moving North. Already there are two new power plants approved by the BOS.
-The current field is already swimming, no additional water can be added.
-This could affect the real estate value
-Incurable defect that negatively affects property values. Suggestion to contact the Board of Realtors to find out the reality of the effect.
-Rich-Other than the County of Lake, the Geothermal is the next larger employer. Supervisors must be concerned about the money coming into the county, so it would be beneficial to keep the Geothermal industry happy. This must have been the case for the previous BOS in the 60’s and 70’s when the Geothermal industry first came here. Our quality of life is at stake here. In 1964 there were no earthquakes. This is going to make things worse!
-Rob- There was a decline, but then it has come back with the wastewater re-charging. He wants to make it work.
-Jessica- don’t we already have an ordinance? Not sure.
-John Carlisi- Geothermal is becoming less efficient compared to many other types of power systems.
-Anderson Springs is concerned that the ability for mitigation and to make a claim.
John Jennings- Where did this come from? We need to be clear with any new residents that would move to Lake County. Rob: Community Development was leading this. We wanted to get something on paper.
Eliot asks, Where do we go from here?
-Draft a letter to the BOS. December 4th is the date that it is on the Board of Supervisors agenda, but if needed it can be postponed again.
Motion to adjourn the meeting, Jessica, seconded John. Adjourned at 8:04p.m.