Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | March 16, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday March 16, 2023 at 6:30pm

In person and Online via Zoom

Minutes (Approved 4-20-2023)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:34pm

 

ROLL CALL/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT: Cathy McCarthy, Jake Strickler, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin

ABSENT: Chris Nettles, Joe Schneider

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion to approve made by Darlene Warner, 2nd by Jake Strickler. All in favor, Agenda approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion to approve made by Magdelena, 2nd by Robert Stark. All in favor, Minutes approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Glenneth Lambert – Sculpture Jam has had 3rd Committee meeting. There will be a main event and kid’s activity. There are 2 potential sites. Need more people on the Committee. Call Glenneth at 707-296-6934 for more info.

Robert Stark – the Lion’s Club had a successful crab feed. Thanks the community for all the support. 500 pounds of crab wasn’t enough. Asked on March 5th to open Lion’s Club/Little Red as a warming shelter. 225 Grab & Go bags were handed out. Had about 172 people come on the 1st day. PG&E finally took the generator back after it ran continuously for 15 days.

Tom Slaight – commented about treatment at Board of Supervisors meetings, and commented on hearing of more single vehicle rollovers and falls with loss of consciousness on the scanner lately.

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

Cathy McCarthy: Left something off the Agenda. There’s enough money for a new generator for the Lions Club. Will be voted on in April.

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Nomination and Election of New Alternate to serve the term (beginning January 2023 and ending December 2023). Darlene Warner nominated Mel McMurrin. Mel present and accepted nomination. Darlene moved to approve Mel as new Alternate, Eliot 2nd. All in favor, Mel McMurrin elected as Alternate to Cobb Area Council.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Chris (Given by Cathy McCarthy)

Charges in the past 30 days: $500 rent for The Hub; $49 for Zoom Webinar Service

$  5,415.66        General Fund

$14,589.26        Blackberry Cobbler Festival

$     624.62        Cobb Resource Hub

$  2,417.62        Emergency Preparedness Fund

$23,047.16        Operating Funds Balance

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

$71,129.79        Net Assets

Supervisor’s Comments- Jessica Pyska 

A huge thank you to the Lion’s Club for opening up as a warming center. There is a way for private property owners to report snow damage related to this 2nd Federal Disaster declaration by reporting it to our OES office. Leah is the manager of our OES. You can also visit the County Facebook page and Sheriff’s page. Two CalFire grant applications were submitted this week – RCD for $5M and CLERC for $5M, all for CWPP fire mitigation projects. The Sheriff’s Department and OES is having their Hazard Mitigation meeting in Hidden Valley Lake on the 23rd. The Lake is full! Another County Supervisor is working on creating Bylaws for all Advisory Councils around the Lake/Lake County.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan (Given by Battalion Chief Brian York)

With 10 days of snow, and snow down to Lake level, it was a rare time that SLFD utilized it’s SnowCAT and plow equipment to assist in plowing local roads, as County crews were limited to 3 plows and 600 miles of roads throughout the County. A thank you to PCF’s Robert Manning, Mike Hess, and Hunter Duncan at the Cobb Station. Several houses were red-tagged due to tree falls and vehicle damage. CalFire is hiring back firefighters the 1st week of April, with peak staffing mid-May. Operation Force Multiplier will continue this Spring, the program is working.

Presentation – Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer, County of Lake

Handed out Survey, presented slide presentation regarding climate impacts on Lake County. Her position is funded by CalOES’s Jump Start Grant that was awarded last July, she was hired in December. She is the Liaison between County Departments, programs, grants, and the community; there are now 20 Climate Resiliency Officers. She will be focusing full-time over the next 5 years on the HMP. The HMP wants to see 10 projects in the County by April 5th. Will work with CLERC to see what more we can do regarding working on evacuation routes for entire County; working with CWPP on how to do evacuation practice runs. Reviewing several funding projects. Lake Tahoe has an excellent program “Tahoe Central Initiative – The Pillars of Resilience” that she would like to use as a framework for Lake County. Each County will be getting a toolkit based on this in September of this year. The CLERC has a Hitch Observation form that can be filled out online.

Letters of Support

Harbin Hot Springs seeking a grant – Chris (Cathy) – deadline has passed, no action taken

Mountain Lions Club seeking multiple grants – Cathy was contacted by Kyle Noble asking for a Letter of Support of the Mountain Lions Club as a “Community Resiliency Center” for the purpose of applying for the available grants. Cathy asks the Board for permission to write an official letter of support. Motion made by Eliot, Magdelena 2nd, all in favor – motion passes.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual) 

Firewise Communities – Magdelena – submitted Cobbview and Loch Lomond projects to RCD for consideration for inclusion. Loch Lomond is divided up; grants are not able to take entire number of projects. Attended the 150-year fire trends meeting and report on the Pepperwood Preserve, which focused on the Cobb Area mostly. Would like the presenter to come out here to Cobb area; Mel is a friend of presenter, and will ask.

Communications Committee – Darlene and Mel

Darlene: A lot of testing has been going on at the new “Mountain” location. There are two repeaters currently in use, “Hill” and “Mountain.” Most users are hearing really well on “Mountain.” GMRS users have had their radios reprogrammed to access the “Mountain” repeater. Some areas are not hearing “Mountain” as well as they could hear “Hill” previously. Hoping this will improve with the new Bridgecom repeater arriving towards the end of March. This will require further testing and reprogramming of radios, and hope to have it up and running by July. Check-ins have been about 30 each week. Small radios are available for sale at The Hub.

Terre Logsdon: asked about funding for the repeaters. It was mentioned the new repeater was made possible by a large and very generous donation from a private party. Terre stated there may be funding available specifically for communications and alerts. Sirens used to be in that. Terre believes the funds are within the HMP, with some funds coming from CalFire. She is putting out an email to CalFire heads with related information, having a meeting April 5th. Darlene mentioned she has received calls that the Siren cannot be heard in the Hoberg’s area unless you’re outside. Terre will bring that up to CalFire.

Mel: Expressed excitement for how things are progressing, gave a big thank you to the Prather family, and to Precision Wireless for use of their equipment at Seigler. We need to “wake up” the 250 or so members that we already have, with only 30 or so of them checking in weekly. Talked about how we have a dual tone system, one for day-to-day use and one for emergency alert use.

Budget Committee – Chris (not present) 

Forest Health Committee– Eliot, Robert Thomas

Cobb Mountain Watershed Restoration is underway and having an event at Mandala Springs which will be in-depth education and action. Forest Stewardship Committee in April, May, June looking at 3 other sites along key tributaries managed by Siegler Springs Redevelopment Association. Brought up Robert Thomas to speak regarding the ACI (Air Curtain Incinerator). The ACI is active as of today, 1st time in quite a while. Residential community drop-off days and place(s) needed. People from Clean Burning Company in Napa came to visit and offered pro tips on efficiency and provided demos. Other options include grinding, mulching, bio char, composting. Want ACI’s throughout the County. Need funding.

Economic Development Committee – Cathy

Cobbler Festival Committee – Cathy

Next meeting is April 6th at 5:30pm at Cobb Mountain Pizza

Note of Thanks: Alan Hurwitz Media will no longer be providing audio/video services for CAC meetings. Cathy thanked them for their years of providing their services to CAC. Stated will need to find other audio/video provider, and there may be an option with the County.

Next Regular Meeting: Thursday, April 20, 2023

TBD: Date of Next Special Meeting to Discuss Cobb Area Council Goals, Strategy, and Budget

ADJOURNMENT: Motion made by Eliot to adjourn, 2nd by Magdelena, all in favor, adjourned at 8:05pm

 

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | February 16, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL 

Hybrid PUBLIC MEETING 

Thursday February 16, 2023 at 6:30pm 

In person and online via Zoom and Facebook 

Minutes (Approved 3-16-2023) 

CALL TO ORDER – at 6:32pm

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

ROLL CALL

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner

Absent: Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider

Approval of Agenda and Minutes

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

Motion by Chris Nettles to approve Minutes 2nd by Darlene Warner. All in favor. Minutes approved.

Brown Act Training as it pertains to advisory commissions – Anita Grant

County Counsel, Anita Grant, gave a PowerPoint presentation, “Ralph M. Brown Act – Ten Things to Know” via Zoom to Cobb Area Council. The presentation gave a general overview of the purpose of the Brown Act, and overview of the changes relating to AB-361 ending on 2/28/2023 (to sunset January of 2024) as it relates to the Brown Act, and also new teleconferencing requirements as it relates to AB-2449, effective 1-20-2023 (sunsets in 2026). Anita is preparing a how-to guide on AB-2449.

Certified Tourism Ambassador Program – Michelle Carson

All volunteer group, non-profit under the Chamber of Commerce umbrella. Distributed presentation handout, “2022 Year in Review” – Lake County Tourism Ambassador. Goal for 2023: refresh window signs and deliver 2023 lists of fishing tournaments to businesses county-wide. Membership has steadily increased since 2019. There is a certification class to become a CTA (Certified Tourism Ambassador) on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 8:30am to 12:30pm (4-hour class) at Lake Event Design in Lakeport. Registration deadline is April 1st, cost is $25. Visit www.ctanetwork.com, or call Mae at 707-263-5092.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Robert Stark – has tickets to the crab feed for $75 each. Has ordered 500 pounds of crab. Friends of Cobb Mountain have been notified that Open Mountain Energy wants to take over Bottlerock Power. Mr. Olson would like to present to us.

Glenneth Lambert – Sculpture Jam is moving forward, doing a call for artists soon. Will be held October 14/15 and following weekend. Has an Agreement with Mountain Meadow venue to have it there. Next committee meeting is next Wednesday at 3:45p at the Hub. Looking to have bi-monthly meetings. Looking for volunteers.

Cathy McCarthy – the Blackberry Cobbler Fest committee meeting will be next Thursday at Cobb Mountain Pizza at 5:30pm.

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

NONE

Nominations and Elections

Nominations and Elections of New Alternate to serve the term (beginning January 2023 and ending December 2023. No action taken, continue to next Council meeting.

Treasurer’s Report- Chris Nettles

We changed all of our banking over to Umpqua Bank effective 1-31-2023

The T-Shirt fund has been combined with the General Fund.

One charge was made for last year’s BMI license (Cobbler Festival) for $408.99

$  5,464.66 General Fund

14,589.26 Blackberry Cobbler Festival

1,124.62 Cobb Resource Hub

    2,417.62 Emergency Preparedness Fund

$23,596.16 Operating Funds Balance

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

$71,678.79 Net Assets

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Was on a call early this morning with CPUC, PGE, and RCRC talking about Vegetation Management – fuel crews will be back next week; fewer contractors, more PGE personnel for more oversight. Continue to reach out to Jessica via phone and email if there are any issues. The US Forest Service released their aerial survey annual report last week showing extensive tree mortality all over Northern California. Hoping that this will generate momentum with other counties. Had a meeting with Mike Thompson’s DC staff last week; having another meeting tomorrow morning. Looking for more funding, will keep posted. CalFire grants – applications are being worked on; a lot has to do with tree mortality projects. One of the applications is due about a month from now, awarded in Summer, funded in the Fall. Each grant can go up to $5M, believes there are two Fire Prevention grants being applied for, so there’s the potential for $10M. There is a County Park Survey circulating about the Parks and Trails Master Plan. We are two months into the process, with another year to go to develop the Master Plan. At Tuesday’s County Board meeting we appointed a negotiating team to start working on the Cobb Park concept, and a possible location. There is allocation of $1M from our Geothermal Royalty Fund. More information on the County website and Facebook page.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan (Report given by Supervisor Jessica Pyska)

Lots of winter work happening. Copter 104 crew could be doing some training before normal staffing in April. A reminder to folks doing burning: please be sure not to create a smoke hazard for your neighbors.

High Fire Severity Mapping Letters deadline has been extended until April 3, 2023.

(Jessica’s note: CalFire is redoing their High Fire Danger Severity Mapping and looking at 50-year forecasting. We would like to see a 10-year forecast. If anyone is interested, you can review the County Board meeting from 1-24-2023 and submit letters).

Approve/Disapprove Scheduling of a Special Meeting of the CACs to determine budget, goals, and strategies, to make recommendations at a Regular scheduled meeting. – Chris 

Chris Nettles moved to have a half-day meeting on a Saturday within the next two months. 2nd. Motion approved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual)

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

Magdelena – Firewise groups have been meeting with each other. Two workshops have been completed. Resource Conservation District (RCD) grants being worked on – there are two grants, one is due 2-23-2023, not doing anything on that one for a number of reasons. Aiming for the one with the 3-15-2023 deadline. There’s another one in May, but there’s time to work on that one. The RCD grant we’re going after is focused on ingress and egress. Need to see if we can have Richie to do the calculations.

Communications Committee – Darlene Warner

Researching a new repeater, which we have narrowed down to one – it’s a Bridgecom. Looking to acquire the repeater in March. They are currently on backorder, and need to be preprogrammed. The plan is to test and implement the new repeater by July. We may have to reprogram radios due to interference we’ve been having from another source that’s getting into our current repeater. The new repeater will improve the strength of our coverage, and coverage area. We tested the wattage of our current repeater which is 2 Watts currently. 25 checkins this week, 29 last week, 18 the week before. Hopefully checkins will increase as we get closer to summer, and with improved coverage. The smaller Retevis radios are available for sale at the Hub. If interested in getting your FCC license, or for any other reason, email cobbalertnet@gmail.com.

Budget Committee– Chris Nettles – approval of half-day Saturday meeting to be determined (see above)

Forest Health Committee

Eliot Hurwitz – regarding log deck clean up – thank you for patience. Ongoing plan to accept brush debris from the community for the rest of the year. Brush is under 6 inches in diameter.

Tom Slaight – watershed restoration and forest management – asked about committee members, meetings, agendas, minutes…asked to have about 15 minutes at the next council meeting. Eliot clarified that the project being talked about was not a Cobb Area Council project. Cathy mentioned the CAC website needs to be updated. Chris mentioned considering finding a WordPress person to help with the CAC website. Darlene commented on CAC minutes being in transition, Tom commented it’s not the Council meetings, it’s the Committees’ that’s his primary concern. Tom handed out an article from the Record Bee, “Seeking Cobb Watershed Property Owners”

Economic Development Committee– Joe Schneider (not present)

Date of Next Regular Meeting: March 16, 2023

Per AB-2449, this will be a hybrid meeting where participants may attend via Zoom. However, Councilmembers must be present in-person unless there is “just cause” or an “emergency” as defined in AB-2449 as it relates to teleconferencing. Motion made, Chris 2nd, all in favor. Motion approved to continue hybrid meetings in accordance with AB-2449.

Date of Next Special Meeting to Discuss Cobb Area Council to discuss Goals, Strategy, and Budget TBD at next Council Meeting

Adjourned at 8:33pm

 

Categories2023 Minutes by

Minutes | January 19, 2023

COBB AREA COUNCIL

HYBRID  PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday January 19, 2023 at 6:30pm

In person and online via Zoom and Facebook

MINUTES (Approved)

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:39pm by Chairperson, Cathy McCarthy

ROLL CALL:

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chairperson; Chris Nettles, Treasurer; Darlene Warner, Secretary; Jake Strickler, Vice-Chairperson

Absent: Joe Schneider, Member-at-Large

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND MINUTES

Agenda: Strike 7:15pm item, Tourism Ambassador item, from tonight’s agenda, moved to February Agenda.

Chris Nettles moved to approve Agenda with amendment. Magdelena seconded. All in favor. Agenda approved.

Noted that WiFi is not working, so there will be no live broadcast of the meeting, however it is being recorded.

Minutes: Chief Paul Duncan moved to approve December 15, 2022 Minutes with no changes, Chris Nettles seconded, All in Favor. Minutes Approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chair, Cathy McCarthy regarding Cobbite of the Year – Chief Paul Duncan present to receive the award. Slight error with his plaque; will be corrected. Cathy expressed appreciation for Paul’s accessibility and going above and beyond.

Robert Stark, President of the Mountain Lion’s Club – announced the Lion’s Club is having their Crab Feed on March 4th, tickets are available now for $75. Stated they are purchasing 600 pounds of crab at $8.95 per pound. He also mentioned that the Mountain Lion’s Club is the organizational Cobbite of the Year, thank you. Brought a copy of an article in the Record Bee and stated that the Attorney General has settled the lawsuit regarding the Guenoc project, and encouraged everyone to pay attention to it, especially due to fire routing, and as Cobb is Lake County as well.

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

Eliot Hurwitz – Guenoc footnote – they need to start from the beginning again, resubmitting all environmental documents and public hearings, etc. Cobb Mountain Watershed Education and Restoration Program is able to receive significant funding from PG&E’s Nature Positive Restoration Fund. Looking for 10 to 15 participants who have properties that border Kelsey Creek, Alder Creek, and Cole Creek. On 1-28-23 there will be an introductory workshop with lunch provided. There will be 4 weekend sessions. They are working in close cooperation with the Pomo Tribes.

Glenneth Lambert – Sculpture Jam. Glenneth is putting together a team that will meet two weekends where basic art materials and lunch will be provided to create sculpture to be placed around Cobb. A handout was presented and passed out.

Inez – Neighborhood Watch. Signs are up. Was able to get rid of three squatters behind The Hub, and one in a car. She has Neighborhood Watch stickers available.

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Vacant Regular Seat, 1-Year:

There is one vacant regular seat for the remainder of the term January 2022 to December 2023, which is for one year. Nominations taken, can self-nominate. Chair, Cathy McCarthy introduced Darlene Warner as the new Chairperson of the Communications Committee, and nominated Darlene Warner to be on the Council for the regular seat for a 1-year term ending December 2023.

Chair, Cathy McCarthy motioned to elect Darlene Warner, Chris Nettles seconded.

Discussion of the Bylaws regarding meeting attendance. Darlene has not attended in-person meetings, but has watched them via Facebook for two years. There is a requirement of 2 in-person meetings. Supervisor Jessica Pyska stated that the purpose of the Bylaw is to ensure participation. Jessica asked Darlene how long she had chaired the Communications Committee, and how long she had been with the committee. Jessica was satisfied that the participation requirement was filled. There were no other nominations.

A vote was taken. Unanimous. Darlene Warner was seated immediately.

Vacant Alternate Seat 1-Year:

There is one vacant alternate seat for a 1-Year term. Will address at next Council meeting.

Councilmember’s Roles on the Board:

Chris Nettles nominated Cathy McCarthy as Chairperson. Darlene Seconded. Cathy accepted.

Cathy McCarthy nominated Chris Nettles as Treasurer. Darlene Seconded. Chris accepted.

Chris Nettles nominated Darlene Warner as Secretary. Cathy Seconded. Darlene accepted.

Chris Nettles nominates Jake Strickler as Vice-Chairperson. Cathy Seconded. Jake accepted.

TREASURER’S REPORT – Chris Nettles, Treasurer

Thank you to Frank and Laurie (past Treasurers), they have been very helpful with the transition. There are no changes from the last report, we are still in the black! The T-Shirt fund will be combined with the General Fund.

General Fund                                        $   2,860.77

Blackberry Cobbler Festival                  $ 14,998.25

Cobb Resource Hub                              $   1,124.62

Emergency Preparedness                       $   2,417.62

T‐shirt sales                                          $   2,603.89

_________

Total assets:    $ 24,005.15

 

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS – Jessica Pyska, County Supervisor, District 5

Missed November 2022 Council Meeting – was at a conference.

Missed December 2022 Council Meeting – was at a Christmas performance at Cobb School

As of the morning of January 19, 2023, Clearlake was at 4 Rumsey, rainfall is at 52.7 inches

There are new faces to Lake County for 2023:

Tax Collector, Patrick Sullivan

Auditor/Controller, Geneveve Harrington

Sheriff, Rob Howe

County Supervisor, District 4 (Lakeport), Michael Green

Tree Mortality: Spoke with Cal OES, received the bad news that we will no longer be getting the CalFire 25% match due to the State deficit. Jessica has spoken with Congressman Mike Thompson, and has engaged with a contractor. This is a $10-12M project in which we would now have to cover 25%.

Bottlerock Corridor: training still going on, Hogback crew is working under CLERC. Able to cut down approximately 500 trees in the Fox Drive area.

LIDAR (Fuel Mapping) funding: used $5K to engage grant writers. Submitted to the USGS and Department of Conservation. Both are funding, so we have $650K project 100% funded. There will be fly-overs in 2023. On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 around 9:20-9:30am there will be a Board of Supervisor’s meeting addressing Fire Severity Maps. Basically the entire County is red. Chief Paul Duncan commented that you must be there in-person to give input and that it’s comment only. OES is working on updating it’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. Had Disaster Council Meeting on January 19, 2023 – there have been two public meetings already, Hidden Valley’s meeting is coming up.

We now have a Climate Resiliency Officer. CA State Emergency is ending in February, in-person meetings to resume.

INTRODUCTION: SHERIFF, ROB HOWE – NEW LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF

Sworn in January 2, 2023. Is a local, grew up in Lake County, lives in Lakeport, has two children who are away at college. He has 20 years in Law Enforcement with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department – as a Corrections Officer, Sergeant, Patrol, Lieutenant, and as Chief Probation Officer for 10 years. This includes 20 years of SWAT team experience, 15 years as a Defense Tactics Instructor, and 10-15 years as an Active Shooter Instructor.

Glenneth had a question regarding CERT team, Sheriff to follow-up.

FIRE SEASON UPDATE – Chief, Paul Duncan

Commented on how much he appreciated Sheriff Rob Howe’s demeanor and calmness during the atmospheric river storms. Loves the rain we’ve been getting. At base staffing level. Have a fuels engine at Kelsey-Cobb Station. Gave reminder that we see many trees and power lines down during storms – assume power lines are live until proven dead. Don’t put a generator in your house; a couple people perished in a home in Sea Ranch due to this. If you see a tree with no bark on it, stay away from it when the wind is blowing. Oak trees look like a bush when first coming up; you can speed up the growth process by trimming the main stem and cutting suckers at the bottom. The LIDAR/Fire Severity mapping is not supposed to be used for insurance ratings. We have a masticator and excavator that CalTrans has been using South of Middletown for roadside clearing, as we don’t have the staffing at this time; it’s eligible to be used all up and down the 175 corridor. Boggs Forest is closed to cars, but the parking lot is still open. There are a lot of trees down, and the bathroom lost half it’s roof. Jessica mentioned the Friends of Boggs Forest will have a cleanup day on January 28, 2023, chainsaws only on certain days.

Jake Strickler asked Chief Paul Duncan if the Fire Severity map would restrict future building. Paul said no, it is for fire use only.

Tom: Highway 175 is overgrown in the Summit area. South Lake/Middletown fuel break.

Chief Wink was promoted to Division Chief and is now at St. Helena headquarters.

CERTIFIED TOURISM AMBASSADOR – MICHELE CARSON  

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 MINS/INDIVIDUAL)

2023 Cobbler Festival – Cathy McCarthy: First meeting for the 2023 Cobbler Festival will be held on January 26, 2023 at 5:30pm. Will need a lot of help this year, to consider outsourcing. Cathy to contact Pam at Mountain Meadow venue.

Firewise Communities:

  • Magdelena – the SSCRA and SS Redevelopment Association will have a kickoff meeting on January 21, 2023 from 10am to 3pm. There will be another meeting two weeks later on a Saturday. There will be a total of 3 meetings: 1st one focused on strategy and deadlines, 2nd/3rd meetings on forest stewardship and forest health. These meetings will coordinate projects for both organizations; we are by ourselves and need funding. We need to learn more about wildfire behavior and wildfire history in this area.
  • Glenneth – Jones Creek renewed, now in good standing as of a week ago. Neighborhood needs help. Cathy will be helping.

Communications Committee – Darlene Warner

Jessica requested Darlene explain to Sheriff Rob Howe what Cobb Alert Net is. Darlene described the radio network, how it works, and it’s purpose – expressing a desire to work with the Sheriff in this area. Tom had a question for Darlene regarding whether the current repeater is being kept and where the new repeater location will be. Darlene said we are keeping the current repeater, it will be a redundancy to any new repeater. Currently looking at Seigler Mountain for new repeater location, but many technical things to consider and work out yet. Tom also asked about a County-wide radio system; Darlene described how Cobb Alert Net is confined to Cobb area, but there is a repeater on Mt. Konocti that is more of a County-wide radio group. Cathy commented about the radio network being more formalized, Eliot mentioned proper radio protocol, and Magdelena mentioned the forming of a North County area net.

Budget Committee – Chris Nettles

Talked of training of Councilmembers on the Brown Act and Roberts Rules of Order [note: we don’t use Roberts Rules, consult County Counsel] by having a public Board Retreat/Workshop. Suggested discussing priorities of the Board, and that this will be on a future Agenda. Proposes promoting Cobb Area via Explore Cobb Facebook page, etc. and noted this usually falls under Economic Development

Forest Health Committee – Eliot Hurwitz

The air curtain incinerator has room. It can take slash and brush, but doesn’t do well with logs. Eliot has talked with the Wheelan folks regarding how to dispose of logs so we can recycle back out to the forest, such as biomass/bio char, a valuable compostable material. A bag of bio char was passed around the room. Robert Thomas has a Hugo Culture demonstration set up at the air curtain burner, it shows a way of recycling excess fuels to promote health of the forest. Beyond fire prevention, looking at promoting the health of the forest altogether, looking at getting a wood shredder in the coming year. Thinking of doing a Cobb symposium in the Spring.

Economic Development Committee – Joe Schneider (not present)

NEXT MEETING

AB361 Consideration – Consideration of the findings required by AB-361 to allow teleconferenced meetings by this body to continue (AB-361 Brown Act and Virtual Meetings)

Date of next regular meeting: February 16, 2023

MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:59pm