Categories2024 Minutes by

Draft Minutes | March 21, 2024

COBB AREA COUNCIL

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday March 21, 2024 at 6:30pm

In-Person and Online Participation Available

 

DRAFT MINUTES

 

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