Month: March 2019

COBB AREA COUNCIL PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday February 21, 2019
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes

• CALL TO ORDER  6:01 p.m.(shut down cell phones; sign in please)

PRESENT: Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska, Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln. Not present Gary Prather
24 community members present

• Approval of Minutes from January 17, 2019. Move to approve, Rich, seconded by John Carlisi, all approved.
• SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
• John Carlisi announced the Yoga classes at Mandala Springs.  His wife has participated and said it is reasonably priced and a very beautiful place.  Lots of plans for that place for this summer!

Eliot reports that Harbin is reopened and is very happy to report that the pools are open!
Kelly Lion’s Club:  reports there are still some tickets left for the crab boil on March 2nd, $60 each.
On Sunday March 17 there will be a Corned Beef dinner in conjunction with the Middletown Lion’s club.  $15/ticket.
Lions Club of Lake County has High School student speaker contest on March 15. 6:30

• TREASURER’S REPORT Gary not present

• PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)

• Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
• Emergency Water Board meeting on Monday night, especially important for those who live at Starview
• Firewise Community Update: Cindy

Here are the takeaways from the Northwestern California Community Wildfire Resilience Gathering, organized by the California Fire Safe Council and Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network, attended by Cindy and Magdalena:
-States and the Federal Government are realizing that it is better to pay to prevent wildfire than to pay to clean it up.  Disasters are becoming so huge that they have to act now! These agencies realize they need us and want to know what we need.
-Things are moving so quickly!! Lots of new policies being submitted for approval, new money going to CalFire for things like home inspections, clearing evacuation routes, etc.  It made me think that it is even more important for us to have Cobb Safe and Cobb Resilient so that we can help convey all of this to our community members
-There is a lot we can learn from our neighboring counties… and even from those doing work on the other side of our county!  Different forms and methods that are being created… evacuation planning worksheets, ideas on how to communicate with each other in an emergency.  The Resource Conservation District in Yolo county wants to work with us, they are just over the hill from Middletown. Some groups are figuring out ways to help homeowners pay to retro-fit homes to be more fire-resistant (better roof/ siding, enclose under deck, etc)
-In general, communities are not waiting for the government!  They are acting now. We have our part to do.
-It was an opportunity to let them know what our challenges are in Lake County.  I also asked about insurance discounts… perhaps only Firewise areas can get insurance.
Cindy’s Firewise Community update:
-Firewise Group 1 (aka Jones Creek Crossing) submitted their application on February 6. This brings the total to 4 applications submitted!
-Cindy has an application in for a grant through the Firewise website.  This money (if we get it) would be available for our Firewise groups for neighborhood clean-up.
-All groups will meet at Cobb Safe on April 13
Terre Logsdon- Now working with the Pomo Indian tribe for a gasification process for producing biochar.  They submitted a grant to CalFire for job production for bringing the biomass to the plant.  Tom Jordan says that 20% of the Forest Health grant applications were from Lake and Mendocino County.
Suggestion made to send a letter of support from the CAC for the grant
County of Lake Solid Waste public services contract will be soon be re-negotiated so we should get involved in the discussion.  Perhaps we could negotiate that we could get two yard waste bins for no extra charge.

• Cobb Area Supplement for the Countywide Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Magdalena

-August 2009 was the year this document was created, and although it is supposed to be updated every year, it has never been updated.  The document is referred to by many agencies and really needs to be updated. We could create a Cobb Area supplement to add to the Lake County document. The South Lake Fire Safe Council is a 501c3 so they could help us fund a project like updating this document.

• Planning for “Cobb Safe 2019” on April 13, update by Cindy:

-Cobb Safe will be April 13 at Cobb School again.  Magdalena and Cindy are working on the agenda.  We plan to use the morning session to again get updates from agencies and share up-to-date information.  We are hoping for noon testing of siren.
Free lunch again…. neighborhood meeting will slightly change as groups become more independent. Some small groups will break apart from Group 2.  Magdalena and Cindy will meet with the organizers of these groups to help make the lunch efficient and well-thought out.  We are trying very hard to make sure no one feels they are wasting their time!  After lunch the groups will report out and then there will be time to visit the booths.
-Please let us know if you have an idea you would like to be addressed at Cobb Safe or Cobb Resilient.  We had very good feedback on the feedback forms.
What is the best way to communicate to you? We are hoping to have a newsletter to mail or email, but for now we have the board at the P.O. and CAC meetings

• Wilder Than Wild Film Screening.  WILDER THAN WILD: Fire, Forests and the Future is a one hour documentary that reveals how fuel build-up and climate change have exposed Western wildlands to large, high intensity wildfires, while greenhouse gases released from these fires contribute to global warming. This vicious cycle jeopardizes our forests and affects us all with extreme weather and more wildfires, some of which are now entering highly populated wildland-urban areas.

Report on Rob Brown/Riviera assessment meeting Eliot: $100 assessment per resident, one time.  Self-funding way to get community members to clear their properties. You just need 50% of the vote, of those who vote. When is the vote? Soon.
Fire Resiliency Summit hosted by Mike Thompson, report by Jessica Pyska:
One speaker from Pepperwood Preserve talked about climate change and rebuilding, A CalFire speaker shared all the grants that they are now receiving, the Mendocino National Forest spoke about the waste in the forest and how it is the perfect time for biochar. Moke Simon was also part of the discussion.

• Supervisor’s Comments: Rob Brown not present

Presentations

• Update on the Lake County Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Ordinance

-Eliot reports that he and Terre met with Anita Grant and many of the recommendations from the Cobb Area Council ad hoc committee were taken into the new draft. For example, who would be qualified to make determinations about what needs to be done? A lot of the nuance will be about proximity to your neighbor’s property.  If you are going to require clearing on your neighbor’s land, you much shoulder half the cost. And some clarification about the penalties, liabilities. It addresses standing dead trees on both improved and unimproved lots (as combustible material).  It needs to be explicit, not just combustible material. All fines should be directed toward abatement activities.
March 5th is the next meeting of the Board of Supervisors, so any new comments that we want to make about new suggested revisions would need to be done early next week.

• Report on the new Lake Co. Economic Development Strategy and what it may mean for the Cobb Area: Eliot

-This was presented and adopted by Lake County.
They hired Rob Eiler from Sonoma State to create a strategy. The strategy is sort of halfway there.
The company that was saddled with developing this is suggesting that we on Cobb develop our own “Economic Development Strategy” because much of what is in the larger document does not apply to us.
So Eliot proposes that we establish our own committee to develop our own economic development plan.
Jessica suggests that having housing in our area.  Housing stimulus for building on rebuilding on burned lots.  We can be innovative to bring people back here, and not just wait for people to move here.  Rob Brown feels that the county has no way to push something like this, so this would be driven by private investments.
Recovery: Housing Stimulus
Prepared by: Jessica Pyska
Cobb Area Council
February 19, 2019
It is time to take an innovative approach to help Lake County recover from the devasting wildfires of the last five years, starting with the staggering loss of housing.  Most insurance-sponsored rebuilds have been completed from the Valley Fire, which had the most significant loss of housing inventory. Recovery from the most recent fires is just getting started.  The primary path to re-establishing the communities that were hit hardest is to make sure that houses get built.
A focus on economic development in the burned areas will help secure grant funding to establish programs that will aggressively stimulate recovery of housing inventory, which will increase property tax revenue throughout the county.
Programs designed to encourage builders and families to invest in Lake County:

1. Grant funding to reduce permit fees for houses being built on burned lots.
   1. Stimulate “spec” homes to be built by local contractors, lowering their risk, as well as lowering the cost of the home.
   2. Encourage individuals and families within and outside of Lake County to invest in new construction.
   3. Can be integrated into USDA housing programs
   4. No income restrictions
   5. Securing future property tax revenue for the County.

• “Whole Home” package

1. This plan is designed to make “stick built” homes competitive with modular homes by streamlining the building process.
   1. The package will include locally designed plans, a lumber package, and finishings that can all be supplied through Kelseyville Lumber, with a list of qualified, local contractors who understand the package.
   2. Local contractors can build these houses faster and more efficiently than modular homes, with the ease of an “in-house” Design Center.
   3. Can be integrated into USDA housing programs
   4. No income restrictions
   5. Increase property tax revenue
   6. Neighborhoods will have a permanent “look and feel”

• Gap Financing for Re-Builds

1. Coordinate financing that closes the gap between insurance coverage and the real costs of a rebuild.
   1. Rebuilding after a major disaster has unique challenges
      1. Building costs rise dramatically throughout the process
      2. Payment structures from insurers and mortgage holders are not realistic.
      3. It is impossible to obtain a construction loan once building has begun.
   2. Recognize that these circumstances require special consideration, and analyze income, assets, current debt ratios, equity, building plans and commitment to the project and community.
   3. Gap financing would be a short term loan to get the homeowner through construction to final payouts or until new debt structure is secured.
2. Encourage homeowners to upgrade new homes
   1. Upgrade neighborhoods
   2. Increase property tax revenue

• Continue to support and promote existing housing programs

1. USDA housing programs
2. CAL Home grants
   1. Habitat for Humanity
   2. Hammers for Hope
   3. Hope City

The Cobb Area Council will be considering applying these programs, or programs like these, in conjunction with a localized economic recovery plan to stimulate growth, of which housing is a crucial component.  If successful in the Cobb Area, these programs could expand to the other burned and depressed areas of the County.
Eliot entertained a motion to adjourn. Robert so moved. Seconded by John. Meeting adjourned at 7:48p.m.