COBB AREA COUNCIL
ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday August 19, 2021 at 6:30pm
Online via Zoom and Facebook
Minutes
1. 6:32 CALL TO ORDER by Chairperson McCarthy
2. Roll Call
Present – Cathy McCarthy: Chairperson, Cindy Leonard: Vice-Chairperson, Frank Lincoln: Treasurer, Chris Nettles: Secretary
Not present
Joe Schneider – Alternate
Jake Stickler: Member-at-large
3. Approval of Agenda and Minutes
Amended Agenda – Striking formation of Emergency Preparedness committee
Motion to approve agenda by Cindy
Seconded by Magdalena
Unanimously approved
Motion to approve July minutes made by Chris
Seconded by Cindy
Unanimously approved
4. 6:35 Short Announcements
Cindy mentioned Lions Club Blackberry Cobbler pickup. Orders must be in by 8/23 to be picked up on 8/28. Contact them via Facebook
5. 6:40 Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)
None
6. 6:45 Fire Chief Paul Duncan
• Chief Duncan gave an update on the Cache Fire and the Coyote Fire
• Gave kudos to Hidden Valley HOA for maintaining defensible space with goats
• Discussed Fire Station staffing: 2 people 7/24 – Hidden Valley & Cobb. Sometimes those people are out on a call. If you need assistance, use the yellow phone at the station.
• Gave update on various fires around the state.
• Reminder that there is still many months of fire season to go – maintain defensible space, clean your gutters, do not use mowers with a metal blade, do weed eating with water source near by & do not use generators inside (carbon monoxide can kill), have go-bags ready.
• Paramedics are occasionally encountering some delays at hospitals due to lack of Emergency Dept beds.
• Chief Duncan answered other questions about paramedic response
• Any complaints about response should go directly to Chief Duncan
7. Treasurer’s Report- Frank
Total Current balance is $15,106.03
General fund: $1,045.81
Blackberry Cobbler Festival $6,147.89
Cobb Resilient $1,456.28
Cobb Safe $851.23
Economic Development $1,300.00
Rebuild NorthBay $564.42
T-shirt fundraising $3,432.89
Wilder Than Wild fund $161.31
Broom Busters $146.20
8. 6:48 New PGE funds to be added to CAC operating budget- Cindy
PG&E awarded all the municipal advisory committees some funds for administrative expenses. ~$600 to be used over three years. Can be used for annual fees for website, etc.
9. 6:50 Supervisor’s Comments- Supv. Jessica Pyska
• Gave COVID update: ICUs are very full. Suggested masking and getting vaccinated. Everyone in ICU is unvaccinated.
• Zone Haven alerts are coded area, for example COB is Cobb. Know your zone. Be ready to evacuate if any zone in your area is under mandatory evacuation.
• Mentioned PG&E charging station is available during PSPS at the Little Red Schoolhouse.
• Caltrans is looking for comments on transportation plan: https://www.catplan.org/district-1
10. 7:00 Cal-Trans Kelsey Creek Bridge Project Update Construction Traffic management plan with finalized emergency evacuation plan.
Presentation can be viewed on Facebook recording of August CAC meeting starting at 00:45 to 01:04
11. 7:40 Committee Reports- (Limit to 3 minutes each)
a. Firewise Communities: Magdalena, Cindy, Glenneth,
Cindy Leonard – Rainbow & Estates updating data to keep certificate. No gathering is planned this year. Renewal needs to be in by November.
Magdalena Valderrama shared some additional tips for Zone Haven. Take a screenshot of your zone and print out a copy of your zone. Cobb neighborhood is making No-Spark tow-chain covers. These are available at the Cobb Resource Hub. SSCRA still has money available for homeowner vegetation clearing grants. Be sure to download Watch Duty, a phone app that provides information on nearby fires. Humboldt county has training for Burn Boss certification – course #S290 start August 28th ($35) email lquindavidson@ucanr.edu to register. Regional Forest & Fire Center to advance forest health & resilience passed in SB35 – will share $2.9M between 4 other counties (Lake County will get $500K for these efforts).
Glenneth Lambert – Jones Creek Crossing Zoom meeting information is on their Facebook page.
Chris Nettles – Discussed Resilience Hub grant from PG&E. Eliot made a motion for CAC to provide a letter of support for this grant. Cindy seconded motion. Motion passed unanimously for CAC to provide a letter of support for this grant application.
b. Communications Committee- Mel
Cobb Alert Net – Handheld radio network. Radios are available at the Resource Hub
c. Cobbite of the Year- Cathy Selection to be announced at Blackberry Cobbler
Festival
Planned to announce this award at the COBBler festival. Since the festival was cancelled we will look for a new venue to announce this award.
d. Economic Development Committee
Chris Nettles – Need to get approval for a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cobb Area Council and the two local business associations. We have $2500 to split between Middletown Area Merchants Assoc.(MAMA) & Kelseyville Business Associations (KBA) to help with promoting businesses in the Cobb Area. Motion made for Chris to write the MOUs between Cobb Area Council and MAMA & KBA and share with Economic Development Committee for final approval. Eliot seconds motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Marketing Initiative- Website Chris
Expect to have something to present regarding the website in just a few more weeks. Need photos and other content about CAC.
e. Creating a new a Budget committee in September:
Cindy requested money for Firewise communities to make copies, etc.
12. 8:00 Blackberry COBBler Festival 2021-Loose Ends / Announcements
Everything has been wrapped up. Local business continuing with their plans.
13. 8:10 Date of Next Meeting: September 16, 2021
14. 8:16 Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Eliot. Seconded by Chris. Motion passes.