Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | December 21, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday December 21, 2023 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

MINUTES (Approved 2-15-2024)

 

CALL TO ORDER at 6:40pm

ROLL CALL

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Joe Schneider, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Jake Strickler

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Agenda approved as Amended.

Amendment(s): Amend to include Supervisor’s Report, Alternate’s term ends 12/31/24

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Mel, 2nd by Chris. All in favor. Minutes approved as Amended.

Amendment(s): correct the spelling of Magdalena’s name and email address. Correct the spelling of David Dolezal’s name. Mountain Of Ascension should be Mountain Of Attention.

 

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Robert – Lion’s Club is having a Campfire event with singing, 2 firepits on January 20th either 6-9pm or 7-10pm.

There is food leftover from food giveaway, please take some. The rain total from recent storm was 10.54 inches, and 20.82 for the season.

Paul – there will be clearing/prescribed burns by the elementary school and Boggs Forest

 

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

Magdalena – Giant Steps is having a Holiday tree lighting ceremony and lights contest on January 22nd at the Mountain Meadow venue, 5pm; winners will be announced December 27th. County of Lake survey due January 31st.

[Added Item]

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS (Jessica Pyska)

Last month we found out from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Resources (OPR) that we became the 6th pilot biomass project. We will be working with OPR and 5 other pilot programs in the State, and as a Region developing a biomass strategy – we’ll be looking at industries that can thrive here. Has been working on this for the last couple of years and took the Director on a dead trees tour in October. We basically have no biomass infrastructure (i.e. no sawmills). We’ll be doing an asset analysis and developing the strategy on what types of businesses can come here and market to these businesses, then develop sites all around the County. This will be a 3-year program, and will be working with the Governor’s Office to get all necessary paperwork together within the next couple months. Hopefully we can kick this off in April 2024. The next round of funding would be seed money to implement and then work on sustainable funding for all the programs. This is non-competitive, we’re already in the program, we just need to get the paperwork in.

Cobb Park – close to land acquisition. Should be coming to the BOS in February 2024. The notification period should start very soon. Initial design concepts will be presented by Lars and staff with CAC as early as late January or February. Thanked CAC board members.

 

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

  • Nominations and Elections of New Board Members to serve the two-year term (1/2024 through end of 12/2025).

Cathy, Darlene, and Joe’s terms are expiring. Alternate expires at the end of each year. Nominations were accepted. Chris suggested we vote by Slate rather than individually. The slate was as follows: Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, and Joe Schneider for reelection to two-year terms, Mel McMurrin for a one-year term as Alternate. Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Laurie Lincoln. All in favor, none opposed. Cathy, Darlene, Joe and Mel were reelected. Jessica noted that all Board Applications must be submitted to the County before the January 9th BOS meeting to be appointed before the next CAC meeting.

  • Nominations and Elections of New Alternate to serve the one-year term (1/2024 through end 12/2025).

Mel McMurrin was nominated and reelected for a one-year term as Alternate (see above).

 

For submission to the Cobb Area Council: Recommendations from the Cobb Watershed Education and Restoration Program

Eliot presented a document to CAC with recommendations outlined and read aloud in its entirety by Eliot.

Recommendations document received by CAC.

 

Cobbite of the Year – Committee presents its selections

Individual: Kelly Fletcher was presented with the Cobbite of the Year award

Business:  Mountain High Coffee and Books was announced as Cobbite of the Year

 

Next Meeting: January 18, 2024

ADJOURNED at 7:26pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

 

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | November 16, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday November 16, 2023 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

MINUTES

 

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:33pm

ROLL CALL:

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin, Jake Strickler

Absent: Joe Schneider

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Paul, 2nd  by Eliot. All in favor, Minutes Approved as Amended.

Amendment: Chris Nettles was marked “present” at last meeting when he was in fact absent. Minutes will reflect that he was absent.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Paul, 2nd by Chris. All in Favor, Agenda approved. Strike Supervisor’s comments, Supervisor Pyska is at a conference.

 

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

John/Lion’s Club – Breakfast with Santa at the Lion’s Club at 9am on 12/9. Supports the PTO for Cobb Elementary School. Tentative bonfire on January 20th.

 

PUBLIC AND BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINS./INDIVIDUAL)

None

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Not present – at CSAC conference

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

At reduced staff – one engine per station. Copter: not staffed daily, but still flying around. State excavator is at Boggs Forest; trying to get into Gifford Springs area. If you see them working, stay back about 300 feet. Had three large prescribed burns: 13 acres with TERA on Bottlerock Road, 53 acres in Lower Lake, and 3 acres in Loch Lomond. Positive, very good fire. Natives call it “fire medicine.” Good to have TERA involved; Cobb is the hub for 6 tribes that were involved. ACI has been relocated to Hwy 175 just north of the settling ponds just outside Middletown. Should be up and running first part of 2024, have to put fencing up around it. The intent is for it to be free of charge. Cobb area Candy Cane Run will be on December 8th, weather permitting.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Attached and incorporated herewith as “Attachment A”

Discuss/ Approve: RFP Explore Cobb webpage/ social media management recommendation of Economic Development Committee

Chris recapped issue. Received 2 proposals and main difference between the 2 was cost. Economic Development Committee reviewed both proposals and recommends accepting the proposal from Sally Wiatrolik. It was noted that Glenneth recommended Sally during last month’s CAC meeting. Eliot recommended adding maintenance of CAC website to duties covered by proposal. Motion to accept proposal from Sally Wiatroliak made by Chris, 2nd by Darlene. All in favor (10 votes aye, 0 votes nay). Motion Approved. Chris will inform Sally. Cathy acknowledges and thanks Abby.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities – Magdalena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie

Magdalena – 6 Firewise Communities in the Cobb Area. One Firewise community has received renewal – Firewise Group 2. Deadline has been extended to December 15, 2023 due to website glitches. Waiting for Cobb View (in process), Seigler Springs, Loch Lomond, Jones Creek (in process), and Gordon Springs is completed. For a list of Firewise communities, visit: www.firesafelake.org. Can also email Magdalena with questions: magdalenavh@sscra.org. David Dolezal is the new Firewise Ranger from the Bureau of Land Management to conduct the community risk assessments. Pay attention to how current your Action Plan is; these Action Plans must be renewed every 3 years instead of the nationally required 5 years.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Mel – reminder that CAN (Cobb Alert Net) hours are Firewise hours. Communications Committee meeting tomorrow at 5pm – Bit.ly/coms.meet/nov2023 to attend online. Need new members; looking at members at large to participate – actively recruiting for 4 open positions. FireAdaptiveNetwork.org (FAN) has an article about CAN (Cobb Alert Net) thanks to Magdalena. FAN is a national organization. Please visit to read and comment on article, it needs comments. Check-ins are in the 15-30 range, the usual. Winter is a fun time to practice and check-in. Visit our website at: CobbAlert.net and email us at: cobbalertnet@gmail.com. We monitor controlled burns, so check your radio first. CAN is a very good resource for winter storm information as well.

Comment from Duncan – new fire Marshal for Mountain Of Attention – if we had better communication, we would have saved more structures. Positive comments about Cobb Alert Net.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Reminder: committee meets last Friday of every month. Now meeting at Loch Lomond fire house. SSCRA submitted a 20-page CWPP application for a grant; expecting to hear back in February. Attended CalFire research meeting – fire research done on Cobb, there’s 9 years of data. Watershed Restoration Public Forum will be December 18th from 5-7pm at Mandala Springs – reviewing first year of operations.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Has not met since review of website/social media proposals.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – update on financials – Chris

Still have not closed the books. Beginning balance approx. $14K, ending approx. $18K, we made approximately $4K overall – about a 29% profit margin. Sending Thank You’s to sponsors.

Cobbite of the Year – Committee Nomination Meeting November 30th at Cobb Mountain Pizza at 6pm.

If you’ve received award before, you’re automatically on the committee this year.

Candidates needed for nomination/election and appointment to CAC board. Terms start in January 2024, staggered terms. County has incorrect information on their website (says non-staggered, and all up in January 2025). Cathy, Joe, and Darlene’s terms are up this year (12-31-2023). Alternate is a one-year term, so Mel is up. Chris and Jake are not up until 2025. Need 4 nominees. Robert suggests we put out a public notice for recruitment/nominations. Press release, flyer, social media. Include committees that need members. Nominations can be emailed to: cobbareacouncil@gmail.com. This will be on next month’s Agenda. Process: Nomination, election by CAC, then appointment by BOS.

Next Meeting: December 21, 2023 – Brief Agenda and Social Hour to follow. Wear an ugly sweater.

ADJOURNED at 7:28pm

 Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | October 19, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday October 19, 2023 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 MINUTES (Approved 11-16-2023)

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:34pm

ROLL CALL:

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Chris Nettles, Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Approval of Agenda: Motion by Robert, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Agenda approved as Amended.

Amendments: Strike 7:10pm item

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Inez. All in favor. Minutes approved.

 

Short Announcements

Cathy: Lion’s Club had food distribution today. Cobb Elementary School Garden Harvest Gala is this Sunday (can donate gift)

Friends of Boggs Mountain – event at Little Red. Introduction to Map reading/Navigation lessons by Richie Bucher, free, about an hour-long class. Bring a real compass if you have one. Will be on November 4th at 10am. RSVP via email FOBM@boggsmountain.org No age limit, children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Glenneth: Sculpture Jam started last weekend. One more weekend to go, will be both Saturday and Sunday. Has donated piece for auction. Contact Glenneth at 707-295-6934

Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)

Jessica is running for District 5 Supervisor again. A lot of wonderful things happening, and many projects to continue. www.supervisorjessicapyska.com

Richie Bucher: giving the community notice we are in the summer to winter transition beginning November 1st to typically April 1st.  The Boggs Mountain voicemail (707-928-4378) will reflect road conditions. Camping remains closed; day use is permitted from sunrise to sunset. There will be road closures when (greater than ½ inch) wet to prevent road damage and for public safety. Roads may be closed for extended periods after snow or atmospheric river events to allow roads to dry out. Special use permits to be coordinated with FOBM.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Missed last month’s meeting due to a lot of traveling to meetings and conferences. Attended a CPUC hearing on POTS/cellular/broadband lines in rural areas, attended the Rural Counties Caucus (3-day event), went to Sonoma for “Rebuild Northbay” where Senator McGuire was keynote speaker, went to Redding for the Governor’s Wildfire Task Force, was out with TERA this morning at Middletown Rancheria prescribed burn. Will be gone to NACO conference twice per year – February in D.C. and July in TX. Going to CSAC in November. Golf Road/Cobb Blvd. – getting new roads from PG&E due to undergrounding lines. PG&E has one contractor doing the roads where undergrounding was done, and they have another contractor coming back to pave the damaged roads. Bottlerock Road – lots of grinding happening. Due to undergrounding as well. Lanes will be replaced. County has a 10-year repaving plan. Cobb roads should be happening within next 2 years – top of the list. Rainbow to Sulphur Creek undergrounding is slated next year. Need to seek outside funding. There is 5-year moratorium on new roads. Resource Conservation District (RCD) received a grant to do vegetation abatement work in three areas of South County. The area in the Cobb Area is along Seigler Canyon Road. Will have masticator out there the first week of November. Fire Safe Council (www.firesafelake.org) just received a $500,000 grant for defensible space that will help low-income/seniors; will be about $1,500 per home (County-wide program). Approved $1.7M contract with consultant to update General Plan and Area Plans. Cobb’s Area Plan was created in 1989. Consultant will come to Cobb Area Council and have open meetings, surveys, many ways for public to provide input and participate in the Cobb Area Plan. The consultant will then write the plan and bring it back to the Council for more input before final adoption by the County. The Safety Element will be first, very aggressive schedule. Part of the funding is from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). Updated and Adopted CWPP (Community Wildfire Protection Plan). Originally created in 2009 and hasn’t been updated since. Was a massive effort. This document is used to apply for grants. Hazard Mitigation Plan – another guiding document for grants. Has been submitted to FEMA. Awaiting FEMA comments. Coming back mid-November for Board adoption. Cities want to join in a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, developing a multi-jurisdictional plan as well. Hired Housing Deputy this week, after searching nationwide for a year. Housing Strategic Plan attracting developers, working only on housing projects. Melinda Rivera is no longer our representative with PG&E, no new rep yet.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

Next week the burn ban will be lifted on Monday at 8am. Permits are required, and available via website. There will be smoke in the air. Staffing remains the same, no changes. Theme: fuels projects, Seigler ingress/egress will have masticator working on road first week of November. Boggs Forest staff is moving to the where the Hub is now. ACI: will be moved to Hwy 175 just north of sewer ponds and across from Bear Canyon in the Spring of 2024.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Chris (via Darlene) – still some checks outstanding from the Blackberry Festival; not much has changed from last month.

Discuss/Approve to continue rental of storage for HUB materials until new HUB location is determined. Report progress on finding new location for Hub

Eliot and others met with Paul at Loch Lomond Fire Station for storage, found usable space, but not for all of the Hub items. Meeting room also available for us to use. Obtained a storage unit in Middletown.

Continue rental of storage unit in Middletown: Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Paul. All in favor, Motion approved.

Discuss/Approve continuance of rental of storage space to be voted upon on a quarterly basis instead of monthly

To be discussed quarterly, to be voted on again at the January 2024 meeting. Motion by Magdelena, 2nd by Inez. All in favor, motion passes.

Winter Recreation Operations Plan: presented by Richie Bucher, Assistant Forest Manager at Boggs Mountain Demonstration Forest  [Struck from Agenda]

Discuss/ Approve: RFP Explore Cobb webpage/ social media management proposals

Economic Development Committee received two proposals: recommended Sally. Abby with a score of 59/100 and an hourly rate of $40/hour, and Sally with a score of 68/100 and a rate of $35/hour. Sally provided resume and letter of reference. The proposals were not available to view at meeting. Glenneth recommends Sally.

Motion to Table until next meeting: 1st by Paul, 2nd by Inez. All in favor, Motion passes.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities – Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie

Magdelena – received notice from Firewise USA that 5 of our Firewise groups are due for renewal: Seigler Springs, Cobb Mtn Group 2, Cobb Mountain View, Jones Creek Crossing, Loch Lomond

Lake County Fire Safe Council holding conferences in the near future.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Not much to report. Check-ins remain around 30 per week. Mel is back from Australia.

In the process of transferring funds from SSCRA to CAC, working with Chris and Magdelena on that. Mel: a lot our fire awareness has dwindled since 2015. We need help this winter. We need to re-invigorate people.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Now that we have a County-wide plan, we are putting together a Cobb-specific plan. Goal is long term, fire-resilient communities. Up to $250M available in grant money. SSCRA will be developing a plan, identifying priority parcels, local ecology, topography, fire history, tribal partnerships. This is at a landscape level. 100 high-priority treatment parcels. Local CWPP. Economic development. SSCRA will be applying for this grant at the end of this month; there is a 10% match; CalFire (planning funds, Mike Wink) and others are willing to contribute in-kind contributions from local Firewise and the Forest Stewardship Committee to meet this match. Asking for $5K non-Federal match from CAC.

Approve/Disapprove: Letter of Support from CAC for Community Wildfire Defense Grant

Motion by Paul, 2nd by Jessica. All in favor, Motion approved.

 Approve/Disapprove: CAC matching grant funds of $5,000

Jessica moved to approve matching funds from CAC Small Business loan funds to SSCRA, with an MOU to be in place. Paul 2nd. All in favor, Motion approved.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Chris (via Darlene) Met and discussed RFP proposals, with a recommendation.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – update on financials

Chris (via Darlene) – still a few checks outstanding

Cobbite of the Year

Committee Nomination Meeting November 30th at Cobb Mountain Pizza

If you are a previous recipient, you are on the committee. You can also email Cathy.

Next Meeting: November 16, 2023

ADJOURNED AT 8:01pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | September 21, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday September 21, 2023 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

MINUTES (Approved 10-19-2023)

CALL TO ORDER at 6:31pm

ROLL CALL

Present: Darlene Warner (Acting Chair), Chris Nettles, Joe Schneider

Absent: Cathy McCarthy, Jake Strickler, Mel McMurrin

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor, Agenda Approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Robert, 2nd by Chris. All in favor. Minutes approved as amended. Amendment: Regarding Tom S. non-agenda comment item, add the words: “Asked Jessica to respond to the book “Cause Unknown.”

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Robert – October 14th the Lions Club is having October Fest. Tickets are$20. Poster is at Post Office and coffee shop.

Inez/Rosie – fire mitigation measures have caused stumps to remain, causing insurance companies to deny discounts for homeowners. How do we get rid of stumps? Are there funds available for stump removal?

Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)

Robert – regarding the PG&E undergrounding work on Bottlerock Road at Hwy 175 in Cobb (South end). Has not seen any County inspectors, it’s the worst work he’s seen, would like to see it fixed now. Inez agrees.

John Wilcox – introduced himself, is here to observe, is a member of the County Grand Jury, and had a fantastic time at the Blackberry Cobbler Festival.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

No Report

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

The weather has been favorable, did not get the high wind as expected. There will be some precipitation come Monday. We’ve sent some resources to Northern California to assist with the wildfires. If you’re planning on doing any yardwork on a red flag day – do it another day. Plastic string trimmers can start fires. Remember to mow early in the morning. Tom S. had question regarding PG&E reclosers – used to try 3 times to stay on. We now have EP circuits that don’t try to stay on, they will shut off power within 1/10 of a second.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Operating Budget Balance at July meeting $27,117.12

Transactions since 7/27/2023

General Fund, Received:       $  19.02 (Hub community group)

General Fund, Paid:   $500.00 (Toye, August 2023)

530.00 (Toye, September 2023)

129.85 (Cobb Water)

59.88 (Quicken)

97.18 (PG&E)

Total from General Fund <$1,297.89>

Blackberry Cobbler Festival, Received:         $13,250.65 (+ $1,500 = $14,750.65)

Blackberry Cobbler Festival, Paid:                 <10,869.47>

Total to Festival Account:      $3,881.18

Sculpture Jam: No transactions since 7/27/2023

Current Account Balances

$10,052.74      General Fund

16,980.05      Blackberry Cobbler Festival

  • Cobb Resource Hub (no currently restricted grant money)

2,417.62      Emergency Preparedness Fund

250.00      Sculpture Jam

$29,700.41      Operating Budget Balance (9/21/2023)

$48,082.63      Small Business Loan Fund (originally from S.F. Home Loan Bank grant)

$77,783.94      Net Assets

            $2,583.09 Increase to Net Assets since 7/27/2023

Laura asked about use of funds to support the Cobb Community Center

Mary asked about use of small business grant funds

Discussion/Approve: CAC to pay Cobb Community Center for use of facilities for monthly CAC meetings: $300 per meeting

Had discussion. Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Chris. All in favor, motion approved to begin paying the Cobb Community Center (Lions Club) $300 per month to hold CAC meetings at facility. Motion Amended to add: starting with this meeting (September 21, 2023). Motion Approved as Amended. Chris noted it is within the budget to do so.

Update: Report progress on finding new location for Hub

Eliot/Ad Hoc Committee had full and frank discussions. Eliot, Chris, Robert, and other Lions will be meeting on Monday and will be looking at the needs of the Lions Club, the old portion of Little Red, and other possible facilities.

Discussion/Approve: CAC to terminate lease for the Resource Hub

Had discussion. Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Laura. All in favor, motion approved to submit 30-day notice of termination October 1, 2023, to terminate lease (month-to-month) effective October 31, 2023.

Discuss/Approve Authority to rent storage for HUB materials until new location is determined.

Motion by Chris, 2nd by Laura. All in favor, motion approved to give CAC the authority to rent a storage unit for Hub items should it become necessary. Chris stated there are funds available to do so. Motion Amended to be a recurring Agenda item for monthly reauthorization. Amended Motion made by Robert, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor, Amended Motion approved.

Offer of space at the Loch Lomond Fire Station to be used as storage at no charge (in kind) made by Chief Duncan. Suggested building a 10×12 foot shed from Kelseyville Lumber (they will build it on-site for us for $4-6K) to be used for the Hub in the Cobb Community Center parking lot. Also recommended using PODS container.

Discuss/ Approve: RFP Explore Cobb webpage/ social media management proposal

Had discussion. Motion by Chris, 2nd by Mary. All in favor, motion approved to disseminate Request for Proposal with suggested edits, with a 30-day submittal period.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities – Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie

No reports

Communications Committee – Darlene

Check-ins continue to be about the same number. Had interesting thing happen with mountain repeater during last night’s check-ins when alert tones went over the air. Mountain repeater responded by shutting off. Larry physically went to site and manually rebooted the repeater. Had repeater back up within the hour. Mary P. commented that she/family has been experiencing interference on their private family GMRS network and suggested that we talk privately with Mel.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Reviving the Committee. Next meeting is Friday, September 29th. Committee will now meet the last Friday of every month. Will be applying for a significant grant to do the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. October 3rd the County is adopting a County-wide plan.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Was out of town the entire month of August. The Economic Development Committee will evaluate RFP (Request for Proposal) for the Explore Cobb Facebook page and social media management.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – update on financials

Chris – a few checks are still floating, so final amount may differ by $100-$200. Net income was $9,918. Chief Duncan estimates attendance to be between 4K and 5K people. Last year’s net income was approximately $7K, have been seeing an increase each year.

Next Meeting: October 19, 2023

ADJOURNED at 7:53pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | August 17, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday August 17, 2023 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 MINUTES (Amended, Approved 9-21-2023)

 

CALL TO ORDER at 6:39pm

ROLL CALL:

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

Absent:  Chris Nettles, Mel McMurrin

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Motion by Paul Duncan, 2nd by Jake Strickler. All in favor. Agenda Approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Motion by Paul Duncan, 2nd by Jake Strickler. Letter attached to previous minutes had edits, primarily grammatical – not changing anything substantial to overall letter. All in favor. Minutes approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cathy – restaurant at Mountain Meadow venue is now open. Wayne from Cobb Mountain Pizza is now open at Mountain Meadow. Wayne sold Cobb Mountain Pizza to Sean who used to work for Pogo’s Pizza in the Rivieras. The new restaurant will be called Parmesan & Peppers.

Inez – commented on Air Quality requiring an additional permit for commercial burns, expressed that the guidelines of what can and cannot be burned must be followed. There is a burn ban in effect.

Cathy – Blackberry Cobbler Festival is August 26th. Talked about traffic congestion last year, and measures being taken this year.

Bottlerock Road – undergrounding road project is to begin soon: will be 6-day per week work.

 

PUBLIC AND BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINS./INDIVIDUAL)

Tom S. – expressed concern regarding solo accidents, Jessica advised to contact our new public health officer. Commented about transparency in use of name and last initial. Asked Jessica to respond to the book “Cause Unknown.”

Mike Davis – commented on the poor condition of Pine Summit Road. Inquired about road paving plan for Cobb area. Jessica commented and referred to the County website for more information.

 

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS – JESSICA PYSKA

Missed last month’s meeting due to being at the National Association of Counties conference in Austin, Texas for four days. IRA money for housing, broadband, climate. Important to be ready, proactive planning. Tree Mortality Plan – submitted package to CalOES May/June. Visited Tuolumne County Resiliency Center; Lake applying for planning grant due beginning of September for Community Resiliency Center funds. The Red Cross has dedicated funds available to resiliency centers – available to Lions/Little Red. Hired a full-time Public Health Officer. JPA: Marin, Mendocino, Napa, with Lake – Career Point Office Building, Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, next to Library Park. More grants are being worked on. Road Plan – there was a presentation back in May from DPW, cost for entire road projects in the County is $340M. According to the Concrete Paving Index, most of the County’s roads are at the failure point. The proper way to submit a complaint about road conditions is through the DPW website. The water company must first do their consolidation project(s) before roads can be improved, and PG&E must finish their undergrounding. There is a moratorium on new roads. Our Tax Collector has onboarded an Asset Management firm; previous County revenue per Quarter was $80K/Q. Our current County quarterly revenue is $2M/Q.

 

FIRE SEASON UPDATE – PAUL DUNCAN

Rainbow Fire cause is under investigation. Local resources are still here. Cyclone Hillary is current focus. There will be a funeral for the Captains and Pilot lost in the fire down south. IC-1 sent a Strike Team to assist with Maui fire. 4×4 feet is a residential burn. 4291 PRC – PG&E tree removal issue: PG&E is responsible for removing the trees. Requests must come from the property owner. CPUC Advocacy – on 8/31 the BOS will be addressing the CPUC.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT – CHRIS

NO REPORT

Discussion/Approve: CAC to possibly take over lease for the Resource Hub

Rent is $540. Corrected: rent is $530 per month. Hub being underused; not worth keeping open. Can it be at Lions Club; Lions Club is willing to support. The number of people visiting the Hub is approximately 6 people per day, 3 days per week. Lions Club needs financial help from CAC. $300 rental fee for CAC meetings at the Lions club. Jessica added that there are funds available from the Red Cross and suggested considering other resources within the Ad Hoc Committee. Motion to continue a month-to-month lease at the Hub (if acceptable with Timothy Toye) until such time an Ad Hoc Committee is formed to work out alternatives with Lions Club/Little Red to serve the purpose of the Hub. Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Mary P. All in Favor. Motion approved. Chief Duncan offered to host CAC meetings in their training/conference room at the Cobb Fire Station as an alternative and suggested purchasing 10×12 foot shed(s) (as the FD uses) to put in Little Red parking lot to serve as the Hub.

Discuss Explore Cobb Facebook Page management Proposal

Consensus is the current offer is too expensive. Glenneth suggested getting other bids. Cathy mentioned internship or Communications major graduate. Cathy appreciates the relations cultivated by Abby. Jim W. suggested exploring options with Kelseyville schools/student programs. Jessica suggested partnering with high school students; Freshman dual-enrollment. Motion to refer to Economic Development Committee with recommendations. Motion by Paul, 2nd by Eliot. All in Favor. Motion passes.

Discussion/Approve Donation of Funds to Mountain Lions

Folded into Ad Hoc Committee formed above.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 MINUTES/INDIVIDUAL)

Firewise Communities – Magdelena

Two events coming up: 1) Firewise USA – has a set of Regional Community Coordinators (Magdelena is one of them). They’re Having a quarterly meeting, which is scheduled for 9/5. Covering a guide for the regional coordinators which includes a bunch of CalFire coordinators, who are the official coordinators; also covering risk assessment and 3-year action plan. CalFire now has an agreement with Firewise USA that any community in this State must meet a 3-year action plan instead of the normal 5-year action plan. Several of our Firewise communities are up to task. Also going over Spanish Firewise resources. Resources for Firewise leaders to track risk reduction investments. When asking for a grant must show dollar equivalent. Must prove that the community has invested the time and work when asking for financial assistance. Did that as a group of Firewise communities at the beginning of this year. Still waiting to hear from the Resource Conservation District whether the grant money is coming through. 2) Firesafe Marin has put together a Wildfire Watch Special coming up on Monday from 6-7pm. Email Magdelena if interested.

Communications Committee – Darlene

The new repeater is on the Mountain. Had first week of check-ins on the new repeater. Some users had issues being on the correct channel, overall, it went well. People can hear each other better and further away from each other. Still have a few GMRS users needing their radios reprogrammed. Mel will be gone to Australia for 6 weeks. Cathy commented on the Rainbow Fire that Cobb Alert Net put out an alert, and that Watch Duty post was 15 minutes after Darlene put out Alert on the radio. Darlene commented on the communications during the Rainbow Fire. Darlene clarified with Chief Duncan who puts out evacuation warnings, orders, and asked what an evacuation request is. The Sheriff issues all notifications related to evacuations.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Will resume activities in September

Economic Development Committee – Chris

No report

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – August 26th – Cathy

Cathy – mentioned all the activities offered, the restaurant at Mountain Meadow will be open during the festival, listed all the sponsors. Boggs Mountain guided hike the following day (Sunday), Lake County Amateur Golf Tournament at Adam Springs Golf Course opens on the 25th (Friday). Lions Club will become a “cobbler factory” on Friday the 25th – making 1,400 cobblers. 2 shifts, 9A and 1P. There will be Bingo after the festival.

 

NEXT MEETING: September 21, 2023

Cathy (Chair) will be absent, Jake (Vice-Chair) will be unavailable, Darlene (Secretary) will chair.

ADJOURNED at 8:20pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | July 27, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday July 27, 2023 at 6:30pm

In Person Only

MINUTES (Approved 8-17-2023)

 

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:39pm

 ROLL CALL

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Chris Nettles, Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

Approval of Agenda Motion by Glenneth, 2nd by Robert. All in favor. Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes Motion by Robert, 2nd by Glenneth. All in favor. Minutes Approved.

 

Short Announcements

Cathy – commented regarding PegTV technical difficulties; should be back to normal in August.

Inez – AmeriCorps visited the Hub and was very impressed with it. Hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from Noon to 4pm. Eliot is there until 6pm sometimes on Thursdays.

Rich C. – commented that the tools at the Hub worked so well, he purchased his own.

Glenneth – call for artists for Sculpture Jam. Interested persons contact via Fine Art Café Facebook page.

Robert Thomas (via Cathy) – the ACI will be able to intake material soon

 

Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)

Inez – July 4th there were gunshots and fireworks in the Meadows neighborhood, needs to stop. Has been going on for the past 3 years.

Tom S. – has been listening to scanners and commented on his notice of single-vehicle traffic collisions and solo falls with head injuries. Presented the book, “Cause Unknown.”

Mel – there was a large male mountain lion at 6am on Shenandoah in Loch Lomond

 

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

No report – Paul out of area

TREASURER’S REPORT – Chris

[Report read by Darlene. Typo discovered, clarified totals are correct]

Operating Budget Balance at June meeting: $22,969.14

Transactions since 6/15/2023

General Fund: Received – $53.00 (Hub meetings)

Paid – $500 (Hub rent)

Total – $447 from General Fund account

Blackberry Cobbler Festival:

Received – $1,585.08 (vendor fees)

6,000.00 (sponsorships)

Paid –   $  220.45 (Square fees)

14.00 (Payable app fees)

3,005.45 (K cups)

Total – $4,344.98 to Cobbler Festival account (should be $3,240.10 per Darlene)

Sculpture Jam Fund:

Received – $250 donation. Balance is $250 (new account)

 Current Account Balances

$ 11,350.63     General Fund

13,098.87     Blackberry Cobbler Festival Fund

0                       Cobb Resource Hub (no currently restricted grant money)

2,417.62      Emergency Preparedness Fund

       250.00      Sculpture Jam Fund

$27,117.12      Operating Budget Balance (7/27/2023)

$48,082.63      Small Business Loan Fund (originally from S.F. Home Loan Bank Grant)

$75,199.75      Net Assets (increase of $4,147.98 to net assets since 6/15/2023)

 

Discussion: CAC to possibly take over lease for the Resource Hub

Rich C. would like to table item. SSCRA is pulling out. Current rent is $500/month. Utilities are approximately $75/month. Rent is to increase by $40/month. Rent is anticipated to be $615/month at its highest. Discussion about continuing current Hub location, possible alternative locations, doing a month-to-month v lease, and outreach ideas.

 

TABLED: Approve/Disapprove Explore Cobb Facebook Page management Proposal

Motion made by Robert, 2nd by Laura to table this item. All in favor, motion passes. Tabled until such time we receive results from Abby of previous efforts. The proposal is for a contract of $800/month to provide online presence, analytics, reports, marketing, public relations, annual event promotion. Any additional work would be $40/hour.

 

Approve/Disapprove Letter to County of Lake regarding property taxes for Little Red Schoolhouse (Attachment “A”)

Motion by Laura, 2nd by Frank. All in Favor. Letter Approved. Letter read aloud by Cathy and is attached herewith as “Attachment A.” Discussion regarding the issue.

 

Approve/ Disapprove Donation of Funds to Mountain Lions to aid tax payment- Laura Patrick

RESCINDED – NO ACTION TAKEN

After the previous discussion approving the Letter, the understanding is that the Lions Club has paid all properties taxes in arears and is taking appropriate measures to address future taxes and tax status due to the Little Red Schoolhouse being utilized as a community center first and researching questions regarding historic site designation and ownership/title.

 

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

[Secretary’s note: we no longer had a Quorum present, so no Committee Reports were presented]

Firewise Communities- Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie

No report

Communications Committee- Darlene

No report

Forest Health Committee- Eliot

No report

Economic Development Committee- Chris

No report

Blackberry Cobbler Festival August 26 – Cathy

Next committee meeting is Thursday, August 3rd at the Loch Lomond Roadhouse, 6:30p

 

Next Meeting: August 17, 2023

ADJOURNMENT at 7:55pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | June 15, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday June 15, 2023 at 6:30pm

In Person and Online Participation Available

Minutes (Approved 7-24-2023)

 CALL TO ORDER at 6:42pm

Roll Call

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Jake Strickler, Joe Shneider

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda

Motion by Chris, 2nd by Robert Stark. All in favor, Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes (As Amended)

Motion by Chris, 2nd by Paul Duncan. Minutes approved as Amended.

[Amendments: Public Comment by Tom Slaight wording correction; Adjournment Motion at last meeting was made by Chris, not Cathy. Determination made a Motion is not necessary in order to Adjourn, per Rosenberg’s Rules of Order.]

Short Announcements

Robert Stark – Bingo every Saturday night at the Mountain Lions Club. Free food to take at the front door.

Austin/PEG TV – will be doing setup at meetings to bring community together. Little Red Schoolhouse does not have the internet bandwidth. Internet speed needs improvements. Recordings of meetings will be available on PegTV website and County YouTube channel.

Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)

California Allen, Cobb Area County Water District will be taking care of the pipeline under the Rainbow Bridge, not the road itself. Geothermal Commission (Pyska and Simon) will be contributing the financial difference for the work to the road submitted by Rees Winkleman. Cory Draper offered to pay for repair, along with Calpine sharing the cost. Open Mountain (Bottlerock Power) will be at our July meeting.

Robert Thomas – able to get through the log deck at the ACI and was able to “rehome” the chips; post-fire there was lots of energy in the product; would like to see this and biochar blended together, working with SLCFD on food composting. Asking for support from SLCFD and CAC. 707-928-8082. robertthomas@R2company.com.

Supervisor’s Comments- Jessica Pyska

Thanked PEG-TV for providing audio/video. Thanked Cathy for her presentation to the County BOS. CLERC has asked every MAC to come do a presentation now that Cathy/CAC has “set a high bar.” Budget hearings wrapped up this evening, adopting a $380M budget, not all discretionary. Hazardous trees – IRA Grant application submitted to BOS 6/27/23 to offset OES 25% with the full support of Congressman Mike Thompson. A few million have been set aside to start work, and for when project is accepted by CalOES. Bottlerock work – thanks to CLERC, North Shore Fuels, CalFire, Paul Duncan, and timber operators. The Risk Reduction Authority (Pyska is Vice-Chair) along with the County’s Climate Resiliency Officer, has applied for $649K grant. This will be building in capacity, diversity, equity, and inclusion in our programs. Priority is assessing vulnerabilities in developing our Climate Action Plan (CAP), implementing specific actions identified in our local Hazard Mitigation Plan, providing for enhanced public education and awareness of natural hazards, and increased public understanding of disaster preparedness. The CAP also includes a County-wide Evacuation Plan, as well as a Climate Adaption plan. The Climate Resiliency Officer is funded via a grant through the Jumpstart program. We are mandated to update safety element. Pilot project will be the Soda Bay corridor. Next Monday the County is adopting Juneteenth (June 19th) as a County holiday. There will be no BOS meeting next Tuesday, and County offices will be closed.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

Middletown Days is this weekend and will be in the parade. By the 19th staffing will be at 1 Engine per Station, by July 1st will be at 2 Engines per Station. Boggs landing zone clearing is almost complete. Operation Force Multiplier extinguisher and hand tool distribution will be Sunday, June 18th from 9am to 3pm at Station 60. Highway 175 repairs – flaggers will be 24/7, anytime there’s single-lane traffic during peak fire season, there cannot be lights, it must be manned. Highway 175 bridge work (by Hardester’s) is supposed to begin 6/15 – 6/16, per Jessica. Burn permits have been suspended – unless there is an urgent need to burn. This needs to go to Paul and must articulate the need to burn and have an inspection first to obtain an exemption permit.

Treasurer’s Report- Chris

 Operating Budget Balance at May meeting $22,050.61

Transactions since 5/18/2023

General Fund:   Received $0.00

Paid from General Fund: 835.36 – rent at Hub $500, electric bill for Hub $230.43, Zoom $104.93

Blackberry Cobbler Festival Fund

Received: $1,825 in vendor fees

Paid: Square fees $71.11, Payable app $8.25

Net addition to Festival account: $1,753.89

Current Account Balances

$ 11,797.63 General Fund

8,753.89 Blackberry Cobbler Festival

0.00 Cobb Resource Hub (no currently restricted grant money)

     2,417.62 Emergency Preparedness Fund

$ 22,969,14 Operating Budget Balance (6/15/2023)

$ 48,082.63 Small Business Loan Fund (originally from S.F. Home Loan Bank grant)

$ 71,051.77 Net Assets (30-day increase to net assets of $918.53)

 

Approve/Disapprove Letter re: Cobb Mountain Water’s decision to cease maintenance of Rainbow     Bridge- Robert Stark

This is still in progress – no action taken. Question by Jessica regarding Lions Club/Friends of Cobb funds balance and meetings: funds balance is approximately 61K; there are 6 members that meet once per year.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities – Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie

Inez – PG&E removed 3 trees in 2 days in the Rainbow-Estates neighborhood; there’s a new Firewise sign on Rainbow Drive.

Glenneth – Daniel/CERT teams are in-process of getting activated.

Chris – Magdalena reports that some Firewise communities have signed up for an AmeriCorps team.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Starting to see an increase in the number of weekly check-ins. New repeater is still at the “Hill” location; still planning to move it to “Mountain” location in July. Approximately half of the GMRS radios have been reprogrammed. Have 3 new GMRS licensed users, and Boggs leader is back. CAN is chasing down the source of the static being heard on the radio. Mel commented to be sure to leave radios on, turn to alert channel. All hours volunteering with CAN count towards Firewise hours.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

No report

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Meets last Tuesday of each month. Next meeting is June 29th at 6pm at the Hub.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Vendor applications are available, email cobbareacouncil@gmail.com. Sponsorship request letters have gone out; received verbal notice that Calpine will be sponsoring this year (first sponsor). The festival is Saturday, August 26th, from 11AM until 4PM. Next meeting is July 6th at 6pm at Cobb Mountain Pizza.

Next Meeting: July 20, 2023

Adjournment at 7:34pm by Chair, Cathy McCarthy

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | May 18, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday May 18, 2023 at 6:30pm

In person only

Minutes (Approved 6-15-23, As Amended)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:33pm

Roll Call

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda as Amended

Strike 7:35p Item: Approve/Disapprove Letter of Support for Friends of Boggs Mountain

Motion by Chris, 2nd by Paul. All in favor. Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes

Regular Meeting Minutes – Motion by Chris, 2nd by Robert. All in favor. Minutes approved.

Special Meeting Minutes – Motion by Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Minutes approved.

Short Announcements

Paul Duncan – Pine Summit Pool Cleanup Day is this Saturday from 10am to 3pm

Robert Stark – Lion’s Club will be offering refreshments before CAC meetings, and a social after meetings during the hotter months.

Case Kees Winkleman – presented a bid for paving the Rainbow bridge on both sides

Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)

Tom Slaight – comment regarding 9-1-1 calls and apparent possible increase in solo falls and vehicle accidents resulting in head injuries.

Mireya Turner, Lake County Community Development Director – general update on the department

Three Divisions in the CDD Department: 1) Building and Safety, 2) Code Enforcement, and 3) Planning Division. Cannabis is a sub-division under Planning. Has a staff of 37 people.Three top priorities of CDD Department: 1) Staff retention, 2) Professional Development, and 3) Fiscal Sustainability. Planning and Code Enforcement is not self-sustainable. Building and Safety has issued 1,600 building permits in the past year and just under 4,000 inspections in the County. All technicians, Plans Examiners and Building Inspectors have achieved ICC Certification. Two certified in ADA compliance. Code Enforcement has been awarded a new grant of $2.9M over the next 5 years, which funds two Officers with the Sheriff’s Office assistance. Last year was the first year that we completed Annual monitoring for everyone. This is funded by Cannabis grants from California. Cannabis Code Enforcement removed 25,000 plants, inspected 82 legal grow sites for compliance. Combination of on-site visits and satellite imaging. Shut down 54 unpermitted grows and removed 9,833 pounds of debris. Almost all the staff are 100% trained and have received CASIO certification. The Board of Supervisors established a two-year pilot program called Road Map Task Force which allotted funds going to the Sheriff’s Office and Code Enforcement focus on a community and chose Clearlake Oaks area. 226 cases were opened, of which 64 were vehicles, and 126 cases closed (4-10 to 12-31 of 2022). The goal is get property owners to self-abate. Planning Division: 430 planning permit applications. Whole variety of Ordinances. Consistent with General Plan/Zoning Ordinance, to be consistent with community visioning and Local Community Area Plan. Advanced Area Planning: General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, 8 Local Area Plans. Five-Year General Plan (handout). Need to perform a Climate Vulnerability Plan and County-wide Evacuation Plan. Next Hazard Mitigation Plan. Would like Area Plans broken into two phases. Elements first phase, and Visioning is the second phase, hearing from the community during an outreach period. The General Plan update comes after all this.

Complaints can be submitted at CDD counter, online, and can be submitted anonymously.

Planning to ask the BOS for 2 new positions for grant-writing: 1 grant writer, and 1 grant manager. Building Permit fees discussed. Some fees are mandated, some are approved by BOS.

 

Supervisor’s Comments- Jessica Pyska

Economic Development Department – CEO has arrived. Last week went to Santa Cruz for Wildfire Forest Health Task Force Meeting. Governor appointed task force. Networking with tree mortality issue. Spoke with Secretary Crowfoot again, asking specifically for a Tree Mortality working group within the Task Force. Met with Cal EPA Secretary Garcia to be part of the North Coast Region Biomass Pilot Program. Tree mortality in our area from Hwy 29 south of the Kelseyville Riviera area and all of the Cobb area, has 10,000 dead trees within the 200-foot buffer zone of roads. At a cost of $4k per tree to remove, that’s a $40M project. Working on putting together an Application to CalOES under the CA Disaster Act to get this project going, had to contract out. There is a 25% match. CalFIRE previously was able to provide this match but is not available this time. IRA (Infrastructure Reduction Act) is an option; putting together a grant due June 1. Applying for Federal money. Is a 1:1 match. 22k dead trees throughout the County. Tree work happening on Bottlerock – combination of North Shore Fuels Crew, CLERC, and Chief Duncan. Big trees needed different operators to come in to do the work. Funding from previous fire prevention grant from CalFIRE that CLERC was able to shift around. Two items on the BOS Agenda for Tuesday, May 23rd: 9:15am item is a presentation from the CA Dept. of Insurance regarding wildfire and home insurance issues, discounts, and CA Fair Plan; will be approximately a 15-minute presentation; and 10:30am item (Item 6.5) regarding the County 10-Year Pavement Management Plan.

 

The Bike Monkey Race at Boggs Forest was 2 weeks ago. There were about 400 registered riders. This race started in 2006, and is one of the first big mountain races in CA. They have invested heavily in Boggs Forest, have planted over 1k trees, and ran the promotion last year.

 

Mandala Springs Vibe Fest – brought in about 1,300 people. A lot of complaints on social media regarding the noise level past 10pm. Mireya informed on how to submit complaints. Noise ordinance for entire County. Most amplified music requires a use permit. No record of a permit for this event. A letter was sent to them explaining what is allowed and what isn’t. Begin with a courtesy letter. Permits can be revoked. CDD doesn’t know if no complaints are received by them from the community.

 

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

New Battalion Chief in Middletown, ride #1417. Worked as a paramedic for 3.5 year in the district, worked in camp for 2 years. We have 1 engine per Battalion current staffing, then 1 engine per station, then 2 engines per station which is peak staffing level by July 1st. There is tree work going on at Boggs. Ongoing issue with the landing zone being too tight for the helicopter, the approach is unsafe. Trees are flagged, and the Prather’s are the licensed timber operator for this operation. Attended an event at the Lake County Museum, which was a memorial for Firefighters and Police Officers. One of the Mendocino firefighters killed in the 1987 Lauder fire, Denis Lee Cullin, was put on the plaque. Denis was actually killed in Lake County. His death prompted the start of the helicopter long-line hoisting program. South Lake Fire District is starting the Operation Force Multiplier in June. Last year tools were used 7 times to put out fires.

 

Treasurer’s Report- Chris

Paid in the past 30 days: Rent at Hub ($500), Water Bill for Hub ($35)

Current Balances:

$ 12,632.99 General Fund

$   7,000.00 Blackberry Cobbler Festival

$          0.00 Resource Hub (No currently restricted grant money)

$   2,417.62 Emergency Preparedness Fund

$   22,050.61 Operating Budget Balance

$ 48,082.63 Small Business Loan Fund (Originally from S.F. Home Loan Bank grant)

$ 70,133.24 Net Assets

 

Budget Report (spreadsheet handed out; Incorporated Herewith by Attachment “A”):

Annual rent at hub is largest expense $8,000

Total expense budget for 2023 expected to be $12,240

Communications Committee has funds in SSCRA to be transfer to General Fund. TBD

Income projection from the Cobbler Festival: $18,000

Spoke with Jenavive Herrington, County Auditor, for advice and ideas on how we can incorporate annual auditing into CAC Bylaws and best practices for financial controls

 

Approve/Disapprove 2023/2024 Budget as discussed at April 24 Special Meeting

TABLED to Next Regular Meeting

 

Approve/Disapprove Letter of Support for Friends of Boggs Mountain

 

Approve/Disapprove Letter of Support for County of Lake’s USDA Service Forest Urban and Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grant (Incorporated Herewith by Attachment “B”)

Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Chris. All in favor. Letter Approved.

 

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities– Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth-/Richie, Gene, David, Laurie

Cathy – Communications Committee partnered with Jones Creek Firewise Group to hold an event on May 6th for Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in the Cobb Hardester’s parking lot from 8am to Noon.

 

Communications Committee- Darlene

The event on May 6th was a success. We signed up 8 new members, and sold-out of the radios we had on-hand. We programmed a couple radios and got to meet the faces behind some of the voices we know on the radio. We’re finally testing the new repeater at the Hill location and beginning to get more check-ins. We’re going to be increasing our Facebook presence and doing more outreach.

 

Forest Health Committee- Eliot

Yolo County Resource Conservation District approved the payment of $15k through CalFire that will go towards the expenses owed for the ACI. We will be able to payoff our outstanding bills. The Cobb Mountain Watershed Education and Restoration program continues this weekend. Will be doing restoration work along Cole Creek. This is the 3rd weekend we’ve been doing that, helping to restore part of the creek. This is SSCRA in partnership with the Forest Stewardship Committee. The Forest Stewardship Committee is kicking around ideas to do a Cobb Mountain Forest symposium sometime after Labor Day to do a full-day or two-day workshop on helping the future of the forest. The CAC liaison for this Committee was Chris Nettles and will now be Jake Strickler.

 

Economic Development Committee- Chris

Now chaired by Chris. The committee will be rehabilitated since it hasn’t met for several months. Will be meeting the last Tuesday of every month. Time and place TBD. May 30th is the next meeting. We may wait a month to get things moving again.

 

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Approve/Disapprove Statement- Cathy

 

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Statement of Purpose:

The Blackberry Cobbler Festival allows the Cobb Area Council to continue offering support to the people of Cobb, as well as local businesses, artisans, and community organizations. The festival provides a platform for Cobb community organizations to raise money for their individual projects. We showcase local businesses and artisans. The festival encourages our local businesses to create events in conjunction with the festival to create a community wide celebration of what Cobb has to offer. By attracting visitors to Cobb Mountain for one more weekend this summer, the Cobb Area Council comes closer to our community development goal: to improve the local economy and improve visibility of the Cobb Area to the rest of the county.

 

Motion by:Chris, 2nd by Paul. All in favor. Statement Approved.

Next Committee meeting is June 1st at 5:30pm at Mountain Meadow.

 

Next Meeting: June 15, 2023

Will have full audio and video capabilities, PEG and YouTube channels.

 

Adjournment at 8:15pm

Motion by Cathy Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor.

Discussion at 6-15-23 meeting that no Motion is needed for Adjournment according to Rosenberg’s Rules of Order.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | Special Meeting April 24, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC SPECIAL MEETING

Monday April 24, 2023 at 6:00pm

In person only

Minutes (Approved 5-18-2023)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:10pm

Roll Call

Present: Chris Nettles, Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, Jake Strickler

Absent: Joe Schneider, Mel McMurrin

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda and Minutes

Motion to approve Agenda made by Chirs, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Agenda approved.

Discuss Goals, Strategy, and Budget to be approved at regular Board Meeting on May 18, 2023:

Last Year’s budget/finances

Chris presented spreadsheets of 2021’s budget/finances and 2022’s budget/finances. The expense budget was $10K last year. Discussed whether we are exempt from P.O. Box fee.

Priorities raised in the strategic plan

Economic development, Outreach. Suggestions: Cobb Night Out, Memorial Day weekend. “Cobb Future” contest, and “what would a day on Cobb look like?”, a photobook, information booth at the Post Office, Open House Day at the Hub, Copter 104 visits – who is CalFire outreach.

Priorities for rest of this fiscal year

Economic development, Cobbler Festival. Possible split of funds 50/50 between General Fund and Cobbler Festival Fund for the Explore Cobb Website and marketing. Cost is estimated at $1,000 per month. Consensus CAC cannot afford this; proposes approximately $500 per month, or hourly basis not-to-exceed. Chris suggested training a couple board members in WordPress. Darlene proposed that funds for the Cobb Alert Net be transferred from SSCRA to the General Fund, with these funds being restricted for CANs use, a spreadsheet accounting of funds that are within SSCRA account to be transferred was provided; all future radio sales/purchases CAC will be fiscal body.

Review committee liaisons, meeting times, fiscal responsibility to report to Cobb Area Council

Chris is now the CAC Liaison for the Economic Development Committee. The Economic Development Committee includes the Cobbler Festival Committee. The Economic Development Committee meets the 2nd Monday of each month, which will be changing soon.

Cathy remains the CAC liaison for the Communications Committee. The Communications Committee meets the 2nd Friday of each Month online from 5pm to 6:30pm.

Jake is now the CAC Liaison for the Forest Health Committee. The Forest Health Committee meets the Last Friday of each Month (starting in May) from 4pm to 5:30pm.

The Awards Committee is an Ad Hoc Committee

ADJOURNED at 7:42pm

Motion by Eliot to Adjourn, 2nd by Chris. All in Favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | April 20, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday April 20, 2023 at 6:30pm

In person only

Minutes (Approved 5-18-2023)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:34PM

ROLL CALL:

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

Absent: Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion by Chris, 2nd by Paul Duncan. All in Favor. Agenda Approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Secretary comment discussed. No changes to Minutes.

Motion by Robert Stark, 2nd  by Chris. All in Favor. Minutes Approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Friends of Boggs Forest – have been in the process of repairing all the trails, have finished 10 miles of trails with 10 miles to go. Requesting a letter of support from CAC for application of a $100,000 grant. Deadline is June 15th. Letter of Support can be issued at next regular meeting.

Robert Stark – small potatoes. Water main project in 2021 was $328,000

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

Inez – commented on what can be burned and how to burn in commercial permitted burns. Metal items in burn piles at the motel remodel. She has talked with Ryan Wangberg, Air Quality Technician at the Lake County Air Quality Management District about their role. Paul Duncan spoke about the Fire Department’s role; that all burn permits are issued through the fire department, and the burn ban starts May 1st. Inez mentioned there is an event at the CalPine Visitor’s Center this Saturday 4/22 for Earth Day focused on fire-retardant/resistive plants.

SLCFD Burn Permits are done online, on website under Fees & Permits

Lake County Air Quality Management District: www.lcaqmd.net  707-263-7000

Glenneth – starting two new clay classes on Tuesdays and Saturdays, they’re two separate classes. Saturday’s class is 2-5pm, Thursday’s class is 4-7pm. Fee is $120, which includes all supplies and firings.

Mike Walsh – dead trees cut down by PGE have not been taken away. Jessica gave her email address for him to contact her regarding this.

Treasurer’s Report- Chris

Paid in the past 30 days: Rent at Hub $500, USPS (stamps) $12.60, Bank Check printing $25.70. Received in the past 30 days: Group meetings at the Hub $76.75

$23,047.16 Operating Budget Balance at March meeting

Current Balances:

$  5,454.11 General Fund

$14,589.26 Blackberry Cobbler Festival

$     124.62 Cobb Resource Hub

$  2,417.62 Emergency Preparedness Fund

$22,585.61 Operating Funds Balance, April 20th

$48,082.63 Small Business Loan Fund (Originally from S.F. Home Loan Bank grant)

$70,590.49 Net Assets

Supervisor’s Comments- Jessica Pyska

The Universal Bylaws throughout the County did not happen, however there is a universal Code of Conduct. Would like to see an annual audit of CAC finances, and update CAC Bylaws to reflect this, and put Bylaws back on CAC website. Darlene to review Bylaws with Chris. Attended a 2-day CSAC Conference. California’s priority is homelessness. Participated in a conversation with State CalFire officials and gave input on Fire Severity Maps – has 30 days to adopt fire maps. Had conversations regarding tree mortality with CalFire and other rural Counties that are in worse conditions than Lake County. The US Forest Service released reports two weeks ago for all of California; Lake County is not the worst. Mendocino and Napa Counties have been helpful. Trying to get more Counties on-board. Wildfire and Forest Health Task Force – going to Santa Cruz in May, focusing on developing a long-term strategy for tree mortality for the State. We have a contractor that is preparing the Application to CalOES to get the trees removed along infrastructure and roads. There are 4,000 dead trees in Right-of-Ways, with a cost of $3k per tree. Turns out there are 10,000 dead trees within 200 feet of the roadways. $12M project ends up being $30M project. With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), there are possible funds available for this, with a possible funds match. Looking at another grant with a deadline of June 1st. Met with Senator McGuire, Representative Curry, and Congressman Thompson regarding tree mortality. Thompson is up to speed on the $30M. Getting some momentum. Proclamation to be made at County BOS meeting on May 2nd to proclaim National Wildfire Preparation Week as May 3-8th. Reached out to the Insurance Commissioner’s Office re fire insurance. They will come out the end of May to do a presentation to the BOS with a Q&A session, and then again in August with a more in-depth presentation. An update to the Roads Plan is expected the end of May, is supposed to be a 5-year strategic plan, and believes Cobb has moved to the top of the list. There is a new person in the position of Economic Development Deputy, who will be developing an Economic Development plan for the entire County. There will also be a Housing Deputy focused on Housing Plan and implementation. May bring in a company to do this if position can’t be filled. Both positions are funded by ARPA. There was a Park Visioning session last week to develop Park Master Plan. Tight schedule for plan updates. South Lake Refuse mailer received regarding recycling bins. Lake County Waste Solutions. 60% of recycle bins contains contaminated trash. Update on Bark beetles per Dr. Michael Jones – with all the rain, it may have flattened the curve. Populations are still really high. April/May is when we should first see the emergence of bark beetles.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

Burn ban goes into effect May 1st. Open house at SLCFD main Fire Station is Saturday, April 29th from 10A to 3P. Copter 104 training begins next week, be prepared to be buzzed overhead. One engine per battalion. Middletown and Clearlake Oaks will be fully staffed. There will be pile burning on Fox Drive April 24 to April 28. There’s a lot of debris – an engine will be in the area.

Approve/Disapprove Donation of funds to Cobb Mountain Lions Club to cover the cost of purchasing a generator. Cathy suggested we contribute $2,000 towards a new generator to start. Chris made a motion to approve $2k from the General Fund going to the Mountain Lions Club, Cobb CA for the purpose of purchasing a new generator. Eliot 2nd. No discussion, motion passes unanimously. Supervisor Pyska notes that Senator McGuire is working to bring 3 or 4 generators to Lake County, jointly with the State of CA and PG&E for Resiliency Centers. Funds can be moved from Cobbler Festival Fund to General Fund if necessary.

 

Approve/Disapprove CAC Sponsorship of Sculpture Jam Art Explosion – Glenneth & Company Jennifer Barry and Wendy Collins. A two-weekend workshop for local artists to make sculptures. Goal is to have some sculptures placed with businesses and throughout the community. Has a jury to decide which sculptures will go out in the community, to include plaques with the name of the artist, etc. Will have a reception. Would help with the local economy. Presented handouts with budget and timeline. Would like to use CAC logo on their material, and have monies raised go through CAC, with CAC acting as the fiscal body and sponsor (logo and advertising). Funds to go through the General Fund. Motion made by Chris, 2nd by Jessica to Approve. All in favor. Motion passes.

Discussion: How to get broader community input. Increase social media presence, food-related event(s), cross-promotion, hold informal Saturday meeting(s) on a big weekend, pop-up booth(s) at the Post Office, the Hub, and Cobbler Festival, raffles, online presence

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual)

Firewise Communities – Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth/Richie, Gene, David, Laurie

May 6th is Wildfire Community Preparedness Day.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Cobb Alert Net will be having an event on May 6th  in conjunction with Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in the Hardester’s parking lot. Time to be determined.

The new repeater has arrived, very excited. It will be tested up at Hoberg’s Hill soon, and eventually end up at the mountain location. Testing of the new repeater has been going well. There will be reprogramming necessary of all the GMRS radios. Need to get existing members re-invigorated.

Budget Committee – Chris

There will be a special meeting of the CAC on Monday, April 24th at 6pm at the Hub. Open to the public.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Air Curtain Incinerator (ACI) Financial Account Summary, spreadsheet handed out. This started in November of 2021 when the ACI was in Hidden Valley. SSCRA has been handling the funds. Cobb Forest Stewards is a “dba” account. There were a couple of expenses that were erroneously run through this account, which has been corrected and reflected on the spreadsheet. Expected to be able to burn 10 tons per day, turns out it will not do this due to logs not burning well, and had many logs to dispose of. Able to get rid of all the logs in a 2-day period with “the Beast”/chipper. Anticipating $5k and another grant of $15k within the next 15 days. In order to operate the ACI to allow community members to drop-off slash and small logs (6 inches in diameter or smaller) a couple times per month, it would cost $5k per month to operate the ACI. It is not cost effective to burn logs. Paul Duncan notes it would cost $4k to move ACI with a crane, plus all the setup costs again to relocate it to a different location.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

No report. Chris will be taking over.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Received an estimate for parking management for $2,500. Rosie is doing the poster again. Have a strong team. Need more help. Email cobbareacouncil@gmail.com. The Cobbler Festival will be held on August 26th. There’s a group called Bags Against Police that would like to hold a Cornhole tournament. Description of what An Explosion of Art on Cobb Mountain will be doing at the Blackberry Festival this year.

NEXT MEETINGS:

Date of Next Regular Meeting: May 18, 2023 at 6:30pm

Date of Next Special Meeting to discuss Cobb Area Council Goals, Strategy, and Budget: Monday, April 24 at 6pm at the Hub, in person.

ADJOURNMENT:  Motion to adjourn by Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in Favor. Adjourned at 8:36pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary