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COBB AREA COUNCIL ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday July 16, 2019
PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM ONLINE: www.zoom.us https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88405388677 MEETING ID NUMBER 884 0538 8677 Password: 693412
FOLLOW ALONG VIA FACEBOOK LIVESTREAM ON
COBB AREA COUNCIL PAGE
CALL TO ORDER at 6:33
Roll Call: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln Treasurer, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Jessica Pyska Vice Chair, Jake Strickler all present
Approval of Agenda motion to approve with one modification to approve the two contracts: Cindy , seconded Cathy: all in favor, motion passes
Approval of Minutes from June 18, 2020 motion to approve: Cindy, seconded Jessica, all in favor.
TREASURER’S REPORT, Frank Lincoln
Cobb Area Council General fund: $3,974.35
Blackberry Cobbler Festival $3,316.53
Cobb Resilient: $1,456.28
Cobb Safe: $851.23
Economic Development (from Calpine): $1,300
Rebuild NorthBay (for Hub office): $2,008.41
Science Camp 0
T-Shirt Fundraiser: $4,343.89
Wilder than Wild: $161.31
AHEAD Grant: $164,283.27
Community Reports/Updates
Annual Council Election for Board
Eliot will be stepping down from the CAC board. He says he is grateful for the opportunity and he has been happy to be part of the establishment of the CAC. And he says we are just getting started!
Jessica thanked him for all the work he has done. She asks for nominations for the position. Glenneth nominated Chris Nettles.
All were in favor of Chris Nettles to join the Cobb Area Council
Nominations for Chair: Cathy nominated
Jessica has a couple of announcements:
There were some nesting birds so the Rainbow Bridge was delayed, but now it is back on track.
The pipeline project at Pine Summit is on a 10 day stop work because of COVID-19 infection of one of the worker’s wife.
Chris Nettles says the Census will be starting up again in August, going door-to-door. They will be coming to houses that have not submitted and also to houses at addresses they did not expect.
Dottie is opening True Grit Coffeeshop in Loch Lomond. She is waiting for the final visit from the Health Department to hear what day they can open. She hopes it is by the end of the month.
2. 2020 Fire Season Update –
Chief Mike Wink: We are in the summer hot weather and so the incident activity is increasing. So far it is in a normal amount. All equipment is now available. The incidents so far have been taken care of very quickly.
Please be aware of conditions and prepare as best you can.
Question from Jessica: Is there a new goal to keep the size below a certain amount? The goal is to keep 95% of the fires at 10 acres or less. Was there a contract helicopter at Boggs recently? It was there, then to Santa Clara, then was back, then up North to a fire, then back to Cobb. They put additional resources at Cobb when conditions require it. Our new helicopter is in training and will arrive in Cobb in the fall.
Response to fires has been much quicker. Where we used to send 5 engines, now they send 8, etc. Last summer two fire cameras were added in Lake County and that has helped a lot.
Go to: Alert wildfire North Bay to see the cameras.
The crews are taking extra PPE care to deal with the job during a pandemic
Glenneth says he heard about a fire on Wildcat today and is wondering about the alarm system
The fire on Wildcat did not turn into a fire.
The Sheriff can request the siren activation for 3 minutes to increase situational awareness in the community in case of a large incident.
Please keep your phone on at night so that you can receive alerts in the night.
All 4 of the sirens were activated successfully during the test last week.
Test will be the first Monday of every month at 11:00.
The lookout tower is not abandoned, it is being evaluated for repairs. The volunteers are doing the lookout from the top of the mountain.
Magdalena says that folks in her neighborhood are planning to stay in place and not evacuate.
Chief Paul Duncan says they would like folks to be out of the fire danger. If they wait till the fire is on top of them then it puts themselves at risk, plus the firefighters at risk. He is willing to go talk to people who really are afraid of the COVID-19 danger
3. Report on the formation of the Lake County COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster) – Cindy Leonard
The Lake COAD is working on a new website to help all the organizations in Lake County be stronger together when planning for and responding to disasters.
Please make sure you are prepared with your GoBag or your StayBox because it is fire season! Do not forget to prepare items for your pet.
If you need a helpful list or other documents for emergency preparedness, please visit the Cobb Resource Hub on Tuesdays or Thursdays from noon to 4:00.
Committee reports:
local community businesses: Pine Grove talks about how busy they have been with people from the Bay Area.
Jake says that Whispering Pines Resort is different this year. 20% down from the regulars, but a LOT of new people are coming up. It isn’t the usual long rentals, but more 4-7 days. It has been a good thing. First timers have been very impressed with Lake County.
Raoul from Mandala Springs resort: They are finding a lot of people just wanting to get out of the city and it is very busy. They are family oriented and spread out, so that makes people feel comfortable. The mini-golf is now open and other day-use for the community. Rack cards or other brochures. Rates are $15
Joe from Pine Grove: They have been very busy. Three different parties that have already come back within a 3 week timespan.
Jessica says that we have a budget for marketing. We would like to gather photos and videos in a library to use for marketing. We talked about hiring a photographer to get some of the photos of our assets.
The next meeting of the Economic Development Committee is the 27th.
Cathy says the Communication Committee is doing their regular check-ins.
Eliot says that they will have some radios at the Resource Hub.
Mike Wink says that he received a call about a group that wants to do the same as our CAVERN group. CAVERN.MOBI
4. Cobb Economic Development Plan and AHEAD Grant update – Eliot Hurwitz
Eliot shared his slide show which recapped the scope of work for this grant.
This month we will be switching the accounting part of the report to separate it from the Cobb Area Council bank account.
Please look at the Cobb Area Council website to find the tab for up to date information about what is happening with the AHEAD grant.
They are looking for 4-5 people to become part of the data analysis team looking at the interviews. Chris Nettles will help the team have a structured review. Facilitator-led process to come up with consensus as a group to feed that into a report.
The contracts for both revised scopes of work have been presented to the Economic Development committee. The contract with Jeff Lucas stays intact, with an addendum to do the Broadband work. Chris Nettles motions to adopt the contract, Cindy seconds. All agree and it passes unanimously.
The contract with Eliot with SSCRA is more detailed in the changes. Cathy makes a motion to accept the new contract as amended, Chris seconds, all agree. Motion carries.
5. Endorse California Forward request to Governor for a Statewide Broadband Action Policy – Jessica Pyska
Glenneth motions that we endorse, Eliot seconds. All are in favor and the motion carries.
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 by Jessica, seconded by Chris, all approve, motion carries.

Agenda- June 18, 2020
COBB AREA COUNCIL ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday June 18, 2020
Draft Meeting Minutes by Cindy Leonard

1. CALL TO ORDER  6:32
2. – INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM, FACEBOOK OR PHONE

3. Roll Call Present: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Not present: Frank Lincoln Treasurer, Jake Strickler.

4. Approval of Agenda motion: Cindy Leonard, seconded: Cathy McCarthy: all approved

5. Approval of Minutes from May 21, 2020.  motion to approve: Cathy, seconded: Cindy, all approve

6. TREASURER’S REPORT by Cindy Leonard:

Cobb Area Council General fund: $3,974.35
Blackberry Cobbler Festival $3,316.5323
Cobb Resilient: $1,456.28
Cobb Safe:  $851.23
Economic Development (from Calpine): $1,300
Rebuild NorthBay (for Hub office): $2,008.41
Science Camp 0
T-Shirt Fundraiser:  $4,343.89
Wilder than Wild: $161.31
AHEAD Grant: $164,283.27
Eliot notes that he would like to discuss combining some of the above
Community Reports/Updates
Kyle Noble: Mountain Lions Club would like to announce the re-opening of Cobb Community Center for events with social distancing protocols.
Cathy has an update from Ben at Cobb Area Water:
Hill 9 and 10 project is one week ahead
Pine Summit is two weeks behind
Rainbow bridge is one week behind
An update on the Alpine Meadows project will be done at the future meeting
Cathy also says to be on the lookout for the Census packet.  It is important to fill it out
6.Cobb Safe Drive-Through Event Report – Cindy Leonard
We were very happy with the event! Approximately 250 people attended and there were 10 volunteers. There is also the GoBag and information that will be delivered to the meals on wheels seniors. This is definitely an event that we will do again and other groups around the county are also hoping to try this drive-through style.
At the event we also had a ribbon cutting for the new Cobb Resource Hub office. We are grateful for all of the organizations who contributed to the establishment of this office for our community, including: The AHEAD grant, Rebuild NorthBay Foundation, Catholic Charities, Kim Lewis Design, Greg Clouse, Kevin Luhr, among many others.
Check out the article in the Record-Bee:
https://www.record-bee.com/2020/06/13/cobb-hosts-first-drive-thru-wildfire-preparedness-fair/
Glenneth mentioned that he would like to also utilize the Resource Hub as a place for the CERT training. (and possibly CART)

7. Cobb Economic Development Plan and AHEAD Grant update – Eliot Hurwitz

Access to Housing and Economic Assistance for Development – Disaster Recovery
This is a series of regional banks that invest in the community.  It is not public funds
Five parts of our grant:

• Small Business loan
• Economic Study and Marketing
• Community Involvement
• Cobb Area Merchants Association
• Economic Strategy Report

1. Loan Program: approved one loan, 3 Cobb applicants in process, 1 middletown in process
2. Economic Study and Marketing: done by Community Development 

projections, dynamics in tourism economy, business success in our community, study of broadband funding in rural areas as a key, marketing program to help current businesses and bring new business and new homeowners. 
3)  Community Involvement: a core dimension is to use community interviews to help guide the direction.  17 interviews have been done and the goal is 40 interviews total. The Cobb Resource Hub will be utilized for meetings and access to materials.  The Cobb Area Council website also has a tab for information on the AHEAD grant
4) Cobb Area Merchants Association: 
5) Economic Strategy Report
~Here we need to insert the Economic Strategy Report from Eliot~
8 points in the report
Budget:
Small business loans: $50,000 ($687.50 $2,750
Economometric data:  $40,000 ($1,875 $2,750
Broadband exploration $20,000 ($500)
Marketing – residents: $10,000
Marketing – current businesses: $15,000
Marketing – future businesses: $10,000
Community Outreach (interviews): $25,000  ($25,000 check written to Eliot)
Community Outreach (Resource Hub): $5,000
Community Outreach (Website): $5,000 (Lions Club $2,200)
Draft report: $10,000
Print report: $1,000
Cobb Merchants Association: $19,000
Who will be heading up the marketing program? 
What is the plan for the Merchants Association?
Jessica suggests that we set another Economic Development Committee meeting to specify these things.
The meeting will be June 29th, 6:00 p.m.
Jessica suggests that we create a document to give to Frank so that he has guidance on what to expect for the checks that he will be writing.
Cubit report could help us with marketing. Ultimately the marketing part will be done by someone else.  
Cathy moves, Jessica seconds the motion to adjourn, all approve
Meeting adjourned 7:43

COBB AREA COUNCIL

ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday May 21, 2019

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM ONLINE: www.zoom.us

MEETING NUMBER: 873 9477 0577

PASSWORD: 607 765

FOLLOW ALONG VIA FACEBOOK LIVESTREAM ON COBB AREA COUNCIL PAGE

Draft Meeting Minutes by Cindy Leonard

1)CALL TO ORDER 6:35 – INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM, FACEBOOK OR PHONE

2)Roll Call PRESENT: Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cindy Leonard (Secretary), Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln (Treasurer) NOT PRESENT: Jake Strickler

31 community members joined the Zoom meeting

3)Approval of Agenda:  Cindy motions, Jessica seconds, all approve

4)Approval of Minutes from January 19, 2020:  Jessica motions, Cathy seconds, all approve

5)TREASURER’S REPORT, Frank Lincoln:

Ahead Grant $162,616.27

Blackberry Cobbler Fest $3,316.53 (new donation of $3,000 coming)

CAC General fund $3,316.35

Cobb Resilient $1,456.28

Cobb Safe $851.23

Economic Development $1,300

Rebuild NorthBay (Hub) $5,000 (new)

T-shirt Fundraising $4,343.89

Wilder than Wild $161.31

Community Reports/Updates:

6)Fire Season and FireWise Community update – Cindy Leonard and Magdalena

-Newsletter just went out to Cobb community emphasizing preparations for wildfire season, opening of new Cobb Resource Hub and our preparedness event on June 13.

-Recent $5,000 grant from Rebuild NorthBay provides money to buy office supplies for the Resource Hub office space.

-Drive Through emergency preparedness event on June 13th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (replaces Cobb Safe). This will focus on evacuations during a pandemic. Funded through several small grants.

-Prioritize vegetation clearing around home, especially because of the extra rain we have received which is causing extra vegetation growth.

7)CALFIRE report – Chief Mike Wink

-Late season rains mean that some burning can still happen on large landowner parcels. Clearing continues along evacuation routes.  Paul Duncan is taking Chief Bertelli’s position as Chief of Konocti Camp.

The new Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk helicopter is scheduled for delivery to the Cobb heliport probably in November. We might see one of those new hawks supporting incidents in the area, but it would not be the one that we will be getting. The sound is a little different, a little lower. Doesn’t seem to be louder, just lower pitch.

Fuel moisture is collected by the remote stations and locally (probably in June) it will start happening to research fire risks.

Magdalena asks regarding incident management: do you know if our county supervisors have had the national incident management training? Chief Wink says that OES has had all risk NIMS training. As one of the conditions for reimbursement dollars, they are all required to have minimum training.

Jessica asks how many acres of control burns have happened: Chief Wink says there will be a quarterly report from Doug Gerhart at Air Quality.

8)Scott’s Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ Bio-Char project- Terre Logsdon

Terre says they filed the major use paperwork in February 2019 with the County.  The planning commission continued it, April 23rd it passed the commission. The Red Hills Alliance filed an appeal and so it will go in front of the Board of Supervisors. They have created a presentation for the Board of Supervisors to educate everyone about the bioenergy/biochar facility.  This location has a lot of woody material to supply the facility, as well as being located in a central grid.  They would like to partner with the South Lake Fire Safe Council to streamline the delivery of the biomass.  They are envisioning 4-5 deliveries of pre-chipped wood per week. Fuels could be staged in a different location, chipped, then delivered.

Jessica asks, how many jobs would be created by this operation?  Terre says one or two operators at the location, but many others who would be employed by the fuels mitigation and ecological restorations to bring the biomass vegetation fuel to the facility.

Jessica asks where does the power get tied in? Terre says that at this location, the electricity would be put into the grid and the tribe would be paid for the electricity.  It is a small facility, and there is enough fuel being removed around the county to run about 20 facilities this size.

This technology runs a turbine without creating smoke. The power produced could run a wastewater treatment plant that utilizes the biochar that is produced

Jessica motions that we draft a letter of support for the biochar plant, Glenneth seconds, everyone is in favor.

This letter will be drafted and sent for the BOS

9)Rainbow Pipeline support structure – Ben Murphy

Last month we went out to bid, 347,000, one 202,894.  Bill Daniel Steel & Machine Inc. in Ukiah won the contract.  The Rainbow pipeline structure is 90% finished at their location and then will be delivered.

Driving piles hopefully in June. The pipeline structure should be usable in August, then the actual pipeline attached in October.

The Hoberg’s property is being used as a staging area, and Hoberg’s also has a project they are doing.

Argonaut Constructors is doing the Summit project.  They are starting at Emerford, moving toward Angelly, to Upper Summit above the church, then hopefully toward Glen, Shasta, Trinity area.  They expect to have all of that done by September, at which time they will move to Rainbow.

Hill 9 and 10 by Red Hills, that has already begun and have about 1500 feet.

Cobb Area Water has 3 major projects at about $7.2 million dollars. It took over 3 years to come to this point.

The county has approved repaving, but it might be next year

Mapes Pass is being repaved this summer.

It will be a savings to the grant funds.

Rich Curtola asks if Cobb Area Water will be okay financially after all of this expense and increases in cost, etc. Ben says yes, mainly because of all the donations from Friends of Cobb and donation of $23,000 for the planning expense by bridge builder.

10)Cobb Area Small Business Loan Program – Jeff Lucas

The loan program is designed to help people with the PSPS, one loan has been approved, five are being considered. The loan program has now been expanded to all of the Lake County who are suffering with the Covid pandemic. 

The original purpose is for generators and working capitol, but there are so many needs and we want to help so there are other

The applications have been a mix of needs: need a generator, need capitol to pivot to online format, etc

There has been announcements with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and also word of mouth is picking up.  Jeff says he will be making more announcements.

This is one of the elements of the grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco for Community Development

Deb asks, what types of businesses can apply for this? Jeff says any business.

11)Cobb Area Volunteer Radio Network CAVERN update – Mel McMurrin

There is a new check-in sheet for the (over 100) members. Usually about 15 check in, now there are new net control operators.  25 checked in last night.

Communications Committee / CAVERN Links

cavern.mobi

How to Get a GMRS License

https://quality2wayradios.com/store/gmrs-fcc-license

Lake County HAM radio Club for future tests

LCARS.club

https://sites.google.com/site/lcarsca/recources

Works in progress from CAVERN partner CryptoRights Foundation

vern.org

https://blaze.smokepatrol.org/group/CAVERN

cobbweb.org

Meetups are 6:30 on Wednesday.  Saturday will be added in June

Here are slides Mel presented:

12)PG&E tree work Update – Jessica Pyska

There was a break in work and they re-trained subcontractors.  The hardening of the grid system is being done on Cobb and is very exciting.

They are also adding more cooling stations for the PSPS around Lake County.

13)Cobb Economic Development Plan update – Eliot Hurwitz

The initial design of how we would do the loan is two fold: business loan program as well as a detailed analysis of the current economy, as well as what we hope for our future of economic development.

about 20 interviews have been done and about 20-25 more will be done.

The Cobb Resource Hub is another aspect that will be rolled out as we recover from the shelter in place.

Question: are there any restaurants or potential new businesses? Eliot says that he is not aware of any.  The golf course has lowered the price.

14)“Grow a Row” – community garden donation – Jessica Pyska

Jessica says that food insecurity is a challenge right now. She is promoting the concept that you can donate extra produce that you grow.  You are protected by the Good Samaritan Law, so please consider donating your extra produce to the Lake County food pantries.

See the Cobb Area Council webpage for more details.

15)Community Center Update- Kyle Noble

10 Lions Clubs in Lake County and 3 have a building. The Cobb Little Red Schoolhouse must always be used as a Community Center.

In 2005 a ramp was constructed, which caused termites to move in.  There are structural improvements and pest control that needs to be done. The exterior needs fresh paint and there needs to be exterior drainage.

There is a great need for this space for the community as a donation center and many other uses. 

The pest report will be re-done with Aardvark and they will help us match with a contractor. She expects that it is tens of thousands of dollars.

She is presenting this tonight so that the community knows what the dire situation is.

There are many ways that you can help the Lion’s club. You can join the Lion’s club, but you can also help without joining.

Many Lion’s Clubs do not have buildings, but they would like to keep the building open for the community.

She hopes that in the Cobb Area Plan that Little Red and the area around it could be designated as a community center.

Jon Meyer is the treasurer and is happy to answer any questions about the Financials 707-928-0106

The most recent partnership was with the Cobb School for Breakfast with Santa and also the St. Patricks Day fundraiser.

She would like a letter of support from the Cobb Area Council for any grant applications.

Jessica asks what the status of the historical point of interest marker.  Kelly says that they need to make a presentation for the BOS to get the County to declare it a point of Historical Landmark.

Jessica motions that we write a letter to the BOS to declare Little Red as a point of historical interest/landmark. Eliot seconds, all approve.

What is typical operating budget? Usually they raise about $20,000 per year for operation and maintenance.

Does Lion’s Club international help?  There is an international fund, but usually that is for an emergency, not for a repair.

Jessica said that Dan Nelson asked if the community would support high-density housing.  Jessica says that we need to keep an eye on what they are doing.

Blackberry Cobbler Festival will not happen this fall, it is postponed till 2021.  We will be getting the $1500 from PGE that they promised last year, plus a donation for our next festival.

Motion to adjourn at 8:24 by Cathy, seconded Jessica, all in favor

COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday February 20, 2019,
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Meeting called to order at 6:01
21 Community Members Present
Draft Agenda: Cathy motions to approve, seconded by Gemini
• Roll Call Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln, Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska Jake Strickler all present .and approval of Agenda
• Approval of Minutes from January 19, 2020
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gary announced the new CERT training in the month of March. It will be at the OES office in Lakeport.
Communications update: Sunday March 8 training for communications.
-Radio tech class through Mendocino College in Ukiah
-Wednesday nights at 6:30 is the GMRS check-in to find out who can hear you, who you can hear. Good to practice your radio before an emergency happens. Also please let us know if there is a desire for another operator training event on Cobb.
~David Thiessen reports that there is another volunteer work day coming up on March 14th. Please RSVP with the Formstack link on the Friends of Boggs Facebook page. Information also available on the Friends of Boggs Mountain website.
TREASURER’S REPORT Frank says total in bank is $12,929.00
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Supervisors reviewed the Hazardous Vegetation Ordinance. (much delayed) Last year 2,000 inspections were done, 400 letters went out, and about 100 people are still not under compliance. This year the Supervisors are putting the inspectors on Fire Abatement and then later in the year they will go out to do the cannabis monitoring. They also decided to shortened the deadlines for compliance to 2 week to 2 week. If you respond and let them know that you are working on it, there will be a fine.
Jessica: The Forest Health Grant is still waiting to come through, and this will be the project that will clear large parcels of land.
There is a possibility of having lookout patrols since the Konocti Lookout Tower has been closed. This would be coordinated with the volunteer radio operators.
Local Fire Season Update – Firewise Community organizing update:
The Broom Buster inaugural event was a big success. About 20 volunteers attended and about 4 5-yard dump trailers were filled. Thank you to everyone who helped do the work and get the word out.
• Supervisor’s Comments, not present
Community Reports
PG&E representative (invited) to discuss tree work and PSPS
Magdalena announced that David Hotchkiss from PGE has been pulled away from coming to the Cobb Area Council meeting. There are several times he has been invited to our meetings, but is always pulled away.
Cobb Mt. Economic Development and Area Plan + YOUR INPUT
Eliot reports that the new grant program is proceeding:
-Revolving small business loans are now available
-Extensive business research creating a report. Interview process will build in the focus groups in a rigorous way so that it can be published in academic journals. Asset-based community development will be used so that we demonstrate our assets. Connections can be made within the community.
-In-depth community input on what the residents of Cobb envision for our area. The new website is at cobbconnecting.org and there is a Facebook page with the same name:Cobb Connecting
The goal it to come up with a strategy.
Cobb Resource Hub to Open this month
-focus groups can meet here
-find out what programs for Emergency Preparedness/Recovery and for economic development are available
Help draft our community plan!
New shop called “Giant Step” on the corner of Hwy 175 and Golf Rd. which is a community center for all ages. They are still at the beginning “dreaming” stage of what programs they will offer. This is a 30 year old organization that is running the center. Hopefully they will open soon and there will be an after school program till 5:30. A safe place for all ages.
Motion to adjourn, Magdalena, Seconded by Cathy
Meeting adjourned at 8:11

Draft Meeting Minutes- January 16, 2020
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday January 16, 2020
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes by Cindy Leonard
• CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please) at 6:37
Roll Call: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy not present, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Frank Lincoln Treasurer, Jake Strickler not present, Alternate
11 community members present.
• Approval of Minutes from November, motion Frank, seconded Jessica, all approve
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ben Murphy from Cobb Area Water says the Pine Grove (Rainbow) Bridge project goes out to bid around next Wednesday.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Cobb Area Council General $1,745.35
Cobb Resilient $1,456.28
Cobb Safe $ 851.23
Economic Development $1,300.00
Blackberry Cobbler $3,316.53
T-shirt Fundraising $3,498.29
(Outstanding check #1089 $50.00)
Wilder than Wild $ 161.31
Total $12,329.59
Our new AHEAD grant for our Economic Development Committee:
$200,000 has been put into our new, separate account
-one check of $2,200.00 has been written to Cobb Mtn. Lions Club
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual):
Gemini Garcia brought a list of homeowner rights and information she compiled to help the public address issues they are having with PGE tree removal. She is collecting letters from individual homeowners to give to a PGE manager who is focusing on all the issues that Cobb is having with tree removal.
Council informed all attending that next month there will be a PGE official at the Cobb Area Council meeting.
She is suggesting that we have an ordinance. She will research into similar ordinances that other towns have.
Here are the documents that she has written:
“To the council:
PG&E has not provided the public with an official EIS, Jessica told me Rob Brown, district supervisor is checking on that.
James, a supervisor and subs contractor for this program with a degree in environmental studies feels it is worrisome for our community that PG&E is lacking the impact study because he feels this programs is “definitely impacting the environment.”
This program is designed to make our community safer from electrical fires. It will not make Cobb safer from wildfires.
(SB754 section 1) states
“The risk of severe fires is increased by removing large, fire-resistant old growth trees from the forest, because those trees shade out flammable undergrowth and preserve moisture in the forest.”
Every assessment is done multiple times by inexperienced pre-inspectors. It has been documented and verified in writing they have marked more trees than necessary for the scope of work.
I was told today the scope of work is 4’ from power lines, but until today I have been told multiple times and on PGE website the scope is 12’ minimum.
The supervisors seem to be in conflict of what the actual scope of work is. The preinspectors and work verifiers are also unsure of the exact scope of work and are notorious for mislabeling tree names, status of tree health and have failed repeatedly to gain permission for access before entering. They are not required to consider hazards to the environment.
For all of these reasons I’d like the council to consider an ordinance to protect our old growth and heritage trees.
I would also like to ask for your help to pause all tree cutting and removing until an environmental impact study has been completed and provided for the public. Cal trans his is available at the library for public viewing but no one can verify PGE was required to do this.
During the time PGE prepares a study, they will be able to employ their current contractors to contact every property owner and examine each parcel independently and gain permission for the proper work to be done with inspectors present.
I was told this is an 8 year program and if true, that’s ample time to do efficiently with community support “ Gemini Garcia
Second document:
January 16, 2020
Some things residents should know:
Paint color is not consistent with the amount of trees to be removed. If a tree does not have spray paint or tape, it may still be marked for removal. You can wrap pink tape on your trees if you feel any of them may be marked inappropriately. The tree cutting company, AERI should confirm with you before cutting across it.
There is no discrimination between dead or heathy trees. The inspections have repeatedly shown heathy trees being marked as hazardous or within scope of power lines incorrectly.
All companies are required to notify owners and tenants of presence in advance and must ask permission before entering property. If you have pg&e service, they already have your contact information. You are not required to have a trespassing sign, your property is your property. Trespassing is illegal. Residents should call the police if anyone is trespassing and ask the workers for identification and take a picture.
All tree companies are required to obtain written permission before cutting or removing anything from any property. If they fail to do so, take a picture, call the police and report theft. Again, ask for Identification and take a picture of it.
Crews do not check IDs to confirm homeowners when giving permission to cut or remove. If crews say they have permission to cut your trees, ask for proof, take a copy, and report them if you did not give permission.
To request a copy of your parcel’s evaluation, call pg&e. Also call the company supervisors, you can request a personal walk through and re-evaluation by a certified arborist.
7. If you have any particular experience or issue with pg&e or the subcontractors, please write a letter with full description. You may include pictures, but be sure to write your parcel number and include your contact information.
I will collect all letters at a community meeting on this subject next Thursday, January 23rd at the little red schoolhouse. Your letters will be delivered to pg&e’s vegetation manager who has promised to address each resident and their concerns individually.
Or email them to me, Gemini Garcia at thirdeyris@gmail.com
Council informed everyone in the meeting that we don’t have the power to issue an ordinance but that we can bring the concerns of residents to the notice of the county board of supervisors so that they can include these whenever they talk with PG&E. Also, Council rep Jessica Pyska is in regular conversation with California Senator Mike McGuire’s office (and also Aguiar-Curry?) updating him about these and similar cleanup issues and setting a course for action.
Local Fire Season Update – Firewise Community organizing update
-new grants submitted to North Coast Opportunity EPIC grant (3 from the Cobb area out of 27 grant submitted from Lake and Mendocino
-Working on a “scotch broom eradication day” for February 17. Volunteers needed.
-new combination Cobb storefront for Disaster Preparedness and Economic Recovery/Development. Hoping it can open mid-February. Present possible names of storefront office.
List of Resources to be available at the “Resource Hub” office:
Emergency Preparedness Projects:
Cobb Mountain Firewise Communities
CERT Training
EPIC Training
Homeowner insurance in the WUI (California Fair Plan and insurance discounts)
Homeowner grant information for defensible space clearing
Lots of handouts about defensible space clearing and Home-hardening
-Red Cross, FEMA, NFPA, etc.
Scotch Broom Eradication Project (Broom Busters/Scotch Broom Challenge)
Tool Lending Library (Weed wrench)
Economic Development Projects:
Low-interest business loans
Cobb Merchants Association
Community Events (Blackberry Cobbler Festival, What’s Up on Cobb?)
This is also where the Community Visioning oversight is going to be done out of, and people can come and talk about the economic recovery and development of our area. We really want to emphasize that conversations and meetings will be held here, not just distribute information.
Jessica states that the moratorium on cancelling homeowner insurance is now in effect for certain ZIP codes near the Kincade Fire, but for some reason Cobb was not included. Jessica is in contact with Mike McGuire’s office to find out why people who are in newly rebuilt homes are getting cancelled. We hope to get to the bottom of this issue soon!
Lots of burn piles happening
Supervisor’s Comments
Community Reports
Cobb Mt. Economic Development Project
Eliot states that we have created the two contracts to implement the grant. One is the consulting agreement with SSCRA to create online resources, the community Drop-in office space, Visioning meetings with the community and local businesses, and a final report.
The updated contract (incorporating the changes requested at the Economic Development meeting Monday) was presented to the group. It was accepted as amended and formally signed in front of the group.
Next economic development committee meeting is Monday February 17 at 6:00, at the Cobb Resource Hub to
help plan input to our community plan.
Gemini reports that the new teen center has opened, although one of the owners has just been diagnosed with cancer so it will be re-opening again soon. It is called “Giant Step”. It will be a safe, comfortable space for teens to go and have fun and hang out after school till their parents get home.
Motion to adjourn meeting at 7:25 by Jessica, seconded by Magdalena, all approve.

Draft Meeting Minutes December 19, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Minutes by Cindy Leonard
Thursday December 19, 2019
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes

• CALL TO ORDER at 6:30(shut down cell phones; sign in please)

• Roll Call Present: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Frank Lincoln Treasurer, Jake Strickler arrived 6:40.
38 community members present

• Approval of Minutes from November:

Amendments:  Eliot would like to insert the text of the resolution and also the outline of the project and a few other documents to be added in.
Cathy clarified that the money donated to the Lion’s Club will go toward the installation of the generator that had been donated by the South Lake Fire Protection District

• Motion as amended- Cindy    Seconded-  Laurie and   all in favor

• SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Jessica Pyska says that Cindy, Jake and herself were appointed for another term on the Cobb Area Council
Lions Club generator will be installed on January 13, 2019

• TREASURER’S REPORT, Currently $12,304.59 in account (spread across several distinct accounts) according to Frank

• PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
• Eliot states that the Economic Development funds have now been transferred to the Cobb Area Council. The grant funds will begin the programs starting in January.  The specific ways that the grant money will be spent was in the grant application.

-Five specific tasks outlined in the grant award program:
1.Conducting an in-depth community assessment
2.Conducting a local economic development analysis
3.Establishing a small business revolving loan fund
4.Establishing a Cobb Area Merchants Association
5.Drafting a Cobb Mountain economic regeneration strategy
Jessica states that this new grant will be one part of updating the Cobb Area Plan.

• Local Fire Season Update – Firewise Community organizing update

-New Firewise Certificates will be helpful for the community members that live in a Firewise Community to show proof to their insurance company.
-Neighborfest/NCO grant application deadline January 7th.
Upcoming dates for 2020:
Sunday March 29, 3-6:00 Wilder Than Wild at Twin Pines 
Saturday April 4, Cobb Safe at Cobb School, 10-3:00 
Saturday May 2, National Wildfire Preparedness Day
Saturday August 29, noon-5:00 Blackberry Cobbler Festival, Whispering Pines Resort
Saturday October 17, Cobb Resilient at Cobb School
Update on brush clearing grant money (up to $1250). Reimbursements are now being accepted.
Paul Duncan says that the burn ban has been lifted for the season.
Jake says that it has been difficult to get the actual permit at the office in Middletown.  Paul says you can call the office to arrange ahead to go pick up the permit. Community members say that you can also get this permit online.
CAVERN Update: there are now 80 radios out around the community. It is a combination of Gmrs and Frs radios.
Update on Hazardous Abatement Ordinance will happen in January 2020 at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting.

• Supervisor’s Comments

Community Reports: 
Trees, PG&E and CalTrans a community discussion-
-Caltrans: Gary Lambeth and Andrew Huntley consultant for Caltrans. Priority hazard tree removal program (1.9 million dollars) HWY 29 and HWY 175. Duration is undetermined due to weather.  Priority is removal of damaged trees, due to burn, beetles, rot, etc.   Estimate of 1,000 to 1,500 trees along the routes.  Cutting is happening along the Caltrans right of way and has been going on about 53 days.  Coordination is between Caltrans and the property owners along the route.  8:00 till 4:00 are the hours on Cobb. The removal process is suspended now through the holidays. Their color is a blue line. The Right of Way Department deals with the homeowners if there is a dead tree on private roads that need to be removed. Completion is estimated for March 2020. All trees have now been marked that will be removed.
-Sean Barrett from Family Tree (working with PGE).  He is not representing PGE, but they are a service working for them. Things are constantly shifting within the program, but he will talk about what he knows.  His company is the primary tree maintenance (routine work) that will be happening in Lake County.  Several other contractors will be doing other types of work, including the evaluators who look at the work that has been done. (like Enhanced Vegetation Management).
He suggests that you ask for identification if anyone comes on your property to do work. They should all have I.D.s- you could take a photo of their id. Also, ask what program they are working, and also who is their manager.
Color codes:
-Four colors are rotated yearly: white was last year and next year is green
-Numbers are sprayed directly on tree to indicate diameter
-The 12 foot removal program does not use spraypaint, so you won’t know what trees they plan to remove until they are removed
You can call PGE Hazard vegetation department to let them know your preferred contact information/method.
Comment that the workers from 1996-2015 Western was the company that would come to do the work on the property.  After the Valley Fire there are so many different tree companies that have come and gone and the work has been shabby. Today their work trucks pulled into Blackrock and destroyed the asphalt. On Monday there was a big truck that blocked the road and created a road hazard.  A tree was felled at the winery and left there. The concern is what can be done going forward to make sure that the workers are accountable. There has been trespassing and spray-painting when this is specifically been requested to not be done.
All companies have a policy to notify the homeowner before they come on the property, but this has not been happening all of the time. The workers need to have identification every time. (and a reflective vest and hard-hat)
 
Motion to adjourn by Laurie, Gary Seconded.  Motion adjourned at 8:29

Draft meeting minutes November 21, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday November 21, 2019
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Minutes by Cindy Leonard
• CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please) 6:36 p.m.
•PRESENT: Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cindy Leonard (Secretary), Jake Strickler arrived 6:40, Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln (treasurer)
25 people in attendance
• Approval of Minutes from October, Inez motions, Cathy seconded, all approve
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
-Glenneth states that there are 3 Cobb people done with CERT training. Next training is in February on Cobb (it is full, but you could get on waiting list)
-Kelly’s Lion’s club news: -There is a go-fund-me for the cost of installing the generator that we were given from South Lake Fire. So far there is about $300 of the $2500 needed to do that raised so far. Kelly Fletcher is helping.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Frank says there is $12,298.94
• PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Local Fire Season Update – Firewise Community organizing update: Cindy has encouraged all Firewise groups and any other interested forming groups to apply for the new EPIC grant that NCO is offering. It is due December 31, application is here: https://www.ncoinc.org/disaster-recovery/epic/
Jessica states that a grant to RRA from Rebuild NorthBay will bring an event in March to the southshore, showing Wilder Than Wild and having a discussion panel
There was discussion that the CAVERN mesh network was very helpful during the power outage and during the house fire on Rainbow Court. There are 85 radio users now.
Wendy Collins talked about her solar power generator. It cost $2500 to buy, but no fuel will be needed, and maintenance will be minimal because there are no moving parts.
David Theissen reported that there are almost 7 miles of trails rebuilt by the Friends of Boggs Mountain now. There was another volunteer work day this past Saturday. The creek trail is not open, but there are several trails open and are marked. The bathrooms are rebuilt at the campground now. Overnight camping is not yet allowed, but the area is open for picnics. Everyone needs to be patient with trail closures as the trails get compacted during the rainy season. If there is a lot of rain initially, it will turn the dusty trail to mud. Overall, the rain helps compact the trails, but we need to stay off them during this process.
Supervisor’s Comments: Rob Brown not present
Community Reports
Cobb Mt. Economic Development Grant – Community vote on Resolution to Authorize CAC Economic Development Committee to award contracts.
At each CAC meeting we will hear an update on the AHEAD grant and the Economic Development Committee progress.
INSERT DOCUMENTS that Jessica discussed
The motion by Glenneth was seconded by Cathy. All in favor, none opposed.
Jessica moves that $2200 of the grant is given to the Lion’s Club to install the generator, the CAC will need to use the building for future meetings. Glenneth seconds. All in favor, none opposed.

CAC Draft Meeting Minutes- October 17, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting minutes by Cindy Leonard
1. CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please) 6:05
• Roll Call:  Present: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Frank Lincoln Treasurer,
• not present: Jake Strickler
38 community members present
2. Approval of meeting minutes from September 19, 2019
Jessica moves to approve, Chris seconds.  Minutes approved
3. Treasurer report: $16,675.00  One outstanding CHP check for $750 and the P.O. Box renewal.
4. Short announcements- 
-bear has been reported East of the Golf course
-PG&E can be called to remove the vegetation management, if you get no response then file an online complaint. They will remove 4” or smaller.  Madeline said her neighbor called and they had a good response.
-Maggie at NCO is filling up the CERT class to be held on November 2nd. Find out more this Saturday at Cobb Resilient
-Cobb Mtn. Artists Open Studio Tour is Saturday October 26 and 27 from 10:00am to 5:00 pm.  You can pick up a map of the studios to visit at Mountain High Coffee and Books.
-My Shake app is available to put on your phone for earthquake notification
-Lion’s Club from 9-1:00 this Sunday is an outdoor clean up party for the Lion’s Club outdoor areas
-November 2nd Lion’s Club Harvest Party, 15 vendors, food, band, bar (noon-8:00)
Loch Lomond October 26 5-7:00 Trunk or Treat. There will be a map of all homes participating.
6. Public and Board Comment on non-agenda items 
-Jessica announced the new Lake County marketing campaign that has been rolled out.  It emphasizes the fun nature of Lake County residents “Clearly Different”. They recognize the elements that represent Lake County.  We will be seeing more ad campaigns using this new logo in the spring.
-Disaster Council meeting today it was announced that ATT was not at all prepared for the PSPS.  There are some cell areas that are still not back to correct service.   At the Board of Supervisor meeting on this coming Tuesday they will be taking public comment regarding the PSPS. We agreed to gather public comments this Saturday at the Cobb Resilient event.
-The Board of Supervisors has decided to move forward on the area plans.  It is still some question about who will go first (possibly Cobb, possibly Lower Lake), but regardless they have decided to move forward in some way.  Supervisor Brown said that he will help us to get the ball rolling.  
We will be nominating the committee soon. We would like representatives from all of these areas:
Citizens’ Committee Makeup – approx 12 members altogether covering the following:
• Business Commercial
• Residential Construction/Development
• Commercial construction and zoning
• Resort/Tourism
• Education
• Timber Management/ forest property owners
• Energy resources, Geothermal, local generation (solar, wind, microgrids) 
• Environment
• County Government
• Fire Safety/Management
• public safety (Fire District, Sheriff [substation?], Community Watch)
• Hazard mitigation and emergency planning
• Agriculture
• Tribal issues
• Micro Enterprise/Small Business
• Parks and Trails and recreation
• health/ healthcare/ senior care/ ATOD rehab/ behavioral health
• Infrastructure (water, roads, electrical, broadband)
• Historical perspective
• Arts
• Transportation 
Cross cut to make sure all geographic segments of the community are represented
Coordinate/ cross reference with other plans (Fire, County, Special Districts etc.)
Ben Murphy reports that the paperwork has finally been completed and approved for the Summit-Rainbow water projects.  Hill 9 and 10 will go out to bid the first week of November, the Summit and Rainbow Bridge project will go out to bid the second week of November. 
-re: Gifford Springs loop, he is waiting for the word on FEMA funding.
-Mt. Hannah and Alpine Meadow and Entrance Road projects will be the next projects.
-Pine Grove would be 2022
Ben asked if everyone still had water during the PSPS.  All said yes.  He said that they were very happy that the generators worked.  They were notified ahead of time by Mike Wink to get the generators set up before the power was cut. 
Eliot stated that he wanted to thank Jeff Lucas for all the time that he spent to help make the water company grants work.
Robert Stark now is working up in Paradise to assist with the rebuilding of their water company for at least the next 8 months.
Economic Development Planning Grant:
• We have just been notified that we are receiving a Disaster Recovery grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLB) of $200,000 to create a strategic plan for the Cobb Fire Recovery and Economic Development.
• Goals of this grant:
-implement a strategy
-build a bridge between disaster recovery and economic development
-navigate our challenges
-concrete results to regenerate the Cobb community, stronger than ever
Components of the grant:  
1. In-depth Community Assessment using “Asset-Based Community Development” tools 
2. Local Economic Development Analysis  
3. Small business revolving loan fund  
4. Establishment of Cobb Area Merchants Association 
5. A final report will be put together as a supplement to the Lake County Economic Development plan.
We will measure and evaluate success. We will get a baseline assessment and then a post-project measurement. 
Timeline:
Part 1 Sept 19-Feb 21 Meetings with community, survey, maps
Part 2 March 20-Sept 20 Economic development analysis and May ’20-Sep ’20 local site inventory and needs analysis
Part 3 Jan 20-March 21 Revolving small business loan fund
Part 4 Oct 20-March 21 Establish Cobb Area Merchants Association
Part 5 Nov ’20 – March ’21 Draft and print Cobb Mountain Economic Development Strategy document
Reports on this project will be given at each CAC meeting.  The funds will be at Community First Credit Union, which was the FHLB member that facilitated the grant application. Funds will be kept separate from the CAC funds that are at Bank of the West.
A committee will be established to oversee the parts of this grant.
Monday 21 6:30 will be the Economic Development Committee meeting at the Brick Oven to decide the procedures and procurement process. Request for Qualifications.  They submit the proposal.
~Cindy moved to have the events contribute $30 to the Lion’s Club Community Center. Jessica motioned, Magdalena seconded.  All approved
Tom Slait says he will attend the Risk Reduction Authority meeting on Monday
Paul Duncan with CalFire says that it is grant season and he would like to see Cobb acquire a chipper/masticater that will stay on Cobb 
Local Fire Season update/ Firewise Community organizing updates:
-Cobb Resilient this Saturday at 10:00a.m., Cobb Elementary School
-Presentations:
Battalion Chief Mike Wink CalFire
Gary Prather- local forest owner
Pat Lambert- Farmers Insurance
Rebecca Enberg and Maggie Willhite, NCO CERT trainings
Magdalena Valderrama SSCRA fuel reduction grants
Jessica Pyska What’s Up on Cobb? Economic Development
Cindy Leonard CAC- Firewise Communities on Cobb
Door Prizes
Booths and Exhibits
Eliot moves to adjourn, Jessica seconds, all agree. 8:03 p.m.

COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday September 19, 2019,
6:30-8:30pm NOTE NEW START TIME
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting minutes by Cindy Leonard
• CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please) 6:05
Roll Call: Cindy Leonard Secretary, Cathy McCarthy arrived late, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz Chair, Frank Lincoln Treasurer, Jake Strickler arrived 6:40, Alternate
28 community members present
• Approval of Minutes from August, no comments Magdalena motions to approve, Michael Davies second
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
-Glenneth announces the Cobb Open Studios on October 26 and 27th, 9 art studios will be open and there will be a website soon.
Sunday September 29th lobster boil at Lion’s Club.
Dave says he has a couple of people creating a website called “CobbWebb” for local events. Look for it soon.
Madeline says Tuesday night the South Lake Fire Station voted to give their two old generators to the MUSD and also to Little Red Community Center. Eliot states that there will be a GoFundMe site when we put together all the quotes for the installation of the generator at Little Red to cover installation costs.
TREASURER’S REPORT Frank reports that there is currently $9,745.00 in the Cobb Area Council checking account, taking in to consideration the outstanding bills. We are transferring all the accounting into a new Quicken program, so we will have exact amounts next month, but these are pretty close figures:
General Fund
$3,000.00 Calpine Donation
1,100.68 misc expenses
1,899.32
Cobb Safe
$1,800.00 Donations
25.64 remaining SSCRA
1,000.00 Rebuild North Bay Donation
-2,251.91 expenses 2 years
$ 573.73
Wilder Than Wild
$600.00 donation NCO
448.00 event donations
-886.64 expenses
$161.31
Cobb Resilient
$4,000.00 Rebuild North Bay donation
2,000.00 Calpine donation
$6,000.00
Blackberry Cobbler Festival
$2924.86 (estimated remaining)
T-shirt fundraiser
need to find out what we owe John Carlisi
We still have shirts to sell, so not quite break even yet
Economic Development general fund
$1,300 Calpine donation
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Mel states radios are still available for anyone who would like to purchase them. There is a prototype for the mesh network still being tested. We need 3 locations to get started. Ultimately we would like to have 10 locations. It is about $140 each. CAVERN.mobi is where you could go to find a wordpress site with information. It is like rooftop wifi network. The goal is to have a dense mesh, no longer than 200 yards between the nodes.
Inez said that she had elevated levels of lead in her system as a result of wildfire smoke. After several treatments, lead is now pulled out of her system. She also had water and soil tests done and it looks good.
Supervisor’s Comments: not present
Community Reports:
Cindy update on potential ideas for contributing to the Little Red Schoolhouse maintenance fund and also funding the CAC General Fund. She suggests that the Cobb Area Council pays $30 per month to the Lions Club for the use of Little Red and that this comes out of the CAC general fund. Because there is currently no fundraiser or income source for the CAC general fund, she is proposing that for each event that the CAC does, we put $100 into the general fund for “Administration”. For example, when we have Cobb Safe or the Blackberry Cobbler Festival, one of the expenses would be $100 into the general fund. That way we don’t have to figure out a new fundraiser to fund the general fund.
Other expenses that come out of our general fund are: $54/year post office box rental, website fees, tax preparation, checking expenses, etc. If we add $30/month contribution to Little Red, our annual general expenses would be around $600.
Cindy asked for community members to think about this and then we can put it on the October agenda to discuss and vote on these ideas.
Cindy reports that she and Magdalena have been working on planning the Cobb Resilient event that will be held on October 19th at Cobb Elementary School. There are lots of speakers and there will also be the catered lunch where the Firewise groups can meet and plan. Look for banners and posters around town promoting this event.
Many community members commented that PGE has been cutting trees and not removing the brush, creating a very dangerous fire hazard. Anyone who has this on their property should write to the supervisors and to PGE.
Economic Development Committee updates:
Konocti Challenge on October 5th cheer station was an idea, but this year they are not coming to this end of the county.
Jessica states that the issue of area plans came up at the supervisor’s meeting. She stated that updating the Cobb Area Plan was one of the priorities when the CAC was formed. We understand that the resources at the county are stretched so we want to help facilitate the process. The CAC and MATH have the updating of the area plans as part of the bylaws.
Rob was concerned that the Area Plans still have not been updated, so he instructed Community Development to start working on the area plans. The supervisors will put it on the agenda.
Jake and Jessica had a meeting in the spring with Lars Ewing with public works regarding building a park in Cobb. Lars recommended that we wait for our park visioning for the November meeting. We need to talk about what the community wants for a community park. Mariette took part in the August visioning (about other Lake County parks) and she hopes the people who helped with that one can help with ours here on Cobb. The visioning process here will be up to Rob Brown and Lars
August 24 Blackberry COBBler Festival Report
Jessica says we were very happy that over 1,000 people showed up and we sold out of everything. We made about $3,000 and have begun planning for next year.
Cobb Mt. Economic Development Planning Grant
We have just been notified that we are receiving the Fire Recovery grant of $200,000 to create a strategic plan for the Cobb business development.
Goals of this grant:
-implement a strategy
-build a bridge
-navigate our challenges
-concrete results to regenerate the Cobb community, stronger than ever
Four components to the grant: community assessment, development analysis by the CDS, Small business revolving loan fund, and to establish a Cobb Area Merchants Association.
A final report will be put together as a supplement to the Lake County Economic Development plan.
We will measure and evaluate success. We will get a baseline assessment and then a post-project measurement.
Timeline:
Part 1 Sept 19-Feb 20 Meetings with community, survey, maps
Part 2 March 20-Sept 20
Part 3 Jan 20-March 21
Part 4 Oct 20-March 21
Part 5 Nov ’20 – March ’21 Draft and print Cobb Mountain Economic Development Strategy document
Reports on this project will be given at each CAC meeting. The funds will be at Community First Credit Union, separate from the CAC funds that are at Bank of the West.
We were one of five awards that were given in a tri- state area.
Robert Stark reported that several employees of the Cobb Area Water Company went to the town of Paradise to help them repair water systems for two weeks, just like other water companies had come to Cobb to repair our water system after the Valley Fire. In Paradise they previously had over 10,000 homes and now they have about 1,500 homes.
Motion to adjourn Rich, seconded Robert at 8:05p.m.

Draft meeting minutes- August 15, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday August 15, 2019,
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
CALL TO ORDER at 6:31 (shut down cell phones; sign in please)
Draft MINUTES by Cindy Leonard
PRESENT: Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair),  Cindy Leonard (Secretary), Jake Strickler, Cathy McCarthy not present, Frank Lincoln (treasurer) not present
25 people in attendance
Approval of Minutes from July, Jessica moves, Magdalena seconds
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
-Lions Club update: Saturday August 31st square dance, September 1st Labor day biscuits and gravy breakfast
-September 29th Lobster boil catered by St. Helena chefs
-Glenneth announced call for artists for October 26, 27th daytime Open Studio on Cobb 295-6934
-Speaker at New Paradigm College, Pulitzer Prize winning author of “Megafire”.Michael Kodas.  Tickets available online at New Paradigm College
-Laura is doing trivia night again at Black Rock Golf Course on Monday nights.  Thirsty Thursdays is back at Black Rock, too.
-Saturday night bingo will be at Pine Grove.
TREASURER’S REPORT– Frank is out of town, so no financial report at this point. Eliot is suggesting that we put out a donation can to help collect money for maintaining Little Red.
Eliot motions that we approve a purchase of Quickbooks or a similar program to do our accounting. Glenneth moves, Jessica seconds, all in favor
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Mel reports that there is testing on Wednesday and Saturdays on Channel 9  They are practicing twice a week during these hot months. Radios are available for $30 for two.  The network continues to grow, with 6 new users coming on board. The repeater was installed two months ago has been working well.
Local Fire Season Update – Firewise Community organizing update
-Planning has begun for the October 19th Cobb Resilient. We will have inspection updates, insurance updates, PG&E will speak and we will also have our Firewise Community working lunch. (Cindy promises to fine-tune this part more!) Also updates about the new CERT/LISTOS programs that will be introduced in Lake County soon!
Lake County Fire Season update – Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jake Hannon:
-This summer has been pretty quiet, except the Moose Fire grew to 250 acres but is now 100% contained.  The moisture content of the grasses is higher and that has helped us.
-Amador has a fire that pulled some of our local resources, but they are coming home from that now.
-75% fuel moisture, compared to 60-65% last year has also helped
-Wanting to get together a Prescribed Burn Association. We want community involvement. We will need protective equipment and supplies, but it is good that we are getting the interest and support of Cal Fire. There is more support in the upper echelons for this idea now. Everyone is now recognizing that it is really important to reduce the fuel load. This would happen on private property. They are already looking at Tendai Monastery, and Kelsey Creek drainage area as the first two projects.  If these prescribed burns are successful then hopefully we can do more. (8 or 9 projects)
Community member suggests using conservation burn which can create less smoke.
Also the community is concerned about getting the word out if they are doing a prescribed burn to let all of us know so that we don’t mistake it for a wildfire.
Perhaps OES would allow us to use the emergency alert system to notify us of any prescribed burns.
Lots of prep has to happen around the perimeter before a burn like this is done.
There is a big change now: whenever there is any incident, Cal Fire calls out for lots more equipment than they used to!
Progress on LE-100 inspections: there are about 10 done a week, the dedicated inspectors are ending and the engine crews are doing the inspections.

Supervisor’s Comments: Rob Brown not present
CAC Economic Development Committee reports:
–Village Night report:
~biggest night so far at pizzeria! Renee got good response, Mel said he sold some radios and got good interest, Mtn. High said it was good. Overall it was a good first event! Warm at first, but it cooled down.
~there is talk of wanting to do it again during the holidays, perhaps with caroling and a tree lighting.

Tourism Lake County had a meeting in Cobb working with the new tourism board for Lake County.  They updated them on all the events happening on Cobb. They asked how they could give us support and we said we need more marketing and a representative on their board.
August 24 Blackberry COBBler Festival Plans
-Volunteer list: sign-ups needed!
-All Parking will be on Gifford at the Strickler meadow.  Please try to get the word out.  It is super-important that we have good traffic flow if we ever want to do this event again!! (handicapped parking is available)
-Cindy has keepsake posters for sale for $7, if you want to buy one tonight.
-We are grateful for all of the donations that have come in to make this event happen! Expenses are well over $5,000 (PGE saved the day!)
-Cobbler Contest: Entries accepted from noon til 12:30, judging at 12:45, winner announced at 3:00
-We have about 20 vendors, several of whom were displaced by the Valley Fire. We will have wine, beer, sundaes, kids fun area (by the 6th grade science camp).
Motion to adjourn at 7:28 by Magdalena, seconded Jessica, all in favor