Categories2024 Minutes by

Draft Minutes | September 19, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday September 19, 2024 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

DRAFT MINUTES

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:39pm

Acting Chair: Darlene Warner

ROLL CALL:

Present: Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider, Mel McMurrin

Cathy McCarthy – absent for most of meeting due to Back-to-School night, present at end of meeting

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

Approval of Agenda: Motion by Robert Stark, 2nd by Chris Nettles. No amendments. All in favor (5 Board members, 7 community members), Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Mary Prather, 2nd by Chris Nettles. No amendments. All in favor (5 Board members, 7 community members), Minutes approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mary Prather – the Lion’s Club raised $10K from the Blackberry Cobbler Festival which will be used for building improvements to the Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Community Center. Have been doing building renovations; the door off the main room can now be used as an exit as there are now stairs and the termite issue has been resolved. May have a new floor by next meeting. Will be having an October fest at the Lion’s Club on October 26th at 5pm. Tickets will be $20 presale, there are flyers around.

Magdalena – the Middletown Arts Center has extended its exhibition of “The Space Between” an exhibition of spiritual art from Lake County to Oct 7th. Open Thursday to Monday in the afternoons.

Ashley Strunk – the grand opening of Boston’s Steak House at Belmont Pines Golf Course will be Saturday, September 21st. Will be open 7 days a week from 4pm to 9pm. The bar, Broderick’s Off the Fairway, will be open same hours but Friday and Saturday will be open until 10pm. Beer and wine only for now until a liquor license is available.

Chris – Cobb LAPAC is having a public meeting conducted by the County on October 9th at 5:30pm. For details regarding the LAPAC zoom, visit www.lakecounty2050.org.

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

Kies Winkleman – heard that Cobb roads project has been delayed due to the County not obtaining an EIR. Short discussion on status of project and possibly putting item on next month’s agenda. Provided a copy of the roads list. Jake recommended emailing DPW.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

NO REPORT – Away at a 3-day conference in Rohnert Park

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

NO REPORT/NOT PRESENT – Darlene commented that we are still in fire season and must be vigilant and gave a reminder about maintaining Zone Zero defensible space.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Treasurer’s Report with Spreadsheet (2 pages) submitted to Secretary, and is attached and incorporated herewith as Attachment “A”

The Resiliency Initiative: Wildfire Evacuation and Preparedness Plan presented by John Speka, Lake Area Planning Council

Presented Resiliency Initiative: Wildfire Evacuation and Preparedness Plan. This is the community outreach phase. Regional umbrella for Lake County. This is funded by a $170K CalTrans grant. The Lake Area Planning Council consists of two County Supervisors: Bruno Sabatier and Moke Simon, two Councilmembers – one each from the City of Clearlake and the City of Lakeport, and two At-Large Members. APC is to assist local agencies in obtaining funding, partnering with CalTrans. Goal is to coordinate evacuation efforts with OES and all agencies, standardize response protocols for wildfires, and educate community members. There will be workshops on October 23rd in Clearlake and October 24th in Lakeport. There is a public online survey they are requesting to be completed. A plan will be drafted after the outreach phase and additional workshops will be held. Looking at next fall to have the draft plan ready. Robust Q&A to better understand what this initiative will do. Their flyer is attached and incorporated herewith as Attachment “B”

More information: www.lakeapc.org/projects/transportation-planning-projects/ or email John Speka at spekaj@dow-associates.com.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual)

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

Magdalena – Seigler Springs FireWise Community had a fire in their neighborhood and have setup a planning group to present a proposal to the neighborhood to organize themselves better. One thing learned/remembered was that every house should have a 100-foot hose, or a hose wrapping all the way around your home and have a metal rake, even if you’ve hardened your home for defensible space. Making use of the Force Multiplier program. Learned from the Boyles fire how important it is to know where your evacuation zone is in relation to other evacuation zones. Trying to arrange a tour to visit Gordon Springs, as they have a great firefighting setup. Cindy, FireWise Group 2 leader (includes Cobb Elementary, Estates, and Rainbow), has made use of South Lake Fire Safe Council/CLERC grant, will be getting some ingress/egress work done. Coming up on the 10-year anniversary of 3 fires: Rocky, Jerusalem, and Valley fires.

Several FireWise groups including Hidden Valley, South Lake Fire Safe Council, and Loch Lomond have started to talk about setting up events. The Valley Fire at the time was the 3rd largest in State history; it is now eclipsed by the Park Fire, which is 4 times as big. Encouraging people to fill out the Tree Mortality Survey. Only need 14 more people to get the project moving. www.lakecountyriskreduction.org

Communications Committee – Darlene

17 new members from Blackberry Cobbler Festival: 5 in Loch Lomond, 3 in Hannah, 5 in Boggs, 1 in Seigler, 2 in Cobb, 1 in Hobergs. We have 20 more radios available for sale. They can be purchased at Madelyn’s Mail Express in Loch Lomond. We have a 3rd repeater up and running, called the “Ridge” repeater, which is dedicated to the Loch Lomond/Seigler Springs areas, specifically if you are between Casale Road and Ridge Road (iffy/dead zone for Mountain repeater). This repeater has its own channels but does not replace the channels used on the Mountain repeater (channel 5 is still Loch Lomond, channel 7 is still Seigler). This repeater augments what is already in place. New channels available to communicate within these areas are simplex Channel 10, and for GMRS 24 (or 16). After the Doah Fire, it was clear we needed better communication in this area.

Mel – there will be a Ham test in Willits on Saturday, September 21st, and in Sonoma on the 28th. Our sister net, called Lake County North Alert Net, has been operating for several years now and also does check-ins Wednesday evening at 5:30pm, just before ours at 6pm. They are a GMRS only network with their repeater on Buckingham Peak that we call the “Konocti Repeater.” If you are already a GMRS licensed user and can reach the Konocti repeater, they are on Channel 27. Their email address is: lcnangmrs@gmail.com

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Community Wildfire Protection Plan – received grant, working on contract and expect to be able to kick the program into gear by the end of the year. Will be coming back to CAC in November with an MOU between Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association and CAC for utilization of the approved matching funds. Hiring up SSCRA staff and recruiting volunteers. Will have draft of MOU for October meeting. John Green, Green’s Tree Service, saw a beetle that he didn’t recognize, the Mediterranean Oak Borer. This is new in Lake County this year, and needs to be tracked, especially looking at whether the management procedures are done properly, like disposing of wood, cleaning of tools, etc. which must be done a certain way. The Lake County Risk Reduction Authority’s YouTube channel has an excellent video on this. Report sightings to: www.theclerc.org.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Busy doing Blackberry Cobbler Festival. Deferred to Cathy and Jennifer for report.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy, Chris, Jennifer

Cathy: there were 100 vendors and 4,500 attendees this year. Cups are still available for sale. CalPine was again our Platinum sponsor and Sutter Health was our new platinum sponsor. Thank you to SSCRA for their partnership. Georgia Emerson won 1st Place in the Blackberry Cobbler contest. Thanked supporters, host, WestFest for grounds preparations, and approximately 100 volunteers.

Jennifer: vendors filled up within a week. Certain amount of space. Every vendor did extremely well, food vendors sold out. Chris: purpose came out of Economic Development Committee efforts to promote business in Cobb.

Chris: broke even with $25K in expenses, and $25K in funds raised. Will start 2025 festival with $15K on-hand. Sold out of old inventory. 651 transactions over 5 to 6 hours. Additional expenses this year were a refrigerated truck for beer sales, professional parking management, and traffic control. Local businesses had extremely great sales over the festival weekend. There was a 30% increase in sales over last year.

Next Meeting: October 17, 2024

Adjourned at 8:06pm

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary Warner

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | August 15, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday August 15, 2024 at 6:30pm

In-Person with Online Participation Possible

  

MINUTES (Approved 8-15-2024)

 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: Motion by Chris Nettles, 2nd by Darlene Warner. All in favor (4 Board Members, 5 Community Members), Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Chris Nettles, 2nd by Robert Stark. All in favor (4 Board Members, 5 Community Members), Minutes approved.

Short Announcements

Robert Stark – announced the passing of former Treasurer/Secretary of the Mountain Lions Club, Lion Jon Meyer. A moment of silence was held. Lions are ready to make 1,200 servings of Blackberry Cobbler for the festival.

Inez Weinkus – Covid is on the rise. Has had mercury poisoning, been testing for mercury. The superfund site is still exposed. Stressed the importance of mercury poisoning.

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

Inez Weinkus – Attended the Clearlake Science Symposium, was full of information, all about there being Mercury in the Lake, and the fish dying. Has a flyer available.

Chris Nettles – Emergency Preparedness in Communities and CLERC are looking to hire a young AmeriCorp person on a monthly stipend basis. Contact Tammy at NCO 1-707-998-8643.

Mel McMurrin – CERT training was scheduled for the same day as the Blackberry Cobbler Festival; it has now been postponed for two or three weeks and will be held at the Mountain Lions Club.

Cathy McCarthy – Project Force Multiplier, sign up and get your free McCleod tool and water extinguisher from the South Lake County Fire Protection District. 100 are given out per household, so, act fast. Info also available from South Lake Volunteer Firefighters Association.

Visit www.southlakecountyfire.org/operation-force-multiplier

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Attended the Clearlake Science Symposium, a free, 2-day event, open to the public. There will be a movie Friday night at the Soper-Reese Theater. Slow turnout on the Tree Survey – need more people to submit the ROE (Right of Entry) forms. During surveys, it was discovered that many trees actual died from “red ring rot” – this is not related to drought or the bark beetle and is therefore not covered under CDA funding, so we’ll need to find a way to deal with this. TetraTech has been doing the surveying of dead trees and found lots of evidence of the Mediterranean Oak Borer beetle (video available on RRA’s YouTube channel). TetraTech will be present at the Cobbler festival at the County CDD table and may have a table at Hardester’s in the future. We still need everyone to complete the ROEs so that all/majority of trees may be surveyed to find out how they died, and how to proceed. We need everyone in Cobb to complete surveys for the Cobb LAC (Local Area Plan) 2050. Please visit www.lakecounty2050.org

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

Not present, no report. Cathy – reminder to maintain and keep clear your Zone Zero (0-5 feet from your home/structures). Duncan Gamlen commented re a new Bill introduced entitled “Zone Zero” that will make it a law to have the first 5 feet clear around all structures.

Introduction – PG&E Government Affairs Representative, Jason Taormino

Cobb projects: 1) Undergrounding lines (currently happening at High Valley Road and Bottle Rock Road) 2) Reconductoring – a) hardening poles (insulated power lines/conductors, taller, metal poles); b) covered conductors; 3) Line Reclosers (EPSS) – turns power off in 1/10 second; requires physical inspection to turn power back on, either on ground or by helicopter. New insulated lines are going in everywhere in the area; this will be ongoing. PGE will have multiple project locations over multiple years – a constant state of upgrading, repairing and replacing. It is important that PGE have permission from landowners to enter property and easements; be sure to complete your ROE (right of entry). Jason is to send a written report/map to CAC when he receives his. Also mentioned that PGE is spending $1.8B annually on vegetation management and is undergrounding 10K miles of powerlines (not just our area). Every power line is inspected once per year, twice per year in high fire danger areas. Jason is happy to come out and do additional presentations and is available for further questions: email joseph.taormino@pge.com.

Lake County 2050 – Local Area Plan Advisory Committee (LAPAC) Update – Chris

The last Cobb area plan was done in 1989. Has a printout of a list of key issues for Cobb that were derived from the community input session held at previous CAC meeting and first survey results. A new survey is out now and has printed copies of this survey available. We need more people from Cobb to complete these surveys; had only received 22 for the first survey. The Cobb LAPAC has been appointed by the County and will have a table at the Blackberry Cobbler Festival. The LAPAC will hold public meetings, the first beginning in September. For more information, visit: www.lakecounty2050.org, scroll down to Cobb Area section for the Cobb-specific survey(s) and information. Also suggested paying attention to the Middletown Area Plan.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Treasurer’s report submitted to Secretary and is attached and incorporated herewith as Attachment “A.” Mentioned there are funds in the Emergency Preparedness account that have not been utilized, and welcome ideas on how to best use these funds.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual)

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

NO REPORT (Magdalena at Symposium)

Duncan Gamlen – mentioned there have been 46 fires in Lake County since May 2024.

Jessica – had monthly panel with CalFire Secretary Crowfoot and Chief Tyler – very informative overview; a video of this is available on CalFire’s or the Secretary of State’s YouTube channel.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Will be at Cobbler festival with new logo and big banners and radios for sale. Have had some annoyances on-air with music being played in the middle of the night, apologies. We have a method to curb this and are testing further intervening measures. Reminder that CAN is an emergency alert network intended for public safety and is not to be used for lengthy chit-chat. Suggested to limit non-emergency traffic to respectable hours, such as not after 10pm, the same as the County Noise Ordinance. Keep it on 9, you’ll be fine. Reminder that Channel 9 is for Alerts only, do not talk on channel 9.

Mel – will possibly have a few GMRS radios available for sale but will be programming radios. Will have more “little” radios and new labels. A reminder to note: if you hear a “beep” after a transmission, that means it’s “ours” (someone who has access to our repeater) – it’s coming through our mountain repeater.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

NO REPORT (at Symposium)

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Focus has been on the Blackberry Cobbler Festival.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Thanked sponsors so far. Platinum level sponsors: CalPine (for the 4th year), Sutter Lakeside (new co-sponsor). Our cups have a new look this year, including both platinum sponsors on them. Gold level sponsors: Reynold’s Systems, Hardester’s (also sponsoring Cobbler contest). Silver level sponsors: The Fainting Couch (new business), Mandala Springs, Kelsey Creek Brewery. Bronze level sponsors: Belmont Pines (formerly known as Mountain Meadow Venue), Twin Pines Casino, Lake County Waste Management, Alan Hurwitz. Thank you to Jennifer Gayda of Bottle Rock Candle Studio for her in-kind donation of her time, work and dedication as Director of the festival; also, Chris Nettles, Sally Wiatrolik, Cliff (?), Joe Grigsby, Marilyn White. Cobb Elementary School PTO is sponsoring the Kids Zone. Celebrity judges will be California Howland (Cobb Water District), Michelle McKenna (Hardester’s new Baker), and Timothy (CEO of Sutter Lakeside). The art contest will be in the pro shop, as well as the cobbler contest – be sure to bring your cobbler to the pro shop by 11:45am. Music/bands will be 3 on the Tree and The Gill Brothers, who will also be taking care of sound all day. Admission and parking (on the fairway) are free. There will be no parking on Golf Road. Still need more volunteers – email bbcobblervolunteers@gmail.com. High school students can get credit for service hours; some positions require age 21+. The Mountain Lions booth (same spot as last year) is the only place to get Blackberry Cobbler, they will be selling whole cobblers as well as individual servings. Also special thank you to Pine Grove Resort, 3 Mile Brewing Company (Davis), R Vineyards, and Six Sigma.

NEXT MEETING: September 19, 2024

ADJOURNED at 7:41pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Secretary Warner

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | July 18, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday July 18, 2024 at 6:30pm

IN-PERSON ONLY with Online Participation Possible

 

MINUTES (Approved August 15, 2024)

 CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:30PM

Chaired by Jake Strickler

ROLL CALL

Present: Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner, Jake Stricker, Joe Schneider

Absent: Cathy McCarthy (on vacation), Mel McMurrin (alternate)

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Chris Nettles, 2nd by Darlene Warner. All in favor, Agenda approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Chris Nettles, 2nd by Darlene Warner. All in favor, Minutes approved.

Short Announcements

John Wilcox, representing Lake County Civil Grand Jury – presented the Lake County Civil Grand Jury Annual Report, available at the library and on the County’s website: www.countyoflakeca.gov/GrandJury.

Robert Stark – Saturday night is Bingo at the Lions Club. Bar opens at 6:30pm, Bingo starts at 7:30pm. 23rd is an Open House about resiliency centers, sponsored by the Red Cross. 6pm to 8pm with dinner provided at no cost at 5:30pm. On the 26th will be putting on mock resiliency centers for other locations throughout the County.

Inez Weinkus, representing Neighborhood Watch – if you see something, don’t approach, call 9-1-1. There have unfortunately been some local break-ins. Any questions, call Inez at 707-355-1110.

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

Comment from Cathy McCarthy read by Darlene Warner: “Maine is beautiful – mountains and lakes; the people are friendly, hard-working community members who are welcoming to visitors. Reminds me of Cobb and why we chose to live here.”

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Tree Mortality Survey – last month asked for everyone to fill this out and received approximately 35 surveys for the Cobb Area. Need about 70; please complete if you haven’t already. Need Right of Entry to complete project. No cost to landowner. Local Area Plan Advisory Committee (LAPAC) for Cobb Area Plan – appointed 2 members this week, Eliot Hurwitz and Chris Nettles – thank you. A couple more to seat next week. The LAPAC meetings are to happen the beginning of August.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

We are in peak fire season. Currently have 4 Incident Management Teams deployed throughout the State. There are several large fires burning in CA. Air curtain burner is not accepting material yet – going through permit process with the carbonizer that will be located in the same area.

40% of our fires this year are caused by mowing. It is critical to do your work before 10am and not over 90 degrees or on a red-flag day: no mowing or weed-eating, even with a string trimmer. Leaf blowing is okay, preferably with a battery-powered blower. If using gas-powered equipment, please be sure it has a spark arrestor.

County Road Update: Glen March, ​​Director of Public Works, County of Lake

Glen March introduced himself. Impressed with Lake County staff, great group of people in the Public Works Department. Cobb area is having it’s roads paved. The project is out to bid this week with a deadline of August 16th. BOS should have a contract to approve by end of August or first week of September. Project should begin in late September for about a month and a half, with remainder of project being completed in Spring of 2025, no later than May 1st. The project is estimated to take 6 months at a total of 176 working days, and a cost of approximately $7M. Of special concern from the community is Bottle Rock Road: it will not be paved until PGE completes their undergrounding of power lines. Omitted roads are due to water district repairs and PGE undergrounding. May be inconvenienced for a while, please be patient. No culvert repairs are in current plans. Tom Slaight commented and presented pictures of road conditions to Glen. Schedule of roads to be done is generally North to South, schedule to be determined once a contractor has been hired. A list of roads to be paved was provided by Glen March, which is attached and incorporated herewith as ATTACHMENT “A”

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Presented Treasurer’s Report for July 2024, which is attached and incorporated herewith as ATTACHMENT “B”

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

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

Magdalena Valderama – Programs Director for SSCRA: shoutout to the 5 active community FireWise groups and their leaders: Cindy Leonard, Cathy Blair, Peggy Komichek (?), Richie Bucher, Wendy Collins, David Thiesen, Cathy McCarthy, Magdalena Valderama, Michael Peterson, and Gary Prather. Starting to have conversations about next year’s community wildfire preparation day, which is every May. Distributing information about the different grants, including tree mortality. If you need help with ingress/egress work, you must write to them at SLFSC9@gmail.com. Describe your project and they will schedule a visit to determine if your project qualifies. There is a short Fire Safe Council Defensible Space Survey. Write to Magdalena at magdalenavh@sscra.org.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Finalizing Cobb Alert Net logo before the Cobbler Fest. Reconfigured Ridge repeater. Same number of check-ins. Need more people to step up to group lead, especially for Boggs neighborhood. Preliminary experiments with sharing the Hidden Valley Alerts-only channel with the rest of the County until Konocti/Lake County North gets that functionality. To purchase radios, email Darlene or Mel at cobbalertnet@gmail.com or call Mel 415-302-6896, Mel has the radios on-hand. Little radios cost around $10. GMRS radios cost $35 and up.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

Received a Federal Grant from the Forest Service for the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Have had a local preliminary meeting. Submitted on time, waiting to hear back on application. Huge national funding, we got a small piece of it. We must have a plan in place to receive funds. We have a County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan in place, this plan will be for Cobb Area forest ecosystem. We are planning to do a project that takes a detailed look at the Cobb area over a 2-year period. This will include an online GIS map, top forestry person to help identify key specific areas and parcels, public workshops, and more.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Focused on rehabilitating and reviving the ExploreCobbCA.com website intended to showcase Cobb area businesses and improve search engine results with the website and Facebook page. Sally has provided quite a bit of analytics. We have been seeing an increase in the number of impressions – in June we had about 6K impressions, about a 6% increase over last month. We saw about 80 clicks on last report and it’s almost double that this month. The top search terms people are searching for are: “Cobb, CA,” “Cobb Mountain,” and “Blackberry Cobbler Festival.” Last month we had 29 searches for “Blackberry Cobbler Festival,” this month we had 80. Sally is reaching out to many businesses to include on website. If you know of a business that should be included, please email ExploreCobbCA@gmail.com. Sally is reaching out to travel websites and TID/Brian Fisher as well.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Chirs Nettles – Sally will be doing a press release to the local papers. Within 2 weeks of announcing that vendor booths were available, we were full and could no longer accept any more vendors. Had to turn a few people away and have a wait list as well. Jennifer Gayda is the Chair of the festival this year. The name of the property will be changing from Mountain Meadows Venue to Belmont Pines due to upcoming change in ownership. In the press releases it will be stated “formerly Mountain Meadows.” The festival duration has been extended an hour this year, until 5pm. The weekly committee meeting is held Wednesdays at 6pm at Cobb Mountain Pizza.

Next Meeting: August 15, 2024

Adjourned at 7:36pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Secretary Warner

 

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | June 20, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday June 20, 2024 at 6:30pm

MINUTES (Approved July 18, 2024)

CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:40PM

ROLL CALL

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

Absent:  Chris Nettles, Joe Schneider

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Approval of Agenda: Motion by: Darlene, 2nd by: Jake. All in favor, Agenda approved.

Strike Jason Taormino from Agenda

Approval of Minutes: Motion by: Mary, 2nd by: Jake, All in favor. Minutes approved.

Short Announcements (3 minutes each)

Robert – the Lion’s Club campfire was successful. July 6th will be having a Chicken Que, next one will be in August. Bingo is every Saturday night at 7:30pm, with bar open before Bingo at 6:30pm.

Inez – PGE will cut down trees and take the wood away. Took care of two oak trees for free. Pleased with the work they did.

Cathy, from Paul – reminder that it is critical that neighbors maintain their defensible space, especially keeping their Zone Zero (5 feet) clear – it makes homes much more defensible and survivable. Nearly all fires this year have been reburns in areas that have burned before. Dead and downed trees are a component that adds to the difficultly with containment.

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

Magdalena submitted in writing, and read aloud by Darlene:

SAVE THE DATE: Friday, August 2 – Cobb Watershed Education and Restoration Program

The Cobb Watershed Education and Restoration Program (Cobb WERP) will hold its next workshop in the sub-watershed of Schwartz Creek behind the Cobb fire station on August 2 from 9:30AM – 3:30PM.

Our education and restoration team will be taking a new, ambitious approach in this workshop, the sixth in the series. We’ll be focusing on the full stretch of Schwartz Creek and its watershed behind the Cobb fire station. The results of the workshop activities will be compiled into a comprehensive, long-range stewardship “prescription” for the creek. Special attention will be given to a tribal-centric, traditional whole-system, “all our relations” perspective on the watershed including an evaluation of how the subdivision, on septic systems, can most gracefully occupy the land. The final prescription will be offered to the area property owners for their voluntary application. The prescription may also be used on a collective basis to apply for substantial grant funding for its partial or full implementation. It’s our hope and expectation that the assessment and prescription model we develop together as a community at Schwartz Spring can become a template for restoration and land resilience work in the entire Cobb Mt. watershed, flowing from the mountain to Clear Lake. We are grateful for the leadership being demonstrated by the Cobb Area Water District in co-hosting this workshop along with several homeowners/landowners in the subdivision, and we invite all members of the Schwartz Spring community to participate. Past participants in the Cobb WERP workshop series, please RSVP today to secure your place in the Schwartz Spring Workshop. For workshop details, email us at directors@sscra.org.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

The County has hired several new Directors: Social Services Director, Rachael Dillman Parsons; Public Works Director, Glen March (BOS will be approving road work projects at July 9th meeting); Water Resources Director, Pawan Upadhyay, Ph.D. (begins July 1st ); Special Districts Director, Robin Ruddock Borre (begins July 1st). The County is looking to seat LAC committee members – need 9 people from Cobb, need as many people to apply as soon as possible. 4 to 6 meetings, some virtual, some in-person. The first meeting will be the end of July. Visit www.lakecounty2050.com. Risk Reduction Authority Town Hall available for viewing on the RRA’s YouTube channel. Dr. Michael Jones of the UC Davis Co-op Extension did a presentation with Jessica on the Mediterranean Oak Borer Beetle attacking blue and valley oaks in South County. Please watch it. If you think you have these beetles, please call the Agricultural Commissioner. This beetle infestation originated in Calistoga, believed to have come from French oak barrels. Also there is the Lantern Fly attacking the Tree of Heaven. Pilot program funded by PGE in coordination with Earth Foundries and CLERC, have been stockpiling trees at the Air Curtain Burner location to help dispose of 700 trees that PGE left behind. This is not happening anywhere else but here. Earth Foundries will be installing a “Carbonizer” which will run 24/7 for a couple weeks. Guaranteed tonnage is needed before project can begin; County signed an MOU with LakeCoSAN. Carbonizer makes biochar. Water Resources will be experimenting with using biochar created from carbonizer as a filtration method for creeks that feed into Clearlake. If successful, carbonizer would be the local source for biochar. Needs everyone who was mailed a “Right of Entry” permission form to complete it. To fill out online, visit: www.lakecountyca.gov/1748/TreeMortality. This survey will help to adequately account for the number of dead and dying trees along County right-of-ways to prevent road hazards. This program also provides for removal of dead and dying trees on private property at no cost. This is for County roads, not state highways. This Right-of-Entry (ROE) is two-part: 1) gives permission to enter property to do the tree survey; and 2) gives permission to remove the identified trees.  Presented video on Tree Mortality and ROE from Tetra Tech. A Flyer was provided by Tetra Tech which is attached and incorporated herewith as “Attachment B.”

Introduction: Ray Buenaventura, Chief Public Defender

Presented a slide presentation giving an overview of background and experience, how Lake County public defender’s office is organized and its oversight, and volunteer work. 30 years as a criminal defense expert attorney including Public Defender, Certified Criminal Law Specialist, has tried over 100 cases from basic shoplifting case to death penalty case and everything in-between, on the Board of Trustees of the State Bar Association, has taught law school courses in Evidence, Election Law, Paralegal Studies, and Legal Research and Writing. Former Mayor of Daly City for 4 terms, resigning in December 2023 at end of 4th term to become Public Defender in Lake County. Accepted position because he saw a need and a purpose – he could make a difference and a change in establishing the Public Defenders Office in Lake County, moving away from the court-appointed LIDS group of contracted lawyers, and into a government/county-funded public defenders office, taking a holistic approach to how defendants are treated from arrest to post-conviction. Currently there are 7 Deputy Defenders, 2 Investigators, and 2 Administrative staff. In January 2025, will begin representing Juvenile cases. Also a Captain with the Civil Air Patrol, and a Command Pilot with Angel Flight Network, a network of volunteer pilots who provide free transportation to people in need for medical treatments, especially in rural areas. For more information visit Angel Flight West’s website: www.angelflightwest.org

Introduction: Jason Taormino, Local Government Affairs, Pacific Gas & Electric

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Report for May submitted. Attached and incorporated herewith as “Attachment A.” Darlene summarized revenue and expenses from 2/15/24 to 5/16/24. General fund beginning balance at 2/15/24 was $7,449.02 with an ending balance of $6,809.77. Ending balance at 5/16/24 was $6,201.08. Expenses were for storage, Lions Club meeting fees, new checks, and final PG&E bill for the Hub.

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

Motion by: Robert, 2nd by: Inez. All in favor. Motion approved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 minutes/individual)

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

No report.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Darlene – Cobb Aler Net now has funds transferred over to the CAC general fund. The new repeater is back on the Mountain after a few months. Check-ins have increased from 30 to 50 weekly. Have had a lot of interest, and several new members have joined recently. Gearing up for the Cobbler Festival; will have a booth and a new logo.

Mel: – Ham “Field Day” – Saturday, June 22nd Mel will be in Bogg’s Forest setup at Ridge Camp with other Ham’s, and even more at CalPine Visitors Center from 11am to 11pm. Every 6 months, County Health Services does a test of their Ham radios in hospitals and clinics, which will be on Monday.  There was a fire about 500 feet behind house in Siegler Springs area; emphasized importance of having radios on and ready. Explained why alert was localized and chose not to “wake-up” entire mountain.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

No report.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

An extensive, detailed report was submitted in writing by Sally regarding the ExploreCobb website and social media. Darlene read aloud the summary provided, as well as a few highlights of the report. Written summary: “Engagement increased primarily [due] to increased frequency of posting and to the use of video reels, plus lots of tagging relevant pages. Lots of sharing of video posts done by Visit Lake County and other local sites. Plan is to continue and include a pending series of video ‘interviews’ with local businesses. Also increase sharing to travel websites’ social pages.”

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Vendor spots are full, there will be 96 vendors. Need volunteers. The poster is in the works. The Lion’s Club will be making 1,250 servings of Blackberry Cobbler.

Next Meeting: July 18, 2024 (Cathy will be absent; on vacation)

Adjourned at 8:03pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | April 18, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

*****Thursday April 18, 2024 at 6:00pm***** (special start time)

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

MINUTES (Approved June 20, 2024)

 

CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:10pm

ROLL CALL:

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

Absent: None

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda – Motion by: Chris, 2nd by: Darlene. All in favor, Agenda approved.

Amendments: None

Approval of Minutes – Motion by: Chris, 2nd by: Mel. All in favor. Minutes approved.

Amendments: None

[Secretary’s Note: Treasurer’s Report submitted. Attached and incorporated herewith as “Attachment A.”]

 

Short Announcements

Robert – Lions Club will be having a campfire sing-along with mac & cheese on April 26th from 5:30pm to 10pm.

Magdalena – May 4th is National Wildfire Preparedness Day

Paul – April 27th is the SLFPD’s Open House from 10am to 3pm. Permitted burning ends April 30th.

Mel – Cobb Alert Net radios will be available in May.

 

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

None

 

Cobb Area Plan Kickoff– Michelle Irace, Principal Planner, Community Development Department

The County of Lake is beginning the exciting journey of updating all eight local area plans (in addition to the General Plan). CDD Staff and the planning consultant, PlaceWorks, will provide an overview presentation, answer any questions folks may have, and seek public input about the plan update.

Director of Community Development Department, Mireya Turner, presented an overview of Lake County’s General Plan and Area Plans process and timing. The Draft LAPs (Local Area Plan) should be ready between Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) should be between Spring 2025 and Spring 2026. Public review and adoption should occur in the Spring-Fall of 2026, with a Noticed public hearing in the Fall of 2026.

The last Local Are Plan for the Cobb Area was in 1989. It is available on the County’s website: www.lakecountyca.gov/cdd/planning/planningdocuments

All in attendance broke into small workgroups to answer visioning questions presented by the CDD to gain input from the Cobb community. Each workgroup gathered at a table and came up with ideas which were written on large pads of paper and presented by each group to all in attendance. These written ideas were then gathered by the County to be compiled. For video of these presentations, please visit the Lake County Board of Supervisors YouTube channel or visit www.LakeCounty2050.org.

 

Closing announcements

North Coast Opportunities will be having a Volunteer Fair on April 30th from 4 to 6pm.

Glenneth will be having more clay classes available.

 

Next Meeting: May 16, 2024

ADJOURNED AT 8:13pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | March 21, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday March 21, 2024 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

MINUTES (Approved 4-18-2024)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:32pm

ROLL CALL

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

Absent:  Chris Nettles

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by: Darlene, 2nd by: Jake. All in favor, Agenda approved with Amendment.

Amendments: Suggestion made by Darlene to move guest speakers to 6:40 position, with Jessica and Paul’s reports afterwards in respect of guest speakers’ time. All in agreement.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by: Jake, 2nd by: Paul. All in favor, Minutes approved.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Robert – crab feed was a success. On Saturday, March 30th at Mountain Meadow, there will be an Egg Hunt with Easter Bunny for pictures, and Mountain Meadow will be open during the event. There will be 1,400 eggs to be found and separate sections for infants and toddlers. Age-appropriate toys in the eggs. On April 26th there will be a Campfire sing-along at the Mountain Lions Club.

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

Greg, Mountain High Coffee – thanked CAC for the Cobbite business of the Year Award. Feeling disenfranchised with the additional rate hikes from PG&E, it’s hurting his small business. Would like to see an independent panel with the State, and CAC’s small business loan fund money loaned out.

Lake County Community Foundation – Annette L. Kamaloni, Chuck Bevin

Lake County had no way to receive funds, now we do with Lake County Community Foundation, started in August 2023, acting as a fiscal agent for the County. www.lccf.org

Building of H.O.P.E. Center in Clearlake. Urgent need for housing (projects in the works), workforce training, grants. LCCF will provide a roundtable for Lake County for Agencies to talk together. LCCP is in it for the long-haul. Jessica’s comments: planning in times of blue skies. Will prevent our money from going to other Counties, such as Sonoma County after the fires because Lake County did not have a fiscal agent. LCCP will now be our fiscal agent, after several years of work.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Commented on Greg’s Public Comment regarding PG&E rate hikes – that they are authorized through the CPUC and are supposed to be for recouping money for vegetation management. The CPUC is the place to give comments and participate in working groups. Also commented on the decommissioning of landlines by ATT and hearings being held at the CPUC. We have a new Government Affairs Representative for PG&E, his name is Jason, and we hope to have him at our May meeting. This summer, PGE will be undergrounding lines from Bottlerock Road to Sulpher Creek Road. Anyone with leftover PGE trees (approximately 1,100) from their vegetation management efforts, contact/email Jessica. Two weeks ago, the generator was installed at Little Red, with thanks to the Red Cross, the Lake County climate team, and Lions Club. The Lions Club can now be utilized as an emergency shelter. Happened quickly, start to finish in about 2 weeks. Our next meeting will start early at 6PM and will be a presentation by the County’s Community Development Department – kicking off our Cobb Area Plan – our local area plan, which is our portion of priorities and ideas for the Cobb Area Plan, to be included in the larger County General Plan, which will take place over the next 2 years or so. A new MAC was just formed for the Kelseyville area – the Big Valley Area Council (BVAC) – last week. In parallel we will be updating the County General Plan over the next 3 years. Escrow on the park property closed on Friday. Cobb Park received a federal grant to cover approximately half the purchase price of the park property. Calpine turns 40 this year. This year, Boggs Forests turns 75 years old; possible celebration (hike, lunch, music, more) on June 22nd.

Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan

The National Weather Service (NWS) is looking for 10 people to be weather spotters for the Cobb area; 2 hours of training provided by NWS, most likely will be at Cobb Fire Station. We do not have a RAWS station, so we there will be one going into Boggs. There will be more clearing up in Boggs, and the work behind the school in the amphitheater area is looking amazing. Copter crews are getting their night-vision qualifications done this year. Burn permit period ends April 30th.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

Darlene reported that there was no treasurer’s report from Chris, but Chris said there wasn’t any change from last month and that normal monthly expenses would be reflected in next month’s report. Chris had a family emergency.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

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

Eliot – May 4th is National Wildfire Cleanup Day. Grant received via SSCRA from NFP to assist community Firewise Groups in clearing out flash/brush and cleanup over the next couple of months in preparation for National Wildfire Cleanup Day. Check with your neighborhood Firewise Group.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Mel – had two deep-cycle auto batteries donated for backup power to Mountain repeater. Monthly check-ins still the same amount, would like to hear from people once per month. Asked if there were videos and/or classes on “how to” operate the radios – visit the website: www.cobbalert.net. Getting a 3rd “Ridge” repeater up and running. Darlene – answered a question about emergency siren not being heard well. Mentioned well aware of situation, ideal situation would be additional siren at helitack base, but a new siren costs approximately $50K.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

No report.

Economic Development Committee – Chris

None. Chris was absent due to a family emergency.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival – Cathy

Met with Jennifer Gayda two weeks ago, will meet with her again next Thursday.

Cobbler Festival will be Saturday, August 24th from 11A to 4P. The new owner of Mountain Meadow venue has agreed to have the festival there still.

CalTrans emailed Cathy asking what we thought of the new bridge: Paul said the bridge is amazing, can’t see it, but there’s beautiful artwork on the side of the rock wall portion. Reflectors are raised rather than inset. Won’t survive snowplows, need to be in-ground, inset. There is a grinder that will inset the reflectors. Jake commented that CalTrans has been going above and beyond with cleaning up fallen tree debris beyond the right-of-way.

 

Next Meeting: April 18, 2024 at 6:00 *** Early Start time for Community Development Department

 

ADJOURNED AT 7:52pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary

Categories2024 Minutes by

Minutes | February 15, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday February 15, 2024 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

MINUTES (Approved 3-21-2024)

 

CALLED TO ORDER at 6:37pm

Roll Call

Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chris Nettles, Darlene Warner

Absent: Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider, Mel McMurrin

Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Agenda: Motion by Paul, 2nd by Magdalena, All in favor, Agenda approved.

Approval of Minutes Motion by Paul, 2nd by Chris, All in favor, Minutes approved.

In January of each year, the C.A.C. Board of Directors will hold a roll call election from its regular members to select the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. No meeting was held in January, therefore we will select these roles tonight.

Cathy McCarthy: Chairperson

Jake Strickler – Vice Chair

Chris Nettles: Treasurer

Darlene Warner: Secretary

Joe Schneider: Member at Large

Mel McMurrin – Alternate

Chris suggested we vote for the positions/roles as a slate. Jessica nominated Jake as Vice Chair. Vote on above positions was made as a slate: Chris made motion on slate vote to approve, Robert made 2nd. All in favor of slate, Motion passes unanimously, members assigned roles as above.

Short Announcements

Robert – tickets are available and almost gone for the Crab Feed. Purchased Alaskan half-crabs at $8.95/pound. Please take free food leftover from food giveaway.

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

Cathy acknowledged Greg and Allison from Mountain High Coffee as Cobbites of the year for their long-term commitment and support to Cobb. Inez thanked them as well.

Duncan – question regarding Big Canyon Road/Perini Road/Ettawa Springs, and what parts are in which district.

Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska

Thanked the Lions Club and everyone involved for opening up as a warming center during the storm. With the help of the Lions Club and the Red Cross, the application for a new generator will be presented next week. Lots of crews were out during the storm: DPW, Lars, Chief Duncan, PGE, tree crews, CHP, helitack crews, many crews responded and did incredible work. Declared local disaster. Damage – get damage reports of personal property in. County needs total damage assessment. There were 25 homes destroyed in Lake County. If you need assistance with this, contact Jessica. Damage reports can be made at: www.lakesherrirff.com. Went to DC for the NACO (National Association of Counties) conference with a delegation representing Lake County: Bruno, EJ and 2 staff members. The first day was a full day (8am to 5pm) of FEMA training, learning how to build more resilient communities, how we get funding in pro-active work: for every $1 spent saves us $7 down the road. There was a significant amount of defensible space cleanup after the storm. Defensible Space Clearing – grant funds available of up to $2,500 per home – EJ and Jessica put some of their discretionary funds into this program, there’s about a half-million available. Tree mortality – removing from rights-of-way – working with CalOES for two years now on this; Senator McGuire gave us $1M to get the program started, Disaster Act funding. We’ve been working on a park for the Cobb community for a long time – introduced Lars Ewing.

Cobb Park Update- Lars Ewing and Celia Hoberg

The Public Services Department includes the Parks and Recreation Department

Public Notice has been issued of a hearing at the BOS Meeting on March 27th regarding the purchase of this 13-acre property SE of the golf course. Will be closing escrow a few weeks after that. The parking area will be in front, at the corner of Hwy 175 and Golf Road where the existing building is. Amenities – ideas presented: restrooms, a forested, cabin feel, shaded picnic areas, majority of park will be trails, trail up over the creek, natural playground, amphitheater, and native garden. Eliot commented to include creek ecological restoration and partnering with SSCRA and TERA. Going to use a phased approach. There will be more formal opportunities for further input. The first phase is to open the park, which includes initial amenities and some of the trails. Maintenance and long-term/ongoing funding are a concern. The Concept Plan is developed.

Fire Season Update: Winter Storm Edition- Paul Duncan

More significant storm than the NWS out of Eureka predicted. Has not been pleased with Eureka (vs Sacramento), they’ve been underestimating the wind. NWS may be asking for weather spotters. Reminded everyone to always call 911 first – that way your location is logged and there’s medical aid available over the phone. Another significant event this weekend, be prepared. Boggs forest is a mess, crews are working on that. Would like to know why the permanent ATT keeps going down. Lake County received 400 calls for service, 68 is normal. Snowplow was very busy; Chief Duncan is still dispatch on that. The helicopter will be back in March. Working with CLERC to get ACI back up and running, have fence up around it now. Pine, fir, and cedar trees don’t like to be alone.

Robert commented about ways PGE can better notify the public when an emergency shelter is opened up when the power goes out. Mentioned it was the first time he saw County plows in the area and praised Public Works for that.

Treasurer’s Report – Chris

See attached report incorporated herewith as “Attachment A”

Overall decrease to Profit & Loss Statement of $3K. Funds in Blackberry Cobbler Fest are $17.9K.

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

Monthly rental at Empire Storage in Middletown is $130/month. Approval is to continue renting storage unit, and to review this rental in another quarter. Motion made by Chris, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Motion approved.

Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)

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

Cathy – Jones Creek is renewed and in good standing.

Magdalena – getting Firewise communities active and focused on getting renewals in. Heard Firewise discounts on homeowners’ insurance is 10% off CA Fair Plan, with 25% off the wildfire portion of policy. Community Organizations in Active Disasters (including non-profits) with CERT training are people who help and are looking at making more CERT classes available. Worked with NCO to get an AmeriCorp crew out to– 5 or 6 properties. The crew were young and energetic – we need more crews. We are overdue for a community event. Marin County is no longer #1 for number of Firewise Groups. Nevada County is #1 for number of Firewise groups now with 91 groups. We have almost 20.

Communications Committee – Darlene

Mountain repeater got wet due to a roof leak with the storm. Operating on a backup repeater, and on generator power when PGE was out. During winter, having a radio is a good idea too, but always call 911 first if you can. Had a call for help on the radio from a new member and was able to help people with a large tree through their roof which trapped them in their bedroom. Information was relayed to get them help. Noted how information was stated clearly and calmly in a stressful time. Communications Committee meeting will be either Friday 2/23 or 3/1. Mel would like to find people interested in getting their HAM license, call him at (415) 302-6896. An informal, post-storm meeting will be held tomorrow at 5pm online. Duncan had a question about linked repeaters.

Forest Health Committee – Eliot

No report

Economic Development Committee – Chris

Chris attended Lake County Business Association Round Table – money/loan programs available to small businesses, and technical assistance available. Working hard at getting presentations at the Economic Development Committee meeting and putting on calendar. 

Blackberry Cobbler Festival

Noted that Mountain Meadow venue is in escrow, and new owners are willing to host the Blackberry Cobbler Festival 2024.

Discuss/Approve process for appointing next chair of the Blackberry COBBler Festival

Motion made by Magdalena to delegate Economic Development Committee to be tasked with this, Chris made 2nd. All in favor, motion passes.

Discuss/Approve chair of Blackberry COBBler Festival as a paid position

Eliot asked whether we were going to hire outside to manage. Chris and Cathy noted to do as we’ve done before and hire local – ideally someone who has been involved before and knows Cobb. Clarified this position is not only chairing, but administering all functions related to Cobbler Fest 2024. It is noted that a job description and duties need to be defined. Motion made by Chris, 2nd made by Jessica, all in favor, motion passes.

Next Meeting: March 21, 2024 at 6:30

Adjourned at 8:03pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Darlene Warner, Secretary