COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday, December 15, 2016, 6:00-8:00pm
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
DRAFT MINUTES
Agenda and Discussion
Meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm.
I. The Chair introduced Chief Mike Wink who came to make an announcement about alarm sirens for the Cobb and Loch Lomond areas.
1. CalFire Chief Wink also works for the South Lake County Fire Protection District in Middletown, your local fire department. Devin Hoberg, a board member of the district, lives here in Cobb and is here today.
2. Fire sirens were originally used to summon fire department volunteers to handle any emergency including medical. Local Fire Dept. in late 80’s quit using fire sirens altogether because pager technology had improved so much that it didn’t make sense to use sirens anymore when the situation involved a medical emergency rather than a community emergency. However, community forums following the Valley Fire made clear the desire and need for adding another layer of information to the multiple outlets we already have with Nixle, reverse dial 911, etc.
3. The district board considered the community’s input, then talked with the local OES (Office of Emergency Services) which the county had placed within the Sheriff’s Department, and then also partnered with the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association and the undersheriff to look into the request. Amongst all the chiefs, jurisdictions, and disciplines in the fire chiefs association, there weren’t any funding sources specified or available for disaster, but there was the Cobb Mitigation Fund from Calpine to give back to the community, so an application was made for two new sirens–one in Cobb and the other in Loch Lomond. The funding was approved just a few days ago.
4. Activation of the sirens will now be operated by OES at the Sheriff’s dept instead of by the fire district. It is just an emergency notification siren, alerting the community that an emergency situation exists. When the siren is not being tested, then you should just know to seek specific information about the nature of the emergency: check with friends, cell service, Nixle, and so on. The sirens are just an additional layer to know something is going on.
5. The South Lake Fire Protection District covers Loch Lomond, Cobb, Anderson Springs, Middletown, halfway between Hidden Valley and Lower Lake, Coyote Valley, and The Geysers. The Anderson Springs Mitigation Committee funded their siren. The Hidden Valley Homeowners Association bylaws, allow them to exercise a one time-assessment so they are funding theirs. There is $30,500 still to fund the last siren remaining for Middletown. Your local folks are representing you here in Cobb.
Questions and Answers session with Chief Mike Wink re Cobb and Loch Lomond alarm sirens
Q: (inaudible) contributed $60K?
A: Each siren had to be funded with different money because the infrastructure for each one was different, and installation needs have different requirements. Tried to use existing sirens, and even tested them (maybe startling residents) but the newer technology covers much more territory decibel-wise and area-wise. The Federal Signal Company showed the Propagation Map, as well as Googlemaps, and the old sirens’ reach were very isolated around the stations. We asked for options, and chose a high decibel, rotating siren, so it should cover Whispering Pines to Loch Lomond with overlap in the middle per the maps.
Q: When will the system be up and functional?
A: Funding application came together in the last 6-8 weeks. Had to work with Sheriffs’ department to make sure we ordered the right components so when they push the button in Lakeport the system works. Shipping alone is $6K, and we don’t want to have to order twice. The goal is to have everything in place next summer.
Q: Will the system be hooked up to Nixle?
A: The siren system is independent. You don’t want a community siren for a missing child, for example. Works with generator and battery backups. The generator kicks in 24 hours, and there is a wireless activation signal as well in case there is no local power.
Q: How does this system work with the emergency radios?
A: The emergency radios are for weather only and are activated by the weather service out of Ukiah. The default program is set to Sacramento, so you have to make sure you include Ukiah. When the National Weather Service does a broadcast, the signal turns on the radio, makes audible and light signals, then you can click the radio for the news.. You can change channels to listen to information from buoys, and a few other weather monitoring sources.
Q: What is the Sheriffs Dept protocol?
A: This is still so new, we are just passing on the news that we got the approval. They are working towards the protocol, maybe 8 months, just coming into place now. Must stress that this NOT a fire siren, just emergency notification. The rest of the county is watching to see how this works and it could possible expand to cover other areas. We know now that there are matching grants available for the rest of the county. The present project could meet the 25% requirement for the matching grant.
Q: What about the reach going east/west?
A: (Shows map) The system overlaps with the Anderson Springs siren.
Q: Would it include Seigler Springs, and the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary?
A: Yes. On the map, green=100% covered, yellow less percent, red=foundering.
Q Calfire gave grants, Lake County got 0, Fresno got 2.6M. Why the discrepancy? A (Wink) Counties don’t apply for this type of grant, the Firesafe Council has to apply. There is another grant being worked on.
A (Brown): Both the Southlake and Firesafe councils already have multiple Calfire projects, and they have been using the existing workforce (Konocti Conservation Camp + others) grants. So much existing work is stacked up (finishing the firebreaks for one) and they have to finish that work before the crews can be free to do additional work. There is a timing associated with the grants, so the districts can reapply for projects. In other words, they already have grant funding and the crews are still trying to finish the work, so they have to spend it down before they can apply for more. For the next grant cycle, volunteers will be needed to help write the grants. Local talent, please link the firesafe councils to your website, so they can receive volunteers. South lake has only 5 volunteers, same with the Lake County Council. These two are the leads for those projects.
ACTION: Chair called for a followup report for the next Cobb Area Council meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES from November 17
Lytle change to USDA grant item: Committee Reports section, 1.b.ii. on page 10, stated “no time limit”. This should be changed from:
Jessyca: . . . They come out and see whether the work is done as per agreement parameters, then they will cut the reimbursement check in two weeks. Can start your application now as there is no time limit–good in case it has to extend over a season (say can’t burn during summer), or you can’t get workers for 8 months. There is no time limit because this is often several months out for people. List of qualified material includes: slash, logs on the ground, milling also possible. . . .
to
. . . then they will cut the reimbursement check in two weeks. Landowners interested need to apply before the beginning of February and get into the current funding cycle before it ends and while it is still more or less safe to burn. Otherwise, if you wait until after February, you will get caught in the summer months that restrict your ability to complete work safely because of the burn ban period. List of qualified material includes: slash, logs on the ground, milling also possible. . .
This is clarification for those applying for the grant to get reimbursed on costs for removing dead trees on parcels over an acre. The grant covers bark beetle and brush management. The funding cycle ends in February. It is important if you are interested to get the application process going now before the deadline. You have to wait another winter for the work because of the intervening burn ban that starts around May. Look at Cobb Area Council Resources page.
Moved to approve the change to the minutes as outlined above: Pyska. Seconded: Flynn. All: ayes.
III. UPDATES FROM SUPERVISOR ROB BROWN
List of updates includes:
a. County insurance collection for property clean up and tree removal
b. The CalHome rebuilding finance program
c. Funding the for Anderson Springs sewer system
d. Planning Commission vacancy for District 5
a. County insurance collection for property clean up and tree removal
Can seem like things aren’t getting done, but there are a lot of different meetings to go to and just not reporting on every single little thing and turn.
Has been bombarded re trees, especially with the recent weather as trees have come down on cars and houses. Residents come with an initial sense why didn’t you do something sooner. County government can’t solve every single issue. We are down on our reserves, Short answer: if we solve one person’s issue we have to be prepared to deal with all. This is the only county in the state for years and years that was always in the black and this is the first year
that didn’t happen. Still waiting for FEMA reimbursements; can’t hire staff to do a lot of things. Tree program wasn’t as widely used as we had hoped.
Has been emailing back and forth with Karl, have been talking with county counsel all day, and have met previously with folks a lot as well. Can’t just go on one person’s judgment that a tree is bad looking but might not actually be much of a hazard vs one that is truly hazardous. Ross is here, he’s an attorney and will talk in a little while and confirm that these trees on private property become a civil matter between neighbors. It is a matter that should have been resolved prior to rebuilding, but now it’s a situation.
Result: Remembered that years ago, the County had $40K to abate abandoned pear trees as an environmental hazard, especially if they were not sprayed properly it brings the coddling moth, and then neighbors would have to spray more. We never used it, and actually had thought to use it for the Riviera which was at higher risk for wildfire than Cobb and therefore a higher priority. So we allocated the abatement there. Now the Lake Co Firesafe council is working there.
Issue: If county does the work, then they have to apply the prevailing wage, which quadruples the cost to: $4k. The $40K abatement fund is just a drop in the bucket in that case.
Next week, the BOS agenda includes a decision to apply this fund to the Valley Fire trees and, instead of a neighbor or other complainant setting the priority, make it so that an arborist is required to determine whether the tree(s) are high priory or not. $40K will go there. Contractors will be notified via the permit process to confirm first that the building site is clear – can’t put people in harm’s way. Simple: County won’t stop issuing permits, just asking the applicant to sign a statement confirming that there are no hazardous trees threatening the building site.
County counsel has clarified that because the abatement concerns the “use of public funds”, there must be a clear public benefit. Abatement can’t just be based on a “credible threat of the fearful and costly unknown”. Applicants have to confirm right up front, before building commences, that there are no trees in the area that could cause damage before the permit can be issued. For any hazardous trees sitting on a neighbor’s property and that could damage your house, the neighbor is ultimately responsible. Insurance company will go after the neighbor.
Questions and Answers regarding hazardous tree removal on private property
Q (Lytle): I brought up the issue on tree mitigation at the task force meetings to come up with a plan. Understood that $10M from State requested, still waiting. Then I asked for the Calpine money to go to these lots. With the County’s $40K will any contractor work at County rates? Shouldn’t we model Federal program? Isn’t the County responsible for disaster management oversight? Wouldn’t the Fire Safe Council money touch this issue?
A (Brown): Grant funds from the Fire Safe Council are specific for each project, in this case firebreaks. It’s possible that future money could touch tree mitigation. County is still spending down the grant money we received 6 years ago.
Q (Pyska): How will people know to cut hazardous trees down before a permit can be issued?
A (Brown): When they come get a permit, an item will be on the application to confirm that there are no trees nearby that will be a hazard to the new building. For houses are already built, we’ve got to figure out. We need the public to come to the board meeting with the other
county supervisors present, because they may not see the importance as I do. The next meeting is next week, and then not again until Jan 3.
Q: What about the County’s hazardous tree removal program?
A: We’re just waiting for funding; have several hundred thousand already done now, while over a million was included in the contract. So we’re not moving forward until the Feds begin reimbursing the county as promised.
Q: What is the role of state reps in this?
A: It’s not that they’re not listening, there are 39 other assemblypeople trying to get attention. We’ve met with HCD re CDBG funding and have set an infrastructure priority list, which is like disaster case management unmet needs for the county–the same thing basically.
Comment (Haskett): I take responsibility for the trees on my lot, there were 2 trees that fell the wrong way onto the public right of way. The other owner gave us permission to cut trees on his property. At the time, they looked alive. Those 5 trees were green, and after a year passed, they died. Trees have been swaying in the bad weather. There’s no complaint against property owners who haven’t rebuilt or are missing in action and aren’t doing anything. The frustration is that they don’t care.
Brown: This is a very different time from that school meeting some time ago, when Greg Giusti said no one wanted trees taken down. We’re asking the state for infrastructure money of $81M to help get planning and environmental health staff to help with the housing reconstruction, as well as money for fire departments, water, and water storage. Out at Anderson Springs, only
18 left out of 200 homes, and we’re asking 7.3M to help with the sewer system out there. It’s also possible that the water board may be a source in case CDBG doesn’t cover this, and we’re working hard on the issue.
The infrastructure requires consolidation of the water system in Cobb area. The work is absolutely necessary, and clearly you can’t afford it on your own because it’s going to cost about $4.5M. There may be funds available outside CDBG, yet we’re going to put this item in our request anyway.
Road repairs: 120 miles affected by potholes and other damage; roads have been affected that aren’t even in the fire area because there were 12,000 logging truckloads alone from the initial cleanup. We’re requesting $75M from the state.
Fire-safe Communities needs commitments from Calfire and the County to help with the secondary roads in Anderson Springs.
Regarding removal of hazardous trees on private property there is a list — not a priority list, just a list showing 2000 properties. If you figure 5 trees/lot = $10M, and the county just doesn’t have that money.
Other items to be included are:
Air Quality sample analysis $275K
Automated weather stations $70K
Trailside park recovery $1.2M
Acquisition of park space in Cobb $2.19M
and a museum project
Q: What is the timeline for the CBDG?
A: First proposed in May. Been talking to HCD a long time. Staffperson was “kind”. Brown invited the HCD to come for a tour for 4 hrs. They hit every pothole, and folks were in tears by the end. At the time, we requested a third of what we’re asking for now. They said ask for everything and we will whittle down. Now we are grinding through that process.
Q: Is there still opportunity for community to propose projects?
A: Original proposal made in May, then have been revising over time.
Q: When do we find out what we qualify for?
A: This is done bit by bit and another meeting needs to be set up. This is not your typical grant with timelines as a condition of the grant. Some road money will come in for example but not $75M.
Robert Stark: When we did the state income surveys for help with the water district consolidation, it took a long time to get through, we had to go 4 times.
Brown: You’re sitting in a committee room with the state senator, the assemblyperson, a representative from HCD, a representative from USDA, a representative from the water board and they only have 1 hr to handle this, then another meeting has to be scheduled to pick up where we left off.
Q: Is CDBG Federal money coming through the state?
A: You have to apply whether you know what money there is or not because it’s an open process. There are no guarantees. It’s more like a dance between the agencies to see who will go first; very exhausting, can’t get too frustrated.
Q: You got some road money?
A: For Gifford Springs $500K was used to get rubber asphalt work from Calrecycle. As soon as find out what’s available, we go right to it. McGuire called Nancy Ward who is next to the governor to get alternative road money. They said let’s get back to you, how about before the holidays via phone conference, so now there’s no driving to Sacramento.
Q: What about the drive up on Bottle Rock Road – now it’s dark, wet, and there are no fog lines, very treacherous. Can we get maybe striping?
A: Will talk to Scott DeLeon. There was $500K/average/yr gas tax money from the state out of which we get $25K. Since loggers and dumpers are from another state, their state gets that gas tax money. Brown is talking to the state. Can’t use road money on trees. Take what we can get now.
Update about CalHome program to help with rebuilding
Back in May, HCD was here when McGuire held a town meeting, and they announced a program to help under CalHome. $7.2M is available. Habitat for Humanity was the only agency in Lake County that qualified then. $1.9M of that was for Calaveras County but no one there qualified as they had no nonprofit that had done that kind of work before. All $7.2M is coming to Lake County now.
Re qualified nonfprofits to do the work: previously, Calpine had funded Hammers for Hope for 6 years to help people with wheelchair ramps and kitchen remodels. One CalHome program
was for first time homebuyers, so only Habitat for Humanity applied. The other program was for rehabbing, $5-6M for which Hammers for Hope applied.
State is scoring the nonprofit applicants now. The application was due Nov 21. Was hoping they could let us know before the holidays, and award the grant in January. Brown has asked to meet both agencies, still waiting to hear.
For down payment, bank loan, 30 yr loan, pay back with one payment at the end of 30 years is possible. Qualification is based on income and ability to pay back. Very flexible. Will get the word out when we hear news.
Other updates:
1. Planning Commission vacancy — After 19 years of service, one of the commissioners is retiring. Applications are being accepted. Press release was sent out today, deadline is Jan 19. Will extend the timeframe if no qualified applications come in. Must be breathing, live in the district, and be over 18 yrs old.
2. Area plan update — last one was 1989. Don’t have staff to update; dealing with disaster. Can work with community members. Bob Massarelli will come in January to nightly meetings to join community in seeing what’s in there and what has to be changed. Block grant to be used. Whole county needs updating. There weren’t cellphones in 1989, marijuana was illegal, etc., so there’s a lot of stuff that is serious and needs to be updated.
3. Insurance collection for the cleanup may be imminent for January; still working the detail. Application is on the website. Will forward to Eliot for the CAC website.
Q: Who will enforce the abatement on the neighbor’s lot?
A: Hazardous trees are a civil matter between property owners. The county can do its part by putting everyone on notice via the permit process and it might be a construction burden then. If you decide to take matters into your own hands, you could be arrested for trespassing. However, you still have to get caught doing it.
Q: Is there any help for junk abatement, all the old fences, etc.? It’s depressing,
A: Junk abatement is on the back burner but not off the table. There are so many other leading priorities for health and safety.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Charlene Hamilton: Lot next to me on the corner is owned by a law firm in Sacramento. Contacted them 3 wks ago and emailed today. Is concerned about rain and wind, could be killed because of the storm, there’s so much beetle damage.
Katherine DeMartini (addressed to Rob Brown): We were told after the fire that if we relocated in the county and didn’t rebuild we could get tax relief. Has filed the papers, talked to the Assessor’s office, Debbie Olsen has a pile of determinations, doesn’t know where they can get to it. Tax base I’m in now is higher, so I’m being asked to pay what the amount was on Cobb Mtn.
Brown: County will refund the money.
Chair: Please talk offline about individual problems, or by email.
V. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
1. Abatement Monitoring committee (Karl Parker)
a. Hoberg’s:
i. Scott Skellenger, dir of development at Hoberg’s reports great news: they have completed the main lodge complex, i.e. half of the total removal abatement. This is a big deal as the worst materials were concentrated there. Also reported recently on Facebook that they have removed 10 container loads of hazardous materials to specialized disposal site, and have taken 8 loads of non-hazard materials to the county landfill. Environmental services are idle now because of the weather, and then there’ s the holidays coming.
ii. 18 free firewood deliveries have been made to Cobb area residents. Shipped off 32 additional cords offsite.
iii. Larger scale tree removal going on especially up by Gifford Springs.
b. Hazardous trees:
i. Last time we talked about posting info on the website and at the post office re this critical problem requiring right of entry and getting the trees down. Some neighbors have been responsive, but we are also aware that former neighbors have been nonresponsive or have refused to sign the ROE. Takes a lot of skill to take down a tree and not cause the problem you’re trying to prevent.
ii. Acknowledges Rob Brown: anyone would have had a hard time receiving the emails I sent him. His job is to keep working, and my job is to keep pushing to go beyond what they think is possible. Recent case: a neighbor’s mother’s house was almost completed, and the mother had just moved in when a dead tree from a neighboring property next door came crashing down on the new house. The impact was very emotional and now they are back at square one, working things out with insurance to see what is covered and they couldn’t send an adjuster that day.
iii. Introduced Andre Ross of Ewing Associates. In the past, Karl has worked with Mike Ewing, Andre’s boss. Notes that 6 minutes, or 0.1 of an hour is the smallest unit of time in lawyerland. Property owner’s recourse starts before the problem begins. Write a letter — it took 2 hrs — identify who is the target, where are they, how do you put fear of god into someone on 2pp of paper. Give “notice of dangerous condition”, and insurance company will be eager to deny them coverage on the basis that they were never told the client had got notice from the attorney. The letter simply describes what’s likely to happen in event of a tragedy, and is NOT an actual threat.
iv. Andre Ross has lived in Lake county a long time, is District 5 resident, family was also traumatized also by the Valley Fire, and he cleared his schedule for this council meeting. Has also practiced in Marin Co.
v. The secret re the neighbor’s hazardous trees is to place them on notice re dangerous conditions. You cannot get any action on this as a public nuisance as government entities are too large and clumsy to operate that way. You must initiate a private cause for action by FIRST placing them on notice. Not by phone call. Put it in writing. Send a copy by Certified Mail and also by First Class, so if recipient refuses to sign certified, lawyer can use this to argue that the first class letter didn’t come back.
vi. Note that under CA Tort Law (ie civil wrong) a timber trespass = 3x monetary value of the original tree, so any tree you fell in secret suddenly becomes the most expensive tree on the planet . When the tree is found cut down after you’ve sent a notice, then you are Suspect #1.
Q: In that letter putting them on notice, would it help to state that an arborist has diagnosed the tree?
A: Don’t need to spend money on arborist. Also note that employing an arborist to walk onto the property can be considered trespassing. Simply write it so that “Neighbor acted or failed to act, and thereby permitted condition to exist” can become the argument in court. Reasonable time for response is 15 days, and you can also outline that otherwise your lawyer will contact them. Ask them whether or not they have insurance coverage and to let you know, so at least that gets them thinking re their policy.
Q: What about easements, who do you go after?
A: Go after the property owner.
Brown: Clarification — “LC” mark on the dead trees does not mean these are the county’ s trees, just that it’s just marked for removal by the county.
Q: If I send email and follow up with a letter and a phone call, wouldn’t that constitute notice?
A: You can’t prove receipt of an email because it could have gone into the spam filter. And a phone call is only your word against the other person’s.
Robert Stark: Saw no erosion control at Hoberg’s–what a disaster today!!! There are 4 inches of silt on the water district corporation yard that wasn’t there previous to the weather. Has written to Ray Kaminski.
A: Go to community development, Bob Massarelli for enforcement.
Q: Living right below Hobergs’ — are we in danger of mountain coming down on top of us in a landslide?? Roots weren’t removed, weight of tree not there.
A: No one qualified to comment.
2. The new Relief Monitoring Committee (Magdalena Valderrama)
a. At the November CAC meeting the assembly voted to create a committee to help address connecting available resources to Cobb residents with recovery needs due to the Valley Fire. This new committee is still in the process of developing clear protocols. The committee will not be doing case management, but will be searching for community members who still have needs but are left out.
b. Please refer to the report attached from the Committee’s Kickoff meeting, held November 28, 2016.
c. Red Cross volunteer Bethany Schwarz is in Lake County for one month with Red Cross to help our community. She has been assisting in a project to map all Valley Fire rebuilt homes that have been finalized (meaning ready to move in). After only a few days work, 17 ready-to-move-in houses have been mapped with a Cobb address, and there are more finalized permits that will be added as the rest of the information is processed and efforts are combined with the Rebuild Advocacy Committee.
d. Ron and Kathleen Haskett (from the Rebuild Advocacy Committee) added that there are 21 more near Summit. The total number of homes lost is 1300, out of which 600 were located in Cobb.
e. Celebrating the Rebuilds is important for morale building and benchmarking because so many people have left the area.
f. Jessyca Lytle: Spoke with Jan Coppinger from Special Districts, and she will help us do large scale maps, 5 maps through Stan Schubert. Also, Kelseyville has a very large printer we might be able to use
3. Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee on Communications (Mel McMurrin)
a. Eliot, Jill, Mel met a few weeks ago about the sirens and possible new methods to communicate within the Cobb Area. Brainstorming results:
i. billboards
ii. internet
iii. amateur radio (i.e., ham radio)
iv. GMRS radio ((GMRS) is a land-mobile FM UHF radio service designed for short-distance two-way communication) can also do weather alerts, connect 1:1 as well as two-way. Very interested in these GMRS radios which are basically kids toys and you can license them, only $65 for a family, then we have repeaters and get people talking
v. Citizens Band radio still exists
vi. mesh networks,
vii. Go Tena (i.e. connect to the internet via cellphones)
viii. Nixle
ix. NOAA weather radios
x. Broadcast band – large consumer radio stations
xi. Lower power stations such as the ones CalTrans uses
xii. Facebook: Lake County Scanner pages — Lake County Scanner News Fire/EMS/Police and On the Scanner
xiii. Telephone phone trees
xiv. Reverse 911
xv. Scanner listeners — these are USB sticks that can be turned into scanners
b. Mel introduced Ken Albee
i. Not a lot of ham radio operators in Cobb. You can get small ham radios now for just 20-30 dollars, and it’s only$15 for the test.
ii. Ken Albee, KG6TFQ, gives the Amateur Radio tests in Lake County.
iii. During the Valley Fire, the hams found out what was happening, for example roads that had been reported closed but were actually open
iv. Basic test no longer requires Morse Code; can be scheduled as needed
v. There are now internet links for getting the licenses and books you can get online
4. Proposed outline of the CAC 2017 Action Plan
i. Chair read from the draft outline a starting list of items that would be included (below) and called for a full outline to be brought to the council next month:
a. Work with county on revising the area plan. Area Plan is a key document linked to the county general plan. County General Plan is the county’s constitution. our Work Plan will be a key roadmap about what we want to be.
b. Ongoing recovery, need to list what is needed to support that. The level of hit was similar in relative impact to Hurricane Katrina, so it’s not “been a year get over it” for us.
c. Establish an effective communications network–need to have many redundancies
d. Mitigate fire danger — Need to have a Cobb Area Response Plan in coordination with County OES
e. Not just recover but serve resilience and develop a vibrant economy
ii. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
a. John Carlisi: Excellent coverage. Overarching as it should be. Need to include increasing citizen participation, even starting at elementary school level. We have one of the best schools in CA, it’s on the list. If you get the kids, you get the parents.
b. Kathleen Haskett introduced Mark Mitchell a Lake County contractor: If you are on the fence about rebuilding, keep in mind submitting plans before January 5, when the next level of new building codes mandated by state get activated every 3 years. Health and safety codes are the same, but now there is a 30% increase on energy efficiency required. This will add $3-5,000 dollars on a small home; $5-18,000 on a large home.
AGENDA ITEMS OMITTED FOR LACK OF TIME
1. Nominations for Lake County Chamber of Commerce “Community Stars”
2. Discussion of potential projects that could apply for Community Development Block Grant funding
3. Planning to support the Community Christmas Dinner on Dec 22nd at the Little Red School House offered by Tzu Chi
Meeting adjourned 8:02 pm.
ATTACHMENT 1 – REPORT FROM THE RELIEF MONITORING COMMITTEE
Relief Monitoring Committee of the Cobb Area Council Kickoff meeting November 28, 2016
Tamsen Nash and Magdalena Valderrama met and laid out intentions and plans for proceeding. Potential members include: Charlene Hamilton, Denise Scoles, Cindy Leonard
OBJECTIVES DEFINED
The Relief Monitoring Committee:
1) monitors how well the needs of our residents are being met after the Valley Fire — and Clayton Fire for those who were doubly affected; and
2) provides communication support for the disaster case management process by being a collection point for council members and area residents to report any difficulties in getting disaster case management services
3) eventually, the work of the committee may be integrated with other council work to establish long-term disaster recovery plans congruent with the Cobb Area Plan going forward.
GOALS
The committee will start by:
1. Creating a tear-off flyer announcing the availability of help and providing complete contact information — it is estimated from many anecdotes that not all residents have access to the internet and that of the people who do, many are not proficient at locating pertinent information;
2. Posting this new information online as well, through Facebook and the CAC website;
3. Identifying and establishing committee procedures to monitor the referrals made to disaster case management at Team Lake County;
4. Comparing the number of damaged parcels listed in the CalFire Valley Fire Incident Report with the number of cases closed or unresolved/ inactive, particularly within the Cobb Area boundaries;
5. Formulating and posting questions to Team Lake County asking their help in providing aggregate data
Accomplished:
Drafted: Copy and layout for the poster
Compiled: A list of public areas in the Cobb environs where the tear-off flyer can be seen by the most people–this includes churches and retreat centers, Hardester’s in Cobb, Mountain High Coffee Shop, Cobb Information Board, Cobb Water District office, Postal offices/services in Cobb and Loch Lomond, the Loch Lomond Roadhouse, the bulletin board outside Dino’s Deli at the Loch Lomond store.
Identified: A simple set of procedures to keep comparison counts of referrals made to Team Lake County. The person staffing the Committee phone number will date and keep a list of the people who
call asking about any help available. These contacts will be referred formally to Team Lake County disaster case management. At a regular period to be determined, the Committee will ask Team Lake County to let us know how many of the referrals have been acted upon, whether activated, disqualified, closed, etc.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
A list of questions to ask Team Lake County and partners
For disaster case management in general:
1. Where does the data come from — do FEMA, Red Cross, and World Renew have a way of sharing and/or compiling their survey data? How is the data shared with the other partners?
2. Of the 1300+ people affected by the Valley Fire, how many people signed up for disaster case management?
3. Every professional database has a way of identifying and counting data. Of those who signed up for disaster case management, how many heads of household are listed with a Cobb address?
4. (When time later permits): The Cobb Area Council covers the area bounded by Highway 175 north of Socrates Mine Road, east by Big Canyon Road, north by Red Hills Road and Highway 29, and west by the Lake County line. How many individual heads of household from this area outside of the immediate village of Cobb are listed for disaster case management?
5. How many of these cases have been closed due to needs having been met or client request?
6. How many cases were closed due to being unable to reach the client?
7. How many cases have received supplemental CAC assistance from the American Red Cross since distribution began June 2016? Can you break the numbers down by month? What qualifications do TLC guidelines require for this assistance?
8. How many people have been disqualified for CAC assistance? What are the grounds for disqualification?
Rebuilding questions to ask Case Management Committee, Construction Committee, Hope City, and Mennonites Disaster Services:
1. How many applications for permits have been submitted to the County?
2. What types of and how many permit applications have been approved?
3. How many homes are COMPLETED?
4. How many homes have received OCCUPANCY Permits?
5. HOW MANY FAMILIES have moved into their new home?
Cobb Area Council Action Plan 2017
About the Cobb Area Council
The Cobb Area Council (“CAC”) was formed in the summer of 2016 as a Municipal Advisory Council, to support and advise the Lake County Board of Supervisors (“BOS”) on the specific needs of the Cobb Area. Following the Valley Fire of 2015, it became apparent that the Cobb communities needed a forum for public discussion, with the capacity to bring urgent needs to the county government and to organize the community and seek resources. On June 9, 2016, the community voted unanimously to pass the resolution to create the CAC. A few weeks later, the BOS approved the resolution, as well.
All Cobb Area residents are welcome to attend and participate in the town-hall meetings. CAC meetings are held the 3rd Thursday of the month, 6pm, at the Little Red School House on Bottlerock Road, Cobb.
The following areas will be addressed by the CAC in 2017:
1. Provide ongoing support for recovery from the Valley Fire – Help our neighbors rebuild and return home
The effects of the Valley Fire on the Cobb Area will continue to be felt for many years as we continue to rebuild homes and heal the land. The Cobb Area Council will continue to participate as appropriate in all of the formal recovery programs offered by Federal, State and County government as well as in programs of independent nonprofit and business organizations. A principal function of the Council will be to build communications connections to local residents, to disseminate information about programs, to serve as a conduit for local feedback to program providers and to seek resources from all sources to assist in the recovery, rebuilding and redevelopment process.
2. Establish Emergency Communications Network for the Cobb Area
In 2017 the Cobb Area Council will work to establish a robust and comprehensive local emergency communications system, integrating resources available from government with local neighbor-to-neighbor communications.
3. Spearhead Revision of the Cobb Area Plan
The Cobb Area Plan was last revised in 1989. Clearly much has changed since then, especially following the Valley Fire in 2015. Thus the revision of the Cobb Area Plan will be a top priority for the Cobb Area Council in 2017.
The purpose of the Cobb Mountain Area Plan is to provide guidance regarding the long term growth and development of the Cobb Valley and Loch Lomond areas and other surrounding rural communities and rural lands. The Area Plan is a tool by which greater planning detail is provided for the Cobb Mountain Area. The policies of the County’s general plan call for more detailed plans to be
prepared for the unincorporated communities. It is recommended that they take the form of area plans which can be adopted as part of the Lake County General Plan. The Cobb Mountain planning area is one of ten geographically distinct subregions within Lake County for which area plans are to be prepared. The area plan will focus on specific community and rural issues and needs. Participation by local residents is an extremely important component of preparing an area plan.
The relationship between the general plan and an area plan must be mutually complementary and consistent. Policies in the Area Plan should supplement general plan policies, yet more precisely reflect the characteristics found in the planning area. Upon adoption, the area plan and the general plan must be internally consistent. The Cobb Mountain Area Plan also includes a zoning map which corresponds to the land use designations of the plan. Changes to the County zoning in the Cobb Area may be considered.
Key areas to be considered include:
The Local Environment and Ecology
Public Safety
Land Use, Housing and Circulation
Economic Development
Local Cultural Resources
4. Provide ongoing support for efforts to mitigate fire danger in the Cobb Area
The threat of wildfire will continue to be a significant, even increasing, aspect of life in the Cobb Area. The Cobb Area Council will continue to research and report to the community on all aspects of fire danger mitigation and will promote best practices throughout the community.
5. Work on Cobb Area Emergency Response Plan
The Cobb Area Council will work with the County Office of Emergency Services to establish a comprehensive Emergency Response Plan in coordination with the Countywide Emergency Response Plan. This will include the Communication Network described above
6. Support for the Economic Recovery, Resilience and Thriving of the Cobb Area
Expanding on the Cobb Area Plan described above (#3), the Cobb Area Council will develop a strategic vision for the economic future of the Area.
7. Involve the citizens of the Cobb Community in CAC programs by active outreach and education
Cultivate active participation in CAC meetings and committees throughout the Cobb Area. This may include outreach to the Cobb Elementary School and other local groups. It will also include specific educational events offered to the entire community
8. Cultivate active partnership with our neighboring communities in Lake County – especially Middletown, by attending community, especially meetings of the Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) and inviting MATH Board Members to attend CAC meetings.
